It’s beginning to resemble a casino out there with all the talk of – slots! While the thirty-inch on average stripers are most common near herring runs as numbers surge, we are starting to see blitzes among beaches and estuaries. Flounder, AKA blackbacks, continue to be option B with action heating up from the South Shore through the North Shore.
South Shore through and South Coast
“It’s wild out there”, was the spot-on comment from Pete of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate this week. Stripers up to 25 pounds are pummeling river herring in very skinny water in the North River, especially after dark. Hooking a solid striper in only a few feet of water is a feat not soon forgotten. Bill Hurley jerk baits, Albie Snax, RonZs, and even Kastmasters are accounting for a lot of fish. Anglers dragging a tube and worm throughout the Three Bays, Green Harbor, and by Fourth Cliff are catching them up as well. The sweet sound/sight of spring blitzes has been a thing of area beaches, but the fish can be fussy when they key in on sand eels or juvenile sea herring. Needlefish plugs will work as will soft plastic stick baits when those fish focus on that particular bait.
Mackerel are more miss than hit with somewhat of a presence offshore, nearer Stellwagen Bank. The bet is that macks should move inshore shortly which is good news for those looking to intercept bigger migrating bass, as they should soon move along inshore ledges, which are long-established spring run routes.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters echoed what others are saying, namely that slot stripers are not hard to find. Scituate Harbor is holding them, as are beaches such as Duxbury Beach, Priscilla Beach, Burkes Beach, and Rexhame Beach. Some are report that after the long haul, the fish are feeding voraciously and prone to hit a variety of plugs and soft plastics. Captain Rowell has a hunch that the haddock are a lot closer than Jeffrey’s Ledge, making them much for accesible for South Shore anglers. He’s hedging his bets that haddock should move well into Cape Cod Bay thanks to a spike in lobster boat activity, along with their inadvertent chumming as they set and pull their traps. Over the weekend, he’s hoping to have a bead on them as they could be near Stone Ledge or the SW Corner of Stellwagen.
Regarding Cape Cod Bay, Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters said that the area just outside of Sesuit Harbor is loading up with bait as sand eels and sea herring are about to be joined by mackerel, making for a striped bass buffet. Surely this will test the resolve of the crew who are trying to concentrate on flounder! Dalton Clayton of North Carolina certainly kept to the script recently as he even out-fished the captain for flounder up to 19”. Many trips are resulting in 18”+ specimens. Not only is the flounder bite here the envy of most of the Bay State, but the fish seem to actually taste better! A chef who occasionally jumps aboard Captain Colby’s Contender swears that because the flounder subsist primarily on clams as opposed to seaworms, the fillets have a sweeter flavor. Anecdotally, I can’t disagree, as the fillets I had from a recent trip were indeed scrumptious.
Greater Boston
Not to be outdone in the flounder sweepstakes, Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett is hosting his ever-popular Zobo Flounder Tournament this Sunday. Timing for this family and friend-oriented event looks ideal as the weather should be sweet and flounder feedbag seems to be expanding from Greater Boston through Cape Ann. In addition to promising shore spots such as the piers off Nut Island, Castle Island, Deer Island, and Lynn, boaters may want to consider less pressured but often productive harbor spots. A few to consider are Hospital Shoals, Hypocrite Channel, Sculpin Ledge, Governor’s Flats, and Winthrop Harbor.
If you’ll accept a tip from yours truly, who has won a few of these, go with both seaworms and clams. The worms invariably catch more fish, but the larger clam bait will often trigger a bite from the biggest blackbacks in Boston Harbor. Should you opt for the Zobo Rig – and you should – place the clam on the top hook – that bigger offering will get noticed by the keen-eyed flounder from farther away. And above all, chum, chum, and chum some more.
As for striped bass, Captain Vinny Simeone of Stormbuster Charters informed me that at least one school of pogies has moved into Boston Harbor along with bass big enough to dispatch them. The stretch between Long Island and Nixes Mate has held both the bait and the bass. On an outgoing tide, a nice little rip forms in this area, making it a solid spot to drift pogies, mackerel, troll a metal lip, work a bucktail jig, or fish an eel. The metal lip and eel can be awfully effective for monster bass here at night.
Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that the tube-and-worm has been hot for slots and larger stripers from the Weymouth Back River out through Grape Island. Wollaston Beach has been going off as well. While not enough to top off the livewell, a few macks have been caught at Martin’s Ledge. The shop is moving a few squid jigs as that fishery is gaining momentum off Nut Island and Pemberton Pier. Herring are stacked up by the Charles River locks as well as the Amelia Earhart Dam, with stripers pushing them. Toscano and red Santini Tubes are working well here, as well as the Costco Flats to the Encore Casino.
North Shore
According to Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem, the bass bite has picked up the last few days along the shores of the Danvers River. Both boaters and surf casters have been doing well with amber colored Fish Snax XL as well as olive colored RonZs. Those colors are often not the first choice among anglers, but they match the color of a lot of local forage. Increasingly, anglers are experiencing surface feeds in Salem Harbor and Beverly Harbor. Farther out by Middleground, terns have been active, making some surmise that there may be a cinder worm “hatch” going off out there. When a fresh batch of stripers moves in that place could explode. Cormorants have been busy in Marblehead Harbor; it could be but a tide away before stripers sniff them out as well. Garrett from Three Lantern Marine told me that the rivers throughout Cape Ann have slot stripers with Slug-Gos and SP Minnows catching them up. There has been action at the Essex River as well. Harbors from Manchester through Gloucester have also begun featuring surface feeds. Flounder fishing continues to remain popular, with Niles Beach and Folly Cove fishing well. Anglers working a sabiki rig by the Groaner are getting a few mackerel, but they are just starting. Harbor pollock can be caught by the Salvages with their larger gadoid cousins more likely to be found near Tillies Ledge and southern Jeffrey’s Ledge. That groundfish bite consists of plenty of redfish, with some headboat reports listing haddock limits that are easily attained.
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According to Liz from Surfland Bait and Tackle, some anglers are reporting that finding the stripers is the easy part, but getting them to hit is sometimes not so simple. Surfcasters working the mouth of the Merrimack are watching partly in awe and partly in frustration as big stripers are cruising past them, seemingly immune to everything that is tossed their way. With herring still stuffed upstream towards the Lawrence Dam, could their indifference reflect how full they are from all those alewives? Herring aren’t the only prey in the sights of those striped bass, as shad have been observed taking flight to escape their seven-striped predators. The bait brigade is doing well with everything from seaworms to clams at Lot 1 in the Parker River Wildlife Refuge. Others are strolling the surf, occasionally catching fish, and just plain thrilled at the possibility of catching a striped bass again. A peek into their surf bag could reveal needlefish plugs to match the sand eel population, as well as bucktail jigs and Charlie Graves Tin Squids to punch through combers. There are scant reports so far on flounder and mackerel.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
Mid-May is serving up plenty of slot stripers and some larger ones among South Shore rivers, with the North River particularly productive. Area beaches from Duxbury to Black Rock in Cohasset are not to be ignored, as bass on the move are often within casting range. While not there yet, when mackerel show up offshore, trollers will be able to target breeder bass off Minot Ledge as well as the numerous ones off Hull. Flounder fishing is mostly fantastic in Cape Cod Bay, especially so when devoid of a high-pressure front. Flounder fishing is also fine in Boston Harbor, which coincides nicely with the highly anticipated Zobo Flounder Tournament this Sunday. Chances are that the high-profile spots will be busy, so consider some others, such as Sculpin Ledge and Hospital Shoals, for a chance to put you in the winner’s circle. Pogy schools are pushing into the harbor, bringing along with them larger linesiders, especially between Long Island and Nixes Mate. Things are heating up on the North Shore as shore anglers and boaters alike are doing well in the Danvers River area. Father north in the Merrimack lie some of the bigger bass in the Bay State, with the caveat being that they are stuffed full of herring. Remain dogged, don’t get frustrated, and keep casting because sooner or later, they have to eat again.