Fish On!: Cooler nights spark fishing in Massachusetts

This week, we?ve seen some pretty impressive catches in Massachusetts waters. For the first time that I?ve ever heard of, a sailfish was taken in the Cape Cod Canal by a surfcaster. And then earlier in the week, the striper community was abuzz with word of an Albie blitz on Plum Island! Albies, or False Albacore, are a smaller member of the tuna family, known as the “Funny Fish” and typically not seen north of Martha?s Vineyard. They were an awesome surprise for the Plum Island faithful! The cooler nights seem to have sparked the striper bite back up a bit, and should only get better as we get closer to September. The North Shore is awash with squid, and they?re being caught at docks and piers all over our area. With all this marine life around, it?s an exciting time to be a fisherman on the North Shore!Here?s a look at our areas:Boston HarborThe South Shore is still seeing great fishing, and that?s finally starting to make it to Boston Harbor. The Quincy/Hull area has picked up, and slowly, pogies are making their way into the Harbor. Some nice topwater blitzes have been reported lately, and Ron Powers says that the Shimano Waxwing in white has been a killer. The fish in these feeds inside the harbor have been on the smaller side, but some larger bass have been reported around the Outer Harbor by the Islands. Snapper blues are still zipping around Boston, and these little 5-inch bluefish are great for stripers when live lined. Look for the Winthrop area to heat up in the coming weeks, particularly the Deer Island Rip.Lynn/NahantPogies made a brief appearance around Lynn/Nahant this week, and a few quality bass in the 30-pound range were reportedly taken on live pogies. Lynn Beach has given up bass to 36 inches in the Red Rock area, mostly taken on chunk mackerel. Live mackerel are still being jigged up at the mouth of Lynn Harbor as well as the Channel cans around Nahant, but the action is slow. You?ve really got to put the time in to get a handful of macks, but when taken to the rocks, it pays off. The tube and worm rigs, as well as umbrella rigs, have been working well for bass to 43 inches when trolled around Bass Point and the mouth of Lynn Harbor. Look for the larger stripers to arrive when the pogies show up in some numbers.Salem/MarbleheadSquid fishing is on fire from the Beverly and Salem Piers, as well as inside Marblehead Harbor, and it?s not showing any signs of letting up. The striper bite is pretty good here as well. The guys fishing live bait are doing the best, even though the mackerel are getting harder and harder to find. The area around Misery and Bakers Islands is still holding some macks, as well as Halfway Rock, which has been pretty consistent this season. Some nice bass were reported in Beverly Harbor and the Danvers River areas, and a few surface feeds were reported around Salem Harbor this week.Cape Ann/NewburyportThis past weekend Surfland reported an amazing blitz of False Albacore, from the Jetties all the way to Sandy Point. Fishermen had bent rods right down the beach, and all had a blast catching these “funny fish,” which fight harder than bluefish, if you can imagine that. Deadly Dicks, Swedish Pimples, and basically any small shiny metal lure will work should you be lucky enough to encounter them. Cape Ann has had some good fishing again, with some quality bass reported from Crane?s Beach. Although it hasn?t been “lights out,” it?s reported that stripers in the 40-44 inch range have been cruising the shallows at night. It sounds like the perfect place to toss live eels into the surf after dark.The Bottom LineIf you?re heading out this weekend, there are fish to be caught! Keep an eye out for schools of pogies, which look like a patch of “nervous” water, with small splashes on top, almost like a patch of water that?s being rained on. If it?s trophy bass that you?re after, these are most assuredly the bait you?re looking for. You still can?t go wrong with live mackerel if you put the time in to