Boston
Metropolitan
Region

Hot Action Holds Doldrums at Bay

The word coming from Eastern Mass is that the fishing is still holding up, with no sign of the summer doldrums setting in. As the temps warm up, we can probably expect the inevitable slow periods, but for now, get out there and get them.

The View from the Anchorage - from Reel Dream Charters

Around the area, I'm getting word of decent fishing around the Mary Anne Rocks, up to the Pilgrim Nuke station. In Plymouth Harbor, the jetties are producing. Boston, as always, is hot with decent size fish being taken fairly regularly. To the North, Cranes is fishing well, but reports are hard to come by.

At the Merrimack, things continue to hold up with both shore and boat anglers connecting.

Bob D. will be back next week, as he's celebrating the 4th of July week in true FishWire fashion - on the water!

Don't forget to send him your own reports, and until next week...

Tight Lines!

Mark Cahill
Managing Editor

Boston Metro Regions

Boston Harbor

Capt. Wayne Frieden (781-545-6263) of Reel Dream Charters reports:

Calvin Hazelwood's first keeper

Monday, July 2, 2001: The good news is that there is still plenty of bait and bass in the harbor, despite a major cold front last night and @ 30 degree drop in air temperature. At first light, bass were busting bait and birds were working in Quincy and Dorchester Bay. With 15-25 mph winds (averaging 20), today was not a fun day for fly casting. So, Troy Stutz of Beaumont, TX caught his first stripers on light tackle and had fun using a white sluggo. Troy found these 22-24 in linesiders much stronger than the specs he's accustomed to catching in the Gulf. Once the tide slacked, the wind also picked up and the catching stopped as if someone flipped the switch OFF!

Tuesday, July 3, 2001: It was a truly spectacular day on the water for Calvin Hazlewood of Wyoming who had never been saltwater fly fishing before. At first light, we found birds working in Quincy Bay but mainly the fish were small. On tip from another guide, we headed outside to find a good school of large bass feeding on herring. Using a fast sinking line and a gray/lavendar half n half, Calvin landed and released his first keeper, a 31" beauty! The school didn't stay up for long so we headed back to the

Downtown Fishing!

anchorage where we were greeted by zillions of birds and bass! As the sun rose, we switched to a chartreuse/white half n half and Calvin caught and released many more schoolies between 22 and 26". There were plenty of boats but most anglers respected one another's space. [Image][Image] Calvin Hazlewood's first keeper View from the anchorage,

July 4, 2001 Fourth of July! The fish came up predictably with the tide but not the big fish of yesterday. Still in all, Mike McCarthy of Boston had a good time catching a number of school size bass on the fly. The same flies that worked well yesterday did the trick today. Mike used one of my Orvis 8 wts. with depth charge line which made catching these 22-24" fish a blast! The wind was somewhat of a negative factor today and tended to put the fish down as the morning progressed.

David Peroiette with a small keeper

July 5, 2001: Took David Proiette and his colleagues out this morning for their first experience fishing for stripers, ever! Found a small school of bass near the Long bridge at first light then searched around until the tide started to move in. Again, the fish came up in the anchorage and some nice one's were taken on light tackle using sluggos. David managed two small keepers at 28" and 31". Toward mid-morning, on our trip back to Rowes Wharf, we found another school of bass popping up near the aircraft carrier which has been docked in the Inner Harbor. [Image][Image]

The fishing continues to be strong in Boston, so, now is the time to book that trip! For the latest fishing reports, go to: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/reeldream2/comments.html

Until next time, we'll see you out there...

Plymouth & South Shore

Update - 7-6 - 3:09 pm - Bill Smith just e-mailed this tidbit:

Just got in from today's trip. We did well on bass but I also got into my first bluefish of the season in the Harbor.

So the blues are in the harbor- go get 'em guys!

Captain Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters reports:

 

On June 29, Jim Fitzpatrick and friends were treated to explosive surface action. No fly rodders on this trip but some excellent light tackle anglers. Best action was on the backside of George's where large stripers had bait trapped along the shoreline. Soft baits retrieved erratically brought many heart stopping attacks. On the weekend, Draggin'Fly Charters moved south to avoid the holiday crowds in the harbor. We fished off the rocks at Manomet Point. The water was very clear so Mike Mercier was able to spot his targets. There were more followers than takers but Mike managed to catch bass and one bluefish, all on snake flies. Bass were up to 34 inches.

Monday, July 2, it was back to the harbor for Draggin'Fly Too. The wind blew hard out of the northwest but Cap Vinal and his wife Paige caught one bass after another, all on the surface. The hot lure was a white 7 inch Bass Assassin Shad which matched the size of the herring that the fish were feeding on. Action was spread out along Nantasket Roads.

Rick Lucas put together the crew for an extended trip on July 3. Action began at first light off the Graves and moved into the Inner Harbor on the incoming tide. Size of the fish was very mixed, from 32 inches to small schoolies. Again soft baits worked the best.

July 5 was Ed Nowak's day to tame harbor bass with his famous reverse popper. Ed is the regional field editor of the Fisherman who, even at eighty, can still fling a rod with pin-point accuracy. Bass were not as active as they had been earlier in the week, probably because they feed all night on the full moon. However, there was enough action to "tire out the Old Gopher". Fish were spread out throughout the Inner Harbor

North Shore, Cape Ann & Merrimack River

Captain Charles Crue (978-462-9212) of Channel Edge Charters wrote in with this:

Merrimack River Report July 5, 2001

Captain Charles Crue of Channel Edge Charters with a healthy Merrimack striper

Striper fishing continues to be very good in the estuary area of the mighty Merrimack. Last Friday there was very good action on Joppa Flats early. Keeper size fish were caught on surface lures and flies. I had clients out late on the high tide. We found lots of fish activity near the #13 can but could not get them to hit lures or flies. Then I spotted breaking fish with working birds across the river on the Salisbury side. We went over and immediately were into large schoolie stripers (20 to 26 inches). We had doubles and triples with all three anglers into fish simultaneously. It was a very good morning.

Saturday the weather was calm and with no cloud cover, but loads of boats roaring up and down the river. Fishing was very slow for my client. Stripers were around the flats but not active. We caught and released a total of five fish. The largest was a nice 32-inch striper that was tempted by a rigged soft bait.

Sunday and Monday were off days. The wind was howling on Monday, precluding any fly fishing.

A sample of the river's fair from last Friday

Wednesday there was very good action early in the morning. When the light came up the fishing, dropped off. Chunk bait fishermen were scoring at the river mouth. As the tide rose a few fly fishermen moved up onto Joppa Flats. There were lots of stripers. We caught over a dozen stripers with a couple of "almost keepers." The fish hit surface lures and deceiver flies.

Thursday was good in the early morning but as the day turned bright the fishing slowed dramatically. There were stripers on Joppa Flats but they were not hitting lures or flies during the time before the high tide, when I was out there.