 |
Fishing Reports
BOSTON HARBOR- Stripers 8/20/05 Peanut Bunker Blitz
August 22, 2005
Posted by Capt. Mike Bartlett, Orvis Endorsed Guide
N. Pembroke, MA 02358 USA
Email: mike@bfastcharters.com
Current Report
BOSTON HARBOR & SOUTH SHORE-
Stripers 8/21/05
Striped bass fishing in the
Boston Harbor area has blown
wide open due to the start
of the peanut-bunker blitz.
These juvenile bunker added
to the young herring
dropping out of the harbor
rivers are producing the
best surface action for fly
fishing and light-tackle
enthusiasts of this season.
These bait fish are staging
in the coves, inlets and
bays in the inner-harbor,
the outer-harbor and the
coastline of the South Shore.
On Friday, long-time fly
fisher Bob Pike of Hingham,
MA had a field day with
breaking bass driving the
peanut bunker and herring to
the surface from first light
through the first three
hours of the flood. Acres
of feeding bass were on the
surface coursing though the
fleeing bait-fish. The best
fly pattern was a white
slider (Winslows Afternoon
Delight) fished on
Wonderline. This fly has a
conical foam head and is
fished with a fast strip on
the surface followed by an
exaggerated pause. The
strike usually comes on the
pause.
School-size bass between 24
and 27 inches were brought
to net and released. Big
bass were mixed in as we
quickly found out. One of
these 40 inch-plus monsters
took off and headed for the
ocean quickly dumping 75
yards of backing before we
could give chase with the
boat. Unfortunately, the
fish wrapped a lobster line
and chaffed the 20 pound
fluorocarbon leader. Before
the morning foray ended, a
few small legal bass were
landed along with the
largest striper of 36 inches
and 18 pounds. My thumb was
raw from releasing bass!
On Saturday John McNally of
Rockland, MA along with his
father, son Pearce and
friend Rich had what proved
to be the best morning of
the year for both numbers of
bass and numbers of big bass
landed. The morning broke
with an overcast sky and a
light easterly wind ushering
in dense fog by mid
morning. As a result, the
bass were crashing, non-stop
on the surface from first-
light until when we headed
home for Cohasset. B-Fasts
BAY FLY picked up Scott
Bourne of Lincoln, MA at
Rowes Wharf and headed off
to the blitz through the fog.
Smokin shad plastics on 3/8
oz jig heads matched the
bait size well and produced
multiple hook-upsat times
we were tripled. Epoxy-head
herring patterns on the long
rod produced well also. One
again, most of the bass were
between 24 and 27 inches,
and both Capt. Tom and I
stopped counting after
releasing 40 school bass.
However, mixed in were some
awesome keeper-size bass.
On the B-FAST, seven keepers
were brought to net. The
largest was 40 inches and 27
pounds with others of 35-38
inches. Capt. Tom, on the
BAY FLY, had similar results
with one bass of 39 inches
and four others between 35
and 38 inches--and the fish
were still on the surface
when we left for home in the
pea-soup fog at 10:30!
Capt. Mike Bartlett
B-Fast Charters
www.bfastcharters.com
|
|
Email this link to a friend
Log In