Spots to Fish

Boston Harbor | Spots to Fish | Tides | Bait & Flies | Tackle

Boston Harbor is an increasingly popular destination for many anglers. Fishing can be great along the piers off Atlantic Avenue, the Charles River locks in Charlestown,the Coast Guard station near the Fleet Center (the new Boston Garden), Wollaston Beach in Quincy, the Neponset River, and the wonderful beachfront flats by Revere Beach in Revere. Noted area angler and fly tier Jack Gartside has written about taking the water shuttle to several of the Boston Harbor islands, camping out, and fishing around the clock.

The Merrimack River is perhaps the North Shore's biggest draw. With its headwaters in New Hampshire, the river winds southeast and meets the ocean in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The popular Joppa Flats at the mouth of the Merrimack are easily accessible on foot. Parking is on a first-come, first-served basis for about 20 cars on Water Street in Newburyport. If the area is full, drive on Water Street out to Plum Island and continue north along the beach. There is ample parking in the lot at the end; daytime parking requires a fee, nighttime does not.

Though the river is several hundred yards wide there, the channel on the northeast side of the river is of most interest to fly fishers. On a dropping tide, you can wade out a long way and fish back toward shore as the tide returns.

As the tide comes in, bass and blues enter the flat to chase bait. There are several mussel beds within the flats, each of which features deeper surrounding guzzles (shallow recesses in the ocean bottom that offer slightly slower currents and holding areas for baitfish). Strong current exchanges muddy the water, and bright chartreuse Clouser Minnows or Lefty's Deceivers work best. Poppers and big bait imitations are excellent choices from late May through June, when the menhaden, mackerel, and herring arrive. Sliders (Pip Winslow's Afternoon Delight) fished with a floating line and an erratic retrieve prompt some of the best top-water activity of the season.

The mouth of the Merrimack on Plum Island is also popular among fly fishers. There, Orvis Depth Charge or Teeny T-350 or T-400 heads are necessary, not only to get your fly deep but to penetrate the fast current.


The rocky Massachusetts shoreline and its combination of beachfronts, rips, rivers, flats, and channels, provides large bass with plenty of structure and food. The author (above) casts to the rocks at the mouth of Boston Harbor in search of bass.

The last few hours of the dropping tide and the first few hours of the flood tides are the best times to fish, particularly during full and new moons in the spring and first- and last-quarter phases in the late summer and fall. White, yellow, and chartreuse patterns work well, as do patterns tied with flash materials--Glimmer or Flashabou.

If you like craggy drop-offs, try Castle Rock or the Lighthouse on Marblehead Neck, or Fort Sewall at the east end of Marblehead Proper. Halibut Point, Plum Cove, or Pigeon Cove in Gloucester are also good options. There is ample parking at the end of Marblehead Neck if you fish the lighthouse, and limited on-street parking next to Castle Rock and Fort Sewall. To fish Halibut Point, there is a gated state park parking area off Route 127 that is open between sunrise and sunset, and numerous roadside parking spots for fishing Plum Cove and Pigeon Cove.

In Salem, the Danvers River offers some of the best early-season action, especially for small fish. The water is murky and the basin soft, calling for careful wading. Brighter flies fished during the last few hours of the dropping tide and the first few hours of incoming are the keys to the Danvers River.

Finding Your Own Spots
Buy a nautical map, perhaps the single biggest aid for targeting an area you want to fish for both boat fishing and shore/wade fishing. For the chart to be useful, it should feature water depths in feet, mark deviations in ocean terrain, and plot navigational markers. The Embassy Marine Guide to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Newhampshire; the BBA Chart Kit; and Richardson's Chartbook and Cruising Guide offer these details, and can be found at most nautical supply shops or locally at Boxell's Chandlery in South Boston, 617-241-2800.

The time of year and water temperature affect a fish's metabolic rate, which in turn affects its migration behavior and preferred environment. In April and May, Boston Harbor and North Shore water temperatures range from the 40 to 50 degrees F. Extended beachfronts act as corridors for these traveling fish, and serious anglers fish the heavy surf. Early-season beachfronts may be hot for several days and then quiet until another charge of baitfish arrives, or warmer water temperatures entice enough bass to remain there for longer periods.

In the estuaries, the current exchanges move less vigorously than on the beachfronts. The soft, dark mud in these areas retains more heat; the water temperatures rise more quickly, and the baitfish move in, followed by the stripers. South-southwest winds bring Gulf Stream warmth, but in some years they have not blown consistently until June.

As the water temperatures increase, the fish begin to move about, usually by mid-April, and the migratory fish begin to roll in around mid-May. During late May and all of June, stripers and early schools of bluefish appear everywhere. Larger fish tend to arrive just after the bigger bait--green- and blueback herring, menhaden, and mackerel. As air and water temperatures warm from mid-June through August, many of the fish split into two groups. One searches for cooler waters and pushes into New Hampshire and Maine. The other, the primary target of Boston Harbor and North Shore fly fishers, moves into deeper water. These fish frequent craggy drop-offs, inshore islands, ledges, and deeper rips.

Boats become important for some anglers, night fishing for others. Fish frequent the shallows as the evening water temperatures cool, and alternative techniques employing wet-suits, sea kayaks, or float tubes provide ways to reach them.

From September through early October, the reverse is true. As the temperatures drop, fish come closer inshore and congregate in large schools on beachfronts, in channels, and along similar spring corridors. This time of year is an exciting one, for all the fish are schooled tightly and are fatter and more aggressive.

Reading Tides
Tidal rules of thumb hold as true for the North Shore as for other New England coastal waters. Beachfronts fish best from the midphase of the flood (incoming) tide through the midpart of the ebb (outgoing) tide. Craggy drop-offs and offshore islands are often better high-water spots--latter parts of the flood through the early part of the ebb. Mouths of estuaries fish well at lower-water tides (the latter phase of the ebb through the first phase of the flood), while areas farther up the estuaries fish better during the higher-water marks (the latter phases of flood tides through earlier phases of the ebb tides).

Knowing tidal nuances can help you fish these estuaries. While beachfronts are immediately affected by changing tides, there may be as much as a four-hour delay farther up in the estuary system. Plum Island Sound is a perfect example. When low tide is at midnight on the beachfronts, it occurs later, at 4 A.M., in the sound.

The diverse structure on the North Shore makes it easy to fish an estuary during the high-water phase and, while the tide drops, drive two miles to a beachfront for the incoming tide, and then relocate another two or three miles to a rockier structure for the high-water mark, catching fish all the while.

Related Link: Boston's South Shore