Post by jlibs on Jul 8, 2006 10:51:14 GMT -5
July 6, 2006
Best Bets for Connecticut and Rhode Island
The concentration of big bass that was stagnant in the extreme western end of Long Island Sound and the bunker they were eating seem to be heading east so anything can happen over the next week or two. This weekend, look for pulses of larger bass to continue moving east along the coast, especially if the sun comes out and cooks the shallows to levels they don’t want to tolerate. If the bunker continue to move eastward as well count on the potential to catch bigger stripers any place a school is located. Block Island is probably the best spot to take a 50-pounder as always this time of year. Keep in mind that it’s the summer big bass period and it’s always fickle, good one day poor the next, no matter where you drop an eel or live bait.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Nick Mucci
With summer in full swing and the longest day of the year in the rearview mirror, striper fishermen face several challenges. Warming water has the fish acting lazier and with summer boat traffic the fish are facing greater fishing pressure. This doesn’t mean they’ve stopped biting or are uninterested in what you throw at them; it simply means you will have to pick your fishing times carefully and possibly change your tactics.
Striper fishing has remained good in the area of Marion and Mattapoisett harbors. Schools of bunker, which have kept big stripers on the feed for over a month now are becoming smaller and tougher to find. As predicted, the big stripers are also becoming tougher to find and may be slinking off into the cooler waters flushing through the Cape Cod Canal. The consensus on the canal is that the fishing has been hot. This past week, two fish over 40 pounds and numerous fish in the high 20’s were pulled from the canal. Chunk mackerel accounted for at least one of those 40-pounders, with other fish coming on jigs fished deep. There have also been bass breaking on top and chasing menhaden, much to the delight of anglers throwing plugs. Whether these big stripers stay in the canal for some time is difficult to answer, but assuming bait is around there is no reason they will not.
Warm water in the Buzzards Bay area has also changed the bottom fishing. According to Mike at M&D’s Tackle in Wareham, black sea bass have moved out from the Mashnee Flats and Cleveland Ledge area to deeper, cooler waters. Scup can be found all over Buzzards Bay but it may take some work to find the big 11- to 12-inchers. Look for near-shore drop-offs and areas of mixed rock and sand whether you are casting from shore or fishing from a boat. Fluke are hitting well in Buzzards Bay, however the keepers have been few and far between. For bigger fluke, Mike recommends fishing in deeper waters of 60 to 100 feet off of the Elizabeth Islands. You’ll need around 6 to 8 ounces of lead to get down deep enough for the big slabs.
Other news from the Elizabeths was some great bluefish action around the rocky shoreline. John from Eastmans in Falmouth was happy to report blues in the 10- to 12-pound class being taken with plugs, a great fight for any fisherman. These blues are super aggressive and almost anything you throw at them should be effective, so there’s no need to cast that brand-new hand-painted popper you just paid dearly for. Instead throw a plug you rarely use or the one with the beat-up paint and avoid the agony of a hit to your bank account. These will more than do the trick and you won’t end up cursing your luck if you do lose a lure. Most charter boats in the Falmouth area have been working Tom Shoal with great success using the tube and worm. Fluking has been average in these areas, with only one monster 10-pounder reported, which was caught on Middle Ground. If you’re up too high on the reef, don’t be surprised to catch nothing but shorts. Try fishing deeper off the edges of the reef and use bigger baits if you want to take some fluke home for dinner.
Dave from Falmouth Bait and Tackle was also singing the praises of Tom Shoal and he has heard great reports from Wasque and Squibnocket. Most fish in these areas are being taken on tube-and-worm rigs. Using wire line and getting down deep with 150 yards is best for daytime success. Dave claims that Middle Ground is all but dead for big stripers and that Quicks Hole has been hit or miss lately. Popponesset and South Cape Beach have also been slow – more proof that warm waters have chased big stripers out of shallow areas of Vineyard Sound. But while the water may be too warm for big bass, it’s perfect for blitzing bluefish, which are all over L’Hommedieu.
