Fishing in Plymouth, MA: Charters, Tackle & Piers
Plymouth's fishing identity runs on a working harbor, not a single famous hole the way Hull Gut anchors the next town north. Charter boats still run out of the Town Wharf and Cordage Park after striped bass, bluefish, and bottom fish; the Plymouth Harbor Jetty and Leo F. DeMarsh State Boat Ramp give the public a real, free shore-fishing and launch point; and Plymouth Long Beach, Manomet Point, and White Horse Beach carry the surfcasting tradition down the outer shore. This page also reports a genuinely unhappy, currently unresolved story rather than glossing over it: Cherry's Bait and Tackle, a 151 Water Street institution since 1963, was evicted and closed in August 2025 over unpaid rent, and as of this research the Town of Plymouth's own attempt to find it a replacement tenant had drawn zero bidders. One tackle shop, FISH Northeast, was independently confirmed still open at The Grove at Plymouth as of this pass.
Charter Boats Out of Town Wharf and Cordage Park
Captain John Boats, a long-running operator at 10 Town Wharf, Suite #3848, runs the most established deep-sea fishing trips in Plymouth: 4-hour trips (mackerel, hake, flounder, whiting), 8-hour trips (haddock, redfish, cusk, hake, whiting), and seasonal 11-hour offshore trips in partnership with Helen H Offshore targeting cod, pollock, and haddock at Jeffreys Ledge and Stellwagen Bank during April and October through December, per the operator's own site. Cod caught outside the offshore-partner trips must be released under current Massachusetts rules. Pricing on the operator's own site runs from $67 for adults on a 4-hour trip up to $180 for the 11-hour offshore option, with rod-and-reel rental at $12; anglers should confirm current prices directly before booking, since these change season to season.
For striped bass and other inshore species, Madcharters Sportfishing, run by Captain Erik Laudermilk aboard For Daze Out, departs from Cordage Park and targets striped bass, bluefish, sharks, and bluefin tuna; the operator's own site was actively marketing a 2026 season at the time of this research, with a listed phone number of 781-771-5869. Plymouth Rock Charters, run by a captain identified on the operator's own site as Thomas Smith and describing decades of fishing Plymouth Harbor for striped bass, also has an independently updated Yelp listing tied to Town Wharf. As with any small charter operation, trip length, current rates, and exact boat specifications should be confirmed directly with each captain before booking rather than assumed from a website alone.
Bait and Tackle: A Real Closure This Page Will Not Paper Over
Cherry's Bait and Tackle was a genuine Plymouth waterfront fixture at 151 Water Street, founded in 1963 by Eltiro "Cherry" Carafoli and run for decades by his family. Per Plymouth Independent reporting, the shop's operator fell behind on roughly $18,000 in back rent, taxes, water, and sewer charges starting in the fall of 2024; the Town of Plymouth (which owns the waterfront parcel) issued an eviction notice in March 2025, and the shop closed for good on August 8, 2025. The town then issued a request for proposals in March 2026 to find a new tenant for the site, but per the Plymouth Independent's own follow-up reporting, that RFP drew zero bidders by its April 2026 deadline — prospective tenants balked at a five-year lease requiring roughly $42,848 in first-year rent plus up to $100,000 in required repairs, on top of a state Chapter 91 waterways license that typically takes six to nine months to secure. As of this research, the building sits vacant and the town is reworking its approach rather than re-listing it as-is. Anyone reading older guides that still list Cherry's as an open shop is reading outdated information.
The good news: FISH Northeast, a father-and-son-run tackle shop, is independently confirmed currently operating inside The Grove at Plymouth shopping center at 60 Long Pond Rd (unit listed as 68 Shops at 5 Way), phone 844-744-3474, stocking inshore, offshore, freshwater, and saltwater gear. A second shop, Elite Tackle at 118 Long Pond Rd, appears on Yelp marked "CLOSED" as of an October 2025 update — this page is treating that as a genuine closure rather than a live business, and did not find evidence contradicting it. Net effect: Plymouth's dedicated walk-in tackle-shop options are thinner right now than its charter-boat scene, and anyone planning a trip should call FISH Northeast ahead rather than assume any specific shop is still open.
Plymouth Harbor Jetty and the Town's Real Public Shore Access
The Plymouth Harbor Jetty is the town's clearest public, free, shore-fishing spot: a roughly 0.58-mile stone jetty reachable via a paved, ADA-accessible walkway along the waterfront, open dawn to dusk, with benches, a bike rack, picnic tables, and the adjacent Leo F. DeMarsh State Boat Ramp for trailer and car-top boats, per the North and South Rivers Watershed Association's own listing. Parking is in the town-owned lot on Water Street in front of East Bay Grille unless towing a boat trailer. The jetty sits within walking distance of the Town Wharf, Mayflower II, and Pilgrim Memorial State Park, so a fishing stop there doubles easily as part of a harborfront visit.
