Fish On: Feelin’ the blues a little early!

Well, last week I spoke too soon when I said hopefully the blues will stay south for another week or two.The first bluefish blitz of 2011 for many Lynn fishermen took place this week on Monday afternoon between Egg Rock off Lynn beach and East Point Nahant. Gorilla bluefish averaging 36 inches joined by some trophy sized bass were crashing mackerel and herring on the surface as far as the eye could see, with masses of Seagulls and Terns joining in on the feast!If you were one of the lucky 15 or so boats fishing this blitz, you probably had one of the best fishing days of your life.For the rest, this is only the beginning.The North Shore is alive with fish! Grab some wire leaders and hop in on this, because July is looking like an action filled month on the water!Here’s a look at our areas:Boston HarborBoston Harbor fishing is great right now. The Harbor is loaded with Pogies, Mackerel, Herring, Peanut Bunker (Juvenile pogies), and all this bait is igniting a fishing explosion!Quality bass are being caught from Winthrop, up the side of Deer Island and out onto the Fawn Bar on Tube N Worm rigs. Umbrella Rigs are taking bass to 45 pounds regularly throughout the harbor right now as well.All around the outer Islands bass are crashing adult mackerel on the surface, and large blues are making their presence known, making for some great topwater action.Also to add to it, flounder fishing remains excellent. Flatties up to four pounds are reportedly being taken all over the harbor using the standard two hook flounder rig with a weight.Lynn/NahantOur area is the place to be right now. Packs of gorilla bluefish are patrolling our waters and creating some truly amazing fishing. And on top of that, big stripers are everywhere from Lynn to Swampscott.The blues will basically hit anything you throw at them, but the topwater action is where it’s at. Stan Gibbs pencil poppers, both large and small, as well as Creek Chubb plugs are working great. Swampscott is on fire as well this week with huge stripers hitting the scales.Fisherman Brian Deleo caught six massive stripers in one night this week around Swampscott, all between 44-49 inches, the largest weighing in at an impressive 47 pounds!Beverly/SalemMarblehead Harbor still has a lot of mackerel at the mouth, with bass and blues around them.The Islands are seeing good amounts of mackerel as well, but the bluefish are starting to scatter them around, so finding them is taking a little more time. The Salem Willows and Beverly Pier crowds had a good week this week, jigging both mackerel from the piers, and chunking either fresh mackerel or clams anywhere in the area. The outgoing tide has been the hot tide this week.Newburyport/Cape AnnMike from Surfland Bait on Plum Island reports just a great week of fishing. The boat crowd had a action filled week at the mouth of the Merrimack, livelining mackerel for blues and stripers, with fish to 30 pounds being taken.Mike says the river near the mouth has been great on the latter part of the outgoing tide for those soaking clams and seaworms from the beach. Joppa Flats are producing quality fish when the sun goes down for those slinging live eels, and trolling dark colored tubes.Cape Ann is seeing more bluefish and striper action. Large blues are being reported just outside the breakwater chopping up mackerel schools. Trolling metal lipped swimming plugs is a sure way to find the blues.The Bottom LineIf you’re heading out fishing this 4th of July weekend before the fireworks, just take a drive along the water from Swampscott to Nahant and look for the birds. The huge flocks of seagulls and terns hitting the water over one area is a sure sign of feeding fish. And be sure to bring along some wire leaders, because without these the razor sharp teeth of those blues will cut you off 9 out of 10 times. Good luck and have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!P.S. Thanks to all the readers who’ve been sending in reports and pictures! It helps us all to have the m