Fishing slow as ‘dog days’ are upon us

Fish On! With Joe HoleyWhat a difference a week can make! The dog days of summer have finally arrived, when the fishing slows way down, as we see hazy, hot and humid days, and don’t want to do anything.The stripers feel the same way!When the ocean temp in our area spikes to around 70 or above, the bass head for deeper, cooler “air conditioned” waters during the day and venture back into the shallows to feed at night, under the cover of darkness.This past week fishing during the daylight hours has been hit or miss – mostly on the miss side. But come sunset, it’s been a different ball game.Now is the time to switch gears to the night shift and start fishing live eels when the sun goes down, if you haven’t already.This is your best shot at taking a monster striper this month. And don’t be discouraged on those daytime “skunkings,” we go through this every year, and each year come the third week of August, the fishing explodes again!Here’s a look at our areas:Boston HarborBoston Harbor has seen a few good surface feeds this week, with bass in the 30-inch range blitzing on small sea herring and peanut bunker mostly, but this action has been just around sunrise and sunset. Nighttime has been the right time to be out, as the Harbor is giving up bass to 30 pounds for those anglers slinging live eels around the various rips and structures when the sun goes down.Packs of bluefish have been zipping around the harbor as well, so make sure to have a few steel leaders handy in case you run into them!Lynn/NahantOur area has really slowed down this week. With the exception of a few good but brief surface blitzes around Nahant and Egg Rock, it’s been slow. Mackerel are pretty spotty now, with most moving north, away from the warm water and the bluefish. You can still find them though by putting in the time. Marc the “Mackerel Man” says the magic “70 feet” of water number around East Point, Nahant by the red can is a good place to find them still. The livelined mack is still one of the deadliest tactics for taking cow stripers right now, if you can find them. The kayak crowd has been picking up bass in the 36-inch range by trolling Tube N’ Worm rigs off Lynn and Revere Beach. Orange has been the hot color by day, red and black by night.Salem/MarbleheadSalem Harbor fisherman Jay Hancock reported a good mix of mid-sized “chopper” blues in the 8-10 pound range, as well as bass in the 25-30 inch range cruising around the Harbor. A good place to look would be the mooringfield and by the floating restaurant. Macks are still around the outer islands, but are spotty and putting in the time is the key to finding them. Castle Rock in Marblehead has been fishing well from sunset on, with chunk mackerel and live eels taking some quality nighttime bass. Singing Beach has also had a good number of bass cruising the shore and clams are the reported bait of choice there. Look for a good outgoing tide that starts around sunset.Cape Ann/NewburyportAs we move further North, the fishing is still going strong, with plenty of mackerel around and a nighttime bite that is arguably the best around at the moment. Cranes Beach was a hotspot this week, as fishermen reported plenty of bass in the 30-inch range that were hitting topwater poppers during the day and around sunset. The folks over at Surfland Bait on Plum Island report plenty of macks to be found just off Salisbury Beach by Breaking Rock and they’re still taking quality bass on them at the mouth of the Merrimack. Some good fish to 30 pounds were weighed in also this week, that were taken by the surf crowd on Salisbury beach on clams fished on the bottom. Joppa flats has been producing as well, but only for the night fishermen. Live eels, either drifted, trolled, or thrown from the beach, have been the go-to bait.The Bottom LineIf you’re heading out this weekend and it’s that trophy striper you’re after, “nighttime is the right time!” Live eels in the Merrimack, again, either drifted or trolled is a great way to