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| FishWire Coordinator: | Mark Cahill |
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| The End of Another Great Season
The fishing may not be over yet, but we've reached that point in the season where it's time to put the Boston Metropolitan FishWire to bed for the winter. We've had a great season, and I'd like to take this moment to thank all of the sponsors and contributors for helping to make this the best season yet. I honestly can't remember a season where I've enjoyed writing this column so much. Watch for our sponsors at the shows this winter and be sure to stop and say hello. They're a truly remarkable bunch of fisherman and it's a joy to work with them. Marine Protected Area for Stellwagen and Jeffreys? Bill Hubbard posted this on the RT New England Forum yesterday: There is a mounting effort by large conservation groups to make Stellwagen Bank into a Marine Protected Area, triple it's size by including the Southern edge of Jeffries Bank and Cashes Ledge and then to ban all recreational and commercial fishing as well as whale watching within its' boundaries. I will admit that initially I had a hard time verifying this data. Then I found this document entitled "Effectiveness and Economic Benefits of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary" which was prepared for Environmental Defense by Michelle Perez and Matthias Ruth from the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland. I quote from page 35 Model results indicate that a 6% to 16% reduction in direct and indirect revenues from the bluefin tuna fishing industry could be expected in association with a closure of the northern or southern bank or the entire bank area. Okay, in layman's terms, they are setting up a case for closing the whole bank under inclusion in an MPA the size of Rhode Island in order to avoid stressing out whales. Don't take my word for it, read the document! This might do the following:
We need to watch this issue very closely. I will post information as I find it on the RT New England Forum and in the RT Conservation Forum. Have a great winter, and I'll look forward to next season.
Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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Boston Metropolitan Regions
| NEWS |
| Word is in of some epic blitzes on the North Shore. Still, things are starting to slow down. There are still bass and blues in the Plymouth area, but it's clear that everything is headed southward now. In Boston Harbor, the action has remained fairly steady with bass being taken in Dorchester Bay and on the flats around Worlds End. Things are winding down though, so this is the last Boston FishWire for this season. |
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Boston Harbor
Capt. Wayne Frieden of Reel Dream Charters summarizes his trips this week with this: Sunday, October 6, 2002: For Dave and Rob Surdel, the morning started off with great promise. At first light, we found a mix of bass and blues chasing bait off Faunt Bar. Dave caught a number of schoolie bass on the fly whereas Rob landed and released a mix of bass and blues on light spin tackle. The action was very good for a while until the wind shifted and picked up big time. Then we were faced with a strong post cold front situation and a harbor that appeared to be a "dead zone". We decided to end the trip a couple hours early which gave us time to clean up, grab some lunch and watch the Patriots lose to Miami! So it goes... Wednesday, October9, 2002: I took two brothers, Joe and Lillo, and their "Big Brother" Jay Ostema, out for a couple hours of light tackle striper fishing. We found a nice school of bass busting bait on the Hingham Bay flats along World's End. For two hours, the boys were catching and releasing lots of schoolies up to 33". It was a great way to spend the afternoon and unwind from a day of work at the office. Until next season, we'll see you out there... Capt. Wayne Frieden Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters had this report on his piscatorial activities last weekend: Sunday newcomer Tom Oerlet brought along his daughter and two friends from Maine for their first Boston Harbor adventure. It was a slow start but just after dawn a small pod of bass was located in Princess Cove. Each angler caught a bass before the fish moved into shallower water where even Draggin' Fly coould not venture and it was just outside of casting range. It was frustrating to watch this massacre with no way of getting to the fish. Eventually, the fish moved out to deeper water and the anglers caught a few more. Monday afternoon Adrian Jackson of Charlestown invitied Jay Hoffman of Marshfield to join him. Jay is a "Hahbah" veteran but Adrian had never fished in his own backyard. The wind blew much harder than the forecasted 10-15 and turned up the harbor pretty good. But unlike the previous day, fish were more cooperative. Captain Bill found fish at almost every stop. Although the fish were selective, Jay and Adrian caught a number of good sized blues and a few bass on Bass Assassin Shad and poppers. Just before dark, Hingham Bay erupted in a bluefish blitz. Adrian is now hooked on Boston Harbor and has already signed on for next year. Dave Gale of Sharon invited long time friend and fellow fly fisherman Bruce Moyer also of Sharon to share his last trip of the season. Dave and his guests got into some great bass and bluefish trips this season but a previous trip in late August was the Draggin' Fly's slowest trip of the year. This was not the case for this trip. Dave and Bruce were into outstandfing top water action once the tide began to run. Bluefish dominated the scene but Dave managed to catch a few bass using a fast sinking Teeny line to get below the blues. Bruce used poppers and soft jerk baits to earn honor of top rod. Action was in Quincy Bay and off of Bumpkin Island until dark. Christian posted this bit on the RT NE Forum: Hingham Got the bug after hearing good reports of large numbers of fish in Hingham Harbor. Made the early treck this morning and jumped in the Kayak over to a muscle bed at dead low with the sun just rising.
