Welcome to September, where yesterday’s bust is today’s blitz! With conditions changing at a breakneck pace and fish on the feed, areas which appear desolate one day often ignite like dynamite the next. For some, the cod opener sizzled, while for others it’s been a challenge to cull through shorts to find a keeper.
South Shore and South Coast
Only along the South Coast can a striper blitz seem anticlimactic! After a day of wrenching in white chins, along with black sea bass, while aboard the Little Sister, Captain Jason Colby, Pat McEachern, and I stumbled upon a blitz in the Westport River. Unlike points north, the source of the surface feeds, there could be any of a long list of species. Our hopes were that we had found bonito. The hits on Pat’s swimmer and my epoxy jig were instantaneous as we doubled up on schoolie stripers.
It had been far too long since I reveled in the rush of casting to breaking mid-20’ striped bass. Fish so numerous and aggressive that we just knew we could expect a hit on nearly every cast, no matter what we threw at them. Once we sampled what they were, we didn’t stay long, as we were arm-weary from tugging in tautog on the way to limits of these awesome fighters.
Captain Jason is optimistic, more so than in many years, that once water temperatures begin dipping, the tog fishing is going to be better than in memory. There are a lot of fish in Buzzards Bay this year, and if it’s not the Bay State’s best bet, it’s pretty close to the top.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters has a word of warning for Bostonian bass fishers – get ready! He watched in awe as a seemingly infinite swath of pogies vacated the south shore and seemed to be pointing their snouts towards the Harbor. Pushing that bait is a certain very powerful pelagic, but little if any bass or bluefish, which is not surprising considering the size of the tuna herding everything into the Hub.
While a haul, the crew has been making the trip to Race Point where both bass and blues are in play. The other option for blues is by the Plymouth Power Plant. Mackerel are still present in harbors, but there aren’t always bass with the bait. A full tank of gas and having a rapport with fellow anglers certainly short-circuits the striper search, as the bass are nothing if not nomadic now. One stop that those bass are often making is off Egypt Beach, according to Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate. Bonito, which have not been all that common in Buzzards Bay, have been caught by those looking for mackerel just outside of the North River with some of these tiny tuna 3-5 pounders!
Cod are cooperating along the eastern edge of Stone Ledge and along Flatt Ledge, but finding that 23” fish is proving a challenge. A better bet might be to go long with Wildcat Knoll, a possibility. The ledges off Hull are a much more convenient option, which could also produce a cod or three.
Greater Boston
Wednesday afternoon, Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle tipped me off that a big school of sizable stripers was aggressively pushing baitfish between Boston Light and Georges Island. The fish were living up to the script for September as they were taking down all manner of lures, with Al Gag’s Whip-it-Fish a standout. Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle told me that after a long season of jigging for mackerel and snagging pogies, many are making it simple for themselves and letting the Santini tube-and-worm do all the work. The tube has been getting it done for all sizes of bass by World’s End, Hingham Harbor, Bumkin Island, Slate Island, and Grape Island. Wollaston Beach remains one of the more reliable spots for surf casters, kayakers, and boaters, as pogies are more often than not present.
The guys who are crazy for cod are finding them by Three-and-One-half Fathom Ledge, where one angler reported that they were coming up two at a time! Clams have been the preferred bait, with an 8-ounce bank sinker keeping everything in the strike zone. The requests for grass shrimp are reaching a fever pitch, which is a sure indicator that smelt numbers are swelling. Spots for this tasty little late-season pleaser are the plethora of piers throughout Hull/Hingham, Pemberton Pier, Nut Island, Marina Bay, the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, and the Summer Street Bridge. It’ll be interesting as the season progresses if we see a bite along the “northern” side of the harbor.
Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett said that there are some awfully huge tuna crashing pogy schools between the outer islands and the B Buoy. Be ultra-prepared should you decide to tackle these monsters. Pete tipped me off to a sob story involving former staff hand (and surrogate nephew) Willy Goldsmith, who had a tank boatside only to have a crimp give out! It happens, but don’t be that guy; double-check every inch of your tackle before you set sail – these fish are big enough to find any weak spot.
