The fall fishing has been in full swing in Boston since early September. After a relatively slow August, this autumn has seen a good number of surface blitzes from a combination of big stripers, small stripers, and medium sized blues. This is the most surface activity I’ve seen in the past three or four years. Best hours have been daybreak through late morning and then again late afternoon until sunset. After dark bass will take up feeding locations where they find a combination of good current, bait, and light on the water. The prevalent bait has been peanut bunker (in the open water and along the beaches) and spearing (in the estuaries and river mouths).
While a series of grey, drizzly days have limited most folks’ time on the water the past week, this has been a remarkably storm-free season with not a single hurricane of or ocean storm making its way to New England. That bodes well for the striper season lasting late into October or even early November.
My notes from a week ago Tuesday…
“Headed out in my boat after work late this afternoon for an hour’s fishing. I was crossing the edge of a large flat when I saw a few small fish (snapper blues, maybe?) slashing at bait on the surface. I cut the engine, climbed up in the bow with my fly rod, and started tossing a Gurgler. As I worked it, about every minute or so something much bigger than the snappers would surge through the bait, scattering it. So I started working the fly with a little more pop and on about the dozenth cast hooked into a good fish. Fifteen minutes later, after a fight that took me well into my backing, I landed the biggest striper I’ve taken on a fly, just shy of 40 inches.”