Massachusetts Fishing Report - October 22, 2015

Fast-moving striped bass appear to be living by the “here today, gone tomorrow” mantra. Welcome to October. For a shot at something that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon, consider smelt, which seem to be riding a resurgent cycle. The other option is tautog out of Westport; just make sure your tackle has the timber to wrench a wicked white chin out of cover.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Forecast

If you’re not ready to pack the striped bass obsession in just yet than Westport is the place for you to be. Wednesday morning was practically a fish-per-cast bonanza for Captain Colby and crew aboard the Little Sister. The “problem” was that we did not connect with a single fish over 30 inches; I guess we’re spoiled. Strangely, the fish turned their noses up at eels, whacked soft-plastic stickbaits as if they were starving, and the biggest bass of the lot seemed to favor big spooks, which for me was the bone 24-7 Mully. After leaving the river, a Buzzards Bay blitz reigned among us, but “samples” showed that they were the same sub-30” fish. Still, who can complain of non-stop striped bass action in late October?

If you’re done with schoolies, then poke around close-to-shore rockpiles for a “real” fish. Our efforts produced no shortage of keeper tautog, which couldn’t resist chomping crabs into bits as long as they were dropped into their lairs courtesy of a Tidaltails Jig. While fun, we were looking for a something more taxing when a perfectly proportioned 7½- to 8-pounder engulfed the half a crab and gave me about all I could handle. While tog don’t often rate high in aesthetics, every once in a while you catch one colored to where it could almost be described as beautiful. This fishery right now is the best the Bay State brine has to offer. Quick tip, if you can lay your hands on BioEdge Crab Potion, do so—it’ll save you a lot of crabs. Usually when a tog makes short work of a crab, leaving little more than an eviscerated cavity and legs, you have to re-bait. I don’t! I put a drop or two of that stuff on and get whacked most every time! I’ve even experimented after having the bait nibbled to a nub and then ignored by tog, bringing it back on board giving it “the edge” and immediately hooking up on the drop.

Pete from Belsans Bait in Scituate said that the word among local smelt sleuths is “small.” Addicts such as Sal are seeing smaller smelt than in years in Scituate Harbor. Just maybe the same factors which have resulted in an uptick in coast-wide recruitment of many anadromous species, including striped bass, river herring and white perch has led to better numbers of smelt. Once this season winds down in late December, we’ll know for sure. There were a solid number of 20-pound-plus stripers taken in the Scituate area last weekend, which was surprising because so few anglers were fishing. Mackerel are there for the jigging close to shore and among the usual haunts. The better bass have been found off Minot Beach, Humarock Beach, and the mouth of Scituate Harbor. Most are catching with bait, be it macks, clams or eels.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

How good has the smelt fishing been this year? Demand and interest has inspired the Fore River “girls” – Lisa and Marie – into traipsing through Quincy estuarial mud in search of grass shrimp. The good news is that they are finding them! The shrimp have not developed a hard shell yet, and because of this fragility they do not last very long alive, so gills of them are being flash-frozen and stored. Nut Island, Hull, Hingham, Marina Bay, Summer Street and Winthrop have all been spots where patrons are catching. If you’re new to the sport, seek a place near lighting, take with you a lightweight rod/reel (ice fishing combos will do) and half a smallish Sabiki rig. Fore River sells telescopic tandems that are perfect for the job and then fold away for convenience. Pinch off the head of the shrimp and thread the hook through from the front and out the tail. Don’t be distracted by surface-cruising smelt—they are usually more stealthy and not as aggressive as the fish swimming below and are usually the tip of the iceberg belying many more silver-streakers below.

