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There has been an increase in the numbers of bigger bass brought to net by local anglers. More fishermen have been weighing in fish that have tipped the shop scales at better than thirty pounds. It appears that these larger bass have been caught on offerings of live mackerel and herring. Early morning anglers head out in search of bait before they even start to think about striper fishing. With the bait well full of live bait, aglers start to work the Islands and ledges throughout the Harbor. From he talk that goes on in the shop, it appears that fishermen are fishing for stripers ike it was the end of August, when in fact wate temperatures are closer to those found in June. Consequently, fishermen are looking in deeper waters for stripers and passing by more shallow water where they have been holding. Striper fishermen at the White Fuel Bridge continue to score on fair sized bass. Anglers at Liberty Marina are finally starting to realize that more bass are caught at the floats and deep water trips are not necessary. We are ow approaching the time of year that fish start to feed heavily before they start to migrate. Are you ready for the action?
Flounder fishermen have been telling of better flounder action. The best flounder action continues to be along the Beverly and Manchester shoreline. Numbers of flounder have been caught just inside the mouth of Marblehad Harbor and along House Island. Heavily chumming an area just before flounder fishing will usually draw flounder to the area. It appears that flounder fishermen have seen a reduction in the numbers of skate that tend to harass them. One trick that seems to work well for many founder fishermen is to raise the bait just a little off the bottom. Flounder still manage to get the bait but skate seem to miss it. The Manchester shoreline and House Island continues to be the most productive flounder waters in the harbor with the biggest flounder taken fom this area.
Numerous bluefish blitzes have been reported by both boat and shore anglers. Fast action requires quick thinking among anglers as bluefish tear through bait, destroy tackle and excite anglers. Boat anglers have observed blitzes along the islands where "pods" of bluefish have ripped through schools of baitfish causing hightened levels f excitement and fast fishing. Whethe blitz is large enough anglers can observe a reddish tinge to he water. Quick shore blitzes ave taken place at Devereux Beach, Singing Beach, Lynn Beach and Nahant. Most fishermen have reported a quick strike by blitzing blues and a state of onfusion afterwards. Bluefish have been observed on the surface from Boston to Plum Island with anglers scoring on bair, deep diving plugs and poppers. Working birds are a dead give away to feeding bluefish. Numerous pods of bluefish have been observed working schools of bait along most of the Boston Harbor Islands.
Cod fishermen have been catching good numbers of cod at the offshore fishing banks and ledges. Jig fishermen are most successful when they take the time to rig their jigs with teasers. Productive teasers can be norwegian style worms, shrimp tails and salt water flies. Some fishermen are still using the old snapper zapper style teasers that were so popular on party boats a few years ago. Bait fishermen have done all right at the offshore locations until the "dogs" move in. Fishermen that have been working Jefferies and Tillies have been pleased with the cusk and haddock that have been mixed in the catch. Haddock fishermen do best when presenting generous oferings of sea clams and jigs rigged with a sea clam teaser. Stellwaggen Bank fishermen also do well and catches seem to icrease when they are able to work the eastern edge of the bank. The northwest corner of the bank remains productive. There have been a limitednumber of cod caught by small boat fishermen woirking Saturday Night Ledge, Newcomb's Ledge, and Tinker's Ledge.
The upper reaches of the Merrimack River kees fresh water anglers both busy and happy. Good numbes of fish have been caught by dedicated fishermen. Largemouth bass anglers have scored when they work the quiet waters from Haverhill to Lowell. Smallmouth bass anglers have tallied impressive catches in the waters from Haverhill to Lawrence when they work the rocks and culverts. Shiners and crayfish have bee the best baits. Carp fishermen have been pleased with the numbers and size of the carp that have been caught. Some of the carp have rached weights well into the teens and low twenties. Successful baits have included worms, doughballs and oatmeal balls. Carp put up a good fight in the river because fishermen find themselves not only fighting the fish but also the strong currents. Striper fishermen score nicely at the mouth of the river where the action has been fast and furious. Night fishermen score best.
