Just when anglers are ready to bid Bay State bass a fond farewell a few resolute stripers seem to be defying the calendar. The source of those wayward season-extending fish might be abundant forage such as mackerel which are showing no sigs of leaving. Elsewhere the tog craze continues with anglers reporting limits and lunkers from the South Coast through Scituate.
Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Report
When the talk turns to impressive tog, the numbers which usually hold sway are 10 as in pounds and mid-20s as in inches. So as I was writing this Thursday morning and an email alert came in from my friends Captain Jason Colby and first mate Patrick McEachen of a 30.5” caught and released, I naturally assumed they were still finding stripers in the Westport River to which I thought—cool! That all changed when I opened the message and saw that it was a whopper of a white chin that really stretched the tape.
Patrick’s big blackfish was caught the way they are ‘supposed’ to be caught. It’s only fitting that a tough-as-nails fish such as a tog is taken while the weather is raw, seas chilly and such niceties as baseball caps, jeans and sneakers are mothballed for next year. Those big fish are earned only by those who are foreign to the snooze button and sleeping in. According to the captain, so-so tog remain in close but the priority now is for something special with the biggest fish moving out towards an eventual winter time slumber spot in a wreck or ledge crevasse. As of early morning, the Little Sister crew was halfway towards limits even with female tog sent on their way to help sustain the species.
Think deep if you venture out there with 75 feet of water the sweet spot along the South Coast. Find a hump which is being refreshed with current and focus on both the up-tide and down-tide side of the structure. Also keep changing out those crabs for a fresh set of legs, now is not the time to be stingy as the last days are drawing near.
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Pete from Belsan’s Bait and Tackle was fresh from weighing in a 10.4 pound tautog when we spoke on Wednesday. That crew achieved their limits as well with the bite within 2 miles of South Shore harbors. Interest is so elevated that charters such as Captain Rob Green of Elizabeth Marie Charters are taking out clients to target tautog, I can’t recall that ever happening before!
And yes there are a few of us who are still fishing for and even catching striped bass! When bait is of sufficient abundance, a segment of the striper population will forgo the urge to migrate and instead will remain in the Bay State. That bait could consist of smelt, mackerel, whiting or herring fry. A clue as to what keeps those stripers in check is the physicality of the bass at this time of the year. Invariably they are very fat and very healthy and fight like the dickens.
There are no shortcuts to consistently catch stripers regardless of the time of the year with the eleventh month no exception. The bite now is best after dark in estuarial areas and nearby embayments with a cooking current mattering greatly. Slug-Gos, Albie Snax, Gulp Jerk Shads in white or natural colors will catch those fish now. Another option is live mackerel which according to Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy are hanging tough in Hewitts Cove, the Reserve Channel (a few whiting remain also) as well as the popular piers off Nut Island, Pemberton and Castle Island. Some of the shops groundfish gurus are finding haddock just northeast of the B Buoy. As for a freshwater fix, check out the trout at Jamaica Pond and Houghton Pond while bass are best at Tack Factory Pond and Triphammer Pond.
Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett told me that tog mania is still a thing but the bite seems to be waning as fish are transitioning to their offshore haunts. It just might be last call to hang a good fish from the Seaport area as well as Rowes Wharf, Long Wharf and the litany of harbor parks which line the harbor shoreline. While tog may be waining, freshwater fishing is picking up steam thanks to recent stockings. Pete’s pick this week is Horn Pond by the culvert for rainbows with mealworms and trout worms effective.
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
If you’re finding more frustration than fish at Wachusett and Quabbin Reservoirs – relax it’s only natural! Lakers are spawning now and more interested in each other than the shiners, spoons and jigs you’re tossing their way. I experienced that phenomenon first hand Wednesday morning and it proved very interesting. I arrived in my spot at false dawn and made contact with a laker on the first cast in a shallow area which bordered deep water. Despite repeated bumps I couldn’t hook that fish on my gold Krocodile. The taps but no take downs began piling up until I tossed a 1 oz gold Hopkins into the deeper water side of the edge and immediately came tight to a laker. The fish was skinny as was the two subsequent fish. I began seeing some strange surface activity which exhibited none of the ferocity which usually accompanies feeding. The fish were just lazily meandering on the surface while occasionally popping their heads out of the water. Finally it dawned on me that those lakers were wrapping up spawning in the shallows which they do at night.
This explained why the hits were without purpose but rather instinctual and the only fish I hooked were in deeper water as the breeders departed the shallows. Once that sun hung high in the sky, all was done and suddenly Wachusett seemed devoid of life. There’s no need to worry however as soon the spawn will be over and those lakers will be feeding ravenously. The same thing can be said for landlocked salmon which are in the final stages of their spawn in the Stillwater River. With rainbows increasingly cruisin the shorelines, smallies still in play and the reservoir dynamic duo—lakers and landlockeds—famished and on the feed things are about to get really good. The same thing applies to Quabbin Reservoir.
Rick from Jerry’s B&T in Milford weighed in on the Chu and said that some of his crew were catching them by drifting shiners with a float by the causeway bridge, the Stone Church and Thomas Basin. Not all is big water or bust according to Rick as anglers are having luck at Luisa Pond for trout while the pick for bass is Milford Pond. Favorable trout reports have also been trickling in from Pratt Pond and Wallum Lake where green Power Bait has been accounting for a lot of solid rainbow trout.
Dave from Ben’s Bait and Tackle in Leicester said customers are doing very well for rainbow trout at Comet Pond. South Pond continues to live up to expectations with brown trout biting shiners, especially when trolled at contour line bends or around humps. Big Alum Pond has also been productive for trout. Patrons are finding that pike are feeding aggressively at the Merrimack River as well as Indian Lake. Dave said that even if you don’t care to fish for carp, you should still be a fan. Many of the pike water bodies are thriving because of immature carp which make for an easy protein-rich snack for those apex predators! Ponds, lakes and rivers which have a robust pike population not surprisingly usually hold carp. Fuel for pike notwithstanding, there’s no disputing that a big carp pulling drag is a hoot!
Josh from the Fishing Hole in South Hadley told me that sliding water temperatures are triggering a better pike bite. Now that the mercury has dipped below 50 degrees expect the positive toothy trend to continue. While the Oxbow is a favorite of shop regulars, most anywhere the Connecticut River intersects with setbacks and sloughs from the Connecticut Valley Region through Hinsdale New Hampshire has potential. At any given time anglers can come tight to pike, walleye, black bass, crappie, white perch, catfish and even bowfin. Good luck trying to find a pond or lake with that kind of potential!. As is the case with any river, rainfall is often a catalyst to action as it bunches up bait and predators at the back edge of humps, drop-offs and seams in the current.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
Targeting tog from Buzzards Bay though Boston remains the top saltwater pick as the bigger breeders are binging. Along the South Coast the better fish are beginning to move onto deeper water while from Scituate Harbor through Boston Harbor those crab-crunchers are much closer to shore. While a chilly, lonesome pursuit there are enough stripers prowling around bait aggregates to make the possibility of hooking a bottom-of-the-ninth inning fish are real possibility. With mackerel still in close and herring fry trickling out of rivers there’s little wonder that a few linesiders resist the urge to migrate.
For most, freshwater fishing remains the best option. Tack Factory Pond is producing solid black bass fishing while trout are tops in Houghton and Horn ponds. Rivers are always an interesting option with the Connecticut, Charles, Mystic and Merrimack Rivers all offering more options than closed water bodies. The Bay State’s blue ribbon reservoirs – Wachusett and Quabbin – should pick up in action soon as salmonoid spawning wanes and lakers, salmon and trout strap on the feedbag.