After hearing from a shop staffer that the bite had been good after the storm, I couldn’t help but ask “which one?’”. While the alphabet soup of storms may have made forecasting the weather challenging, forecasting fishing has been far easier because it’s always good in September!
The most action-packed period of the season may be happening right now! The bite, blitzes, feeds – however you call it, is all happening off the coast as dropping water temperatures have lit the feeding fuse for most species. Even freshwater fish are feeding with purpose with bass, trout, panfish and pike all cooperating. Suffice to say, the green light is on for the gamefish game.
Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report
After having to pass on a tautog trip aboard my friend Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister, I was fearing my phone. Sure enough by mid-morning a torturous message was left of non-stop, drop-and-set, back-at-the-dock early fishing. Tautog fishing is a unique combination of pleasure and pain. The pleasure comes from feathering the bite just right and besting a big blackfish, while the pain comes from losing three crabs in a row to a wily whitechin that owns you! As if that anguish wasn’t enough I would learn that false albacore were busting on sand eels all around the boat. If that’s not enough to have you thinking about the South Coast, stripers have moved back into the river, blues are always a possibility and 14-18” hickory shad can be seen pounding bait near marinas and docks throughout the river with the action best after dark.
Blues have been a nemesis for those looking for inshore mackerel for much of this season but Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters told me he’s having no trouble finding them in CCB now. What he’s also spotting under the schools is huge marks. When asked if those might have been big bass beginning to migrate he said “those fish are not pushing the bait upward, so what do you think they are?”. The point being that bass have to move the bait towards the surface to dispatch them while tuna simply snap them up with ease! Fishery regulators have freed up additional quota for giants on Sunday, so timing for those big “marks” in Cape Cod Bay may be good. Don’t delay if you want a brute of a bluefin; doubtless that quota won’t be open for long.
All along much of our striper coast, it’s looking like one big blitz-fest and the South Shore is no exception! Persnickety has given way to predatory for stripers and blues no matter where you find them. Yes indeed, it is that most wonderful time of the year! While you’re instinct may be to identify the bait and try to match it, I suggest you think again. Two recent anecdotes by friends of mine on the North Shore crystallize this point. One duo had nearly fish-per-cast success as they correctly identified peanuts as the prevalent prey and totally matched it with their offerings. And then there were the other guys who ignored that impulse and instead snapped on big pencil plugs and caught far larger! Your resolve will sorely be tested as your wares seem to be ignored as nearby anglers are hooking up but when that cow comes along, you’ll be glad you stayed the course.
As to where the action is, a better question may be where isn’t it? There is no such animal as a resident striped bass any longer as the fish are on the move and so should you! You shouldn’t have to search for long since the swath of feeding striped bass and blues is far-reaching.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
Kudos to Matthew for posting in last weeks column of a small sample of a smelt bite off of Summer Street in South Boston! It’d sure be nice to have something salty to look forward to in November and beyond. Regarding late fall and beyond, Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett in Everett reminded me of the ongoing rainbow trout stocking in area water bodies! Chances are that should you patronize Masswildlife’s trout stocking page to find a recently stocked pond, you’ll have it all to yourself as many are preoccupied with salty pursuits. While on the subject of trout and less pressured water, I once again took a trip out to Wachusett Reservoir recently and in spite of casting into the teeth of a vicious Nor’easter, found willing 3 pound class lake trout! One ounce gold Hopkins Shorty spoons did the damage on that day and not surprisingly I had this pristine, grand place all to myself. Just like the salt, everything in the Chu is chewing right now as smallies, lakers, rainbows and salmon are all joining in on the feed. I asked Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle in West Boylston if there were any reports of river cruising salmon yet and apparently that hasn’t happened so salmon should still be in the main reservoir.
We Bostonians revel in having a different dialect than the rest of the country. The rest of the Atlantic coast may call them bunker or menhaden but we proudly call them pogies, the same can be said for cunner which in these parts are referred to as – sea perch! However, when burning through a flat of seaworms others in these parts often refer to them in more colorful language. That’s a shame since sea perch are abundant, willing and supper-time scrumptious. And according to Pete with less inshore competitors than there used to be such as rock cod, flounder and harbor pollock sea perch just might be getting bigger! A simple top/bottom rig tipped with clams, seaworms or squid should do the trick. Spots to seek out over-sized versions of these members of the wrasse family are Hangman Island, Boston Light, Point Allerton, Graves Light, Faun Bar, Little Faun Bar, Finn Ledge and. Nahant’s 2 Can. A regular of Fishing FINatics recently reported catching enough for 5 pounds of dressed fillets!
Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that anglers are catching mackerel from Nut Island Pier. An angler trolling a tube-and-worm behind a rowboat – of all things! – has been catching all sizes of stripers in the Weymouth Back River. The sweet spot has been between the boat launch and Bare Cove Park. Rivers which hold herring will be hot the rest of the fall run as herring fry wind their way into the sea. Surf anglers have been doing well off Gunrock Beach, Point Allerton, Hull Gut and by Black Creek. As for a best bet for bass, look for the ubiquitous blitzes! Also consider pogy schools in Quincy Bay as well as Winthrop. Stick with that bait and sooner or later bass and blues will find the forage.
Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing is continuing his stay in Falmouth as he wracks up double-digit trips for false albacore between Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay – thankfully his Jones Brother CC is adept at covering a lot of water. Brian will soon be giving in to tog fever as he intends on targeting tautog out of Tiverton, RI.
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
As befitting a run which first gathers steam up north, the North Shore is on fire! My buddy Batista had plans to launch around Lynn with his friend Willy and navigate Nahant but he never made it that far. Mayhem beckoned the two as birds, bass, blues and bait collided in the sort of day long blitz that can only happen in late September! Dread Ledge through Ram Island and as far as could be seen it was pure bedlam as gators and slots joined in on the feed. Further confirmation came from Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem as he told me that 4” peanut bunker as well as adult pogies were getting pummeled from Preston Beach to Phillips Beach through Devereux as well all along Marblehead Neck. But wait, there’s more he said! Salem Harbor is also crushing it as are the harbors of Manchester, Magnolia and Gloucester as bass and blues push peanuts around.
My friend Steve Papows of Gloucester texted me a photo of two surf sharpies which underscored the need to go big this time of the year. Despite seeing peanuts being pummeled practically at their feet in the bubbleweed, Finn Hawley and Mike Evans resisted the urge to go small and clipped on a Mantis pencil and Big Fish Bait Company pencil. Their perseverance paid off as they doubled up on bigger bass than what was obvious.
When asked what the deluges have been doing to the Surfland Bait and Tackle area striper fishing, Kevin said that the bite simply shifts downstream to the mouth of the Merrimack River and Plum Island Sound. In the midst of the Nor’easter mayhem, some surf studs were still catching well while punching needlefish plugs through the combers. Needles come into their own in the rough stuff as they track true in the turmoil of a churned up surf. While subject to change, what’s concerning about the Plum Island area is that bait and bigger bass seem to be drying up resulting in mainly smaller striped bass. All is not lost if you’re a fan of the river since among upstream areas, dropping water temperatures and migrating herring/shad fry are triggering pike to feed!
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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
Far from the exception, blitzes from the South Shore through the North Shore are the norm. For variety it’s hard to top the Buzzards Bay through Westport area as false albacore carve up bait from above and tautog make short work of crabs from below. Mackerel have made a reappearance in Cape Cod Bay with tuna tearing into the schools. Peanut bunker are keeping blues and bass in check from the Three Bays through Hull while their larger forebears have been fuel for big bass in Quincy Bay and Winthrop. For something different, give sea perch a shot – or cunner as the rest of the world calls them – as larger versions have taken up residence by harbor lighthouses as well as inshore bars. The North Shore has gone off big time as bass and blues are putting a serious dent in peanut bunker numbers. Some surf sharpies are passing on the small stuff and catching bigger bass with larger offerings. Thankfully a picture perfect weather forecast awaits over the next week which is timely because if we read the Plum Island tea leaves – there is no time to wait!
Another great report Ron, its seems like you just have to put a line in the water with something tied on resembling the bait and success could come your way.Although it is never that easy you’ve given us plenty of good options.
Albies in the three bays ! Crazy season! Plenty of bait blues and bass too! Tight lines!