Massachusetts Fishing Report- July 11, 2024

Pogies remain prevalent, and not surprisingly where you find such choice bait you’ll find bass big enough to dispatch it. The North Shore continues to hold the bulk of big Bay State bass but in spite of its availability not everyone is targeting them with bait!

Massachusetts South Shore and South Coast Fishing Report

Anyone who knows Captain Mark Rowell knows that the Legit Fish Charters skipper is a practitioner of the calm, cool, collective mindset. That resolve was sorely tested on Sunday when he put a charter in position to land the fish of a lifetime – a monster Atlantic halibut! Mark is no stranger to landing the world’s largest flatfish, so when he pegs the weight at 200 pounds that estimate is – legit! The venue was Stone Ledge, the quarry was haddock but the captain and the crew were ready for the ever-present prospects of hooking into something far larger. In between a good pick of haddock and off-season market cod, one of the anglers came up with a cod and en eviscerated whiting on one of the rigs. While some might blame a shark for the damage done to the whiting, Mark immediately recognized the signature chomp of a halibut. His hunch was confirmed by live imaging on his Lawrence electronics which had the captain and first mate struggling to catch their breath.

The captain immediately dropped the half a whiting towards the bottom when the rod bent and shook from the weight of what he knew was the halibut. His Contender is equipped with conventional gear suited for such warfare and while it took a while, the captain and mate were well on their way towards landing that halibut when the rod was passed among the patrons on board. The barn door sized halibut was but a few feet away with Mark at the ready with a harpoon when one of the crew grabbed the top of the rod causing it to break. The broken blank was bad enough, but the resulting fraying of the 80 pound braid as they still tried to land the fish proved lethal. The reaction of most captains after losing such a fish would have been loud enough to jam nearby GPS units but Mark gave a typical “meh, we’ll get ‘em next time” shrug. That next time may be soon enough because Mark has on good authority that that fish was not alone! Just maybe best of all, those beasts are within 7 miles of the shoreline!

In another time and place Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters earned a reputation as a cow killer, having tallied about two dozen nifty fifties as well as a 64 1/4 pound behemoth of a bass. He evolved into a Charter Captain who enjoys the chess match of putting patrons into most everything which swims within reasonable reach of port. While the black sea bass bite remains hot and heavy in the Westport side of Buzzards Bay, he’s combining striped bass in with those trips which makes for a morning outing which is unique among charter trips.

Chumming with clams is one facet but understanding the bottom/current/wind matrix is essential to understanding where the fish are and how to lead them to the boat. The coolers on his Contender tell the tale of limits of black sea bass and slot stripers.

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that pogy schools in Plymouth are holding big striped bass. Fluke in the Kingston area are evidence of a well rounded fishery in the Three Bays. Closer to Scituate/Cohasset stripers continue to be found off Hummarock/Black Rock Beach with water temperatures the key to finding the cows. With up and down wind patterns water temperatures can vary anywhere from the mid-50s to the mid-60s in a small area. With bait not an issue striped bass will be more active where anglers find the higher water temperatures. Deep diving plugs are working well on big bass off of the Glades and Minot while the Bill Hurley Jerk Bait is besting them by Third Cliff, Fourth Cliff and Damon Point.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Get Tight Sportfishing‘s’ Captain Brian Coombs continues to put charters into impressive cows because he’s not afraid to chase them even if the concentration is as far north as Cape Ann! That’s not to suggest Boston is a bust, that’s hardly the case with all the volume of pogies around. A unique aspect to targeting them in “Town” is the aesthetics of battling a bass with the Hub’s skyline – and all that history – in the background! What’s working for Brian in the harbor is bridling pogies and pitching them among the menhaden mayhem with his Shimano Grappler Rods allow him and his crew to do; something not so easy with such a heavy, cumbersome bait. The strike/hookup ratio of bridling the bait verses simply impaling the pogy with the circle hook is like night and day. When targeting the big fish in deep water, such as near the Hull Ledges, Harbor Humps, or Cape Ann through Ipswich Bay, he’s employing a wahoo favorite speed troller. You may have read about the Nomad DTX in On The Water and this thing can cook to the speed of 16 knots, which at first seems like overkill when targeting striped bass, but Brian kicks it down a notch to 4/5 knots. That speed is still faster than most plugs will handle and ideal for covering a lot of water when searching for a lode of large linesiders. Once found, an Al Gag’s assortment has been getting the job done as has flutter spoons.

