New England - South Shore Massachusetts to Maine Fishing Reports

Pete Belsan grabbed the horn again at Belsan’s Bait & Tackle and he said it was a great Saturday at the shop and in local waters, Sunday’s washout seemed to keep all but the diehards off the water. He heard several reports of mackerel moving back into shallower waters, particularly in local harbors and bays, which was waking up the local striped bass population and several bass north of the 40-inch mark were landed on live bait, plugs and plastics. He noted that they still have not heard any local reports for bluefish, for the entire 2026 season, but he was holding out hope that a few would show before the end of the month. Blackfish, on the other hand, have been biting well and local anglers have landed tog up to 10 pounds this week. On the tuna front, it’s been all giants and several getting close to 1000 pounds have been reported. There were rumors of some rec fish at the south end of Jefferies, but nothing to confirm. There’s a good pile of bass running back and forth between Scituate Harbor and the southern reaches of Plymouth, if you find them in a feeding mood, the bite can be really good.

Capt. Tom Lukegord of Beauport Fishing Adventures said they didn’t get out this week, so they had no recent reports to share. Word is that the codfish action is ramping up further to the north and they’re excited to see that. Pollock and haddock have been around in decent numbers and there have been good numbers of striped bass inshore as well.

Over at Surfland Martha told me hitting the Refuge after dark remains the best bet for surfcasters looking to connect with striped bass. Be warned that you have to be in before sunset if you want to fish the area and a permit is required. Those fishing the Refuge are reporting some good fish into the 40-inch class. They also saw a resurgence of reports coming from the river this week, it’s not putting out tons of fish, but definitely seems to be heating up. A few anglers reported some slot fish from inside the river and a few others caught mackerel at the jetties which they live-lined for a few stripers as well. With all the bait around, locals are just waiting for the huge number of bass feeding off the southern coast of Maine to drop down. One angler was out early one morning this weekend and found a blitz and landed stripers to 42 inches on topwater plugs. There have been many reports of sturgeon leaping out of the water throughout the area, anglers be mindful of the fact that these fish are endangered and you should not target them and if you do catch one accidentally, they need to be released without removing them from the water and photos should not be taken. Party boats are catching some haddock and pollock, codfish have been harder to come by, although reports coming out of Maine seem to indicate a recent uptick in cod catches there. Offshore, there are giant bluefin, no rec fish and tons of squid. Things are setting up for some great fall run action.