Further down Plymouth's long outer shoreline, Plymouth Long Beach (accessed off Warren Avenue) and the Manomet Point and White Horse Beach areas carry the town's surfcasting tradition, with striped bass, bluefish, and flounder the commonly cited targets per multiple current fishing-spot roundups. Ellisville Harbor State Park, a state-owned property off Route 3A, is also cited as a shore-fishing access point, though this pass could not independently verify current trail conditions or whether any recent storm damage has affected access there; anyone planning a trip to Ellisville specifically should check Mass.gov's own park page first. As this site's own Plymouth research separately documents, Plymouth Long Beach itself has a real, dollar-figured erosion and nourishment history (a 2015 washover repair, a March 2018 nor'easter test, and a controversial $2.9 million 2023 nourishment project), which is worth knowing before treating that beach as a permanently fixed piece of shoreline.
What's Actually Running: Species and the Mercury/PFAS Caveat
Striped bass is the species anchoring nearly every current source on Plymouth fishing, whether from a charter boat working the harbor and bay or from the surf at Long Beach, Manomet Point, or White Horse Beach; bluefish and flounder show up as the other commonly cited inshore targets, with mackerel, hake, whiting, and (seasonally, offshore) cod, pollock, and haddock filling out Captain John Boats' bottom-fishing and offshore trips. None of this page's sources named a single specific, currently-dated catch report with hard numbers for Plymouth itself, unlike some other South Shore towns' pages on this site that could cite a specific magazine fishing report — anyone wanting real-time, dated intel should check a current regional fishing report (On the Water magazine and similar outlets publish these weekly in season) rather than relying on this page's general species list alone.
Massachusetts carries statewide fish-consumption advisories for mercury, PFAS, and other contaminants in some waters, and this applies to Plymouth's harbor and ponds the same as anywhere else in the state; anyone planning to eat their catch should check the state Department of Public Health's own fish-consumption-advisory database for current guidance before doing so, rather than assuming a given spot is advisory-free.
Permits and the Honest Bottom Line
Most Massachusetts saltwater anglers age 16 to 59 need a Recreational Saltwater Fishing Permit, currently $10 and valid through December 31 of the year issued, per Mass.gov; anglers 60 and older get the same permit free, anglers under 16 are exempt, and anyone fishing aboard a permitted for-hire charter or head boat is covered by the vessel's own permit. Regulations, seasons, and size/bag limits change year to year, so confirm current rules directly on Mass.gov before heading out.
The honest bottom line: Plymouth's charter-boat scene is real and multi-operator (Captain John Boats, Madcharters Sportfishing, and Plymouth Rock Charters all independently confirmed as currently active in this pass), and the Plymouth Harbor Jetty gives the public a genuine, free, accessible shore-fishing spot alongside the longer surf beaches further south. What this page will not do is pretend Cherry's Bait and Tackle is still open — it closed in August 2025, the town's own effort to refill that waterfront storefront had failed to attract a single bidder as of this research, and FISH Northeast is the one independently confirmed tackle shop currently serving Plymouth anglers. Anyone planning a trip should call ahead, verify current charter rates and availability directly with each captain, and check Mass.gov for current rules before fishing.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Facts drawn from fresh research for this page: Plymouth Independent reporting on Cherry's Bait and Tackle's back-rent eviction and August 8, 2025 closure ("Cherry's Bait and Tackle gets the hook") and the town's subsequent, unsuccessful 2026 request for proposals to refill the site ("Town officials seek new life for Cherry's Bait and Tackle" and "Cherry's fails to attract bidders"); Captain John Boats' own site (10 Town Wharf) for charter trip lengths, species, and pricing; Madcharters Sportfishing's own site for Captain Erik Laudermilk, the boat For Daze Out, Cordage Park departure, and 2026-season booking status; Plymouth Rock Charters' own site plus a Yelp listing updated May 2026 for Captain Thomas Smith and Town Wharf departure; the North and South Rivers Watershed Association's Plymouth Harbor Jetty listing for access, amenities, and the adjacent Leo F. DeMarsh State Boat Ramp; current business-directory listings (New England Boating, Yelp) for FISH Northeast's operating status at The Grove at Plymouth and Elite Tackle's marked-closed status on Long Pond Road; and Mass.gov's own recreational saltwater fishing permit page for license rules. This page also draws on this site's own Plymouth, MA competitive-game-plan research for Plymouth Long Beach's dated erosion/nourishment history. Left open rather than invented: any single specific, dated regional catch report naming Plymouth directly, current trail/access conditions at Ellisville Harbor State Park, and exact current charter pricing for Madcharters and Plymouth Rock Charters. Verify current business hours, charter pricing and availability, licensing rules, and shop operating status directly before planning a trip.