Plentiful forage, along with skyrocketing water temperatures, have resulted in fussy striped bass – welcome to the peak of the summer! Not all have little more than the skunk to show for their efforts, as those who are going deep or nocturnal are still catching. For those whose leanings don’t begin and end with all things striper, the South Coast continues to serve up a dizzying number of options.
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
Something can be said for taking a halftime, respite from the salt: for proof, just ask our friends whose shops cater to freshwater pursuits. Rod from Arlington Bait & Tackle told me that just before the recent heat wave, pike and tiger muskies were tearing up big Booyah and Strike King spinner baits at Spy Pond. Some anglers were going au naturel with their presentations and offering those fish something they are used to chomping on, namely, baby bluegills. The Sudbury River had been good also for pike and Larrys. Rod also predicted that the next significant rainfall will light a fuse among the myriad of species that swim throughout the Upper Mystic and Lower Mystic Lakes. The flow from the rain will flush a wave of herring fry from upstream areas, and Sallys, Larrys, crappie, white perch, and stripers will be waiting. When I mentioned the sunfish-eating hawg dynamic to Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett, he mentioned that he has shop sharpies who deploy them to dupe leery brown trout and Larrys in Horn, Walden, and White Ponds. Blue Kelly Worms are working well for bass in Fellsmere Pond, the Mystic Lakes, and the Golden Hills Ponds.
Rick from Jerry’s Bait and Tackle in Milford said that the sunny trick has also resulted in big browns from one of the Bay State’s premier brown trout waters – South Pond in East Brookfield/Sturbridge. Plenty of anglers also do very well trolling shiners there, the landlocked alewife forage base fuels trophy making. There are wildcard fish here as well, including pike and impressive Larrys. I’ve had the good fortune to ice fish, as well as open-water fish, South Pond, and nearly every time one of our group would catch a 4 – 5 pound Larry in addition to trout. The call of Wachusett Reservoir is a hard one to ignore, even this time of the year. Gone is the madness of April/early May, and it is supplanted by 37 miles of pristine shoreline with often not a soul in sight. A few pals and I have been putting in some hours there, and we’ve landed solid lake trout, trophy white perch, slab Sallys, and rainbow trout. During one trip, I attempted to release a laker, which didn’t make it, something which, unfortunately, occasionally happens to this cold water char in the heat of the summer. My anguish over what to do with the bobbing laker was assuaged by the sight of a mother eagle soaring in from across the reservoir to size up the prospective meal. She perched over my head and patiently waited for the right moment when, with a whoosh, she swooped in and plucked the 3-pound fish off the surface and carried it away as if it were a minnow. As she neared her eyrie, she was greeted by what looked to be a very happy eaglet! I’d say that was worth the trip alone.
Shawn from Merrimack Sports said that with most succumbing to striper-mania, hardly anyone is fishing for pike in the Merrimack River. With less pressure, now might be an ideal time to give it a go with the areas such as Kimball Island and Stanley Island, usually productive, as are the effluences with the Spicket and Shawsheen Rivers. The shop carries shiners big enough to get noticed by a pike all year long, and not just during the ice fishing season. A few other freshwater bodies of note for Larrys are Johnson Pond, Pow Wow Pond, and a nondescript little waterbody in Seabrook, which recently gave up a 9-pounder! Patronize the shop, and I’m sure Shawn will point you to where that monster was caught. Something tells me that that pond must be the tailwater of a herring run.
Massachusetts South Shore and South Coast Fishing Report
Few in the fishy business can switch gears for a charter and successfully put them on unintended species like Captain Jason Colby. The original goal during a recent excursion was black sea bass and stripers, but as the crew left the dock, they expressed a wish to catch fluke and tautog. While a lot of folks are fishing for fluke now, tautog are usually reserved for the fall when they are schooled up and on the chew. For most skippers, that would be a problem, but not for the Little Sister Charters captain, who simply dialed in different waypoints and – voila – the mission was accomplished as the patrons had pictures and fillets of both toothy fish. Fluke and blackfish aside, the Westport side of Buzzards Bay continues to serve up simply outstanding black sea bass fishing with big fish and plenty of them.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters is putting patrons onto an interesting mix of species also as both haddock and stripers have been cooperating for the crew. Stone Ledge continues to be great for gadoids, while the best bass fishing vacillates between Minot Ledge and the mouth of the North River, with the latter fishing best as cooler water is ushered in on the flood. Mackerel remain an easy find and are the bait of choice for the bass. As for tuna, the best bluefin fishing remains east of Stellwagen, but with the volume of bait inshore and steadily rising water temperatures, Block Island bluefin are expected to move up soon. Pete from Belsan’s Bait and Tackle in Scituate described the mackerel population as “can’t miss!” The unusually large population of sand eels at the Spit is holding slots. For larger fish, trolling X-Raps east of Sunken Ledge has been effective. Blues remain a no-show.
Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle said that the fishing is so good that even broken ribs are not stopping anglers from bass fishing. One guy in the heat of things broke a rib but kept on catching fish with a white Mojo Rig off Hull. Linersider luck has not been confined to boaters either, as shore casters such as Mike Breen are using clams for bass up to 46” off the ocean side of A Street in Hull. Boaters are getting their mackerel fix from the ledges of Hull towards Minot Ledge. A good old-fashioned blitz recently broke out near Spinnaker Island, with anglers trolling a tube-and-worm taking advantage of the frenzied fish. This has been a standout year for squid, with some anglers putting the bait surplus to good use: stripers in some circles are called squid hounds. For some, the formula has been to jig squid off Pemberton Pier and then live-line the bait through Hull Gut, and it usually doesn’t take long for a striper to find them.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
Usually when there’s a surge in squid numbers, the harbor gets a bump in black sea bass numbers. Right on cue came a killer knothead report from Lisa of Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy. There has been a consistent black sea bass bite off West Gut, Hull Gut and through Nantucket Roads between Rainsford Island and Peddock Island. One sharpie even showed the ladies at the shop a litany of waypoints where he’s finding the fish. In spite of the availability of all that squid, he’s doing best with a dropper loop rig/seaworm combo bounced along the bottom. The Fore River Bridge area has schools of an unusual size pogy – 4-5” – which while more difficult to snag are proving to be bite size morsels striped bass can’t resist. Patrons of Fore River are also taking advantage of the all those squid with anglers catching them up and live-lining them off Nut Island Pier. One angler went to the side of the pier and cleaned up on squid-sated stripers among the rock piles.
As for Boston bass nearly everyone I talked to says the same thing – the Anchorage is where the fish are! Pogies schools as well as brit herring are keeping stripers from slots to slobs in check. Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters puts his nearly 50 years of fishing the harbor to good use as he gauges boat traffic and tidal flow and is able to pluck fish out from the fleet without fanfare. That’s not easy when you’re trolling umbrella rigs/Mojo Rigs and everyone else is running, gunning and casting! Squid can be found under the lights off the dockage of Constitution Marina at night. Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing usually begins the day at an ungodly hour to acquire live mackerel at the outer harbor knowing that a mack snack thrown in the midst of a bass/bunker feed is usually pay dirt. While the angling armada aggregates at the Anchorage, as well as Deer Island and Long Island, Captain Coombs has the advantage of an extensive buddy boat base and won’t stay if he hears of a better bite elsewhere. The results speak for themselves as he boated yet another nifty-fifty last week.
With water temperatures cresting, Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett told me of anglers such as John Maganaro who are successfully deploying the Santini tube in deep water by Boston Ledge and other areas in the outer harbor. The trick is spooling up with lead core and letting out 4 to 5 colors of line to get it all nice and deep. Others are taking advantage of the squid surplus as well as access to the Boston Harborwalk and doing well among the wharf jungle of the inner harbor. Anglers are jigging up squid, putting them on Vella Rigs and catching bass – so simple! Not all of the bass can be controlled with some of them referred to as submarines.
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle told me that the North Shore has not been immune to the “squidnado”. Anglers are catching them off Salem Willows Pier, Beverly Pier, Marblehead Harbor and Gloucester Harbor. The squid are making for great bait and great eats as many are keeping them for personal consumption. A few fluke have been caught off Fisherman’s Beach Pier in Swampscott. Mackerel have been plentiful in Misery Channel and have been the go-to bait for bass inside Salem and Beverly. The commercial coalition is catching their fish by day with mackerel and at night on eels between the Annisquam River and the Essex River. Some of those big bass are emulating what they did last year as they move onto vast pogy schools in the Isles of Shoals area. From a conservation standpoint this is a safe haven for those fish as commercial fishing for striped bass in New Hampshire waters is prohibited. Tyler from Three Lantern Marine said that on an incoming tide, cooler water is moving stripers into Gloucester Harbor. There are not a lot of fish there but guys are catching them on the tube-and-worm. Mackerel are no sweat to catch with some reporting they are finding them between the breakwater and the Groaner.
Regarding mackerel, it seems something has pushed them in close to the Plum Island shore according to Martha from Surfland Bait & Tackle! Surf fishers have been catching them with what one angler referred to as “Murderous Richards” (AKA Deadly Dicks!). The Merrimack and Parker Rivers are producing striped bass on cooler-water incoming tides. Plum Island is a veritable bait ball and with sand eels, brit herring and mackerel in abundance you can expect fussy fish. Some of the more consistent catchers are baiting with sandworms off Parking Lot 1 in the refuge and Sandy Point. Anglers who want squid are making the trip up to Kittery Maine.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
Last week, my wife and I were vacationing in Bermuda, and I even managed to slip in a few hours of fishing. While it was fun and the silk snappers we caught were feisty and colorful, I found myself occasionally daydreaming about the blistering Buzzards Bay black sea bass bite out of Westport. The knotheads I’ve boated on the Little Sister this year have been bigger, more numerous, and more of a feast for the eyes than those little snappers in the Caribbean. For something comparable to their snapper, I submit the oft-maligned scup as similar in size and color. After a few hours on the boat, I was left with one inescapable conclusion – resident anglers there would probably kill to have what we have on the South Coast! On the South Shore, anglers trolling X Raps are picking off solid stripers while the waiting game is on for old yellow eyes. On an incoming tide, the North River is holding fish, with a lively mackerel the key to catching. Closer to the harbor, bite-sized pogies are hanging tight to the Fore River Bridge with bass taking notice. A surge in the squid population has anglers jigging them up and baiting them for bass in Hull Gut, Nut Island, and the wharves throughout the inner harbor. Santini tubes tipped with a seaworm can never be discounted, even in the deep water of the outer islands and ledges. Pogy schools near the anchorage are holding bass with live mackerel and Mojo Rigs working well. Mackerel in Misery Channel has been money for bass in Beverly and Salem. The commercial consortium are finding those fish in Essex Bay with eels at night, accounting for much of their success. Mackerel have pushed in close to Plum Island, which must mean there are predators nearby such as stripers, blues or – tuna!
Everyone is “rapp’in” off the Gurnet, plenty of Mac’s running high off the bell can-Tight lines.
Early Bird catches the Cow on the three bays, plenty of bait around including juvy herring. Tight lines.