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South Shore
DMM2784 had this post about his Tin Boat Tuna BigRed had this report: Still big ones in the Plymouth area. Fished east of Plymouth today. No big #'s, one nice 38". Mixed fish were bustin' off the Gurnet for a little while. Some I'd estimate at over 30" mixed in with the schoolies. Got a good look cause a couple followed my shad right to the boat. Got the bigger fish on a chunk a little to the south. Peter Sorensen had this report from earlier in the week: There were fish in Plymouth for the past two days working big bait balls. Some blues mixed in. Nothing huge but there are some fatties mixed in.
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North Shore
Okay, the words "hit and miss" come to mind. WildmanSpecial posts this morning: Beverly Harbor Report 10/11am Nothing much doing from the shore down at Lynch Park, Dane Street Beach, or Independence Park this morning from 6-7:30am....No birds working either...Maybe better luck this weekend.... While we've got reports like these from earlier in the week: MarkyMark: Beverly Harbor Beverly Harbor, there were birds between the SalemWillows Pier over to Lynch Park in Beverly.Stipers AND Blues mixed. Went at 5:30 , once the sun came up , everything turned on, lasted until about 9:00am. Might get back out tomorrow,sure it was cold,once the water it was not too bad. Kayaker: Cape Ann I did not witness it myself, but a reliable source says there was an epic striper blitz early yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) at Back Beach in Rockport, across from the American Legion bandstand. My 23-year-old son, heading home from a job, stopped at the beach long enough to register what was happening, then drove to Gloucester, grabbed a spinning rod and some plugs, and returned in time to land a couple of near keepers. He said he had never seen bass and bait (baby bunker) massed in such numbers. Lure- and line-fouling weed in the water, he claimed, was the only thing that kept him and the few other fishermen there from making an epic catch. |
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The Merrimack River
Capt. Charlie Crue forwarded his final report for the season. Be sure to watch for his Merrimack River Retrospective 2002 over the winter! Well this is the last report for this season. How has it been? From my perspective, the I just returned from a few days down on This area continues to be one of the best for light tackle fishing. Whether you fish from shore or on a boat you can get fish from May thru September. Plus, you can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Consider this area for you next season. Have a great winter and look forward to another great Thanks to all of you that have been out fishing with me! Captain Charles Crue Channel Edge Charters cec@greennet.net Touching Cloth had this report: Plum Island 10/10 AM Fished Plum Island at sunrise with Sterlings this morning, and did just ok on small schoolies. There were birds working consistently about 1/2 a mile off the beach (ocean), and I saw a guy catching a ton of fish at around 8:30 AM, anchored right outside the Merrimack, about 300 yards off the jetty. Seemed like it would have been a good day to bring my boat, but had no time. I kind of got the feeling that it was the end of the season up there, but the mere presence of any fish indicated to me that there should be good action in the canal, outer cape, and RI for at least another month. Last year at time, I recall the north shore being totally dead. Didn't see what size or type of fish the birds were working, but the guy in the boat was catching decent sized bass. No action in the river itself. All fish caught ont he ocean side of the jetty. |