Massachusetts Fishing Report – April 27, 2023

And so the madness begins! Fresh striped bass have moved into the Bay State with the initial volley including good average size. If you can hit the pause button on the striper sweepstakes, the South Coast offers a dizzying array of species while taciturn anglers are successfully targeting flounder in Greater Boston.

The first game-changer striper that I’m aware of was caught by my buddy Dave Flaherty of Nahant on Tuesday and it was darn good first fish at 27 inches. That bass belted one of our favorite soft plastics, a pearl Queen Cocahoe. At about the same time Dave was getting on the board another resident of the island – Sandro – was having luck with his go-to offering, a tube-and-worm. The kicker with that tube is that Sandro doesn’t even have a boat yet still catches with an orange Santini tube that he casts from the shore. I’ve fished next to him and if I didn’t see it with my own eyes I almost wouldn’t have believed how effective it can be. The floodgates are now open and by day and practically by the tide the swell of the migration will increase. Based on a report from Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing the first wave he’s experiencing in Buzzards Bay is weighted heavily towards the year class of 2015 which are solid slots now. A goodly dose of that aggregate is bound to spin off farther north so when you catch your first striper of the year over the next week you just might find that you’re tight to more than just a schoolie!

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

You might say that Ben Spalding had a pretty good day on Tuesday out of Westport while fishing aboard the Little Sister. Captain Colby put him into a non-stop bite of cod up to 26”, as well as black sea bass and tautog nearly that long! His highlight was a double with a solid “white belly” and “white chin” all on the same rig. The rest of us were busy all day as well with the skipper tugging in a double of keeper cod in one haul and me nailing the top cod spot of the day with a fatty of 29”. That fish was over the slot size for “Southern New England” and was promptly released. We baited up our top/bottom rigs with a crab on the bottom and clam up top with sometimes unexpected results. There was no rhyme or reason for which species would hit which bait which is counterintuitive for those who view tautog as strictly crab crunchers. As often as the tog hit the crab, they would hit the clam. As for cod, those thuggish bottom dwellers will hit anything so it was no surprise when they engulfed the green crab as well as the clam. Unfortunately, not all is well with the regulations as the cod season in Southern New England is set to expire this Sunday, the last day of April, with the status listed as – “to be decided”. As for black sea bass, the open season for harvesting begins May 20th, and while a few for the cooler would have been nice, it’s hard to argue that catching and releasing 3-5 pound knotheads isn’t fun. Because of those regulations and because Jason has a special place in his heart for flounder, he’s pulling his 31’ Contender from Westport and splashing it into Sesuit Harbor next week to see what’s stirring there. Word has it that those winter flounder are already biting well.

After personal anecdotal evidence that they are back, I expected the fresh fish floodgates to be wide open and Pete of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate confirmed it on the South Shore. The “where” is almost irrelevant at this point as the run gains momentum and stripers begin swarming most every bay, river and estuary. The most important news remains the size of the first wave with many slots in the mix. Slots have been caught on Savage Sand Eels as well as bait off of the Three Bays, Marshfield and Peggotty Beach. Of course the most wonderful thing about this time of the year is that by the time you read this, more fish have moved onto our coast!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

While Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing is scratching his early season Buzzards Bay itch, he’s providing timely intel on what we can expect. He’s finding very cooperative stripers, of which the majority are firmly in the slot size, taking Al Gag’s Whip-it-Fish, modified Jumpin Minnows and flies. On a recent trip the crew tallied two dozen nice ones! Before his exodus down south he took a cruise around Winthrop and clearly marked stripers just out of the gate of Winthrop Harbor.

