Massachusetts Fishing Report- October 19, 2023

A peak into recent messages I’ve received during the last few days say it all. One shop owner said to me, “I have a picture of a striper, do you want it?”! Or how about this one: “Wow, Winthrop Harbor is loaded with schoolies” and then there was this gem, “Snapper blues are mixed in with mackerel blitzing on peanut bunker!”. There may be less bass and blues now in our midst but when they are found, the grins just might be wider.

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

It’s not often that I get a call from Captain Brian Coombs on a Sunday night so I knew that it had to be good. “Good” proved to be an understatement as he had just finished a trip that was top-heavy with tiderunners! As cow is to striper and gator is to bluefish, tiderunner defines a big weakfish. Yes, Get Tight Sportfishing has a bead on these near-mythical sportfish of the northeast with size running between 11-13 pounds – true tiderunner territory! His tip is to look for “rolling” fish and toss them paddletail soft plastics. The next day Brian topped it off with more fish up to 13 pounds, but this time – they were tautog! You might say Captain Coombs is on a run.

Regarding runs, Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister Charters is flat out busy as the combination of less stripers/blues, dropping water temperatures and an increased tautog bag limit (5 fish) has resulted in an uptick in bookings. He’s also expecting an increase in size of the tautog his crew is catching and he should know having consistently put anglers into the top tog categories in the Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Derby. Cod should be part of the mix soon as well making for charters leaving with enviable bags of fillets. While I wasn’t surprised to hear of a terrific tog bite along the South Coast, I was taken aback by a stellar South Shore tog report. Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate told me of Jeff Gray who traps his own green crabs and wrenches in quality tautog among wrecks and rocks in the Scituate/Minot area. During a recent trip he put an 11 and 13 pounder in the boat!

Mackerel have moved in closer to shore which is a sure indicator that bluefish and bass numbers have lessened. The predominant bait seems to be peanut bunker as well as brit herring. The Three Bays still have a big bass and bluefish bite with tube-and-worm trollers doing especially well. Nighttime eel fishers are doing well around herring runs as stripers snack on the migrating herring fry.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

While I don’t fish bridges as much as I once did, mid to late October was my favorite time to do it! My favorite bridges bordered rivers/estuaries where I would opt for heavy rods, conventional reels, 50 pound monofilament line and jigs. Picture an outfit that would be right at home on a headboat and you have an idea what I used. The sweet spot that I would focus in on was the shadow line upstream of a bridge on an outgoing tide. Upstream areas which are dead during the day come alive at night in the fall. If you stood on top of one of these bridges at night you’d see the backs of bass as they nose into the shadow line looking to pounce on bait. More evolved than their prey, bass have the edge at dark and easily dispatch their victims as the current whisks the forage along. An eel or jig/soft plastic worked at an angle into the shadow line can be deadly well into the final days of October.

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy said that anglers steaming out to Stellwagen have been limiting out on haddock with no dogfish to contend with. The token one cod has been easy to catch among most any wreck or ledge from Boston Light to the B Buoy to the Dumping Ground as well as Stellwagen. There is a definite bump in smelt interest as the shop is moving bait, rigs and old school bamboo smelt rods! The thought of that throwback gear had me thinking of hand-held drop lines which were standard gear on skiffs, prams and boats off all kinds during the glory days of flounder. Lo and behold, the Fore River ladies still carry those as well! Next May when I set out to fish for my favorite flatfish, I’m determined to pick one up for old times sake.

Recent blitzes of both bass and blues on peanut bunker have been taking place off Squantum and out along Wollaston Beach. Al Gag’s Whip-it-Fish have been the go-to offering during those feeds. Faux feeds have been taking place as the bait is seemingly outlasting the predators! Some of that surface activity has been the handiwork of mackerel pushing peanuts. On Wednesday my friend Captain Dave Panorello tipped me off to a large swath of schoolies pushing bait from Snake Island to Deer Island! Revere Beach through Broad Sound has also had some blitzes with blues picked off by those trolling plugs.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle has been sounding as if he’s more into fowl than fish with all the bird talk – but those feathered friends have been tipping him off to some exciting surface feeds. Right near the shop at Derby Wharf through Winter Island has been going off consistently. So has the Crane River in Danvers as well as Marblehead Harbor. The forage is small, making 3” paddletails the perfect offering. Mackerel are no problem all the way through Nahant where there just might be the best big bass fishing on the North Shore at this late stage.

While nights aren’t in my buddy Dave Flaherty’s comfort zone he’s considering altering his approach. Living in Nahant and being a creature of that craggy shoreline, he can be forgiven for not wanting to combine two daredevil approaches to fishing. With predawn walks along area beaches revealing more snap, crackle and pop than a cereal box, it’s obvious that the night bite remains hot. A 4” Al Gag’s Whip-it-Fish did connect to a cow off 40 Steps Beach which threw my friend off after just getting close enough for him to gauge that it was a big one. The given is that many bass have migrated southward but every bit as certain is that there are still errant cows out there and they are hungry. Mackerel have also moved in off from the BG Buoy to the NC Buoy and as close as the 2 Can and Flipp Rock. An oddity is the late stage appearance of 4” snapper blues mixed in with mackerel. Where were those things last month, when fluke were still inshore?

Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle in Newburyport said that anglers are still catching stripers as well as the occasional bluefish but the effort/effect ratio is less favorable. The shop is still moving eels for the graveyard shift gang who are still catching. Martha told me that because demand is still high, she’ll be placing another order. She’s still hearing of fish in the Hampton River/harbor area which bodes well for next week and beyond.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The tautog bite remains terrific on the South Coast and even the South Shore! If you’re easily distracted by tiny tuna be prepared to be tormented by busting false albacore. The Three Bays continue to hold big bass in spite of the calendar with the occasional bluefish severing the line of the unprepared angler. Boston blitzes have been common from Winthrop Harbor through Revere Beach. Mackerel have moved into the North Shore from Nahant’s 2 Can through the 17 Can off Salem. While occasionally the surface feeds are the work of marauding mackerel teeing off on peanut bunker there are still plenty of schoolie through upper 30” bass around to make it worth the effort. While anglers farther north in the Newburyport area are still catching stripers there remains additional optimism as the wait is on for Hampton Harbor fish to move southward.