Massachusetts fishing is the striped bass told in granite and current: the Cape Cod Canal's shore-fishing miracle, the North Shore's river-mouth surf, and a party-boat groundfish tradition that predates the republic. Our coverage opens with the two shrines: the Canal and Plum Island.
Reports current for Friday, October 23
Every one of the 14 Massachusetts waters we cover has a live read this morning. None reaches 4 out of 5 and 13 are slow. Water runs 47 F to 64 F. Pressure is rising on most of them, which costs a point in our model when the sky is clear. Wind touches 24 mph on the roughest of them.
Best right now: Marthas Vineyard 3/5, Buzzards Bay 2/5, Charles River 2/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The Big Ditch: seven miles of man-made rip where the entire striper migration squeezes past a bike path, twice a day, at running-tide speed.
Plum Island and the Parker River refuge at the Merrimack's mouth, whose surf fishing the Fish and Wildlife Service ranks among the area's finest.
Wachusett’s quiet feeder: a small wild-trout stream winding through central Massachusetts meadows toward the reservoir.
A 24,012-acre drinking-water reservoir with wild lake trout and landlocked salmon, fished during a DCR season from three gated boat launch areas.
Deerfield River: a Berkshire trout river below Fife Brook Dam with a wild brown trout majority and two catch-and-release areas.
The Swift River below Quabbin: a 5.5-mile tailwater with year-round catch-and-release water above Route 9 and wild brook trout under study.
Onota Lake: a 653-acre great pond in Pittsfield, stocked with trout each spring and fall, with a long record of trophy trout and some large northern pike.
Webster Lake on the Connecticut line: a 1,297-acre great pond with bass, pickerel, stocked trout and a crappie population MassWildlife calls exceptional.
Southeastern Massachusetts’ bay: Buzzards holds stripers, blues and tautog on rocky bottom.
New England’s working river: the Merrimack runs smallmouth, stripers and a restored shad run to the sea.
Shore fishing only on a 4,041-acre drinking-water reservoir with lake trout, landlocked salmon and smallmouth bass.
A Wild and Scenic western Massachusetts river: the Westfield runs trout through the Berkshire hills.
An island south of Cape Cod where striped bass, bluefish, bonito and false albacore draw shore and boat anglers, and the Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby has run each fall since 1946.
Charles River at Waltham: a river where MassWildlife records trophy carp and catfish, under a state advisory that limits most fish to one meal every six months.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: October.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Cod Canal fishing report | Coastal | Barnstable | modeled | Apr |
| Plum Island fishing report | Coastal | Essex | modeled | Apr |
| Stillwater River fishing report | River | Worcester | USGS | Apr |
| Quabbin Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Franklin | modeled | Apr |
| Deerfield River fishing report | River | Franklin | USGS | Apr |
| Swift River fishing report | River | Hampshire | USGS | Apr |
| Onota Lake fishing report | Lake | Berkshire | modeled | May |
| Webster Lake fishing report | Lake | Worcester | modeled | May |
| Buzzards Bay fishing report | Coastal | Bristol | modeled | Apr |
| Merrimack River fishing report | River | Middlesex | USGS | May |
| Wachusett Reservoir fishing report | Lake | Worcester | modeled | Apr |
| Westfield River fishing report | River | Hampden | USGS | Apr |
| Marthas Vineyard fishing report | Coastal | Dukes | modeled | Apr |
| Charles River fishing report | River | Middlesex | USGS | May |
Massachusetts organizes around the striper migration: fish round the Cape in May, pack the Canal and the North Shore rivers by June, and parade back south from September into November. Between the peaks, fluke, scup, black sea bass and tautog keep the inshore fleet honest, and Stellwagen Bank plus Jeffreys Ledge feed a haddock-and-pollock party-boat culture older than the lighthouses. Shore anglers hold rare power here: the Canal and the river mouths give foot access to genuinely big fish.
May: herring runs pull the first bass into the rivers and the Canal's west end. June: the big migration: river mouths, the ditch, Boston Harbor all alive. July-August: moon-tide topwater mornings on the Canal, fluke and sea bass filling coolers, tuna fever offshore. September-October: the fall run funnels everything south along the beaches. November: tautog on the rocks, then the long tying season. Groundfish boats sail year-round when weather allows.
June for the striper migration's arrival (Canal, river mouths), July-August moon tides for the Canal's topwater spectacle, and September-October for the fall run down the beaches. Groundfish trips produce spring through fall.
Yes: the MA Saltwater Permit (free under 16 and over 64, small fee otherwise) covers all recreational saltwater fishing, shore or boat. Party and charter boats usually carry blanket permits: confirm when booking.