In the freshwater, Dave has been impressed with the great bite from smallmouth and largemouth bass. Almost every pond on the cape holding these species has been excellent. Dave’s advice was to get a map of the Cape and blindly chose a pond – that’s how well things are going. These fish are still very aggressive and anything from plastic worms to Mepps spinners can be used to catch them. Trout are still an option on some Cape ponds, just think deep, cool water.
On the Vineyard, we are approaching that time of year when the striper fishing is almost always better from boat than from shore. That being said, Steve from Dick’s Bait and Tackle said that most of the southern beaches such as South Beach and Left Fork are actually fishing quite well, and have produced some good-sized bass in the 20- to 30-pound range. Also, around the jetties of Lobsterville there are plenty of blues, often in feeding frenzies. Off of Chappy and the aforementioned Tom Shoal are the hottest spots for boaters who are using tube-and-worm rigs or fishing deep with live, dead, or chunked bait.
Moving back to the Cape, fishing in Monomoy has picked up in the rips with many nice bass and blues holding there. Combining this with reports of great inshore fishing according to Bill at The Hook Up in Orleans makes Monomoy a good choice to fish in the coming days. Nauset inlet has been showing signs of life as well, where anglers can easily see schools of blues attacking bait in the middle of the day.
Best Bets for Cape Cod and the Islands
If you like to troll deep waters, stick to Billingsgate Shoal. Anglers can always find fish here no matter the weather. Assuming you have your trolling tactics down and know what the fish are feeding on you will have a great chance to land several keeper bass. If you’re into topwater action there may be no better place than the Elizabeths for big blues and the Brewster Flats or the flats inside of Monomoy for stripers. Be sure to remain flexible and bring a variety of lures and colors to cast at the fish because you never know what they may be keying on.
By Ron Powers
Yeah, it’s summertime and for some the living is easy but not if you obsess about stripers. It’s not that there aren’t cows in the local pasture it’s just that you may have to work a bit harder for them than a few weeks ago. Although you might be surprised just where the largest stripers in this weeks forecast are located. Tuna trysts are increasing and this week the trysts run the gamut from fun footballs of about 35 pounds to 600-pound giants that will have you screaming for the Ben Gay. The flounder faithful continue to be rewarded, with limits of blackbacks a reality and even some encouraging catches from the shoreline like the “good old days.” While their pernicious cousins, fluke, are beginning to migrate northward as water temps rise.
If you can manage to take a steam out to Stellwagen over the next week, you owe it to yourself to do so. The place is so loaded with life that it looks like a watery Serengeti when the wildebeests are migrating. There are acres and acres of bait, mostly sand eels but some herring and possibly peanut bunker that are causing feeding frenzies by whales, tuna and even stripers. As has been the case for a couple of weeks now, big schools of massive stripers, some of which are 40-pounders, are refusing to come inshore and are traveling just below the surface slurping the sand eels. Fishers trolling squid bars for tuna are hooking up to these massive bass. Of course Stellwagen is in the EEZ and is not in Massachusetts State waters, and therefore is off limits to the taking of striped bass. But you can’t help but wonder what would happen if the proposal to lift the 15-year moratorium on the harvesting of striped bass in federal waters were passed. The tuna on the Bank run the gamut of sizes from 600-pound behemoths to 35-pound footballs. Remember, the angling category permit does not allow the take of any tuna under 47 inches until between August 25th and September 14th when in addition to the normal allotment, one SBFT between 27 and less than 47 inches can be kept. While it is a crapshoot to predict what size tuna will crash the spread, if you slow down the troll to about 3 knots you will interest more giants, while the footballs prefer a white-knuckled 6 to 7 knots.
Ray from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Green Harbor told me of swell striper fishing from the Bryant Rock jetties as all manner of stripers take soft plastics and chunk baits. Pogies and even peanuts make forays into Green Harbor, Plymouth and Duxbury Bays. Flounder are being taken out by the Green Harbor Bell and a few have even been caught off the jetties of Green Harbor. The biggest stripers lately are falling for tube and worms that are slow trolled by the Glades north of Scituate; one lucky angler took a 29-pounder last week this way and a 39-pounder this week. Chunkers are doing well but keep the chumming to a minimum, as the dogs are out in force. River cruisers will pick up schoolie-sized to keeper-sized linesiders in the North River, a hot spot being Damons Point. Ray said that school tuna are being encountered within 12 miles from shore. The first landing of a tuna by a caster just occurred as a 75-pound fish was felled by a guy casting a topwater with a spinning rod.