Sadly, for the first time in nearly six months you cannot count on catching striped bass in Boston Harbor! My condolences. They are certainly living up to the “fall run” format. On Wednesday, the action was lights out, and by Thursday that school appeared to have left, leaving only birds on bait and broken hearts! I did hear of a brief “run” of small fish on the Quincy side of the harbor. Mackerel are easy jigging from Martin’s Ledge to Nahant, but rarely is anything chasing them. There was once a time when finding the mackerel in late October meant that there were cod nearby, but we all know what happened to those days. A best bet for a big bass is to take those macks to the mouths of our rivers that have herring runs and see if you can tempt one of those 15-pounders that prowl near the herring fry. Some of those fish will hold over all winter long and some will migrate but either way they are sticking near the forage.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Matt from Capefish Outfitters said that Salem and other North Shore beaches have been the scene of surface-feeding bass. He pointed out Singing Beach, West Beach, White Beach and Black Beach as places for autumn action. I’ve also heard of activity off Devereux Beach, Preston Beach and Short Beach. If September/early October spoiled you, then be prepared to work through par-for-the-course skunkings for the occasional catching. But there’s no doubt there are big girls still cruising off our coast. Tomo from Tomos Tackle said that customers have been hauling to Summer Street in South Boston and Nut Island in Quincy to catch smelt. That’s a bit disconcerting since the “home court” of Pickering Wharf historically has been a place to catch them! What you can catch from Salem Willows is mackerel as well as some big sea herring.

I saw some pictures recently of some nice stripers up to 41 pounds that were taken on mackerel most likely on the “outside” of Cape Ann. Neal from Three Lantern Marine said that macks are easy to find once you clear Gloucester Harbor as well as occasionally inside the harbor. Striper numbers as well as those pursuing them are plummeting but the ones still at it are catching the occasional cow. Neil recommends the backside of Gloucester up to the beaches off Rockport with mackerel being the best bait. Martha from Surfland said that most of the catching is coming courtesy of the Beach Buggy brigade. Those folks are buying up a flat of seaworms, camping out on the sands of the Parker River Wildlife Reserve and catching all kinds of stripers. Other than that participation is significantly down. A few, however, have been searching for surface feeds and running and gunning along the beachfront with SP Minnows and catching mixed sizes of stripers with the occasional teen-sized fish mixed in with the schoolies.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

This might be a case of the “grass is always greener…” syndrome, but some in Massachusetts long for a walleye fishery. If you’re in that camp, point your truck to Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange and gear up for a real shot at a decent walleye. A couple of casual anglers showed pictures to Rod of some “strange” fish they were catching by accident in the Connecticut River. One glance and Rod knew that they were into walleyes, nice ones that looked to be 17 – 18 inches long to boot! These folks were simply tumbling weighted down worms into depressions by bridges and they caught quite a few! The walleye’s smaller cousin – the yellow perch – thrives in good numbers just behind the shop in Lake Rohunta. Rod peeked into a pale of a patrons of the other day and it was full of brilliantly-colored, good-eating jumbo yellows! This guy took this fish while trolling a spinner/worm combination behind his little tin boat. They are also finding slab crappie at Rohunta as well as North Spectacle Pond. Beetle Spins and Road Runners are great for big “calicoes”. Masswildlife stocked the Miller River and Lake Mattawa with hundreds of trout recently including some big browns and hardly anyone is fishing for them!

For a chance at a “wild” trout consider lakers and brookies from Wachusett Reservoir. Quite possibly the Wachusett watershed is the closest area from Greater Boston where you can find quality native brook trout. Eddie of B&A has been picking a few natives off from both the Stillwater and Quinapoxet Rivers. A few have been catching and releasing landlockeds which are running the stony water of the Stillwater Basin. The salmon could use a significant volume of rainfall for them to course upstream of the Stillwater. Joe Maple landed two big bronzebacks between 4 and 4 ½ pounds on yellow perch from the Gate 35 section of the reservoir. Gates 6 through 8 have been best for rainbows, some of which have been purplish-striped 17” beauties. The Gate 30 area has been good for lake trout up to 4 pounds; these fish have been so aggressive they’ve even been hitting Senkos intended for smallies!

Fishing Forecast

If you still haven’t scratched that striper itch, you should check out Westport as well as that section of Buzzards Bay. It’s been blitz city there, but who knows how long it will last. For a terrific tandem, top off the bass “breakfast” with a little togging. Captain Jason Colby has been finding them in about 20’ of water. Sadly, the harbor’s best bass days for the season are in the rearview mirror, but occasional “feeds” are not out of the question. A better bet may be to jig up the ubiquitous mackerel and hit the herring runs in the rivers. For that one last cow quest on the North Shore, jig up some mackerel outside of Tinkers Island or Thatcher Island and troll or cast them close to the rocks of Gloucester and Rockport. If you’re thinking freshwater may be a greatly needed breath of fresh air, then consider walleye from the Connecticut or wild brookies from the tributaries of Wachusett.