In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a bit blustery out there! The nor’easter is presenting quite the conundrum as to what to expect. To facilitate your fishy fortunes moving forward, I asked a few folks to peer into their crystal balls for a prediction.
South Shore and South Coast
Baby bluefin have been all the buzz this past week with numerous reports of 39”-50” fish. Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters is leaning towards an inbound movement, as the wind should blow in the bait as well as the fish. Prior to the storm, the bite had been based primarily on the edges of Stellwagen, with surface feeds tipping off the whereabouts of the tuna. The downside of the nor’easter is that all that freshwater brought on by the downpours may push mackerel out from the South Shore harbors and bays where they have been conveniently located for weeks.
As for stripers, fish had been in tight among mooring fields from the Three Bays out through Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor and Cohasset Harbor with the jury still out as to what will happen once the seas settle.
Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate has a remedy for the nor’easter blues – take it to the rivers! Herring fry moving out of upstream spawning habitat are being intercepted by stripers with spots, such as the Herring River and James Landing serving up action. Post-storm, cod should still be in among Humarock humps as well as broken bottom around Flatt Ledge. The shop measured up a nice local tautog of 24”, 9.28 pounds; just another example of how there are more tautog north of the cape than many realize. Look for isolated rocks/wrecks in 35-55’ of water, which will concentrate the fish more than expansive sections of hard bottom. In addition to crabs, tog can also be caught on sea worms and clams.
Captain Jason Colby has hit the pause button for a few days for obvious reasons but fully expects the Little Sister to resume its successful ways with everything from bonito to puffer fish in play. Before Mother Nature derailed mariner overtures, the crew was also indulging in casting for Westport River stripers as well as black sea bass and tautog. While certainly there are more tog in Buzzards Bay than the South Shore, the same structure search should be kept in mind. Large expanses of rock or wrecks will often prove less fruitful than an isolated piece of structure. Additionally, if you’re catching nothing but black sea bass, keep at it as often the frenzy of feeding black sea bass will be just the catalyst those crab crunchers need to get going.
Greater Boston
“Ya gotta love the lee!”, so suggests Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett to his customers who are looking for relief during the nasty weather. Options to consider away from the rollers are the Chelsea Creek, both sides of the Alford Street Bridge, the Encore Casino shoreline, the Lynn Marsh, and Saugus River. One of the most effective means of fishing those relatively tranquil estuaries is with Pete’s namesake tube. Tautog have been taken in tight to the piling jungle along the inner harbor piers and wharves. Cod, including keepers, have moved into the Graves Light area, with a few also encountered by Roaring Bulls as well as irregular bottom outside of the Calf Islands. In tight to the islands, there are cunner which rival in size small tautog. Mackerel can be caught from the Black Falcon Cruise terminal float, and smelt not far away off the Summer Street Bridge.
Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy said that anglers should be able to find calmer waters, bait and bass by the Weir River, inside the Fore River and the Town River. The latter has been giving up stripers as far upstream as anglers can access. Pogies remain present, as are their peanut prodigy throughout Quincy Bay. Mackerel and squid continue to be caught off Nut Island as well as the piers of Hull. Hull Gut has been good for mack chunkers, and once the conditions relax, the bite should begin again where it left off.
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North Shore
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem described stripers as cruising around in “packs” which aren’t remaining long in any particular area. Marblehead, Salem, and Beverly harbors all intermittently go off, but getting a bead on their whereabouts is tricky. Arguably the most consistent fishing, as seas were building were rocky shorelines/points all across the north shore. Boaters trolling mackerel or tossing them in among whitewater were catching slots and larger stripers. The cod cadre are finding that they have to cull through shorts to catch that coveted keeper, but they are getting a few off Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Beverly. Manchester and Magnolia are holding mackerel and cod as well. Some have experienced a September surprise, similar to last year, with the appearance of bonito, with some large enough for the tail to stick out of a 5-gallon bucket! It wouldn’t hurt to have a combo on board with a drop shot of 12-pound fluorocarbon tied tight to an epoxy jig.
That mob of big bass which held tight to the Gloucester mooring fields for what seemed like eternity seems to have moved out, according to Garret from Three Lantern Marine. Successful anglers are now more inclined to lean on their sonar as surface feeds are waning. Mackerel remain an easy find and, along with the tube-and-worm and trolling plugs, are proving invaluable at finding fast-moving stripers. While not quite as numerous as years past, there are some schools of peanut bunker which have resulted in random surface feeds off the Gloucester/Rockport shoreline. Those working at it are finding a few keeper cod among irregular bottom just beyond the Salvages.
Jake from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newbury said that the most consistent striped bass fishing is taking place along the southern end of Plum Island. Lots 6,7 and Plum Island Sound remain the fishiest, with clams/worms working well as the seas began to build. Once the rollers subside, the surf should resemble a clam shell graveyard, with those mashed-up quahogs producing a come-hither scent trail that will lure any nearby stripers. For weeks now, mackerel have been common at the mouth of the Merrimack River, but that may change once all that stormwater flushes out from the downpours. Once things settle, should you strike out at the usual spots, check out the Speckled Apron; this knoll, which is about 2 miles east of the river mouth, always seems to have bait and bass this time of the year as northern fish migrate through.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
While the wait is on for the angry seas to subside, now’s a good time to hatch a plan which may pay off into October. Along the South Coast, migrating stripers are frequently making inroads into the Westport River where working a swimmer or soft plastic stick bait over ledge, as the current is cooking, should pay off. Farther out into Buzzards Bay, look for birds and bait to point the way towards blitzing bonito. Rocks and wrecks, especially those of smaller proportions surrounded by nondescript bottom, should continue to hold black sea bass and tautog.
Look for stripers to be picking off peanut bunker/herring fry in the Three Bays, Green Harbor and throughout the North and South Rivers. Tog are not exclusively a Buzzards Bay fixture as they also frequent Farnham Rock, Manomet Point and Minot Ledge. The arrival of football tuna on Stellwagen could very well be the most exciting news we have in Massbay with fingers crossed that those little dynamos are pushed in as close as the B Buoy by the nor’easter.
Bite-size pogies and peanut bunker have been present in Quincy Bay, with rivers such as the Weir, Fore, and Town all holding bait and bass. Should the Harbor be your home base, check out the mouth of the Chelsea Creek and from the Alford Street Bridge out to the Amelia Earhart Dam. The Charles River and Mystic River locks will be wide open in anticipation of all the precipitation, with herring fry by the thousands flushing out with the flow. Expect some exciting fishing as bass and bait clash.
As water temperatures drop, expect more cod to move farther into the harbor with Harding’s Ledge, Ultonia Ledge and Boston Light all possibilities. Farther north, look for cod to move in closer off Dread Ledge, Tinker Island, Halfway Rock and the Salvages. In addition to roving packs of bass in Salem and Beverly, watch out for tiny tuna as bonito have once again made a showing – a phenomenon which is becoming an annual event this time of year. A churned-up surf off Plum Island should crunch up clams, making for a scent trail that nearby stripers won’t be able to resist.