Bob from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth knew of at least four giants in the 500- to 600-pound category that were taken within the last few days. The NW corner of Stellwagen Bank seems to be the focal point of the action. Some guys are hitting the eastern edge of the bank for cod and then setting out a few daisy chains for tuna on the way in – not a bad way to spend a day, eh! Just legal SBFT are taking casting wares only 7 to 8 miles out of Plymouth. Look for the high flyer lobster pot buoys to find the fish. The first fluke are being caught among the trenches, sloughs and channels of Duxbury Bay on the outgoing tide. Plenty of bait in the form of adult and peanut bunker is keeping stripers around and blues on the move.
Pete from Belsan in Scituate said that a recent slug of 12- to 16-pound stripers in the Scituate area have livened things up. You can find the bass by the Third Cliff in Scituate and by Minot’s Light, where you can also find the pollock. Anglers deep jigging parachute jigs are taking some nice bass at The Race up to 40-pounds. Pete also commented about the hordes of bait, bass and tuna on the bank. He feels that it is only a matter of time until the tuna ball the bait up and bully the bass into moving inshore. Fluke are in and a keeper was even taken off the Scituate Town Pier. A pod of 35-pound-class tuna was encountered a little more than 10 miles from shore and moving haphazardly between Scituate and Hull. A recent report on tuna on Stellwagen put them between the middle bank and the SW corner. Pogies in the harbors should keep the fish static for a while.
Rick Newcomb from Fore River told me that Hospital Shoals still holds plenty of flounder. The Hummocks, which is on the north side of Wollaston Beach, has good bass fishing as well as schools of pogies that travel between here and Hangman’s Island. Jack O’Neill of Quincy took a 43-inch, 29-pound, 10-ounce bass on a mackerel chunk at Toddy Rocks off Hull. If it’s too much work to snag bunker, try one of the bunker spoons that the shop sells, Frank Burley of Quincy did and it helped the fisherman land a 37-inch, 18-pound, 11-ounce linesider in Boston Harbor. The dog pound is loose from offshore into Point Allerton so chunk at your own peril. Even though temps are up, stripers are still in close by the Scalese Marina in the Fore River and World’s End in Hingham. Go to offerings are Cape Cod spinners, tubes, and all manner of chunk baits, especially fresh pogies which the shop often has in stock. Fish whenever you can, but especially a couple hours either way of high tide. And calamari lovers continue to find squid and big bass off Nut Island Pier. 2006 will definitely be remembered in Quincy as the year of the squid.
From Fishing FINatics in Everett came word of the first verified catch of a fluke north of Boston. Brian Scolaro of Everett bagged the 18-incher on a sea worm from Point of Pines in Revere on Tuesday. This means that they most likely are by the breakwater on the south end of Revere Beach as well as off Lynn Pier and in the marsh. Like many of you, fluke are one of my prized fish (my wife asks, “what aren’t?”) and I intend on doing a little prospecting for these toothy flounder over the next few days. Pete didn’t take out any sports stars this week but he did treat Pat McFarland and clan from St. Louis, Missouri to a Beantown combo of stripers up to 40 inches and limits of flounder. The bass didn’t come easily but they came for honey mustard Santini tubes off Rainsford Island and the flounder, up to 3.5 pounds, were willing off Hospital Shoals. The news of tuna has caused Pete and Co-captain Willy Goldsmith to work double time, tying his famous squid bars to meet demand.
