Well, another year has come and gone for Little Sister Charters and I thank everyone who participated! We have a lot to go over in this post so lets get started:
Haddock
We launched in mid April and got started right away with haddock, which I found to be "ill tempered". I found them on the first trip but they would not bite. We got one fish! Then, over the next month it was "easy limits" on most trips, with some trips seeing the full boat limit in well under two hours fishing.
To beat that (as if it needed beating) was the fact that the size average was the best we have seen in years. On one of our trips, we even hooked a halibut, and had it on for quite awhile but it finally busted off.
"Outgunned" would be an understatement....
2021 haddock assessment: 9 out of 10.
Flounder
As of early May, we started to see more and more flounder showing up, but they were smaller than in past years, and not present in great numbers. We were seeing net rash on a high percentage of the founder that we were catching (sometimes as high as 35%) which tells you all you need to know - we were getting what the draggers were leaving us.
There was a spell from mid May to mid June where limits were had on most trips, but what used to be a 13 week season of big flounder has been reduced to 4 or 5 weeks of "keepers". I personally feel that it's sad to see what mis-mangement has done to these fish in just a few years.
2021 flounder assessment: 3 out of 10
Black Sea Bass
With the flounder fishing rapidly fading and little chance of it getting better, I made the executive decision to pull the plug a bit early (again) and head to Westport on 06/22 where we immediately found excellent sea bass fishing with some of the largest sea bass anyone has experienced!
On many trips from June until the season closed on 09/09 we often did not keep any fish under 18 inches, and black sea bass over 22 inches were just about an everyday occurrence! Almost everyone got their personal best sea bass this year.
Sadly, the state had increased the commercial quota by 60% and we saw more than double the commercial effort of previous years. How that bodes for the future I can't say, but for at least a few more years I am very sure that we will continue to have excellent sea bass fishing.
2021 black sea bass assessment: 9.5 out of 10!
Fluke
Nothing to say other than this was by far the worst fluke season I have seen in my life.
2021 fluke assessment: 0 out of 10
Thank you for the article! I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to have difficulty finding flounder. Recently been looking into one of those Minn Kota spot lock trolling motors and your excitement about it makes me even more excited to get one of my own!
Josh,
There is a bit of a learning curve with the spot lock and other features of the trolling motor but it sure is well worth the time, cost and effort to do. In truth, the thing is capable of far more than I need it for but everyone fishes differently and there are things my Minn Kota Riptide Terrova that I will still need to learn as they were not a priority. For example if you drift for fluke and you want your drift to go from one mark on one end of “your ideal drift” to the other mark on the other end of “your ideal drift” and you want to do that at “your ideal speed” than that is what you are now capable of with one of these units! How valuable is that?
Good luck!
Captain Jason Colby
Little Sister Charters
http://www.LittleSister1.com
617-755-3740
[email protected]
Josh-
The Minn Kota is well with the investment and the additional learning you will need. Just be sure to have yours installed by a professional who has done many of them before. There can be a lot of “quirks” otherwise…
Good Luck!
Captain Jason Colby
Little Sister Charters
http://www.LittleSister1.com
617-755-3740
[email protected]
I can also post that Jason is a very ethical charter captain , that consistently shows and explains why it is needed to fish in the manner he does. He shows his concerns by treating the various resources with respect and that goes along with his customers . Peace and Prayers ANGLER Carl
Thank you Carl! I hope to see you soon….
Perhaps I’ll see you at The RISAA Show? I have booth #1102……….
Good stuff Jason. Seems we’re in the midst of the best BSB fishing we’ve ever seen. Hopefully it continues.
Regarding early season haddock, we found the same thing. Early May on was great. Prior to that was slow. Are you fishing deeper for haddock early? We stuck around the nearshore spots around the South Shore.
Hi Billy!
In mid April I started off in 190-220 ft outside of Boston, then as the water warmed I worked into 150-160 ft by mid May. After that the area I was working which was hear the demarcation line was swarmed with draggers (draggers in Ma. State Waters are allowed “unlimited haddock”) and everything around where I was fishing was wiped up. From there I had to travel out to 200 ft and much farther out to find them…
Captain Jason Colby
Little Sister Charters
http://www.LittleSister1.com
617-755-3740
[email protected]
Hi Billy!
Enjoy the BSB fishing as much as you can! It seems the state of Ma. is trying hard to fix that (it isn’t broken YET). In 2021 they increased the commercial quotas by 60% and this year they are talking (right now) about reductions for rec anglers.
I found a lot of haddock from the start in about 190 ft east of Boston. Then, as the water warmed through the middle of May we went as shallow as 150 ft but that was very close to the demarcation line and the draggers “made them disappear” as they were easy pickings. From there I had to travel out to the shipping lanes where it seems every other boat was but when you got on the fish it was good.
Good luck!
Captain Jason Colby
Little Sister Charters
http://www.LittleSister1.com
617-755-3740
[email protected]