New England - South Shore Massachusetts to Maine Fishing Reports

The Sunday clerk at Belsan’s Bait said he didn’t have time to provide a report this week… but if the social media reports we’ve been seeing are any kind of an indicator, he probably would have had a lot to talk about! Striper action has been increasing by the day and recent reports show that there are fish nearing the 20-pound class making it at least as far as Boston Harbor, with some very nice fish reported in neighboring Hull. This is the week when things should really come alive along the South Shore, at least as far as stripers are concerned. With lots of 30- to 40-inch fish in the Canal and fish as large as 49 inches reported from Buzzards Bay, there’s a strong push on the way. Switching to freshwater, there have been many strong trout reports from Tack Factory, Furnace, Long and Little… the state keeps stocking and the anglers keep catching. There are still some really nice largemouth bass being caught as well, although many hardcores reports that the largies are beginning to bed up.

I spent half of Saturday at Surfland’s Surfcasting Demo Day and as always, it was a great event that really brings along that old school surfcasting atmosphere. In speaking with so many local anglers I was able to piece together a solid picture of what’s going on right now in the waters local to the shop. There are stripers exiting the Merrimack River, these are fish that wintered in the river and are now moving downriver to feed. At the same time, there are some a few early-arrivals making landfall on the local beaches. The holdover fish tend to look a little duller or yellower and won’t be sporting sea lice, the fresh fish are brighter and have been covered in sea lice. The sizes have ranged from schoolies under 20 inches to a few bigger fish in the 30- to 35-inch class. If you just want to hook a striper, a worm on the bottom is a good bet. If you want to fish actively, small to medium soft plastic paddletails and even a small topwater plug like a 1-ounce Super Strike Popper or a Jumpin’ Minnow will do the trick. Look for the striper bite to improve greatly over the coming the week. Shad are running in the Parker and Merrimack Rivers, it doesn’t sound like the run has hit peak stride yet, but that should be coming soon!