Fish On!: Flounder is king

Like many are saying, Wow! What a difference a week makes! More and more migrating stripers are arriving in our waters daily, and those schoolies that everyone?s been having a blast with now have a few larger bass in the mix. Trophy stripers are being caught in New York, Connecticut, and now into Rhode Island waters, so they?re right on our doorstep! Reports this week were great, with anglers catching stripers, flounder, mackerel, cod, and there?s even been whispers of pogies in the area! But I?ve got to say, if you like flounder, now is the time to get out there and catch some! The bite this year is better so far than any year I can remember. The incoming tide is this time to fish, a few hours after low. A standard two hook flounder rig with a couple of seaworms is all you need to get in on this action! Any pier on the North Shore or any shallow cove on a nice sunny day should hold flounder. Look for striper fishing to really heat up once those bigger bass hit our area. And with all of this bait that?s around, it should be quite the welcome back party!Here?s a look at our areas:Boston HarborThe Harbor has it all going on right now. Herring are loaded up at the locks, schoolie sized bass are all over the place, mackerel are out by the Outer Islands, and a fantastic flounder bite is going on. I heard of someone catching a couple of cod this week from shore at Hull Gut. Hull Gut is a great place all year, and it?s one of the few places that the shorebound angler can cast into pretty deep water just feet off the beach. Look for flounder around Deer Island, and keep in mind that the 16th Annual Boston Harbor Striper Shootout is coming up in June on the 14th. Proceeds from this great tourney benefit the Soldiers? Home in Chelsea, and you can check it out at www.stripershootout.com.Lynn/NahantSolid reports out of our area this week. Fishermen did well at Red Rock, Lynn Beach and all throughout Lynn Harbor hitting school size bass with the occasional 30-incher. Low incoming tide seems to be best for Lynn Harbor right now, as it was for a handful of guys this week nailing schoolies along the Nahant Causeway channel just after low tide. Small stuff is working well like bucktail jigs, crystal minnows, Storm Shads, and the ever deadly, small white Sebile Magic Swimmer. Flounder are being caught with relative ease off the piers from Lynn to Salem, with limits of 8 per person being reached pretty fast! And remember, they must be 12 inches to be legal.Salem/MarbleheadTomo from Tomo?s Bait and Tackle in Salem reports pretty much the same, stripers in the 15-22 inch range, with the occasional 28-32 mixed in, are throughout the area. Flounder are hitting well, and mackerel were being caught at the Salem Willows Pier this week. Fishermen reported a large number of Herring swimming around the Salem/Beverly Bridge this week, so once those bigger bass hit our area it should be quite a scene. Devereux Beach in Marblehead was mentioned in a few reports this week, as bass in the 18-25 inch range are cruising the beach, and biting at will!Cape Ann/NewburyportPlenty of schoolie bass around Cape Ann and in the Annisquam River. Mackerel were reported in pretty good numbers out by the Groaner and just outside of the Breakwater. Great reports for Haddock out around Jeffrey?s Ledge, with anglers limiting out on these prized fish using clams. The folks at Surfland Bait on Plum Island report solid action for stripers in the 15-28 inch range at Parking Lot 1 on the Refuge. Seaworms were the hot bait there in the mornings this week. The Merrimack is starting to give up stripers after an impressive run of shad, which were hitting well at Rocks Village and in the River itself.The Bottom LineIt won?t be long now until we see some true, rod bending stripers. And when we do, that old adage, “Find the bait, find the fish” will ring true again. Be on the lookout for those schools of pogies and mackerel. Big stripers stalk and harass those schools, and if you fish arou