Fewer bites in heat wave
In this week's heat, few people probably have much of an appetite for a large sirloin and baked potato dinner. Just doesn't appeal, right? Imagine game fish, such as striped bass, which are usually ravenous in the cooler waters of spring, in the same condition as a result of oxygen-depleted water because of the heat, then you have a sense why fishing is slow. No appetite.
But in some waters and for some species, the action is still decent. Early mornings and dusk at high tide are good, but night fishing is best, and the deeper the better. In this weather, dogfish are really active and pesky. Unfortunately, they like deep, too.
Area A: Warm ocean temperatures have slowed the action around Boothbay, says Captain Will McKenna, who had been doing well on stripers. He was moving out to the ledges to change his luck. Plenty of tinker mackerel around the Sheepscot River, with bluefish in full pursuit. Stripers and small blues are active around the Saco River. Piscataqua River is very active with bass, and flounder are getting more active at Pepperell Point in Kittery, Maine. Bass also active around Plum Island near the Merrimack River mouth and out along the jetties and oceanfront.
Area B: Good flukin' around the Pine River, says Pete Santini of Fishin' FINatics in Everett. Good catches around the General Roberts Bridge. Striper action in Boston Harbor is slow, but best at high tide over the rocky bottom around Lovells Island. Mustard color or red tube and worm rigs are good, along with live eels. Some anglers also doing well at night live-lining eels around Hull Gut. The secret is to get the bait deep, says Santini.
Area C: Fish are being marked, but not feeding enthusiastically around the South Shore rocks -- Minot's Ledge to Green Harbor. Also, the football tuna catches are slower than hoped for, but are expected to pick up. In Duxbury, Plymouth, and Kingston bays, some good-size stripers have been taken. Bull McKinnon has taken some surfcasting with a popping plug and landed a 52-inch striper. Won't say just where. Captain Dave Bitters from Bayman Charters took 26 fluke, fishing major channels with squid on a dropping tide. Plenty of small bass around, and the best method right now is a live-lined pogie.
Area D: The fishing in the Canal was slow this week, say the boys at Red Top. Some small bass were caught in eastern Buzzards Bay along the Marion/Fairhaven rocky shore, with larger bass west around Cuttyhunk to the Hooter and Nomans. Fluke are not large, but mostly legal and present around Pocasset's Mashnee Flats. A couple of large stripers were taken near the radome off Padanaram this week. You'll find lots of company out in the bay these nights. Look for bass in the east tidal flow at Robinsons and Quicks.
Area E: Bonito have started to show up around the south side of the Vineyard and in Nantucket Sound. These quick-moving, very picky members of the tuna family are best fished light with no leader. Check them out around Middle Ground to Cape Poge and into Edgartown Harbor. Some good striper and bluefish catches reported from Captain Porky's decks from Wasque to the Hooter, bouncing live scup or eels on the bottom. Midsize blues are being taken deep. Also, check out the waters from West Chop down along the swimming club (though private, it is legal to fish here), and along the Tashmoo jetties.
Area F: Along the National Seashore is slow during the day, but night surf fishing should be productive. Captain Hap Farrell out of Rock Harbor reports that fishing has slowed in Cape Cod Bay, that there are bass being marked around Billingsgate but that they're not biting anything. Bluefish are active along the Eastham shore up toward Wellfleet Harbor, and the shoreline from Great Island to the Pamet River is active. Use hootchies or, in water less than 20 feet, umbrella rigs. Some blues heave in at 15 pounds.
