Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Magazine - Index

North Shore
Rocks abound in the Cape Ann stretch
of the North Shore. Due to the colder water
temperatures, the season around Rockport,
Gloucester, Beverly and Marblehead starts
a bit later than in the warmer river systems.
You’ll see different types of bait in these
haunts: pollock, mackerel and lobsters for
starters. Make sure you pack a pair of Korkers,
because the rocks are slippery. And if you have
a boat, the inshore islands off of Manchester-by-the-Sea,
Beverly, and Marblehead are
phenomenal in the summer. Getting a strike
on a streamer you just cast into the wash is
almost as much of a rush as finding out how
much the bass weighs.
These communities have varied histories.
Newburyport was well known for producing
clipper ships, and is the home of America’s first
Coast Guard Station (the Coasties consider
the Merrimack River to be the second most
dangerous river entrance in the country, after
the Columbia). Gloucester was America’s first
fishing community. Beverly and Marblehead
engaged in a dispute over the which was the
birthplace of the American Navy. And after the
smoke from the Salem witch trails cleared, this
town was one of the largest shipping centers in
the United States. Needless to say, the North
Shore is steeped in the sea.
Boston Harbor
South Shore
Boston Harbor
Outstanding fishing is typically associated
with scenic areas. Cities, on the other hand,
get the nod for nightlife, dining, sports and
culture. In Boston, you can have the best of
both worlds—the rarity of world-class fishing
in and around one of America’s major cities.
For the most part, urban fishing is different
from virtually any other place you’ve wet
a line. You’ll catch striped bass and bluefish
while jets land at nearby Logan Airport, water
shuttles transport brokers and traders from
the South Shore into the Financial District,
and barges offload new cars or oil. And then
there’s history. When you fish in Boston
Harbor you’ll be near the Boston Tea Party
ship, and Revolutionary War, Civil War, and
World War II sites. If you’re lucky, you may
see Old Ironsides out on one of its semi-annual
voyages.
There are a total of 34 islands in Boston
Harbor, and the Boston Harbor Islands
National Park Service and the Mass. Department
of Conservation and Recreation
maintain them. Boat fishermen work the
Inner Harbor’s channels, ledges and structure
as well as the Outer Harbor’s rocks, ledges,
and shoals. Wade fishermen walk beaches
like Wolloston, Revere, or Hull, and river
estuaries like Winthrop’s Belle Isle Creek and
Weymouth’s Back River. The adventurous
pack a tent and hitch the ferry to overnight on
Grape, Bumpkin or Lovell’s Islands (see www.
bostonislands.com for more information).
Local history frequently contradicts factual
history. So be it. The local version of the
Hangman’s Ledge story, for instance, says that
a gallows stood on the rocks to string up captured
pirates and privateers, with gulls picking
off the remains of their carcasses. Factual
history reports that the original name on a
1775 London nautical chart was “Hayman’s,”
and in 1882 several fishermen built fishing
shacks on the island. These anglers used fish
guts and seaweed as fertilizer and planted
vegetable gardens for a September harvest. I
prefer the local legend.
In late April, alewives fill the harbor to
spawn in the many rivers and creeks. Hundreds
of thousands of them congregate in the
Inner Harbor and pass through the locks that
separate the Charles River from the ocean.
Silversides, squid, mackerel and menhaden follow,
and there are bass to catch from late April
through June, bluefish in the midseason, and
both species in the fall. The migration typically
ends in the middle of October, thereby leaving
seven solid fish-catching months.
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