July 16th - We've got it All

Stripers and Blues- Tropical Storm Fay shook things up a bit and scattered some fish from the previously hot locations, but with some work and a keen eye on your electronics you should be able to find them. They’re willing to take live bunker and eels, or Diamond Jigs if you visit some of the deeper rips. When targeting the known “spots”, look for marks on your screen...if they are small, move on, as you will likely have snapper blues or schoolies pecking away at your presentation. If schoolies are the name of the game, go for it!

Smaller schoolies are present in abundance throughout the area and seem to hit best either at dawn, dusk, or when the tide running well. To target these smaller fish at dawn, try throwing a Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow or some other small pencil popper. Concentrate on current-driven points and rocks, and if possible cast up and retrieve your lure with the tide for a more natural presentation. Once the sun comes up the topwater bite has slowed, but both stripers and blues will still take paddle-tails such as the Egret Baits Vudu Shads or Z-man Diesel MinnowZ. White and bunker have both been productive colors, but as always watch out for those pesky blues.

Billy from Seven Stripes Fishing reports that the bass bite in Southeastern Massachusetts has been slowing down in terms of the live pogie bite, but in general the fishing remains steady with the hope being that the New Moon improves things. Big blues showed up around Race Point recently feeding on sand eels and mackerel, and anglers had a nice topwater session with the blues willingly taking Docs or poppers such as the Tsunami Talkin’ Popper. As far as the Canal, bass are still moving through the east end and some boats have come across fast-moving schools of large 40 and 50 pounders in Cape Cod Bay. The bonito are also still around in Chatham, and Billy believes all signs are pointing to a great year for them in the area.

Seabass/Porgies- Seabass have still been solid and keepers are coming regularly. The hot bait continues to be Daiwa SK jigs in blue, pink, or orange colors. They are a slow- pitch jig with a unique fluttering motion on the fall and seabass haven’t been able to resist them. Porgies have been strong throughout the summer and that continues to be true. Many anglers are getting them both from shore and while targeting other species as well. Try clams on a hi-low rig, sandworms, squid, or jigging small metals and you’re likely to get on a few hubcaps.

Fluke- Fluking has really picked up recently, with many breathing a sigh of relief and feeling that it may be a better year for fluke than the past couple. Keepers have been taken closer to shore more recently in around 30’ of water, with white Spro bucktails, Skinner bucktails, and Tsunami Glass Minnow rigs getting it done consistently. We’ve also had many folks come into the Black Hall Westbrook shop to go through our selection of M3 Tackle Rigged Spoons. They are an excellent fluke spoon to use as your primary presentation, or you can drift a spoon while also jigging a bucktail rig for double your chances. BHO Fishing Team Member Jack Tibbens reports that white and pink Gulp mullets have been the best producers for him in terms of additions to his bucktails. There are many short fluke around even in the smaller tidal creeks, so kayak anglers should feel confident if they want to chase flatties closer to shore. On the Wise Kraken Charters boat, a new PB winter flounder was caught this week and measured in at a massive 21 inches and 4.5 pounds! The BHO Fluke Fest is still being led by Sean Harrison with a 12.33 pounder! We’ve had some nice fish in the 8 pound range hit the scales recently, and there are still 2 months left to try and set yourself up for the podium.

Tog/Blackfish- Tog has been good so far this summer, though getting crabs has been tough! If you can flip some rocks and find some crabs, targeting tog using half-crab has yielded positive results.

Crabbing- Blue crabs have been running good, with some decrease in size but many crabs still around. As the summer goes on, the crabs will get more full and become heavier, with later being better for some sweet, delicious crab meat. Fishing Report contributor Sean Harrison says he expects the crabs to make a push up the CT River into the Essex area soon. Salinity can be a challenge for the blue claws, so keep an eye on recent rain totals in order to try and zero in on their locations. Sean had multiple days with keepers in the teens recently, so get out there and get your share!

Freshwater- Chatterbaits and jigs have been successful freshwater lures as of late. Bass are on deep grass lines and, if you have the electronics for it, locating them on deeper rock piles with a Ned Rig or deep-diving crankbait can be a great tactic. Sunrise and sunset along with cooler overcast days will be best if topwater is your game. Frogs are always a great summer choice, just make sure you level up your braided line to handle tugging them through some potentially thick lily-pads.