Not surprisingly Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy began our weekly conversations with an enthusiastic, “They’re here!” Her report echoed a lot of what I’m hearing regarding size with slots already part of the equation and to think it’s still April. She’s hearing good news from World’s End, the Weymouth Back River, Wollaston Beach/Black Creek and the Neponset River. The bigger bass are falling for larger offerings such as the staple SP Minnow.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett was also the bearer of good news regarding fresh fish but he also mentioned that holdovers are still a solid option. The line between which is what is beginning to blur now as resident fish in the Charles, Mystic and Saugus Rivers are joining migrants. Regardless the Santini tube sweetened with a sea worm is likely to catch them all. Just make sure you’re not towing that tube too high in the water column, it has to be down low to be in the striper strike zone. My fingers are crossed that flounder fortunes will be good this year with early results promising in Quincy Bay and even off the bridges on Route 107 in Revere. A few tautog have been tugged out of bridge/wharf pilings in Chelsea and Charlestown. Those fish are cruising inshore right now to spawn; should you land an obviously gravid female consider releasing it to let it spawn.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

There is a slim window right now when the roles are reversed as I talk to my friends who run shops on the North Shore. Rather than record their reports, I’m giving them mine and telling them that the run has begun just south!

Justin from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem is minding the shop while the boss plays with giant trevally, dogtooth tuna and other insane beasts in the Indian Ocean. Who the heck needs them now that we have stripers again? While that was news to Justin, he did mention that squid jigs are moving out of the shop at a very fast clip for the time of the year. As for where, he said that guys who fish locally are buying them which leads me to speculate that maybe Swampscott, Marblehead or Beverly has them?

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Another option is Gloucester Harbor and for that report I talked to AJ from Three Lantern Marine who agreed that squid jigs were selling well. Most any public pier you can find which is lit at night may hold a few loligos now. Seaworms continue to fly out the door; a sure indication that flounder are flourishing among the flats/coves of Cape Ann harbors. A few mackerel reports are trickling in and the news on Jeffrey’s Ledge is that redfish are part of the regular catch with a few haddock and pollock part of the mix. Kevin of Surfland has a few friends who fish south of the island who have been getting into fresh stripers. Nothing like that has happened that far north yet, but when it does, the mouth of the Merrimack from the Captain’s Fishing Charters out to the sandbar will be among the first to go off. Meanwhile anglers are occupying their time with shad, the run of which is in full swing from Rock’s Village through the Lawrence Dam. That area close to the dam will often be the first on the North Shore to produce big bass as instinctively those old, experienced fish return every year for the river herring!

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

Water level is down but fishing activity/success is up according to Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston. Salmon and smallies have definitely picked up their energy levels with areas close to the causeway producing well. Small to medium shiners drifted from a float are accounting for the silver leapers while blade baits and crank baits as well as larger shiners are doing the trick for Sallys up to 5 pounds. Smelt remain a factor with some anglers packing light wares consisting of the usual hunks of metal – Krocodiles, Deadly Dicks, Kastmaster XLs – looking for smelt shoals and then finding the bait balls and some combination of salmon, lakers and rainbows. Regarding trout, there have been fresh stockings in the Stillwater River of brook trout and rainbows. As for the Quabbin I talked to Jerry of Crack of Dawn Bait in Phillipston (love that name!) and he told me that many are sticking to the shoreline and doing well on smallies and lake trout. A few favorites of his are Gates 43, 37 and 35. The feeling I get from talking to him is that his shop is the real deal! Among other interesting details is the refrigerated bait tanks he employs. While bait is the be-all now, come Memorial Day salmon and lakers will be in deep water with spoons and streamers accounting for most of the action.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

It’s a bit of a leap but you folks just might be pleased that the first wave of the spring striper run has begun. What just might be best of all is the average size which are slots; a mighty impressive showing for April. Initial reports put them in Plymouth, Peggotty Beach, rivers near Boston and there has even been news from Nahant of bass on the rocks. The question may soon be “where aren’t they?” The cod bite off the Westport side of Buzzards Bay is so good it’s reminiscent of another era in Massbay. But you need to act swiftly since, at least for the time being, the season closes this Sunday. As for a far flatter groundfish, they are making angler’s days in Quincy Bay, Lynn Harbor and it’s tributaries and throughout the north shore. As of this writing the striper wave hasn’t washed over such areas as Plum Island yet, but if ever there was the need for the statement “subject to change”, now is it!