Quincy Bay, on the southern side of Boston Harbor, is a mix of shallow flats, drop-offs and channels that hold striped bass through the season. The flats offer genuine sight-fishing on a warming tide, while the channels and edges hold fish on the move.
The ground
Fish the flats for cruising bass in skinny water, and the drop-offs and channel edges where fish stage and feed. The tide dictates where the fish are.
How to fish it
On the flats, downsize and fish subtle, light soft plastics or a fly to visible fish. Off the edges, jigs and plastics in the current. Low light and a rising tide are best on the flats.
Tip Fish the flats on a rising tide in low light. Bass push up onto the warming shallows to hunt crabs and sand eels, and a quiet approach with a light presentation to a visible fish is the payoff.