Boston Harbor & South Shore-Striper 5/21/01

BOSTON HARBOR & SOUTH SHORE STRIPERS- 5/21/01

The Harbor exploded with striped bass action this past week both in the channels of the inner and outer harbor. The NE Fisherman scribe and radio reporter for WATD’s “The Fishin’ Pole” show, Ed Novack found acres of breaking bass feeding on silversides and herring in and around Boston harbor’s south entrance channel. Ed was returning from a cod foray outside the harbor with Capt. Roger’s MIDNIGHT
Charters. They found the birds working the baitfish fleeing the bass below. Switching to light trolling gear, they loaded up with school bass to 31”. Tube and worm fishers were having equal success, landed bass up to 31 inches. Most of these fish are lean from their northward migration.

Fly fisherman were successful cast Half & Half pattern in chartreuse or gray or larger herring patters on 300 to 400 Orvis Depth-Charge line using only a short length of fluorocarbon leader. On top, sliders like Winslow’s Afternoon Delight in white and Gurgler’s in Chartreuse or white worked well on breaking fish.
Spin-fishermen “matched-the-hatch” using 3/8 to ½ oz. jig-heads with Fin-S rubber baits in the water column or Slug-go’s on top. The abundance of bait and the numbers of early migrants in the harbor and on the ledges on the South Shore point to a better that average start of the season.

Capt. Mike Bartlett
B-Fast Charters
www.bfastcharters.com