W ith the arrival of September, we can’t help but think about the beginning of the fall migration. You can expect to see the bigger fish finding their way in closer to shore. Some of the fish are loading up easy meals of crabs and lobsters, while others are on the hunt for the bait schools that will start to form in preparation for heading south.
Speaking of which, there are some nice schools of pogies around Winthrop and Spectacle. They aren’t always easy to find and there aren’t always fish on them, so you may have to grab them and move to find bass. Don’t get discouraged if your pogy gets slapped around a little but doesn’t get eaten. There are a lot of 32-34 inch fish around that might give up on that big pogy.
The good news, yes I’ll say it, big bait big fish. I would always favor the bigger bait for a better chance of raising a few stripers worthy of a photo. The mackerel are still here in catchable numbers. A little surprising considering they usually take off and then return later in the fall, but this year they never really left . You may have to run a bit further to catch them but we all know it’s well worth it.
The shore guys and rock hoppers are in for some good fishing in the coming months. September should mark the beginning of late and sleepless nights to come. For the guys chunking, my advice would be to change out the bait often and keep it off the bottom and away from the crabs. A little trick I use is to put a small piece of Styrofoam inside the bait, just enough to float it. Good luck and be safe.
Captain Joe D’orsi, www.bostonfishtales.com, 617-549-2439. Joe D’orsi has been fishing for more than 30 years on Boston Harbor, come and enjoy the best of striped bass and deep sea fishing abroad the “The Fish Tales” a 31 ft JC Provincetown.
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