Massachusetts Fishing Report- April 25, 2024

A saltwater zephyr is beginning to waft into our midst and it is bringing along flounder, tautog, shad and soon – fresh striped bass! With freshwater fishing so good you’ll soon have to make the sweetest of decisions: do I continue to be preoccupied with trout, bass and panfish or do I flip the script and go all in on the salt?

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

It took a few trips to find them but Captain Jason Colby is now pulling keeper tog and cod onto the Little Sister! He’s packing on his boat crabs, clams and jigs for both species. Many of the crew will begin with bait rigs for tog, and once they knock the rust off, they graduate to the more challenging jig/crab. No such sophistication is needed with the brown bomber as cod simply scoff up most everything which appears even remotely edible. While cod are still hanging in there now that water temperatures are pushing 50 degrees, tautog are moving inshore with purpose to spawn. Coinciding nicely with the tog migration is that Captain Colby will be ditching the 8-10 oz lead in favor of 4-5 oz and even lighter jigs. For a real hoot have the captain fix you up with a spinning rod/1 ounce Tidal Tails Jig’z combo. Once tied to a drag-pulling white chin with nothing but braid between you and the beast, you’ll never be the same. A few black sea bass are also starting to move into shoal water on that side of Buzzards Bay; the recreational season does not begin until May 18th but those fish are still fun to catch and release. Expect schoolie/slot surface feeds to be a regular occurrence in the Westport River any day now. Regarding river running saltwater spawners, shad are now present in the North River and Indian Head River! Owing to the small dimensions of this watershed, the shad tend to be most active between dusk and dawn.

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that tautog should be moving along the Cedar Point breakwater in preparation to spawn in May. Look for tautog also to be foraging among the rocky structure below Manomet Point. Pete said that Captain Rob Green of Elizabeth Marie Charters has been steering his boat more towards Tillie’s Bank and Jeffrey’s Ledge with the crew finding redfish, cusk and a few haddock. Long and Little Ponds in Plymouth just received a serious shot of major trout with brood stock brown trout along with tiger trout part of the stocking. Anglers targeting largemouth bass are coming away with some real hawgs on jigs/trailers and good old shiners. The smattering of ponds in Plymouth have been productive as has Jacobs Pond.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

It was only a shot of a hand holding a flounder, but the picture Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing sent me said it all – Boston blackbacks are back! Finding fish in April bodes well for the season because ordinarily winter flounder don’t really get active until May. Warmer than usual inshore water temperatures of 50 degrees are one reason for the early start but another just might be a bump in numbers – time will tell! Holdover harbor stripers can breathe a sigh of relief because beginning Friday, Captain Coombs will be taking his game to Buzzards Bay where he expects to find fresh schoolies/slots in the Wareham River area.

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy has been running out of seaworms which is a sure indication that anglers are focusing on flatfish! Deer Island Flats has been among the better early season spots but I wouldn’t ignore Dorchester Bay, East Boston or Winthrop Harbor. While customers are chomping at the bit to luck into those first linesiders they are prepping by targeting the more diverse trout stockings which have taken place at Houghton’s Pond and Jamaica Pond. The Charles River is beginning to give up some crappie while bass have been getting active in Brookline Reservoir.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett said that flounder fans are putting recently tied Zobo rigs to good use for fatties off the Lynn Marsh bridges, the Lynn Pier and Heritage Park.

Anglers heading north for haddock are doing far better than anglers fishing Stellwagen. Typically that has been the trend in the modern era with fish eventually moving from east of the bank onto Stellwagen and even Cape Cod Bay.

If you’ve taken a break from designated trout ponds it may be time to revisit as several now have been boosted with brown trout and tiger trout, including some real trophies. Two at the top of the list are Horn Pond and Walden Pond.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem had the same take as others in that the best haddock fishing is taking place off Tillies Bank and Jeffrey’s Ledge. Some of the shop regulars are taking to looking for holdover stripers in the Danvers River or chasing shad throughout the Merrimack River. Soon those shad in the river will have seven-striped competitors. Anglers poking around piers on the north shore so far are only coming up with sea herring. Trout remain a top target for most looking for something to catch before the salt picks up with Pleasant Pond, Sluice, Baldpate, Stiles and Forest Lake all holding trout.

