Bass fishing was hit or miss last week. It seems the stripers are moving about a lot more than usual.
The bass typically arrive in densely packed schools, and when they find an area where the food source is good, they stay put — at least for a while. Then, as water temperatures rise and more food becomes available in more places, they start to fan out rather than staying tightly packed in one area.
This spring, however, the bass are still moving together — although in two large schools. One school of fish has been moving south to north from Billingsgate shoals to the Pamet area, while another school is moving from Herring Cove down back towards the Race Point Station and Peaked Hill.
These fish have not been biting on swimming plugs much. Fresh bait, especially fresh live mackerel or mackerel chunks, has been the overwhelming choice for success.
Maybe this pattern is the result of water temperatures stubbornly refusing to get out of the mid-50s. We just haven’t had a good stretch of warm summer weather. And on that recent stretch of sunny days, the Canadian wildfire smoke meant we had diffused sunlight — we were grayed out to the point where the surface water did not get much radiating heat.
Flounder fishing remains good down on the south end of the bay by Billingsgate shoals. But haddock fishing on Stellwagen Bank, which already wasn’t very good, seems to have really cratered. The word is the haddock have gone into deeper water to get away from dogfish, which have infested the shallower waters on the Bank. It’s pretty quiet on the tuna front as well.
There has been a noticeable absence of fin whales in the Race so far this season despite a plethora of food there. But it’s still early, and they will probably show up soon.
Regarding the new strict slot limit regulations on striped bass, it pains me to see the utter disappointment on the faces of my customers on the Cee-Jay when they catch a beautiful bass only to find out it’s too big and has to go back in the water. Part of the experience of taking a fishing trip is being able to bring the catch home and have a great seafood dinner. The other day, 8 of our first 12 fish caught were too big and had to go back to the sea.
I am often asked if I think Atlantic great white sharks are in our harbor, and my answer is always that they certainly are, as I have seen them myself. Last week, a fisherman casting a swimming plug at Long Point took a video of a great white following the lure as it was being retrieved. Even more dramatic was his video of a gray seal frantically climbing up on the swim platform of a vessel moored in Horseshoe Cove. It was trying to get away from a great white and it had numerous deep fresh bite marks on its torso.
Make no mistake about it. These sharks are here in our harbor, and they are cruising around looking for their seal dinners. Keep that in mind when you are engaging in waterfront activities this summer. Knowledge is power.
