Diverse Terrain

Seasons | Terrain | Gear | Bait | Flies

Beachfronts. Depending on the season and the water temperature, fish use the beachfronts as seasonal corridors as early as mid-April and as late as mid-November. Beachfronts are scattered along the entire length of the South Shore and most have easy public access.

For most beachfronts, such as Duxbury, Plymouth, and Sagamore, where the mean low water depths are between one and three feet, an intermediate line with a one- to two-inch-per-second sink rate will do the job. However, some beachfronts--White Horse, Humarock, and Nantasket, for example--have areas with deeper water (9 to 11 feet) adjacent to the wadeable areas. For this you'll need a sinking, shooting-taper like an Orvis Depth Charge or Teeny line (300 to 400 grains) to get down to the fish hanging on the creases and drop-offs. Use a nautical chart to find other beaches with similar characteristics.

I follow the "keep a winning game plan, change a losing game plan" adage when prospecting for pods of fish on beachfronts: Cover as much water as possible. Sometimes I cover up to a mile of beach in search of a pod of bass. Diving terns or seagulls help locate breaking fish, but simply fishing and moving can do the job. If I find fish in a particular spot one day, I'll start the next day's fishing a mile or so up the same beachfront to find the migrating fish.

Fish on the beaches behave differently during each season. Early in the season, the fish are often deep; in the fall, they are right on the surface, balling bait as they fatten up for their southern migration.

Rocks, ledges, and islands. If you are a deep-water aficionado, you'll find miles of it on the South Shore. Outside of Cohasset Harbor and south from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Cliffs, there are rocky drop-offs and ledges you can fish from shore or with a boat. These areas are full of kelp beds that provide cover for bait and bass.

Use Teeny lines or Orvis Depth Charge lines (300 to 400 grains) to sink your fly to the fish. If you fish from a boat, position your drift as tight to the rocks as possible and pitch your fly into the white-water surge where the ocean meets the rocks. The sinking line will take your fly down to where the fish are feeding on the disoriented bait.

Dead-drifting lobster patterns in June, when the lobsters molt out of their hard shells and develop new ones, often results in big bass. Cast parallel to the structure right where it drops off into the deeper water and allow the fly to sink. When it's deep enough (near bottom), give the fly some subtle twitches. Black-over-tan eel patterns fished at either first or last light also work well in this area.

The best time to fish rocks, ledges, and islands is the later part of the incoming (high) tide and the first part of the dropping tide. Interestingly, Captain Mike Bartlett, who fishes the rocks in Cohasset, has found a few spots that hold fish at dead low tide. According to Bartlett, there is too much water covering the rocks on any part of the tide except for the low-water marks, and the fish are concentrated at low tide.

If you're fishing from a steep shore, for instance at 4th Cliff at Humarock, you'll need a steeple cast so you don't dull your hook points or fray your tippets on the rocks behind you. You'll also need to let your fly sink. Erratic, syncopated retrieves work best. Retrieve your fly all the way to shore; stripers, particularly large fish, will often take a fly a few feet from your boots.

When you are fishing from a boat or kayak, you can find fish roaming the kelp beds, and they will follow the fly for quite a while. Bass often take the fly as it leaves the kelp and crosses the sand. Their strikes are deliberate, or seagulls help locate breaking fish, and their tendency is to sound (go deep) to get under the kelp and sulk.

If they get under the seaweed, all is not lost. Sometimes, the fish will come out the other side, allowing you to put firm tension on your line to pull it free from the weeds. If the bass stops swimming and sits tight, it's probably trying to dislodge the fly or break the leader against a rock or the bottom. Keep your rod flexed, lean on it and twang the line like a guitar string. The low-frequency vibrations on the fish's mouth irritate it and may cause it to swim free, putting you back in the game.

Remember, while most of the bass migrate north and blues move offshore, there is ample bait and cooler, deeper water to hold good concentrations of fish throughout the summer. You can find big fish among the rocks in July and August.

Tidal estuaries. There are several tidal estuary systems to fish on the South Shore. The Back, Weir, Green Harbor, North, and South rivers, all of which are off Route 3A, are the area's biggest draws. Their dark muddy bottoms retain early-season sunlight, and fish hold in these rivers well into June. Also, the rivers are great places to fish on your own from a small boat. On the North River, for example, you can rent a skiff with a motor for about $60 a day.

Look for bass around bank corners in the rivers and in the hollows and recesses that the tides have formed. You'll also find fish pinning bait at the mouths of the numerous mosquito ditches, particularly in tight where the bait is concentrated in the slower currents.

While in the deeper water in the middle of the rivers, look for wakes in the calm water close to shore. They are usually bigger fish scrounging for food.

A bit of reconnaissance at slack low tide, especially on a full or new moon's exaggerated tides, can yield important information. During the low tide, you'll see pockets and indentations in the banks that offer protection for baitfish on a dropping tide. Once you identify water that may hold fish, use local landmarks to orient these holding spots. Use horizontal and vertical reference points--towers, houses, tall trees, or water tanks--to revisit those spots during the appropriate higher tides.

Read the tidal estuaries like trout streams. Look for mussel beds that form riffles, back eddies in bend pools, and water velocity changes--conditions that can carry food to the bass. An Intermediate line (Type I) or floater will do the job in the estuaries, though some deeper water may require a sinking (300 grain) Teeny or Orvis Depth Charge line.

Coves. Coves are scattered along the coast and can provide good fishing during incoming and outgoing tides. The river estuaries have soft, sandy coves like Broad Cove in Hingham Harbor, Hewitt's Cove in Weymouth's Back River, and dozens of unnamed coves in the North River. Smaller coves, or pockets, are cut into the rocks around Brant Rock in Marshfield, Rocky Point in Plymouth, and Cedar Point in Scituate Harbor.

When water is low, fish the tail of the cove close to the main river or ocean. At midtide, work the belly of the cove. At higher water marks, get inside of them at the head of the cove, right by the bank. Low-light or night fishing is perhaps the best time to work the fish in coves because the combination of higher water and lower light makes the fish less skittish.

New and full moons mean more water in the coves, and grass shrimp or crabs get sucked into the water during the early phase of the dropping tide. Silversides and sandeels call coves home, but an exciting time to fish is when bigger bait like herring move up the rivers and find their way into the coves. When this happens, oftentimes in May, the bass crash bait and sometimes create an out-of-control experience with heads, tails, splashing water, and frantic baitfish everywhere.

Flats. The South Shore's numerous flats are the most overlooked part of the fishery. There is excellent sight fishing for small and big bass as well as bluefish. Choose your lines and flies according to the terrain. Floating or sinking-tip lines are the two top choices. Saltwater streamers and epoxy flies get a lot of attention on Captain's and Ichabod's flats in Plymouth, and crab and shrimp patterns take fish on the muddy, grassy flats in both Duxbury and Hingham harbors.

Look for the guzzles that run adjacent to the flats; they'll hold the fish on the lower tides. Wait on the flats and ambush the fish as the tide starts to rise and they have the confidence to slide up onto the flats. On higher tides, shift your attention to the sandy or rocky points that jut out at the fringes of the flats. Many times you'll find a pod of fish that has corralled bait in a corner. The flat/rocky point combination around Clark's Island is a perfect example.

Related Link: Boston Harbor and the North Shore