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy said that in spite of the presence of pogy schools many are eschewing snagging the bait and instead employing the trusty tube-and-worm. The tube that the shop is having a hard time keeping in stock is the Tuscano-colored Santini Tube! There’s just something about the deep red color of that tube that is knocking them dead. Deploy that tube by Veazie Rocks, Raccoon Island, Hangman Island and Sunken Ledge for best success.

Mackerel continue to be hit-or-miss with deeper water off Hull/Boston Light/Graves Light among the most reliable areas to hit – especially from predawn through first light. Bluefish are simply not a factor; I’m not even hearing them off Provincetown which is usually yellow-eye central so I’m not expecting a toothy invasion anytime soon.

For more on the Tuscano Santiini Tube and other tidings of good fishing I consulted my friend Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett. Practitioners of Pete’s premium tube have been doing well off Long Island, Spectacle Island and Thompson Island. When weighted with lead core line they’ve also been catching off Castle Island, and up north off Nahant and Marblehead. Squid are in the harbor in large numbers with anglers catching them among the pier/wharf jungle of Boston Harbor. Pete said that most anywhere folks can gain access along the Harborwalk has been good. The shop is still selling Zobo Rigs but those blackbacks are farther north in Marblehead Harbor, Manchester Harbor and Gloucester Harbor.

Loligo love was further confirmed when I talked to Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters who said that he has been seeing bass on the hunt for calamari off Deer Island as well as by the PR Can. In fact bass on board have been regurgitating fresh squid! Regarding the PR Can, Paul’s been putting patrons into a nice striper bite there on the outgoing tide. At times, the crew is not having to sail far at all from port at the Charlestown Marina as fish have been found from the shadows of the North Washington Bridge through the Tobin Bridge and up to the Alford Street

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Again, the North Shore is where the best big bass bite continues to be! My buddy Dave “The Dude” Flaherty told me that just this Thursday morning he saw Lynn Harbor going off. He’s also been enjoying a nice topwater bite on the Tsunami Talking Popper at first light among area beaches. Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem has been trolling all manner of deep diving plugs and finding wiling fish up to 45” from Preston Beach through Phillips Beach and out past Tinker Island. Great Pig Rocks off Swampscott has also been good. Squid are swarming Marblehead Harbor, Beverly Harbor and Gloucester Harbor.

Farther north it gets really good! The most recent commercial crush has taken place between Halibut Point and Cranes Beach with the Essex River effluence getting special attention. The epical sea herring/bass/bluefin bedlam off Thatcher Island has quieted down with some evidence that it pushed farther north into the Isles of Shoals off the New Hampshire coast.

According to TJ from Three Lantern Marine and Fishing the shop is having a hard time keeping Rapala’s and X Raps, designed for such deep water yeoman work, in stock! Prevailing, strong SW winds are blowing the warmer surface water out deep with the combination of bait and ideal temperatures serving up a dish that the big bass can’t resist. Pogies and the tube-and-worm have been doing the trick at the mouth of the Annisquam River. The shop is moving eels also with many of the customers commercial fishermen. Mackerel, squid and flounder can all be found among Cape Ann harbors.

Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport echoed what many have been saying: striper sharpies are scoring by going deep! Surf anglers off the ocean front are picking up a few fish as are the folks fishing from Parking Lot 1 at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge. Anglers trolling tubes from Sandy Point out through Plum Island Sound are also catching stripers. The same can be said for Joppa Flats, it’s just that for consistency you can’t beat the deepwater troll especially near pogy schools. A few flounder diehards are having arguably a better season than in years with the Crane’s Beach area as well as Folly Cove holding solid numbers of flounder.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Pogy schools in the Three Bays have big bass shadowing the bait. The Third and Fourth Cliffs in Scituate are two of the few inshore spots which are producing well on the South Shore. Trolling the venerable tube-and-worm around structure strewn throughout Quincy Bay, Long Island and Spectacle Island should continue to be effective for striped bass. With an increasing presence of squid, bucktail jigs worked below marked fish by Deer Island as well as the PR Can should produce. Of course the pogy schools throughout the harbor are not to be ignored with bridling the bait a proven method of rigging. And then there is the North Shore which at least for the time being is cow central with Halibut Point through Crane’s Beach holding pogies, big bass and the occasional tuna crashing the deepwater party. Most are finding the bait and bass and setting up a troll. The advantages are numerous as the boat stays clean, anglers are freed from the hassle of bait acquisition and upkeep and all indications are that the stripers are loving it!