Fish On!: Water temp drops, fishing heats up!

Fall is in the air! Over the past few weeks or so, the water temp dropped from a warm 69 degrees to a cool 59-60. This in turn has brought bass and blues back to the beaches, and with the feed bags on! Striper fishing has recently been good to excellent for most of the North Shore, with many anglers catching double digits of bass and blues, on both bait and plugs. Topwater action has really picked up, and blitzes are happening in Lynn Harbor daily, as well as in harbors all over the North Shore. With plenty of bait in our waters, it’s shaping up to be a great Fall Run. It’s still a little too early to start talking about the Run, but get out there and enjoy it now while you can, because before we know it, it’s all going to be over and the stripers will be gone, headed South to warmer waters to spawn for the winter. If you haven’t fished lately, you haven’t missed too much, but now’s the time to hit the water because the fish are jumping, literally!Here’s a look at our areas:Boston HarborPogies are still the name of the game in Boston. Finding schools of pogies has been the key to finding big bass. Throughout the harbor, though, small herring and peanut bunker have been responsible for topwater blitzes from Castle Island to Deer Island, and out the Graves Light. And though the bass are mostly in the 20-28 inch range, they’re strong and they’re plentiful! Look for them in the morning and afternoons, with birds hovering above the fish. Bluefish in the 6-8 pound range have been zipping around the harbor, with larger blues out by the Brewsters and Outer Harbor. With all the bait in the area, they should sniff it out and be inshore in no time, so be ready with some steel leaders!Lynn/NahantOur area has been great this past week. I was out in Lynn Harbor with a few friends last Monday night, and the reports were right. As soon as we pulled into Lynn Harbor, masses of birds and breaking fish greeted us, with a few boats already hooked up. A nice slug of bass has moved into our area, and fish from 23-29 were blitzing around the 3rd Tripod out in Lynn Harbor for a few nights in a row last week. The hot lures were medium sized Storm Shads in the brownish/gold color. Tom over at Tom’s Bait and Tackle on the Saugus River said the fishing has been good, but the water has been full of weeds from this storm making it tough for the guys trolling. But despite the weeds in the water, Tom did weigh in a 21-pound striper the day I was in the shop. So there are some nice fish in our area.Salem/MarbleheadSalem, Beverly, and Marblehead harbors have all seen what we saw this past week. Surface feeds in the morning and afternoons were common, and despite the rainy days we’ve had that kept most off the water, those who did brave the weather did well. Bass to 36 inches were reported, caught from surface feeds that were fueled by peanut bunker (juvenile menhaden). These surface feeds were reported in Salem Sound, on the Beverly side this past week. Devereux Beach is holding bass nightly, and those tossing bait off the beach are doing well. Salem fisherman George Gikas reported fishing the rocks at the end of the beach, and getting run after run on chunk mackerel.Cape Ann/NewburyportSchoolies have been all over Ipswich Bay and the Essex area, as well as in the Annisquam River. Some larger bass and blues have been reported on the south side of Cape Ann, as well as off the Breakwater. Kay Moulton from Surfland Bait on Plum Island reports great fishing around the mouth of the Merrimack River as well as along the beachfront. Guys fishing Parking Lots 1-6 on the Plum Island Reservation are catching double digits using seaworms and clams from the beach. A standard fishfinder rig is all you need, which is just a 3 foot piece of 40-60 pound mono, with a size 7 hook on one end, and a ball swivel on the other end, which attaches to your main line. Put a sliding weight above the leader and you’re ready to go. Live eels at night have been deadly here as of late as wel