Massachusetts Fishing Report – September 30, 2021

Sometimes it pays to have a short memory! If the skunk is starting to get you down, relax – cows are still grazing off Cape Ann and last time I checked the run moves southward! Another indicator that we have a ways to go is that blues are still present as far north as Ipswich Bay!

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

Bass, blues and anglers from far and near were going bonkers over Scituate area blitzes leading up to last weekend. All seemed to have gone quiet recently but odds are that reinforcements are just a tide away! As to the “where”, with no resident bass any longer that question is almost irrelevant since those fish are on the move!
 
Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate did say that recent action took place off the “Cliffs” as well as Rexhame Beach and Peggotty Beach. Anglers fishing off the rocky shorelines off Minot and The Glades were also hooking up. Don’t discount the quiet, serene solitude of an estuary after dark. Those places are bait magnets and bass of all sizes know it. Plus a big bass crashing the surface in “small” water at night is a lot more jarring than at an oceanfront! A bluefish best bet is to troll deep diving plugs offshore by Minot Ledge or Flatt Ledge. Tinker mackerel have moved within a few miles of the shoreline. While the two week window for recreational anglers to keep a cod expires on Thursday, “for hire” boats can have at it until October 8th.

Regarding that Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters told me that he’s finding cod by searching rockpiles not far from port in Scituate Harbor. The shipping lanes are holding football tuna hell bent on catching halfbeaks making the surface show really something to see. Elsewhere on the bank are hordes of mackerel many of which are full of eggs.

When there’s a break in the wind, Captain Jason Colby, of Little Sister Charters, more often than not is finding limits of tautog. Look for cod to be figuring in the mix as October lengthens. There are still plenty of stripers in the Westport River. Jason offers patrons two options for the bass: clams/chum and plugging the rips. The latter is a night- into-first-light endeavor while chumming them in and giving them a clam to chew on will work anytime.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

The Hub continues to be hot and it is little wonder with all that Boston bait! Silversides, peanut bunker, pogies – at times the surface water seems alive! Just ask Captain Dave Panarello and Captain Tom Cronin who have been tag-teaming schoolie to slot stripers in the Deer Island area. Wollaston Beach through Rainsford Island have also had blow-ups as both bass and blues belt peanut bunker. Pogies are still hanging in there in huge numbers from the Alford Street Bridge through the Amelia Earhart Dam. To pull bass out of all that bait work the edges of the bait schools or nearby structure where stripers will be staging.

Maria from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that mackerel have made a reappearance among outer ledges from Hull through the Harbor.

Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing said that beginning next week he’ll be back in Boston and will have a bead on mixed sizes of tuna! The skipper has been making the most of his Buzzards Bay break by catching false albacore, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel and even Mahi Mahi.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett listed Broad Sound through Deer Island as peanut bunker/bass and blue war zones! The same could be said for most any place at any given time in the harbor from the Dredges to the Anchorage to the Tobin Bridge. Bait is on the run and fishing can be feast or famine depending on how close you are to the raucous. Trolling the Santini tube-and-worm on the outskirts of the bedlam is a surefire way to pick off fish as well as possibly a cow or two!

Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been sailing out to the Egg Rock/Nahant Bay area and finding willing bass and blues. In spite of the reappearance of mackerel you will not find a Sabiki rig on his ride but you will find his custom umbrella rigs along with a goodly dose of striper scales!

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Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

The north shore surf sharpies are simply killing it!

Sam from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem is spending most nights stalking the beaches from Marblehead to Magnolia and is hearing his Van Staal drag singing so often his ears are ringing! Black bombers, Super Strike Needles, Outcast Dannys – they’re all working! The key is to keep on the move and work those lures – slowly! Peanuts are still in residence as are silversides and with mackerel moving in closer is there any wonder things are so good? Tomo’s is not only an awesome shop with the best gear and customer service imaginable but you can test out your new stuff right behind the shop where feeding fish are not uncommon.

Cape Ann cow catchers such as Robbie Roberts are wrenching 48” linesiders from shoreline ledge. And best of all those beasts are belting topwater spooks with the 24/7 Lures Flipping Mullet being a particular favorite. For more on that I consulted John from Three Lantern Marine who told me he’s hearing of 50-inch fish coming from area beaches up there. A few favorites he mentioned were Singing Beach, Cranes, Wingaersheek, Coffin’s and Pebble. A few blues taken by trolling were caught recently outside of Folly Cove. Those looking for a in close cod will often find them there as well.

According to Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle, Plum Island is the best of times or the worst of times depending on who you talk to. Some are shouting superlatives describing great fishing as soon as they walk through the door of the shop – but then, there are the other guys. Welcome to fall fishing! She did say that finding the peanut bunker along the ocean front is the key to catching. Those little pogies are under siege and moving fast to escape predation. Night waders working eels throughout Plum Island Sound are accounting for some of the bigger bass! While there are still a few blue reports, they are less frequent and not surprisingly mackerel have moved in closer. In fact the shop is now stocking some real fresh macks because it’s so readily available. Some are putting that bait to good use off the Parker River Wildlife Refuge after dark by spiking, chunking and chilling!

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The sizzling Scituate striper action of last week may have cooled down but with peanuts still in abundance and plenty of fish up north, now is not the time to take a tide off. For those bitten by the blackfish bug, October is tog time and the results along the Westport side of Buzzards Bay are bearing that out! Hangman Island out to Rainsford Island has been among the southern side of the harbor’s hottest surface feed spots while Deer Island into the inner harbor is holding plenty of action with both big and small pogies being pounded by bass and blues. Just up the coast, Egg Rock through Nahant Bay has slot stripers and blues with the occasional bigger muscling in. Anglers on the North Shore who know their stuff are consistently catching cows and it’s not just relegated to the night stalkers as even topwater daytime sharpies are killing it!