Kay from Surfland lamented that while there are plenty of stripers around most are on the small size. Anglers casting plugs, tin and plastic form the beach and the Parker River Wildlife Reserve are getting action but few big fish. Better results can be obtained with eels and chunks at night at the edges of and also well into the grass in Joppa Flats. Lately it seems that Worcester County anglers have the upper hand on the bass fishing in Newburyport. Dave Edilberti of West Boylston and Scott Nelson of Oakham took bass from 19 pounds to 28 pounds, 8 ounces off Joppa with live eels at high tide the other night. A buddy of mine, Larry Kuettner of Clinton was a guest upon a boat whose owner worked furiously the Merrimack River to no avail. Having success there in the past, Larry suggested they chunk at Joppa. A fortuitous move if there ever was one as the three anglers tallied double-digit catches of mostly keeper fish until the wee hours of the morning. Bluefish are here as evidenced by the 9-pounder that was recently weighed in at Surfland.
Kyle of Suds and Soda told me of solid fishing for stripers at the mouth of the Piscatagua River where a 50-incher was recently taken. This is hardly the only area in the Granite State as fish up to 44 inches are coming from the Sullivan Bridge in Portsmouth on live eels. A 43-incher was also taken from the Rye Jetty. The graveyard shifters do well with chunks from Salisbury, Hampton and Rye Beaches. For cod and haddock take the haul out to Jeffrey’s but pay attention to marked bait at any of the humps, bumps and trenches that pock mark the bottom along the way. Cod and haddock are following sea herring and where you find the bait, you’ll find the fish.
Craig from Saco Bay said while it is tough going to find mackerel, those working it are rewarded with the nicest bass in the area. Chum is required to find the tinkers among ledges and islands such as Monument, Richmond and Basket. Beachcombers are scoring nice fish from Higgins, Camp Ellis, Biddeford Pool. Fishermen pestered by blues are toting along clams, which they generally ignore. The north side of Jeffrey’s has been rewarding clam soakers and jiggers snapping Cod Bombs and Cod Killahs. Don’t skimp on the Cod Fly teasers as haddock figure into the mix frequently. It’s tuna time up north as well as a menagerie of the pelagics from schoolies to giants are found from Isle of Shoals out to Scantum. Hookups are occurring for those trolling squid bars and deep diving Yo-Zuri’s. Porbeagle sharks occasionally appear for tuna chunkers.
Things are quiet on the freshwater front since so many things are happening in the salt. Rodney Flagg of Flagg’s in Orange said that the Masswildlife folks dumped in a ton of salmon earlier in the year that are just now taking trollers offerings. In addition to these neophytes, established salmon up to 21 inches long are taking DB Smelt spoons in about 20 feet of water. As the summer drags on look for the salmon and laker fishing to improve as fish suspend over established, deep holes and are easier to locate. Streamers will replace spoons once the dog day patterns emerge. Smallie action is at a pinnacle in Quabbin as specimens up to 4.5 pounds take topwater plugs at low light at points that border deep water. During daylight, better presentations are Senkos and live crawfish which Rodney struggles to keep in stock. Lake Mattawa in Orange is practically devoid of anglers, but that doesn’t stop a few from scoring beautiful bows and browns up to 20 inches. Leadcore is the key (two colors down) and the same reliable DB Smelt Spoons are doing the trick. The Millers River has big brown trout in the deep pools and undercut banks.
Best Bets for Massachusetts South Shore, North Shore, New Hampshire and Southern Maine
If you can make the haul out to Stellwagen, it’s quite a spectacle with bait, whales, diving birds and loads of gamefish in a free-for-all. School tuna are chasing the oodles of baitfish only about 10 miles from shore between Scituate and Hull, just make sure you have your permit handy, as the green police are out in force. Bucktail and squid strip fans rejoice, fluke are here again from Duxbury Bay to Lynn. While you can still toss a few blackbacks in a cooler at Green Harbor and in Boston Harbor by good old Hospital Shoals, you had better strike now because once the bluefish show up in force, the flounder slink off. Big bass are spotty, but those trolling tubes and worms from the South Shore to Boston Harbor stand the best chance of scoring. Of course you can’t beat live bait and you’ll find pogies off Duxbury and Quincy, squid off Nut Island Pier, pollock off Minot’s and mackerel in Maine.
