Anglers hope bait will switch

There is a great deal of chatter about the huge amount of bait out on Stellwagen Bank and east of Chatham, as anglers are trying to predict how it will affect the late-summer fishing.

There is some hope that a northeast blow will push the sand eels and the remainder of the pogies in from the offshore waters and the stripers will follow, but that may be wishful thinking. Right now, the big bass seem quite happy to be swimming with the tuna, and they could remain in federal waters and follow a southerly migration pattern later on that takes them well outside any waters that can be legally fished. At the very least, the near future should be interesting.

North Shore

Cooler water this week has improved the fishing, reported Derek Spingler at First Light Anglers. There are still some good schools of mackerel around because the bluefish haven’t arrived to scatter them, and anglers who are catching the macks with Sabiki rigs and then live-lining them are catching larger bass around Baker’s Island out to the first green can and at Halibut Point.

Black or black-and-purple flies as well as darker-colored soft-plastic baits are good choices when the swell is big along the rocks and ledges, and now that the weed has cleared, the islands from Marblehead to Gloucester are fishing well. Tinker’s Island, the Inner and Outer Breakers (a rocky area outside of Baker’s Island), and Newcomb Ledge have been particularly good spots on fish from 20 inches up to just-legal size.

There has been fair to good schoolie striper activity in the Essex and Ipswich rivers, while in the Merrimack River, pogies and shad have kept some larger fish around.

The Joppa Flats are strictly a nighttime spot right now, but many anglers are surmising that the stripers have moved to deeper, cooler water. Any action has been in a short window on each tide.

Flounder fishing remains good on the front side of Plum Island, as well as at the jetties at the mouth of the Merrimack.

Greater Boston

Anglers who are taking the time to snag or net pogies inside Quincy Bay are having some success this week either live-lining or slow-trolling them in deeper water around Point Allerton and the Outer Brewsters. Overall, the water has been a little cooler this week, sparking a bit more activity. There are also some tinker mackerel around with no bluefish to scatter them, said Russ Eastman at Monahan’s Marine.

Pete Santini from Fishing Finatics reported a 50-plus-pound bass that was caught during the Wharf Striper Tournament last weekend on a live pogy fished around the harbor islands.

Spectacle Island is a good spot, but Deer Island and George’s Island are also worth checking out with slowly trolled pogies taking some 35-40-pound bass this week. The real thing is generally outfishing tube-and worm rigs at the moment, probably due to all of the bait that is available.

More anglers are focusing on bass fishing, leaving the flounder angling to those dedicated to winter flatties. That doesn’t mean the fishing has slowed for flounder; there are good numbers in front of Deer Island between the 8 and 10 cans as well as the channel around George’s Island and the deeper humps at Point Allerton.

South Shore

Mackerel are plentiful, and they are nice ones, emphasized Pete Belsan at Belsan Bait and Tackle, but the bass are not cooperating. Some stripers in the 16- to 20-pound range have been caught from in front of Scituate, around Minot Light, and in front of the North River.

Bluefish are definitely late to show up around Scituate and Marshfield, but they are now in force in Duxbury and Plymouth, and the bait up north should bring them in soon. The fog this week around Duxbury and Kingston produced spring-like, early-morning striper blitzes. Small plastic shads worked very well on these fish.

Flounder fishing remains steady around Green Harbor, but the fish are moving into deeper water around the channels.