Massachusetts Fishing Report – September 5, 2024

You folks are sure loving your cod aren’t you? It may be only one cod that anglers are able to keep in most of the Bay State – 5 for Southern Mass – but that one fish has reignited a love affair for Massachusetts state fish. That’s not to suggest that striped bass and bluefish are yesterday’s news but anglers are really appreciating fishing for our great groundfish.

Massachusetts South Shore and South Coast Fishing Report

The Little Sister‘s’ first drift over one of Captain Jason Colby’s Coxes Ledge waypoints was a harbinger that it was going to be a good day. Jigs dropped to the bottom found willing cod with some specimens weighting 15-20 pounds! The addition of a few nice black sea bass made for an interesting cooler and a fine way to end the black sea bass season. Inshore trips in the Westport side of Buzzards Bay are not yielding cod yet – that’ll change next month – but the burgeoning blackfish bite will continue to get better as tog school up.

“Hard bottom” within 3 miles of much of the South Shore is holding cod according to Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters. The conundrum is that the shallower structure is more likely to give up smaller rock cod while “white bellies” up to 35” are falling for clams between 2 1/2-5 miles once Scituate Harbor is cleared. Blues and bass have been busting peanut bunker all across the South Shore from Plymouth to Peggotty Beach. The North River has been noteworthy as well as has the Cliffs. The acquisition of mackerel is not a problem as they can be found among inshore eddies and upwellings in as little as 40’. Some major bluefin can be found in the SW Corner of Stellwagen Bank but you can expect company because the word is out. You’re not likely to find Captain Rowell among the fleet as he has his sites on Charlie in the same Cape Cod Bay areas he’s finding cod!

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that shorelines have been blitz-city as the dynamic duo – bass ad blues – push peanuts. Bill Hurley Jerk Baits, Albie Snax and Yo-Zuri Top Knock Pencils have been crushing it among coves and structure in tight to Egypt Beach, the Glades and Minot. Divers are reporting tautog among the ledge off Egypt Beach and by the breakwater off Cedar Point.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that hordes of dead pogies washed up against the World’s End shoreline and banks of the Weir River have been the handiwork of a bluefish massacre. The mouths of river herring runs and nearby embayments are getting active as the first wave of herring fry begin transitioning to the sea. Look for aggressive stripers near the Weymouth Back River, the Charles River and the Mystic. That combination even convinced Lisa to jump aboard her buddies boat – Triple Threat – where they found feeding stripers inside of the Tobin Bridge and out towards the mouth of the Chelsea Creek, Tube-and-wormers working Wessagusset Beach have been catching both bass and blues. There have been blitzes near Bumpkin Island with bass belting baby bunker. Dropping water temperatures are bringing in mackerel towards the outer islands and ledges off Hull. Cod can be found between Graves Light and out towards the B Buoy.

Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been tempted to cleat his ride to one of the outer docks of his marina. Herring fry are triggering intermittent feeds between the Charles River and the docks. He’s been spotting pogy schools off Castle Island and the ILS Pier off the airport but bass are not always present with the prey. A better bet for him has been trolling umbrella rigs and mojo rigs by the anchorage and Deer Island.

If anyone has a bead on Boston bass and blues it’s Captain Dave Panorello who has been catching aboard his Cast Right Lund since early May with nary a break. He said that not every pogy school is holding stripers making it necessary sometimes to break what many feel is an axiom which is never to leave fish to find fish. In a given tide Dave may check out schools by the “blue building” near the reserve channel, Crystal Cove, the Belle Isle Bridge and deep inside East Boston near Constitution Beach. The difference between guys like Dave who are consistently catching and the one’s who aren’t is that they don’t mind putting in the work.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that his customers have hardly been immune brown bomber fever. They have been finding cod off Kettle Ledge, Saturday Night Ledge as well as the smattering of “Hills” on the north shore such as Eagle Ridge/Hill 101 and Hill 47. Tomo’s tip is to target slopes more than the top of structure where fish are more likely to lie in ambush of prey carried along by the current. Above all pay attention to your chart plotters as cod and other groundish are likely to be hovering over numerous nondescript lumps, bumps and clumps. As for fish with bite, blues are one thing but anglers – even shore fishers – have increasingly been hooking inshore sharks. The almost limitless volume of pogies in Massbay this year is the likely culprit. Peanut bunker are drawing the heat of mixed sizes of stripers off Devereux Beach as well as Salem Sound and Beverly Harbor. Adult pogy schools are sprinkled in among their smaller kin, making those spots stellar for bigger bass. Dropping water temperatures and less of a bluefish presence has brought mackerel in closer to shore. Most of the macks have been bite-size tinkers.

TJ from Three Lantern Marine and Fishing in Gloucester said that anglers trolling the Lainsville area have had luck for linesiders and blues recently. Peanut bunker have been a factor setting off feeds of area beaches such as Pebble, Cape Hedge, Long and Good Harbor. While you’re trying to match the approximate size/shape of the small bait keep a few larger wares on hand in case mackerel move in on the small menhaden. My friend Steve Papows has caught monster stripers in the wash by deploying pencils, spooks and metal lips while mackerel were massacring the mini-menhaden and stripers were feeding on them! As for cod, anglers are finding a few fish among structure almost as soon as they clear the Groaner outside of Gloucester Harbor. Magnolia continues to give up a few cod as well.

As much as it must pain a co-owner of a shop named Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport to admit it, the bite off Plum Island has been far better for the boater than the “booter”! Trollers dragging the panoply of Rapala standbys in 30-50’ of water continue to do well with both stripers and blues. For the casting contingent eels from the surf of the wildlife refuge are working best for big bass. Plum Island Sound as well as Joppa Flats are hit or miss depending on whether a wave of herring fry is moving through. Anglers working the tube-and-worm among inshore areas have been doing better than most. For an inshore cod or two have a go at halfway hump.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

With striped bass angling more of a challenge than a few weeks ago some have been turning to cod to fill the void. The Rhode Island Sound area through Coxes Ledge has been good with jigs accounting for fish close to 20 pounds. Inshore of that area in the Westport region tautog are picking up their activity level and beginning to school. Tog can also be found along the South Shore with Manomet Point, Maryann Rocks, Minot, Egypt Beach and Cedar Point all spots where those crab-crunchers have been known to frequent. Peanut bunker in the Three Bays, Scituate Harbor and across area beaches have been the fuel for bass and blue blitzes. Boston remains bunker-town but with so much bait look for tightly wound bait balls which indicate a school under duress. For a shot at a cod closet to the Hub, check out the humps near the B Buoy. Pogy schools are still hanging in there in the Salem/Beverly area and with less bait than in Boston odds are better you’ll find bass shadowing the schools. With the Lainsville section in Cape Ann still holding blues the hope is that those choppers will hang in there for at least the remainder of the month. Trolllers off Plum Island are still having impressive outings while the surf stalkers are getting their due with eels at night off the refuge.