Fishing America
STATE # 37 - MASSACHUSETTS SEPTEMBER 2018 - SALEM SOUND, MASSACHUSETTS BAY
SPECIES CAUGHT - Striped Bass, Atlantic Mackerel
Just a few miles past the hustle and bustle of Boston is the coastal town of Marblehead where fishing guide Adam Mastrangelo resides. After riding in to Revere to stay for the night, I met Adam at the Village Street Dock in Marblehead the next day.
Before I arrived, I didn’t have one known friend from Massachusetts. Before I left, I had two. Adam was easy to get to know after we met at the dock and headed out to the Atlantic to catch bait. Catching bait is something I usually am not a fan of, but this bait catching doubled as a new way of fishing for me.
This was my first time to use a sabiki rig in which multiple hooks were used. This was a lot of fun catching these Atlantic mackerel sometimes pulling up eight at a time. Although we caught them for bait, these fish are edible. After catching about 50 of them in the choppy water of the edge of the ocean, we instituted what was actually our backup plan.
My original target fish for this charter were haddock and pollock, but the Atlantic was still much too disturbed by the remnants of Hurricane Florence as she went back out to sea. It was too rough to get out far enough to go after them. So, we set our sights on Stripers at the edge of the bay. I knew if I caught any, they would be big because the bait fish were about 12 inches long.
After not knowing what to expect this far from home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my guide and I had a lot in common. The conversations never stopped as this excellent fisherman and Marblehead City Patrol Officer took me where the Stripers were.
No witch hunt was necessary in Salem Sound only needing two spots to take 15 of these big striped rascals into custody.
I had to release many of them only keeping the limit. All were nice-sized fish, the biggest being about 20 pounds. I love everything about catching striped bass. They have the pulling torque, the thrashing fight power, and don’t give up easily. And knowing just how good they taste makes it so much better when reeling them in.
Casting the huge mackerel bait out 40 feet or so from the boat proved to be the only method we needed to catch them steadily. Good fishing action, excellent company, the beautiful scenery of the Atlantic, Salem, and Marblehead with jagged shores and lighthouses made the perfect venue for fishing on this day.
All that made the time pass fast and before we knew it was time to call it a day.
We anchored in the mooring field and Adam’s friend Brandon Sheehan picked us up at anchor and boated us to land. Dusk found us on the dock getting the fish filleted and bagged for the ice chest just before dark. Adam filleted some of the mackerel for me to try. Now that’s efficient when you take the leftover bait home to eat.
Hurricane Florence put us into backup planning for what fish to go after, but man what a backup plan. With constant variables in the weather, it is great to have an excellent guide and fisherman that can switch gears like that when needed. I hate to cancel a fishing charter. Versatility of the guide stabilizes this concern of mine and this meant just as good as the original plan in Marblehead.
I spoke with Adam today and he was in the Atlantic catching cod. I have intentions of returning to Marblehead someday to go after them with him along with those other species we ditched for the striped bass.
If I have more than a day next time, I will probably include Adam’s favorite one on the hit list - big sharks.