Massachusetts Fishing Report- August 3, 2023

Bluefish, those masters of mayhem, are scattering an already sparse bait supply making the acquisition of mackerel a grind. All is not for naught however as many are simply having a blast catching those blues! Because of the lack of a consistent large bait source anglers who are catching cows are ignoring what worked last year and instead revisiting what worked from the previous year.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

It’s been said that to find something you have to “follow the money” and if that “something” you’re looking for is big striped bass than the North Shore is a good place to start.

For weeks, commercial anglers have been enjoying an impressive haul of “selling” striped bass and that success shows no signs of abating. Locals kept the cow catching under wraps but that has ended in a major way as evidenced by launches which have been chock full of boats from near and far. This year the snagging of pogies by day is out and slinging of serpents at night is totally in! For the inside scoop I spoke to TJ from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester who sounded like a weight lifter as he talked in terms of hundreds of pounds, but this was in regards to the volume of eels the shop is selling. The big bass bite has been in close and off Coffin’s Beach, Long Beach, Cape Hedge Beach and Pebble Beach. The last time I checked, the commercial quota was at 72% and the bet is that it should effortlessly be achieved sometime next week. Those big bass get a brief stay of execution until next Monday morning just after the clock strikes midnight; have at it folks!

A few weeks ago I took a break from the brine and decided to cool off at the Chu for a few lakers and smallies. After a couple of hours tossing topwaters to 4 pound class smallies, I left smitten; after all, stripers rarely jump and certainly not four times in succession! Neither does the supporting cast of Bay State salty favorites such as flounder, fluke, black sea bass, tautog and the grab bag of groundfish you’re likely to encounter. There is one toothy exception however: bluefish! Personally I owe a big depth of gratitude to bluefish. It was old yellow-eyes which was responsible for bumping up my learning curve as a kid from flounder to schoolies to 36” toothy tackle destroyers. In recent years that appreciation had waned but that all changed last Sunday off Bearskin Neck in Rockport while fishing with my friend Captain Tom Ciulla. The goal while aboard his McKee Craft T Sea was to fill the livewell with mackerel and then find a few North Shore stripers. While our sabiki rigs found no shortage of harbor pollock, mackerel were few and far between.

Our answer as to why came a short while later while trolling the sabikis when something substantially bigger than a mackerel slammed the diamond jig at the bottom of Tom’s rig. We expected a bass but soon knew differently when a head-shaking bluefish bolted out of the water. Tom turned to me then and said: “I guess we’re bluefishing!”. Out came the poppers and other assorted topwater plugs and soon I was reminded of what first class fighters bluefish are. As I worked a Tsunami Talking Popper in, I thought of what an old salt told me years ago: “Kid, you can’t reel too fast!”. That proved accurate once again as despite a blistering retrieve I could not keep those blues from exploding on the topwater, sometimes but a few feet away from the boat. And more often than not they jumped clear out of the water! Along with many in Massbay I’m now all in on those bluefish. I guess sweetwater will once again take a backseat to the salt.

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle has gone calamari crazy! Just outside of Misery Island he loaded up on large Loligos. From Nahant through Cape Ann mackerel are scarce: their paucity in large part due to the bluefish invasion. Anglers are generally trolling plugs until they find them and then taking to casting for the choppers with all manner of lures working. With ideal water temperatures, the blues are behaving like blues and are not fussy. A bump in haddock numbers along with big pollock among inshore hills and ledge all the way out to Tillies Ledge make for an interesting groundfish alternative. As for stripers, Children’s Island, Great Haste, Little Haste and Winter Island have been among the most reliable for fish up to 48”!

Kevin from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport said that dropping water temperatures have brought bass back into the Merrimack River from Chain Bridge through the Flatts and out to the mouth of the river. There have been bluefish and bass action off both the Newburyport and Salisbury Jetties. The sand spike set is greatly anticipating the opening of the Parker River Wildlife Refuge which should happen within the week.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

