Belsan’s Bait and Tackle

The man himself, Pete Belsan, at Belsan’s Bait & Tackle said there has been a huge school of stripers moving south from Minot down to Egypt Beach and, when they are turned on, the bite has been good. The tough part is, a lot of the time, anglers are finding them and they just aren’t interested. There have been some good reports from the beaches of Cohasset, Hull and Duxbury, with surfcasting slinging plugs and plastics grinding out some nice fish. Bluefish have been absent all season long. Those looking to catch their 1 fish limit of cod will have a good chance at Stone Ledge or Flat Ledge. There are some very small bonito around, but Pete described them as ‘glorified mackerel’ so you know they are quite small. Giant bluefin are around, punishing the pogies, but rec-sized fish are nowhere nearby.

The crew at Belsan’s Bait & Tackle said the stripers blitzing in Boston have had no reason to push south, yet. That means those who are running up to Boston Harbor are having great success and those who fish locally are working a little harder for the fish they catch. There were a few big bass caught bump-trolling macks at the B Buoy this week, plenty of bait out there too. There have been sporadic shots of pogies in local waters, and when you find them, there are usually a few bass hanging around. A few customers had made longer runs to Race Point and Peaked Hill Bar where the bass bite has been reliably good for bass and a few blues as well. Surf guys have been slinging eels off the Scituate and Plymouth beaches for some decent fish. With codfish opening on September 1, there will be a lot of guys out trying to cash in on haddock and cod combo gtrips, Stone Ledge is sure to be a good bet. On the bluefin front, it’s been all giants and they have pushed offshore for now. A couple guys have landed sharks on X-Raps this week, a porbeagle and a blue. The wildest news of the week was a locally-caught false albacore, boated at the SA Buoy a mile outside Scituate Harbor! The shop is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. through 6 p.m. and they cover all the bases from freshwater to offshore.