Massachusetts Fishing Report – July 8, 2021

The Elsa effect could prove interesting and just might light the wick to better fishing. With water temperatures still a bit on the cool side, the projected variable southern winds if anything should raise them a bit and bring in close more bait and bass. Bluefish have finally made an appearance as has fluke. Tuna talk for the most part has not made the jump from sightings to sizzle.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

While many years and a holiday removed, according to Pete of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate, this past week reminded some of the Memorial Day Massacre of a decade ago! Stripers up to 40 pounds, along with a few blues, pushed bait in close along the South Shore all the way into Hull! As to what they were hitting, the better question might be “what weren’t they hitting?”. If you were there, you probably needed to visit the shop soon thereafter to replace tackle which took a real beating. The wild swings in the weather are keeping water temperatures in check and stripers still staging outside of rivers. With fall-back blueback herring still a factor don’t give up on river herring runs just yet. In fact with alewife fry now present and water temperatures still a striper-comfortable mid-60 degree range don’t ignore rivers period!
 
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters has good advice for “river rats”, “Wait until the brown water is replaced by green water”, meaning that once the freshwater is flushed from the watershed and the pure salt returns the bite will improve.

230 has been the magic number for Captain Rich Antonio of Black Rose Charters. He’s been crushing haddock at that depth with mackerel while watching in amazement as giant bluefin have been smashing released whiting struggling on the surface; that stuff is not for the faint of heart. The weather has not been kind to his attempts to fluke fish Nantucket Shoals but his attempts at scup and black sea bass in Buzzards Bay remain productive.

Speaking of scup and black sea bass, Captain Jason Colby has been adding scup to the Little Sister repertoire and he’s been finding slabs up to 18”! Limits of black sea bass have been no problem as well but what is most noteworthy is the volume of mixed sizes of striped bass he’s finding in the Westport River. It’s been one-stop shopping for everything from schoolies to slots to 40 pounders! Jason has the unique ability to concentrate fish in a clam chum slick; he makes it look easy but it’s anything but!

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CCB through Race Point are still smoking for stripers and blues according to Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters. There are plenty of pogy schools also but not every pod has prowling predators so it’s important to keep prodding. Mixed sharks are active now east of Stellwagen Bank and now that Charlie has come to town, the skipper expects to be targeting them next!

Captain Bruce Calvin of Strike II Charters has been hauling out to The Claw where he recently lost a massive Charlie! Far more fortuitous has been the success he’s been enjoying for Buzzards Bay black sea bass and slab scup. He also has proven deep water fluke drifts which he intends on employing.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

His official title may be Captain Sam from Boston Saltwater but his moniker could be “dream maker” as he has a penchant of putting patrons onto their personal best striped bass. Such was the case with Jequan Johnson whose perfectly-proportioned 49” striper checked off that box! Sam is finding that the deep water humps and the Egg Rock section is still producing with stripers occasionally pummeling mackerel on the surface. The skipper is more than just a trophy-or-bust captain as he’s also been taking kids out among the inner islands to chase roving blitzes at the top of the tide. Nothing gets the old pulse racing like running and gunning after schools of feeding fish.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett told me that some fluke have been caught in the Lynn Harbor area. For the less toothy flounder version, a few winter flounder can still be picked off by the outer islands, Boston Light and Point Allerton. The Santini tube and worm remains hot in Lynn Harbor, Long Beach and King’s Beach.

Things have been good aboard Get Tight Sportfishing, said Captain Brian Coombs. In addition to stripers there have been some gator blues ransacking the pogy schools! Additionally he’s been taking fly guys out and putting them on good bass by working the linesiders into a lather by tossing tinker macks into their domain! If not spectacular the deep water bite has been consistent with a 3 or 4 fish tally but the fish are usually big! Inshore he’s been finding feeding bass on bunker off Faun Bar, Seal Harbor, Broad Sound and Lynn Harbor. It helps greatly to have a network of buddy boats to provide current intel.

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Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Sam from Tomo’s Tackle said that the most consistent bite from Lynn/Nahant through Cape Ann has been courtesy of the boat guys using live mackerel. He of surf/kayak persuasion has been having good/bad nights from shore and in close to the shore of Beverly Harbor and beyond while pitching Slug-Go’s, Hogy’s, minnow-shaped swimmers and Magic Swimmers. Finding pockets of warmer water, such as what you’ll find on a dropping tide at the mouth of a river can make a difference. Mud flats are a good option also. It seems as if no two days/nights are fishing the same so you have to hunt for their haunts as they do change. Pogies remain plentiful and are often the source of persnickety fish, no doubt because of sated stripers! Haddock fishing remains solid on both Jeffrey’s and Stellwagen with the latter showing tuna as well.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine told me that the more successful commercial anglers are catching their fish with live pogies either while observing a pressured pod or among the backshore boulders off eastern Gloucester. Pre-torrent, the Little and Essex Rivers were fishing well but all that freshwater has stalled the bite. Pogies remain plentiful while mackerel are anything but! Skip also did not have glowing reports about tuna.

Fortunately Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle had better news on just about every front! With favorable morning outgoing tides, the mouth of the Merrimack River is the best local bet for action. Joppa at night with eels is still steady. The same could be said for Sandy Point as well as Plum Island Sound. Pogy schools just off the beach have been pounded recently by whales and there is a report of at least one giant tuna being stuck while pushing pogies close to shore. The first decent bluefish report just came in also. Regarding mackerel, the most consistent catch is by the Isle of Shoals. There has even been a few short fluke taken in the Merrimack River.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

With Westport River stripers cooperating when clams are on the menu and combined with the blistering black sea bass bite, this is one of the Bay States better bets. East of Stellwagen in water of at least 200 feet haddock remain cooperative. Not every pogy school from the Three Bays out through Hull has shadowing stripers but they are still worth watching. Blues have come to Boston Harbor and with water temperatures firmly in the striper sweet spot there are reports of big bass both inshore and offshore. There is a bit of “pogy problem” in the North Shore with fish so sated they are fussy. Regardless, the big bait/big bass maxim makes it wise to not wander too far form those pogy schools.