Massachusetts Fishing Report - November 5, 2015

It’s not feeling like November and not fishing like it either! With water temperatures stuck firmly in the stripers comfort zone, there are plenty of linesiders that seem content to linger. For those who believe mid-autumn should be less about stripers and more about smelt, November is shaping up to be a month to remember.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Forecast

Unless you’ve been cocooned in Cancun, you no doubt have heard of the 47-pound striper taken in the Cape Cod Canal Wednesday morning. The likelihood of getting a birds-eye scoop from yours truly about anything regarding the canal is normally not very likely. But not on this day, since I was casting 40 yards east of the gentleman! While my friend and I had been jigging for hours in the predawn darkness with mediocre results, this guy cruised on over after daybreak and, from what I could see, was a conservative caster content on picking his spots, as opposed to the “robo-slinging” that my friend Rick and I were doing. When fish broke in front of him, he made the most of it, was able to punch his topwater plug (pencil I believe) well into the Canal and was rewarded with a 34- and a 47-pound striped bass. While he hooked up, two other nearby anglers did also and while they did not land 47-pounders, few would argue that fish up to 37 pounds is pretty neat for November, indeed. The current was moving westward and odds are those fish cruised right by us yet did not eat our jigs, however once we found out we did eat a bit of crow. That night good fish were still there, but Thursday morning had little more than hordes of forlorn anglers and few fish! That bunch of bass appeared to have moved on. The last time I was aware of a serious school of stripers moving through the Canal, the Westport side of Buzzards Bay lit up… It might be a good time to haul your rig down there to give it a go. You might catch a cow, and if you plumb wrecks, ledges, and rockpilles with a green crab on the line, you most definitely will find tautog. And the way it is looking, this fishery will be hot for at least the remainder of this month!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

The bass are still bltzing! While impossible to say how many fish are left, there are frequent reports of feeding fish from Marina Bay out to the Lower Middle of the harbor! The Harbor’s never-say-die duo of Carl and Dave are trolling tubes around local estuaries and catching up to 36” long! A month ago, any estuary/river would have been prime for striped bass, but now it’s imperative to pick one with a reliable river herring presence since it’s the fry which keeps the bass interested this time of the year.

Fall of 2015 continues to be quite the season for smelt fisherman and this is keeping Lisa and Maria from Fore River on the go for grass shrimp. The shop usually has on hand live as well as fresh frozen. Some may be persnickety about live shrimp, but I’ve never noticed a difference in the catch rate provided that the shrimp are frozen fresh. With nightfall so early, anglers are able to take advantage of the nighttime bite, get home early enough to clean the catch and still get in adequate winks. In addition to Hull and Hingham, Bay Point Marina and Captain’s Cove Marina have been reliable. I also know of several positive reports from Summer Street. This may be the year to start sniffing around for smelt among historically hot places that used to have them in the harbor. In addition to marinas from Dorchester Bay to Winthrop which don’t always put out the welcome mat to non-members, “free” spots include the Paul Revere Park at the mouth of the Charles River, the Schraffts Center at the mouth of the Mystic River and the dock at Deer Island. There are actually a few focusing on flounder from Nut Island. Cohasset Harbor is a place to consider; this time last year an angler in a kayak made a flounder killing there.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Ordinarily my friend Joe Holey selects fishing shoes for grip and water repellency, but Wednesday afternoon he could have used track sneakers in order to keep up with fast-moving North Shore blitzes. The word was out on bass, bait and bird bedlam from Swampscott to Short Beach, and just like that it was over! Such is life when you just can’t let it go in November. Lynn Harbor is worth a look and about now, “resident” Saugus River bass should be staging not far from the GE Plant hotwater discharge. I would not recommend a riverside walk here to anyone short of a tightrope walker, but for the angler with a kayak or pram at the ready, the suds here will hold stripers well into December. When asked about smelt, Noel from Bridge Street Sports in Salem said that schoolies, which seem happy to stick around, are making it near impossible to fish for smelt. The little bass seem hell bent on racing from under docks and reducing sabiki rigs to tatters. When the schoolies finally decide to migrate, look for smelt of the Congress Street Bridge, Pickering Wharf and the Beverly Pier. What is hitting in spite of a schoolie presence is mackerel. Salem Willows is easy pickings for all the mackerel the reasonable could want. Neal from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester said that a patron of the shop caught 62 mackerel as well as 84 harbor pollock during one outing! The hot harbor pollock honey hole is the Dogbar Breakwater as well as the State Fish Pier, but odds are good you’ll catch from most any dock/pier/wharf in Gloucester Harbor. If you’re looking for something to do with all those mackerel consider tuna from southern Jeffreys Ledge. A pal of Neal’s caught a dressed 785-pounder recently, which presumably fell for a live mackerel. November has historically been one of the hottest months for tuna. The issue is the bait, and when the herring “fleet” is allowed to have at the schools. then overnight the tuna disappear.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

Recently stocked rainbow trout are getting a lot of attention according to Belsan’s in Scituate. Fearing’s, Little and Long Ponds in Plymouth have been among the best. A big shiner suspended under a bobber in between pockets of coontail weeds at Lilly Pond or Artichoke Reservoir is a high percentage method for catching that late season hawg largemouth. Non-descript cranberry bogs throughout the South Shore are often loaded with hungry pickerel and perfect for fast action with a spinner, curly-tail grub or Finnish-style minnow.

Eric from Lunker’s in Ashland agreed that autumn is prime time for catching an awesome largemouth bass. A big swim bait or large shiner fished among thinning weed stalks from Dug Pond, Farm Pond or Winthrop Pond can be awfully productive now. The summer drought made fishing the Sudbury River challenging but the recent rains have raised river levels to comfortable levels. Oversized, firetiger or perch patterned swimming plugs are just the ticket for the pike which prowl among Fairhaven Bay.

Barry’s in Worcester has become a mecca for Massachusetts ice fishermen so it felt odd to talk to Jim when the mercury was hovering over 60 degrees, but he did have prospects to discuss. The trout stalking this fall was similar to the spring in that the bows were big and beautiful. Trout catching has been good by the site of the old boat ramp on the north side of Lake Quinsigamond. For smallies, try tubes and blade baits in 12’ t0 15’ of water among the middle and north sections of Webster Lake. Jim should know, his crew placed third in a 50-boat bass tournament there recently. Another worthy spot for smallies is Lake Singletary. While pike are big news once hardwater sets up, hardly anyone fishes for them now and as water temperatures drop the fish feed more aggressively. A few toothy best bets are Lake Chauncy, East Brimfield Reservoir, Quaboag Pond and The Oxbow. Chauncy was one of those water bodies which received a greatly anticipated slug of tiger muskie fingerlings and there are high hopes for the future of this place.

Fishing Forecast

It’s likely that those cows that were creating all the buzz recently in the Cape Cod Canal have moved on, and the next stop could be the Westport side of Buzzards Bay. Even if that proves fruitless, the terrific tog bite is one heck of a consolation prize. Smelt fishing is the best bet in Boston Harbor at the moment, with anglers finding fish among too many lit docks and piers to list! Recent bass blitzes in Swampscott point to hope for continued catching, but for more consistency it’s hard to top mackerel from Salem Willows and the Dogbar Breakwater in Gloucester. While few are fishing for them, rainbows freshly stocked in Little Pond in Plymouth and Lake Quinsigamond are drawing rave reviews.