Best Bets for Connecticut and Rhode Island
The concentration of big bass that was stagnant in the extreme western end of Long Island Sound and the bunker they were eating seem to be heading east so anything can happen over the next week or two. This weekend, look for pulses of larger bass to continue moving east along the coast, especially if the sun comes out and cooks the shallows to levels they don’t want to tolerate. If the bunker continue to move eastward as well count on the potential to catch bigger stripers any place a school is located. Block Island is probably the best spot to take a 50-pounder as always this time of year. Keep in mind that it’s the summer big bass period and it’s always fickle, good one day poor the next, no matter where you drop an eel or live bait.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Nick Mucci
With summer in full swing and the longest day of the year in the rearview mirror, striper fishermen face several challenges. Warming water has the fish acting lazier and with summer boat traffic the fish are facing greater fishing pressure. This doesn’t mean they’ve stopped biting or are uninterested in what you throw at them; it simply means you will have to pick your fishing times carefully and possibly change your tactics.
Striper fishing has remained good in the area of Marion and Mattapoisett harbors. Schools of bunker, which have kept big stripers on the feed for over a month now are becoming smaller and tougher to find. As predicted, the big stripers are also becoming tougher to find and may be slinking off into the cooler waters flushing through the Cape Cod Canal. The consensus on the canal is that the fishing has been hot. This past week, two fish over 40 pounds and numerous fish in the high 20’s were pulled from the canal. Chunk mackerel accounted for at least one of those 40-pounders, with other fish coming on jigs fished deep. There have also been bass breaking on top and chasing menhaden, much to the delight of anglers throwing plugs. Whether these big stripers stay in the canal for some time is difficult to answer, but assuming bait is around there is no reason they will not.
Warm water in the Buzzards Bay area has also changed the bottom fishing. According to Mike at M&D’s Tackle in Wareham, black sea bass have moved out from the Mashnee Flats and Cleveland Ledge area to deeper, cooler waters. Scup can be found all over Buzzards Bay but it may take some work to find the big 11- to 12-inchers. Look for near-shore drop-offs and areas of mixed rock and sand whether you are casting from shore or fishing from a boat. Fluke are hitting well in Buzzards Bay, however the keepers have been few and far between. For bigger fluke, Mike recommends fishing in deeper waters of 60 to 100 feet off of the Elizabeth Islands. You’ll need around 6 to 8 ounces of lead to get down deep enough for the big slabs.
Other news from the Elizabeths was some great bluefish action around the rocky shoreline. John from Eastmans in Falmouth was happy to report blues in the 10- to 12-pound class being taken with plugs, a great fight for any fisherman. These blues are super aggressive and almost anything you throw at them should be effective, so there’s no need to cast that brand-new hand-painted popper you just paid dearly for. Instead throw a plug you rarely use or the one with the beat-up paint and avoid the agony of a hit to your bank account. These will more than do the trick and you won’t end up cursing your luck if you do lose a lure. Most charter boats in the Falmouth area have been working Tom Shoal with great success using the tube and worm. Fluking has been average in these areas, with only one monster 10-pounder reported, which was caught on Middle Ground. If you’re up too high on the reef, don’t be surprised to catch nothing but shorts. Try fishing deeper off the edges of the reef and use bigger baits if you want to take some fluke home for dinner.
Dave from Falmouth Bait and Tackle was also singing the praises of Tom Shoal and he has heard great reports from Wasque and Squibnocket. Most fish in these areas are being taken on tube-and-worm rigs. Using wire line and getting down deep with 150 yards is best for daytime success. Dave claims that Middle Ground is all but dead for big stripers and that Quicks Hole has been hit or miss lately. Popponesset and South Cape Beach have also been slow – more proof that warm waters have chased big stripers out of shallow areas of Vineyard Sound. But while the water may be too warm for big bass, it’s perfect for blitzing bluefish, which are all over L’Hommedieu.