Trout fishermen have been teased by weary trout as they move into shallow water to feed. Persistent anglers will score on a couple of trout during the early morning hours and once again during the evening hours. Successful fishermen working local trout ponds hve attracted hungry trout during pre dawn hours by presenting dillies and trout worms with only a split shot. It appears that river fishermen have had much bette luck. Presenting crawlers and dilles upstream of shaded pools and allowing the bait to drift into he pool has proven to be a good technique to use all summer long. Although there have not been a lot of trout caught, it helps to take the edge off the "dog days". Fly fishermen appear to be catching some trut as they present dry flies along local ponds and rivers during the dusk period. During this time of the day fisheren have observed fish rising to feed on bugs on the surface.
Largemouth bass fisherme have been in a state of confusion trying to keep track of largemouth bsss. Bass apear to move back and forth from the shallows. They seem to move into shallow water during the late afternon into evening and hang around the shallows until morning when tey seem to move along drop offs and deeper water. Bass in te shallows are looking for a meal and will respond to a wide variety of baits. One of the best dusk to dawn baits have been inflated crawlers. With a football neele screwed into a plastic bottle, inflate the tail of a night crawler and present it without any weight along the surface water of a bass pond. As the crawler wiggles on top of the water it sends out distress vibrations that will attract hungry bass looking for a meal. This method usually provokes fish into striking and providing plenty of action. This is also a great time to work surface plugs and poppers. Generally, the fish that are caught are of good size.
Shiners are a prime target for aggressive and hungry pickerel. Feisty pickerel have been quick to pounce on any live ait that can be seen in the area. Presenting live shiners along the edges of most weed lines and submerged vegetation will almost guarantee you an explosive strike and a fast and hard fight. Most of the pickerel that ae been caught in local waters seem to measure out at between ten and fifteen inches, but there have been numerous catches that have exceeded these numbers. Some of the largest pickerel that have been weighed in have come from Longham Reservoir, Lake Attitash and Tewksbury Pond. Many of these fish have tipped the scales at two and thee pounds with a couple of these pickerel tipping the scales at five to six pounds. The largest pickerel have been caught on large shiners. Spoons have also attracted hungry pickerel. Pickerel activity has been best durin the middle part of the day.
During he past week, young anglers have been kept busy baiting hooks, casting lines and reeling in good numbers of yellow perch. Water temperatures at local ponds are warm enough to keep perch on the move and searching for their next meal. Anglers have found plenty of perch along most vegetation as well as in open water. The best method for attracting numbers of perch is to present bits of night crawlers under floats. Bigger perch seem to react positively to offerings of small shiners and limited hardware like small spoons and spinners. Although yellow perch can be founs in just about every pond in the state, one of the best local ponds that has supplied plenty of action for the kids has been Red's Ponjd in Marblehead. Most anglers are quick to reveal the best bait is and that has been worms. Kids brag about and proudly show off stringers of perch that they have caught. Become a hero in your kids etes by taking them to Red's Pond so they can score. Take a picture of them with their catch and post it on our Photo page. Just follow the directions afte you click the "add a photo" box.
Bluefish fishermen have been reporting increased numbers of bluefish in the area during the past week. Numerous schools of blues have been observed working the surface waters from Halfway Rock to Gloucester. When the surface schools are located fishermen can generally work the fish into a frenzy by casting poppers and chunks of bait to the edges of the schools. Fishermen will usually find themselves on the fighting end of a rod doing battle with a feisty bluefish. Until schools of bluefish are located trolling with solid plugs maked sense. Rapalas and Rebels are proven winners. Often times nasty bluefish will savagely attack offerings meant for other species. Soft plastic lures meant for hungry bass can be completely destroyed in little more than the blink of an eye. Although there have been many fish in the eight to ten pound class, there have been a few individual fish that have weighed as much as fifteen pounds. Snapper blues have started to show up along the Danvers River and inside the harbor. Try using small jigs for the snappers.