On a recent trip aboard the Little Sister while targeting fluke off Noman’s Land Island, one of the crew expressed interest in fishing for black sea bass. Since we had just passed a number of Captain Colby’s black sea bass waypoints on the way to our 30 mile haul, the request to the rest of the crew landed with a thud. There ended up being no need for wrangling however since in the middle of a steady pick of fluke, keeper black sea bass came on in force and soon we were doubling and tripling up with nice knotheads. Adding intrigue to an already interesting trip was the appearance of a juvenile Great White that chomped a black sea bass in half and then casually swam away. We also saw a sizable sea turtle. Along with quality fishing, bags of fillets, sightings of sea turtles and regular appearances of Great White sharks, the skipper is serving up quite the package. If you are looking for one-size-fits-all tackle for fluke and black sea bass, a white bucktail jig of 2-4 ounces tipped with a white, pink or nuclear chicken Gulp Curly Tail Grub will catch them all. On an aside, I have a hunch that next week’s report will feature cod as Captain Colby has some intel on a very good Coxes Ledge bite.

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that anglers are going bonkers over bluefish. As we spoke mid-week, Egypt Beach was on fire with 9 to 11 pounders! As for what’s working? These fish are ravenous and seem willing to take down anything! Two local favorites have been bluefish bombs and the trust tube. With the bluefish presence as it is, mackerel have beat it to deeper water with 100’ depths necessary to find them. Thanks to the east wind earlier in the week, water temperatures have dropped which has brought bass back into inshore ledges as well as the mouths of the South and North Rivers. While pogies remain a no-show, there are a few reports of their peanut bunker progeny making an appearance! That could be the source of some of the surface feeds.

When I spoke to Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters last week, he told me that his goal for this week was to land a halibut, and boy did he come close to pulling it off. In 202’ of “mud” inside the shipping lanes of Cape Cod Bay while fishing a whiting close to the bottom the crew came tight to a halibut. These guys were prepared with tuna-grade gear loaded with 80 pound braid and a top shot of 100 pound fluorocarbon leader. They had the beast on for 45 minutes when the braid gave out! Far from an aberration, a nearby cohort of the captain landed – 3 halibut! Suffice to say the skipper knows where these things are; the timing of a trip for this fish-of-a-lifetime may not ever be better! While hoping for halibut, tuna were active in the same spot as were bigger-than-average whiting. Stone Ledge is holding some haddock, in fact I’m hearing of a overall increase in haddock harvests throughout the GOM as well.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Having reported on Captain Brian Coombs angling accomplishments for years, seldom does anything surprise me – but this week he served up an exception. Get Tight Sportfishing had taken a hiatus from the harbor, and instead, is pursuing pelagics on Coxes Ledge. Water temperatures of over 70 degrees have brought in chicken mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna and bluefin! This is a unique venture and a charter worth considering. Much of the action has been centered around highliner lobster pot buoys with the grungiest and weed-choked ones holding the most life. The mahi mahi are hitting casting spoons/jigs while squid bars have been the thing for tuna.

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy told me that while it has hardly been the best pogy year, some small schools can still be found in Quincy Bay with stripers shadowing the schools. The tube-and-worm off Wessagusset Beach remains a winner while some are also dragging the same combo around and catching off Raccoon Island, Sunken Ledge, Grape Island and Bumpkin Island. A few scup have been taken in front of the Quincy Yacht Club while West Gut and Hull Gut are best for black sea bass.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett told me that pre-dawn through dawn remains good for surface feeds throughout the inner harbor. Some of that striper interest might be due to peanut bunker as some reports of them are trickling in. Fluke up to 23” continue to be caught off area beaches and harbors while Peddock Island is the pick for scup. Anglers can still pick up a trip’s worth of mackerel off Deer Island and you may tempt a tuna with those tinkers at the Middle Bank where the bluefin bite has been good.

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

For a shot at a stellar bluefish outing the South Shore and North Shore have been more consistent than Greater Boston. Cape Ann had been fishing like the cow kingdom but with no large bait source present up there along with dropping water temperatures I wouldn’t be surprised if the breeder biomass moved southward into possibly Winthrop or Revere. Regardless, eels remain the go-to offering for the really big bass. For something different check out the South Coast, which with mahi mahi and yellowfin tuna, is fishing more like south of the border than the Bay State. Should you have a jig at the ready drop down about 100’ to see if you can catch a cod. Westport through Nomans Island is dotted with black sea bass and fluke holding spots. Regarding flatfish, a far bigger version seems to be doing just fine in Cape Cod Bay!