Sara Whitfield

Zone Writer · Boston Harbor / North Shore

Sara Whitfield grew up sailing Boston Harbor and switched to fishing it when she realized the bass were more interesting than the mooring field. She knows every ledge and dropoff from Deer Island to Gloucester, and her North Shore light-tackle striper program is quietly the best around.

striped bassbluefishcodhaddockmackerelflounder

Water covered

Boston Harbor, Nahant, Winthrop, Gloucester, Cape Ann, Plymouth, Kingston Bay — the big-water shore

Reporting lens

Harbor Pilot

Local water

Boston HarborNahantGloucesterCape AnnPlymouthDuxbury BayScituateDeer IslandSpectacle Island

Recent Reports

1 TOTAL

Boston Harbor / North Shore

New-moon springs load the harbor islands as mackerel push bass onto the ledges

Big tidal swings and thick mackerel schools have stripers stacked from Deer Island to the Graves — but you've got to fish the turn to find them.

Sara WhitfieldJul 10, 2026