Kevin from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport confirmed that the hot spot for shad in the Merrimack seems to be centered around the Chippendale Dance Studio in North Andover. A few white perch have also been encountered as bycatch and by those chasing them. Regarding white perch, salters are running the Parker River and Exeter River right now! The former has some fish while the latter tributary of Great Bay is right up there with the Assonet/Taunton River runs on the South Coast as two of New England’s best. Seaworms meandering through the current on a float are a proven bait.

For flounder, south of Plum Island is fishing best with Crane’s Beach, Gloucester Harbor, Manchester Harbor and Beverly Harbor good choices for flounder. Solid reports are coming in regarding ground fish with Captain’s Fishing Charters in Newburyport as well as Eastman’s in Seabrook New Hampshire all talking up limits of haddock along with a grab bag of other deepwater species.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

We all know Wachusett is a winner and while the focus is usually on cold water species, bass and panfish grow to special sizes also. With 37 miles of shoreline, not including tributaries, anglers could conceivably fish a different place every time out and still hook something impressive. Just to shake things up a bit I decided to key in on a specie I gave short shrift to in the past there – crappie! In other parts of the country, crappie are king but owning to how good we have it in the Bay State they are often denigrated as merely a – panfish. Three casts into a recent subfreezing dawn morning at this pristine reservoir I caught a slab which would have raised eyebrows most anywhere. On an ultralight rod, a big crappie is a blast and from the crystal clear water of Wachusett Reservoir the colors “pop” making the fish live up to the oft-used moniker of “calicos”. What was working for me was a nuclear chicken glow TTI Blakemore Slab Runner. That lure was also responsible for a pretty respectable rainbow. Undoubtedly at the same time and spread about this huge water body were other anglers catching smallies, lakers, salmon, rainbows and white perch and all were convinced that they had it best!

According to Gerry of Crack of Dawn Bait in Philipston, there were mixed reviews regarding the opening week of Quabbin Reservoir. Lakers along the Gate 31 section were cooperating for both boaters and shore anglers but salmon fishing so far was slow. A better landlocked bite took place on the Gate 8 side of the reservoir. A regular of the shop fished shiners on a slip-sinker rig near Gate 43 and tallied 8 lakers of up to four pounds.

The bite at the Connecticut River has been noteworthy with smallmouth bass, walleye and channel catfish all part of the equation. Jerk baits fished about 3 feet above the bottom have been working well for bass while the walleyes are preferring the same lure bumping the bottom. For smallies and walleyes check out the swath just below the border and on through Hinsdale New Hampshire. For those big cats, the Holyoke section is a better option. Typical of their plebeian persona the best bait for those channel catfish are chicken gizzards or dead fish of most any sort.

Rick from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport told me that South Pond has been giving up some impressive brown trout on shiners, with rivers such as the Westfield and Sudbury Rivers fishing well for rainbow trout. With hatches commonplace Power Baiters are often leaving frustrated but fly fishers or spinners tossing a spin-bubble/fly combo are cleaning up!

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The slim-window of the salt is ready to rival a solarium! Swarms of stripers are set to invade the Bay State and you better be ready! Water temperature and bait will be the key as to where they will congregate with estuaries, rivers, marshes and herring runs all places to experience the euphoria of hooking that fish fresh striper. The Three Bays should be a South Shore best bet with Green Harbor not far behind. Scitaute Harbor, the South and North Rivers are also worthy of working a bucktial or jig/soft plastic or maybe even a topwater over the next week. Hingham Harbor through Quincy Bay and maybe even the Lower Middle of the Harbor could have fish hot not the tails of a river herring snack. Of course those herring which are held up in the Weymouth Back River, Charles River and Mystic River will all have linesider company soon. Up north you’ll have to wait a tad longer with the consolation prize being that you folks have the haddock honey holes on Jeffrey’s and Tillies. Not all have the mindset of saltwater or nothing thanks to Massachusetts two blue ribbon reservoirs – the Chu and the Q – where pristine aesthetics are a match for the fishing.