Massachusetts Fishing Report – October 6, 2022

This is what we live for! As much fun as it is to watch a big bass belt a pogy or in the still of the night feel the thud of a cow thumping an eel, fall blitzes are the ultimate rush. The collision of bass, bait and birds is the zenith of fishing the salt in these parts and right now Neptune is serving it all up!

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that increasingly anglers are turning to rivers and estuaries for consistency. It’s not just schoolie to slots which are the focus but some real barn burners as well. He highlighted the South, North and Herring Rivers as particularly productive.
 
Captain Jason Colby rode out the rollers recently while aboard the Little Sister by sticking to the Westport River and he put patrons onto impressive stripers with clams/chums working by day while swimming plugs were doing the trick at dark. Rivers and estuaries which were at near striper-scolding water temperatures in the summer are solidly in the comfort zone for stripers now. Couple that with a nearly infinite supply of bait and if you fish upstream you should see an uptick of action until at least the end of October.

While river herring fry are the most prized river draw in the fall, marshes and estuaries which don’t harbor herring runs can still be hot. It’s little wonder with the bass buffet of silversides, peanut bunker, mummichogs, eels and crustaceans which await stripers. If I had to be more specific I’d focus on the areas around river bridges at night. Bridges concentrate current, bait and offer structure from which stripers can ambush. That structure is more than just the pilings and abutments but also and just maybe more importantly – the shadow line of the bridge. It doesn’t take much light to set up a shadow line, ambient light and even moonlight will do. Stripers treat the edge of the shadow line as cover, the bass can see the prey but the prey cannot see them until it’s too late. The bass will face into the shadow line and pounce on prey as soon as the current sweeps the bait into view. When standing on a bridge, if you look down you’ll see the backs of the bass which stick out in spite of the darkness. One of my favorite bridges on the North Shore often holds hundreds of stripers of all sizes which we refer to as “leapfroggers” because of their penchant for leaping over their schoolmates to snatch a snack. My go-to lure for bridges is a good old jig; whether a bucktail or jig/soft plastic, they are perfect for swimming the offering right into the striper line of fire.

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According to Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters, Charlie continues to cooperate between the SE corner of Stellwagen and Peaked Hill Bar. For a chance at larger, stagger mackerel or sea herring on the Middle Bank.

I expected to hear of a hot tuna bite from Captain Rowell but didn’t see a blackfish bite coming! It seems a friend of his has been targeting tautog in the Minot section for years and numbers appear to be on the rise. The ubiquitous green crab is easy to collect with a crab trap/rack of a fish dropped near a bridge or pier overnight more often than not coming up with enough bait for an outing.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Bobby DeVincent of Saugus has had a hard time “not” finding stripers from the shore of Greater Boston! During a recent outing he started in one of the local estuaries and found willing fish there and then followed it up with beach, bass bedlam at Revere! Always the traditionalist, the venerable blue and white Atom Striper Swiper was all he needed and he said that he left them biting! Greater Boston blitzes are the best game in town according to Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy! Mouths of the rivers such as the Weir, Town and Neponset have featured surface feeds with the source mostly schoolies but with the fish hitting nearly anything, it is a blast! Pope John Paul Park has been a solid spot and is an ideal launch for the kayak. Don’t discount this as a schoolie spot, 50” beasts have been bested here! A few pogy schools are still around and one in the Town River also held 30” blues recently. The cod “season” comes to a close Friday October 7th but with settling seas you still have a shot!

Pete Santini and his pal Doctor Brick took in a cod/bass combo which started off at Graves Light with 8 and 9 pound cod and ended with slot stripers on the Santini Tube off Long Island. Herring fry tumbling into the sea from the Weymouth Back, Charles, Mystic and Saugus Rivers are holding stripers in check at the respective mouths! Shad baits as well as small topwater plugs such as the Jumpin’ Minnow are all working well. Just when anglers were ready to write off bluefish for the season, a few have been caught by those same runs. The recent churned up surf served prowling stripers a clam chowder from all the turbulence with several anglers taking advantage of that by casting out Vella Rigs tipped with clams. File this one away for the next storm. The piers off Charlestown and East Boston at night have also been productive with those same rigs working well with seaworms and eels. Rainbow trout stocking is ongoing with Jamaica Plain, Sluice Pond and Horn Pond all benefiting from a nice recent stocking!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me that surf anglers off Marblehead as well as Cape Ann are doing well for stripers and even catching a few blues! Some of these guys are donning wet suits and launching modified Cotton Cordell pencil poppers and killing them. These surf savants are through-wiring their plugs and adding a few droplets of water for casting distance as well giving the plug a more horizontal presentation.

Regarding a pencil which has a built-in horizontal presentation, my friend Steve Pappows and a few buds pack just such a plug. These surf sharpies don’t go anywhere without at least one Big Fish Bait Company pencil in their bags. Many years ago I also started toting along that same pencil which is handcrafted by the South Shore’s own Larry Wentworth and it is unique in that it sits flatter on the surface than most pencils and every once in a while that’s all the stripers want! Steve, and his buddies Mike and Robbie have been doing especially well with Larry’s signature color – silver, orange and yellow. The backshore as well as beaches such as Good Harbor, Coffins and Wingaersheek have all been producing fish.

TJ from Three Lantern Marine told me that peanut-fueled blitzes are still raining on Manchester Harbor, Gloucester Harbor and by Milk Island, Salt Island and Straitsmouth Island. He’s also heard good reports from Brace Cove and Andrews Point. Macks are there for the jigging with a diamond jig on the bottom of a Sabiki often coming tight to a keeper cod.

Brian who now owns Merrimac Sports as well as Straight Line Bait and Tackle in Salisbury told me that the Merrimack River is still alarmingly low after the summer-long drought but the areas around bridges tend to have deeper holes and pike, smallmouth bass and white catfish can often be found there. The Greater Lawrence Boat Club has a deep hole just downstream from the building and often concentrates a number of species. Of course there is still game in the salt and a crew who were trolling for blues at the mouth of the Merrimack came up with a number of big bass on their Rapalas which was a nice consolation prize!

Regarding the Merrimack, Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport said that while the angry surf kept most off the ocean front, the backside of Sandy Point rewarded those fishing chunk mackerel. Pavilion Beach has been productive as well. Tube-and-worm trollers also did good there. Thursday morning there was a slight break in the rollers/weeds and it didn’t take one angler long to capitalize on a few schoolies not far from the shop.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Beach blitzes on the South Shore off Priscilla, Peggotty and Black Rock should resume once seas settle but rather than wait, give Ellisville Harbor, the mouth of the Town River, Green Harbor and the Herring River a try. While you should have luck by day, come night the volume of bass and size should bump up a bit. While diminishing in numbers, a few pogy schools can still be found in Hull and the Town River, with bass as well as straggling blues still in residence. The pogies puny prodigy – peanut bunker – will linger longer than the adults and right now are providing a lot of fun off Nantasket Beach, Wollaston, Winthrop as well as Revere. On the North Shore beaches such as Devereux, Wingaersheek and Pebble are prime for pencil poppers. The wash off Plum Island has been weedy and windswept but anglers seeking sanctuary have found it – and fish – in Plum Island Sound!