In the freshwater, Dave has been impressed with the great bite from smallmouth and largemouth bass. Almost every pond on the cape holding these species has been excellent. Dave’s advice was to get a map of the Cape and blindly chose a pond – that’s how well things are going. These fish are still very aggressive and anything from plastic worms to Mepps spinners can be used to catch them. Trout are still an option on some Cape ponds, just think deep, cool water.
On the Vineyard, we are approaching that time of year when the striper fishing is almost always better from boat than from shore. That being said, Steve from Dick’s Bait and Tackle said that most of the southern beaches such as South Beach and Left Fork are actually fishing quite well, and have produced some good-sized bass in the 20- to 30-pound range. Also, around the jetties of Lobsterville there are plenty of blues, often in feeding frenzies. Off of Chappy and the aforementioned Tom Shoal are the hottest spots for boaters who are using tube-and-worm rigs or fishing deep with live, dead, or chunked bait.
Moving back to the Cape, fishing in Monomoy has picked up in the rips with many nice bass and blues holding there. Combining this with reports of great inshore fishing according to Bill at The Hook Up in Orleans makes Monomoy a good choice to fish in the coming days. Nauset inlet has been showing signs of life as well, where anglers can easily see schools of blues attacking bait in the middle of the day.
Best Bets for Cape Cod and the Islands
If you like to troll deep waters, stick to Billingsgate Shoal. Anglers can always find fish here no matter the weather. Assuming you have your trolling tactics down and know what the fish are feeding on you will have a great chance to land several keeper bass. If you’re into topwater action there may be no better place than the Elizabeths for big blues and the Brewster Flats or the flats inside of Monomoy for stripers. Be sure to remain flexible and bring a variety of lures and colors to cast at the fish because you never know what they may be keying on.
By Ron Powers
Yeah, it’s summertime and for some the living is easy but not if you obsess about stripers. It’s not that there aren’t cows in the local pasture it’s just that you may have to work a bit harder for them than a few weeks ago. Although you might be surprised just where the largest stripers in this weeks forecast are located. Tuna trysts are increasing and this week the trysts run the gamut from fun footballs of about 35 pounds to 600-pound giants that will have you screaming for the Ben Gay. The flounder faithful continue to be rewarded, with limits of blackbacks a reality and even some encouraging catches from the shoreline like the “good old days.” While their pernicious cousins, fluke, are beginning to migrate northward as water temps rise.
If you can manage to take a steam out to Stellwagen over the next week, you owe it to yourself to do so. The place is so loaded with life that it looks like a watery Serengeti when the wildebeests are migrating. There are acres and acres of bait, mostly sand eels but some herring and possibly peanut bunker that are causing feeding frenzies by whales, tuna and even stripers. As has been the case for a couple of weeks now, big schools of massive stripers, some of which are 40-pounders, are refusing to come inshore and are traveling just below the surface slurping the sand eels. Fishers trolling squid bars for tuna are hooking up to these massive bass. Of course Stellwagen is in the EEZ and is not in Massachusetts State waters, and therefore is off limits to the taking of striped bass. But you can’t help but wonder what would happen if the proposal to lift the 15-year moratorium on the harvesting of striped bass in federal waters were passed. The tuna on the Bank run the gamut of sizes from 600-pound behemoths to 35-pound footballs. Remember, the angling category permit does not allow the take of any tuna under 47 inches until between August 25th and September 14th when in addition to the normal allotment, one SBFT between 27 and less than 47 inches can be kept. While it is a crapshoot to predict what size tuna will crash the spread, if you slow down the troll to about 3 knots you will interest more giants, while the footballs prefer a white-knuckled 6 to 7 knots.
Ray from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Green Harbor told me of swell striper fishing from the Bryant Rock jetties as all manner of stripers take soft plastics and chunk baits. Pogies and even peanuts make forays into Green Harbor, Plymouth and Duxbury Bays. Flounder are being taken out by the Green Harbor Bell and a few have even been caught off the jetties of Green Harbor. The biggest stripers lately are falling for tube and worms that are slow trolled by the Glades north of Scituate; one lucky angler took a 29-pounder last week this way and a 39-pounder this week. Chunkers are doing well but keep the chumming to a minimum, as the dogs are out in force. River cruisers will pick up schoolie-sized to keeper-sized linesiders in the North River, a hot spot being Damons Point. Ray said that school tuna are being encountered within 12 miles from shore. The first landing of a tuna by a caster just occurred as a 75-pound fish was felled by a guy casting a topwater with a spinning rod.
