Headboats Keep Saltwater Seasons Alive
We bid farewell to the stripers in November. Not all of them, but the migratory fish will fully depart by Thanksgiving. Fishermen unwilling to accept the season’s end may follow the fish to Rhode Island or New Jersey, but after more than five months of striper fishing, many anglers are just as content to service their gear, reload the arsenal, and begin planning for the next striper season.
Even with the striped bass departure, many fishermen can’t ignore the salt in their veins. Freshwater options simply don’t satisfy the urge to fish. But what to do when the water’s cold and the boat is winterized? Join a couple dozen like-minded anglers on a party boat, of course.
Haddock, pollock, and Acadian redfish will be bending rods and filling coolers throughout the rest of the year, with the Yankee Fleet in Gloucester, Eastman’s Fleet in New Hampshire, and the Helen H on the Cape bringing anglers out on the cold brine.
The ideal late-season headboat trip involves a lights-out jig bite of big pollock. Fish to 25 pounds are caught, often two or three at a time. I’ve tried to chase this down on a few occasions, but never really experienced a banner trip, though I never went home with an empty cooler.
On these trips, be ready with a few different sizes of Norwegian jigs and teasers. Do not forget the teasers!
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For groundfish teasers, sparsely tied flies with synthetic materials on stout hooks work best. The teasers and jigs from Brandon’s Workshop, created by American Classic mate Brandon Robinson, are spot on as they are made specifically for the waters of northern New England.
Blue and purple are some of the hottest teaser colors, since they are a close match to the small sea herring that fuel pollock this time of year, though pink and white can work as well.
Fishermen who want to keep catching through the eleventh and twelfth months will eventually have to rinse off the salt. Great fishing for trout and bass will end the year on a strong note, whether you fish smaller ponds near the coast, or venture west toward the rivers and reservoirs.
Wachusett remains open through the end of the year, and cooling waters will bring lakers and landlocks back into range of shorebound casters. Trout fishing will hit its fall peak on the Swift and Deerfield rivers, and pike will put on the feedbags in lakes and rivers throughout the state.
A few years back, OTW publisher Chris Megan had an excellent November outing on the Housatonic with the Harrison Anglers, slinging big flies for pike while floating down the river in their raft. Even as the big saltwater predators moved south, it was a good reminder of the savage freshwater fish that swim throughout New England.
Massachusetts completed a round of fall trout stocking back in October, and those fish, along with survivors from the spring stocking, will be active as water temperatures fall into their comfort zone. Wading your favorite trout pond with a small gold Kastmaster or Little Cleo is a reliable way to make contact, though I’ve always been partial to 2-inch tube jigs with 1/32-ounce jigheads because these sink slowly and hang in front of the trout longer, triggering strikes.
On smaller ponds, largemouth and pickerel will be back on the prowl as receding weedlines force the fish to hunt down their food again. Suspending jerkbaits and squarebill crankbaits are excellent options, thought my favorite for blustery fall days is a ½-ounce Rat-L-Trap or similar lipless crankbait. Whenever there’s a good chop on the pond, I know I’m in for a good outing. I try to position myself downwind of the areas I want to fish—drop-offs or weedlines—and cast the lure into the breeze, working it toward me like a baitfish getting pushed around in the chop. It feels a lot like striper fishing, which is probably why I like it so much.
Lastly, there’s tuna. Some of the biggest ones hang around beyond Thanksgiving, sometimes all the way to Christmas, and boats drifting live baits on Stellwagen often enjoy one last hurrah on the tuna grounds. In years past, anglers had reliable action for fun-sized tuna into November. My first spinning-rod bluefin, caught back in 2014, was a Veterans Day 60-incher that struck a Strategic Angler stickbait cast over the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. With a strong run of bluefin east of Cape Cod into October, anglers remain hopeful for a return of this once-reliable November fishing.
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I live in Hull Ma. 02045. Nantasket Beach and Quincy Bay are nearby. I am 74, somewhat limited in mobility. Does anyone have any ideas about shoreline surf fishing in these bodies of water? I will fish for anything. I know now is the last of the Fall migration. But how about Winter Flounder? Weir River is available, and I will get permission to access from home homeowners. I have all kinds of rods and reels and hooks , lures and jigs. I just cannot walk distances to locate fish. Any good starting points will help. I have been a member of OTW for decades.
Bill Wyrebek
wwyrebek@comcast.net