As for more manageable quarry, stripers are actively feeding on river herring fry during the first few hours of daylight. The sweet spot for success could be anywhere from the mouths of the Charles and Mystic Rivers out through the Lower Middle. Bass also have been busting bait off area beaches, with Short Beach through Point of Pines especially productive. Vella Rigs, tipped with seaworms, are consistently catching stripers among parks which pepper the harbor throughout Dorchester, South Boston, Charlestown, and East Boston. Cod are being caught from Graves Light through the B Buoy humps.
On most days, Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been finding cooperative striped bass between Castle Island and the Hotel Sonesta. The bite often then moves out farther from the Anchorage through Deer Island. Should the harbor prove less than fruitful, the wildcard has been Wollaston Beach. White paddletials have been the most effective offerings.
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North Shore
Peter from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that Salem Sound has been the scene of some impressive surface feeds. Bite-sized bunker – 5”-6” – have been the fuel for the feeds. Glide baits and live mackerel have been among the more effective offerings. My call to the shop was especially fortuitous as Tomo chimed in and emphasized Great Aquavitae Ledge and Great Haste Island as two top spots. Mackerel, which are readily available, fished with a three-way rig in Manchester Harbor have been hot. The same goes for that combo working well off Halfway Rock and Tinker Island. For cod, consider Saturday Night Ledge as well as Hills 47 and 101.
My buddy Steve Papows has been catching well from the shoreline of Cape Ann, but he’s had a bit of an unfair advantage – he’s been wielding a prey-colored Big Fish Lures metal lip. When he showed me the plug, I hit the panic button, ran into my basement, and breathed a sigh of relief when I found mine – whew! How odd are we when, no matter how many lures we have, we sweat out the prospect of misplacing a favorite. I’m thinking it was meant to be, and that plug will be first on the clip the next time out. Elsewhere, mooring fields in Cape Ann are still holding pogies and bass, all of which are within reach of boaters and kayakers but removed from the tentacles of the pogy seiners. The recipe for landing those bass in the middle of the mooring minefield is to lock down and give those stripers zero drag.
Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newbury said that the most consistent catching she’s aware of has been courtesy of a couple who have spent the summer on vacation tube-and-worming Plum Island Sound. While stripers have been steady, the success rate has now bumped up a bit. Anglers walking and casting the oceanfront are catching everything from shad to mackerel to stripers. Everything is in place for Joppa to start jamming with water temperatures and bait all in play – the stripers just have to figure that out. Mackerel trolled off Crane’s Beach have been chomped in half, which is the hallmark of bluefish, but there have been no confirmed landings.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
South Coast stripers are blitzing from Buzzards Bay through the Westport River, making for the kindest of quandaries: does one fish for bass, blackfish, black sea bass or all of the above? Some on the South Shore are making the haul out to Race Point where, in addition to stripers, there’s a reliable bluefish bite. A closer spot to hope for a blue is by the Pilgrim Power Plant in Plymouth. If you’re looking for mackerel, check out the Three Bays, Green Harbor, or Scituate Harbor, with the caveat that bait acquisition is not necessarily guarantee bass, as they are moving rapidly now. One stop worth watching is Egypt Beach, which seems to always hold fish.
Recent reports are putting a big bass bite between Boston Light and Georges Island. Wollaston Beach remains hot, as is the case for tube-and-wormers by World’s End and Bumkin Island. For that coveted cod, check out Three-and-One-half Fathom Ledge. Greater Boston Beaches have featured blitzes, with Revere Beach the epicenter for action. Giant tuna are leading to heartbreak and tackle failure out by the B Buoy – double down on those crimps!
On the North Shore, the Cape Ann shore bite is picking up, with Big Fish Metal Lips getting it done. Other options are in tight to harbor mooring fields and Plum Island Sound, where the tube has been terrific!