Bob from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth knew of at least four giants in the 500- to 600-pound category that were taken within the last few days. The NW corner of Stellwagen Bank seems to be the focal point of the action. Some guys are hitting the eastern edge of the bank for cod and then setting out a few daisy chains for tuna on the way in – not a bad way to spend a day, eh! Just legal SBFT are taking casting wares only 7 to 8 miles out of Plymouth. Look for the high flyer lobster pot buoys to find the fish. The first fluke are being caught among the trenches, sloughs and channels of Duxbury Bay on the outgoing tide. Plenty of bait in the form of adult and peanut bunker is keeping stripers around and blues on the move.
Pete from Belsan in Scituate said that a recent slug of 12- to 16-pound stripers in the Scituate area have livened things up. You can find the bass by the Third Cliff in Scituate and by Minot’s Light, where you can also find the pollock. Anglers deep jigging parachute jigs are taking some nice bass at The Race up to 40-pounds. Pete also commented about the hordes of bait, bass and tuna on the bank. He feels that it is only a matter of time until the tuna ball the bait up and bully the bass into moving inshore. Fluke are in and a keeper was even taken off the Scituate Town Pier. A pod of 35-pound-class tuna was encountered a little more than 10 miles from shore and moving haphazardly between Scituate and Hull. A recent report on tuna on Stellwagen put them between the middle bank and the SW corner. Pogies in the harbors should keep the fish static for a while.
Rick Newcomb from Fore River told me that Hospital Shoals still holds plenty of flounder. The Hummocks, which is on the north side of Wollaston Beach, has good bass fishing as well as schools of pogies that travel between here and Hangman’s Island. Jack O’Neill of Quincy took a 43-inch, 29-pound, 10-ounce bass on a mackerel chunk at Toddy Rocks off Hull. If it’s too much work to snag bunker, try one of the bunker spoons that the shop sells, Frank Burley of Quincy did and it helped the fisherman land a 37-inch, 18-pound, 11-ounce linesider in Boston Harbor. The dog pound is loose from offshore into Point Allerton so chunk at your own peril. Even though temps are up, stripers are still in close by the Scalese Marina in the Fore River and World’s End in Hingham. Go to offerings are Cape Cod spinners, tubes, and all manner of chunk baits, especially fresh pogies which the shop often has in stock. Fish whenever you can, but especially a couple hours either way of high tide. And calamari lovers continue to find squid and big bass off Nut Island Pier. 2006 will definitely be remembered in Quincy as the year of the squid.
From Fishing FINatics in Everett came word of the first verified catch of a fluke north of Boston. Brian Scolaro of Everett bagged the 18-incher on a sea worm from Point of Pines in Revere on Tuesday. This means that they most likely are by the breakwater on the south end of Revere Beach as well as off Lynn Pier and in the marsh. Like many of you, fluke are one of my prized fish (my wife asks, “what aren’t?”) and I intend on doing a little prospecting for these toothy flounder over the next few days. Pete didn’t take out any sports stars this week but he did treat Pat McFarland and clan from St. Louis, Missouri to a Beantown combo of stripers up to 40 inches and limits of flounder. The bass didn’t come easily but they came for honey mustard Santini tubes off Rainsford Island and the flounder, up to 3.5 pounds, were willing off Hospital Shoals. The news of tuna has caused Pete and Co-captain Willy Goldsmith to work double time, tying his famous squid bars to meet demand.
