Stripers, Flounder, and Bass Galore on the Charles River This Mid-May Weekend

Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Friday morning fishing update for the Charles River and Boston waters. It's shaping up to be a terrific mid-May weekend on the Charles! The alewife runs are in full swing now, and they're bringing in all sorts of predatory fish. The striped bass action has really heated up since my last report, with more fish moving into Mass Bay with a vengeance according to what I'm hearing from the boats. Water temperatures have continued to climb nicely, putting both our resident largemouth and smallmouth bass into aggressive feeding patterns. If you're hitting the Charles today, you'll want to focus on the Millis/Medway section where anglers have been hammering trout using Copper Super Dupers. Those Charles River rainbows have been absolutely crushing them, especially during the early morning hours. For the striper hunters, they're following those herring schools in all our local rivers, with plenty of spillover into nearby embayments. Follow the bait and you'll find the fish! The reports I'm getting show bass up to 38 inches are blasting herring, particularly in areas where the sun hits those river flats. Shore anglers should check out the Hull Public Pier, Pemberton Pier, and Nut Island Pier where blackback flounder fishing has really come into its own now that water temps have pushed past the 50-degree mark. For boat anglers, try both inner and outer Bumpkin Shoals, Sheep Island, the area in front of the Quincy Yacht Club, and between Nut Island Pier and Wollaston Beach. If you're looking for hot lures, Henderson spooks and Al Gag's Whip-it-Fish have been producing consistently for bass. For those preferring to troll, the old reliable tube-and-worm rig is working great around World's End, Bumpkin Island, and Dorchester Bay. On the freshwater side, the Charles is also giving up some nice catfish, carp, and crappie. Don't sleep on Jamaica Pond or Chestnut Hill Reservoir either if you're looking for a change of scenery. Best times to fish today will be early morning right after sunrise, which should be around 5:15 AM, with another good window in the evening before sunset at about 8:05 PM. Remember folks, with so many options between stripers, flounder, bass, and trout all hitting right now, the hardest part is just deciding what to fish for! This is Artificial Lure saying tight lines and see you on the water.