Striper fishermen have enjoyed another great week making this an incredible summer so far. Fishermen continue to score on good sized stripers within the harbor along the rocky formations and islands. Good catches have been made around the Breakers, the Gooseberries, the Aquavitaes and Satan Rock. Bait has been preferred by anglers working the rocks while tube n' worm combinations are favored by open water anglers. Some fishermen have acored by dragging large sea worms behind a series of spinners. Night fishermen have reported a good deal of success when they work poppers along the pilings of the Salem/Beverly Bridge, the Rockmore and the gut between Cat Island and Monument Rock. Fair to good numbers have been caught along the flats of the Danvers River at the mouth of the Bass River and the mouth of the North River. Tsunami plastic shads and Storm golden eyes continue to attract good number of stripers in the river and along the rocky areas of the harbor. Fishermen who dock their boats at the Liberty Marina do well at catching bass right off their boats. The White Fuel Bridge continues to be active with more fishermen discovering the benefits of fishinjg low tide.
We are now solidly in the "Dog Days" of summer and the success rates of many anglers proves this to be true. Even though the dog days are here, it does not mean the end of fishing, it just means you must work a little harder to score your favorite fish. For many, this favorite fish is the staple of local fishermen, the flounder. Flounder fishermen have report a great deal of difficulty in locating hungry flats. It has become easy to blame the shortfall of flounder on the dog days and the dogfish. Those anglers that have been willing to work for thei catch by moving and not being discouraged have scored near limit and limit catches. Many of the catches have been along the Beverly and Manchester shorelines. Constantly moving to find flounder has bedcome part of the flounder fishing ritual. Chumming has also become a popular and productive technique for increasing success rates. Flounder have also been caught along House Island and the mouth of Marblehead Harbor.
Offshore anglers continue to catch fair to good numbers of haddock at Jefferies Ledge and Tillies Bank. Some haddock has been caught by anglers fishing Stellwagen Bank. Most of the haddock has been caugh at the more northern grounds. Although some haddock has nbeen caught on jigs, it appears that generous offerings of sea clams provide the best action.` Many of the haddock have tipped the scales at between eight and twelve pounds, there have been haddock caught that weigh in at the mid teen level. Party boats have reported decent haddock action and their fares are more than a little pleased.
Cod fishermen continued to enjoy successful fishing along the offshore banks and ledges. Persistent fishermen have score consistently of all sizes of cod, It appears that the largest of the cod have fallen victim to Norwegian style jigs, rigged with shrimptail teasers or worm teasers. Often times, fishermen credit success with adding a strip of bait to the jig. Good numbers of cod have been tallied from all three of the popular offshore fishing banks. Numerous other locations, primarily small hills have produced good numbers of heavy cod. A slow jigging technique works best for the largest cod. Small boat anglers have found some smaller cod alojng the numerous hills and bumps and ledges just outside the harbor limits. Tinker's ledge, Newcomb's Ledge and Saturday Night ledge have produced som cod but the action has been spotty. It looks like the area around the Dumping Grounds and the "B" buoy have also given up some fair sized cod. Some fishermen have also reported some limited cod action around Nahant. Bait seems to work well along many of these inshore locations until the "dogs" show up. Often times fishing a bit off the bottom helps to cut down on the dogfish problem.
The Merrimack River has always drawn fishermen from all over New England and this year appears to be no different. Traveling the river you can't help but notice the number of cars with out-of-state plates. The success of fishermen brings scores of anglers. The river has come a long way during the past couple of decades being transformed from an outdoor flowing sewer to a natural resource that demands protecting. Fresh water anglers have been successfully attracting largemouth and small mouth bass from the upper reaches of the river. They have also enjoyed catching large carp and catfish. Throughout the lower sections of the river, salt water anglers have been successfully attracting stripers in good numbers with "trophy" catch in the mix. On any given night you can see anglers casting baits from the oceanside jetties to the flats and bridges that are part of the rivers magnatisn. Fishermen along the jetties score regularly on trophy bass that gives them "braggin rights" for the rest of the season as well as something to talk about during the upcoming winter months. A wide assortment of baits have attracted hungry stripers including mackerel. herring and pogies. Boat fishermen ciontinue to score steadily when they troll slowly with tube n' worm combinations. Take the time to prepare you bait for the best possible presentation. Take advantage of current by making the bait "swim". A little extra effort during the bait preparation stages pays off handsome dividents in the catch phase.
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