Kay from Surfland lamented that while there are plenty of stripers around most are on the small size. Anglers casting plugs, tin and plastic form the beach and the Parker River Wildlife Reserve are getting action but few big fish. Better results can be obtained with eels and chunks at night at the edges of and also well into the grass in Joppa Flats. Lately it seems that Worcester County anglers have the upper hand on the bass fishing in Newburyport. Dave Edilberti of West Boylston and Scott Nelson of Oakham took bass from 19 pounds to 28 pounds, 8 ounces off Joppa with live eels at high tide the other night. A buddy of mine, Larry Kuettner of Clinton was a guest upon a boat whose owner worked furiously the Merrimack River to no avail. Having success there in the past, Larry suggested they chunk at Joppa. A fortuitous move if there ever was one as the three anglers tallied double-digit catches of mostly keeper fish until the wee hours of the morning. Bluefish are here as evidenced by the 9-pounder that was recently weighed in at Surfland.
Kyle of Suds and Soda told me of solid fishing for stripers at the mouth of the Piscatagua River where a 50-incher was recently taken. This is hardly the only area in the Granite State as fish up to 44 inches are coming from the Sullivan Bridge in Portsmouth on live eels. A 43-incher was also taken from the Rye Jetty. The graveyard shifters do well with chunks from Salisbury, Hampton and Rye Beaches. For cod and haddock take the haul out to Jeffrey’s but pay attention to marked bait at any of the humps, bumps and trenches that pock mark the bottom along the way. Cod and haddock are following sea herring and where you find the bait, you’ll find the fish.
Craig from Saco Bay said while it is tough going to find mackerel, those working it are rewarded with the nicest bass in the area. Chum is required to find the tinkers among ledges and islands such as Monument, Richmond and Basket. Beachcombers are scoring nice fish from Higgins, Camp Ellis, Biddeford Pool. Fishermen pestered by blues are toting along clams, which they generally ignore. The north side of Jeffrey’s has been rewarding clam soakers and jiggers snapping Cod Bombs and Cod Killahs. Don’t skimp on the Cod Fly teasers as haddock figure into the mix frequently. It’s tuna time up north as well as a menagerie of the pelagics from schoolies to giants are found from Isle of Shoals out to Scantum. Hookups are occurring for those trolling squid bars and deep diving Yo-Zuri’s. Porbeagle sharks occasionally appear for tuna chunkers.
Things are quiet on the freshwater front since so many things are happening in the salt. Rodney Flagg of Flagg’s in Orange said that the Masswildlife folks dumped in a ton of salmon earlier in the year that are just now taking trollers offerings. In addition to these neophytes, established salmon up to 21 inches long are taking DB Smelt spoons in about 20 feet of water. As the summer drags on look for the salmon and laker fishing to improve as fish suspend over established, deep holes and are easier to locate. Streamers will replace spoons once the dog day patterns emerge. Smallie action is at a pinnacle in Quabbin as specimens up to 4.5 pounds take topwater plugs at low light at points that border deep water. During daylight, better presentations are Senkos and live crawfish which Rodney struggles to keep in stock. Lake Mattawa in Orange is practically devoid of anglers, but that doesn’t stop a few from scoring beautiful bows and browns up to 20 inches. Leadcore is the key (two colors down) and the same reliable DB Smelt Spoons are doing the trick. The Millers River has big brown trout in the deep pools and undercut banks.
Best Bets for Massachusetts South Shore, North Shore, New Hampshire and Southern Maine
If you can make the haul out to Stellwagen, it’s quite a spectacle with bait, whales, diving birds and loads of gamefish in a free-for-all. School tuna are chasing the oodles of baitfish only about 10 miles from shore between Scituate and Hull, just make sure you have your permit handy, as the green police are out in force. Bucktail and squid strip fans rejoice, fluke are here again from Duxbury Bay to Lynn. While you can still toss a few blackbacks in a cooler at Green Harbor and in Boston Harbor by good old Hospital Shoals, you had better strike now because once the bluefish show up in force, the flounder slink off. Big bass are spotty, but those trolling tubes and worms from the South Shore to Boston Harbor stand the best chance of scoring. Of course you can’t beat live bait and you’ll find pogies off Duxbury and Quincy, squid off Nut Island Pier, pollock off Minot’s and mackerel in Maine.