Massachusetts Fishing Report – October 27, 2022

The bass beat goes on, find the forage and odds are you’ll catch during the final leg of the fall run. With a kicked up ocean the norm, sanctuary awaits upstream where tranquility is often shattered by stripers on the feed. After a long season however it’s nice to have options and among them are crab-crunching tautog and some impressive freshwater fishing.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

Beach front and open ocean happenstance for schoolies on the move are still part of the equation, but as for drag-pullers there’s a more reliable alternative. It always comes down to bait and anglers fishing among herring runs, even during a blue sky day, are prone to swear that it’s raining. Recruitment of river herring continues to trend upward and some of those estuaries/rivers right now are swarming with young-of-the-year striper treats and all that forage is still holding striped bass including tackle-testers. Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate told me of fast-moving schoolie feeds from Gunrock Beach in Hull through Manomet. If there ever was a here-today, gone-tomorrow fishery this is it – those fish are motivated to migrate! Then there are the other anglers who are putting in their time in marshes, estuaries and rivers all the way into the North Shore and are being rewarded with success that would stand up regardless of the time of the year.

Just make sure you are packing something that assimilates what the stripers are keying in on, namely 3” or 4” soft plastics. It’s not often that a striper will pass on an eel but when the feeding is easy on tiny bait that can be a reality. I found myself in just such as situation in Greater Boston recently. Despite marking countless stripers of all sizes and sticking an eel right in front of their maws, I didn’t get a touch. Thankfully I had a plan B and out came the pearl Queen Cocahoes and Al Gag’s Whip-it-Fish and with that the frustration turned to fun as those fish became cooperative. According to Belsan, bass up to 17 pounds are still being taken in the North River! He also told me that tautog have been successfully targeted among wrecks and rocks all along the South Shore with the Minot area among the better blackfish lairs.

Of course to do tog the right way Buzzards Bay is the only worthy option. Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sistercontinues to wreck havoc on tautog with limits easily obtained as are trophies. On a recent outing with the skipper I watched as Kevin Cheung pulled up an 8 pound tautog called it as a female and without hesitation let her go. Who does that? When it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll be disembarking with a big bag of delicious tog fillets it’s a lot easier to do! While tautog are the prize, cod are making for a nice supporting cast as well as those darn trigger fish – watch those teeth!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

As proof that anglers still have striper game, shops such as Fishing FINatics in Everett are planning at least one more order of seaworms as well as eels! Captains Carl Vinning and Dave Panorello are putting those worms to good use by trolling them behind a red tube throughout Greater Boston estuaries. Some of the linesider numbers they are logging would raise eyebrows anytime of the year, let alone late October! When not having their way with stripers, Dave has been hitting Horn Pond for trout while Carl has had double-digit outings of white perch throughout the Mystic Lakes. Both those areas are winners thanks to the windfall of river herring. That’s not to suggest that the ocean has grown cold, Johnny Hoffman is still finding stripers off of Spectacle Island so long as he’s trolling a Santini tube. I’ve also seen picture proof from Pico Beach in Winthrop that schoolies are still in residence. Beaches will test your endurance now but if you stay on the move and keep searching you’re bound to find blitzing bass among one of them. I’ve had early November mornings when Revere was dead only to find feeding fish off Winthrop or a lonesome outing on Wollaston was salvaged by Nantasket Beach. I recall one successful evening off Point Allerton in the frenzy of a nice feed, while just behind me trick-or-treaters were going about their business, it seemed weird and wonderful at the same time.

At this time of the year, the forlorn always enquire about – smelt! Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that a customer of hers did find 11 during an hour long outing at Hewitts Cove! While that’s not likely to rival the smelt camps of Maine, it’s a start. The previously mentioned Kevin Cheung also told me that during a recent trip of the Summer Street Bridge in South Boston he found a good smelt bite but a subsequent trip produced northing.

Local trout honey holes such as Jamaica Pond, Walden Pond and White are all yielding rainbow trout from the fall stocking.

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Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

You wouldn’t expect Tomo’s Tackle in Salem to be moving a 9” spook in late October but there’s an angler fishing Manchester-by-the-Sea who is throwing Docs and I have a hunch it’s not just for exercise! Schoolies continue to push silversides and other small bait in Beverly and Salem Harbors with the mouth of those harbors fishing best as fish flash southward. If you’re looking for mackerel you can jig them up from the Beverly Pier as well as Fisherman’s Beach pier.

North Shore anglers appreciate upstream fall fishing for striped bass according to Liz from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport. Some are still reporting stellar outings in the Essex River, Plum Island Sound and Joppa Flats. One anecdote regarding the latter was described as “stripers were everywhere”! Apparently those fish ran the gamut from schoolies to small slots. That’s not to suggest that beaching a bass is impossible, in fact I saw a shot of a recently caught 34” striper from Hampton Beach! The shop has ordered what in all probability will be the last flats of seaworms for the season, which is just in time for the final weekend for easy access to the Parker River Wildlife Reservation as the parking lots are ready to close until next spring.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

Many regard the white perch as the most prized panfish in New England and that notion certainly gets ramped up a notch when the whitey is 3 pounds! Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston weighed in such a beast for Dave Nelson who caught the monster on the south side of Wachusett Reservoir. The 18 1/4”, 13 1/4” trophy fell for a blown up crawler and was just 6 ounces shy of the Massachusetts state record caught by Val Percuoco in 2016. Interestingly that fish was also caught in October! The Chu’ is certainly a dream maker. Elsewhere, salmon continue to be caught at the mouth of the Stillwater River, the basin as well as pools throughout the river. They are most likely in the Quinapoxet River as well but lately the current there is cooking. Lakers are averaging 2/3 pounds with a good one pushing past 4. They are in close right now so hero casts are really not necessary; for smallies the Cellar Holes have been hot.

Rod from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange told me that the Spectacle Ponds are giving up good crappie as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass. The Miller River is a recent recipient of brown trout and rainbow trout stockings with the Wendell Depot section fishing well. The Greenfield/Northfield bridges spanning the Connecticut River continue to be crazy for channel catfish with one angler tallying 40 in one outing on chicken livers. Some of these cats are real tackle-testing double digit fish! The Merrimack River also holds channel as well as white catfish with effluences of the Spicket and Shawsheen among the better bets. With more water volume and more favorable water temperatures, pike are on the prowl and have moved out of deep holes and can be found wherever you find weedbeds.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Bass along the beaches are on the move with no particular spot holding fish for long. Portable craft and the wader clad have the edge since they can search and sift through what in most cases is dead water! The good news is that once found, the fish are not fussy. The antithesis of that is stripers that are found feeding on herring fry, whether that be the Town River in Plymouth, the North River in Scituate, the Weymouth Back, Charles, Mystic, Saugus or Merrimack. Those bass can get mighty particular so bring along small paddletails or stickbaits that emulate the herring fry. Upstream sections of those natal watersheds are growing trophy freshwater gamesters such as black bass, crappie and white perch. Regarding white perch there is a certain Central Mass reservoir that holds gargantuan whiteys, with a suspended crawler the key towards coaxing them. Best of all: history tells us that October rocks for those trophies.