By Joe Gugino
The striped bass fishing continued through June, but not as consistently as it has in years past. There were a couple solid fish caught between Boston and Boston’s North Shore but nothing as great as it usually is. Low water temperatures and high winds are to primary blame for this. But don’t worry! The end of June started to heat up and July should be a great month of fishing!
The bite was best for unweighted soft plastics, like the Hogy 7” and 10” baits in pink and white. Topwater pencil poppers worked well too like the 247 Lures Fish Stick in yellow. The fishing was also solid for fly fishing anglers using chatreuse/olive, chatreuse/ white, and blue/white clousers in both estuaries and harbors.
As the water temperatures started to warm towards the end of the month it brought in a lot of bait including mackerel, which everyone is excited for! A few big bass were taking on live mackerel in June, and live mackerel will continue to be the bait of choice going into July.
Most anglers are familiar with jigging up mackerel from a boat in open water, putting them in the livewell, and then bringing them inshore to troll, or drift, by rocky structure. However, I have found one of the most exciting ways to fish live mackerel for big bass is from a kayak! The hardest thing sometimes to do from the kayak is finding the mackerel, but with a Hobie, pedal-powered kayak, you can cover a lot of water while jigging to find the bait. Other than a livewell, it is also possible to keep bait mackerel alive on the kayak, by using a bait bag, floating bait pen, or a large PVC pipe with holes tied alongside the kayak.
With June’s fishing being a little delayed, July is shaping up to be awesome! Other than live mackerel, many different artificial lures will work especially around first light. Don’t be surprised if you see some large surface feeds early in the morning as well. However don’t be discouraged from going out during the day. Some of my largest fish have come in the middle of the day with bright overhead sun. And at those times, the tube-and-worm will be the most productive.
With my full-time job winding down for the year, I will be able to spend a lot more time on the water this month and look forward to taking out a lot of kayak anglers on the water! It will also be the start of my Kayak Fishing Kid’s Camp at Little Harbor Boathouse in Marblehead, MA which I am very excited for! Our bi-monthly group kayak fishing trips on Thursday nights will continue this month, so we hope to see you on either July 2, July 16 or July 30 from 5:30 – 8:30pm at Little Harbor Boathouse!
I love fishing and kayak fishing and this will be a great month for you to get out and try it for the first time, or get your personal best striped bass from the kayak. Please send me an email at whyknotfishing@gmail.com to get more information about booking an awesome trip and stay in touch with what’s happening out on the water. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any fishing questions or comments at all!
FORECAST BY: Joe is a life-long fisherman, who fell in love with the sport when he moved to the North Shore and started fishing in saltwater for striped bass. After fishing from a kayak for the first time, he became even more excited about (and obsessed with) fishing. Joe is also the cofounder/co-owner of Why Knot Fishing (www.whyknotfishing.com), a community- based fishing organization. He will be running Kayak Fishing Charters and the North Shore’s first Kayak Fishing Kids camp this summer at Little Harbor Boathouse (www.littleharborboathouse.com) in Marblehead, MA.