The fly and light spin fishing last year in our area was exceptionally good. We are blessed with a very fertile river estuary that invites the striped bass, bluefish and lately near shore “football tuna”. There are also many other species of fish that come here to feed, such as flounder, fluke, mackerel  and even a few Atlantic salmon. We also have a good shad spawning run in the early part of the season.

In what follows I will give you my personal perspective of the past season. It will include some photos so that you can appreciate our fishery. As a guide, specializing in fly and light spin tackle fishing, I have been out on the local waters from May to September for many years. During that period I, with my clients, experienced great fishing first hand.

I will break down my summary of last season into early, mid and late. It will give you an idea of what to expect in the upcoming season.

Early Season

Yes, the new season was underway in May. On Plum Island it began the second week of the month. There were a few small fish reported by some locals on the beach and shad fishermen further up river

                                   

                                                     

For me the first striper hit a Storm Shad Jig on May 12. I was fishing the Parker River in Newbury. I had been trying the area for about a week without success. It felt good to actually get my first striper of the season. The winter had been long, cold and snowy. During which I passed time by tying flies, giving a few talks, and participating in some fishing shows.

 

                              

By the second weekend in May schoolie stripers were being caught off the beach at the north end of Plum Island and at spots on the beach front as well as the south jetty. After that the numbers of fish caught increased. Most fish were small schoolies but there were increasing numbers of larger stripers. Soft body jigs, imitating shad, produced well. Fly fishermen were connecting using olive/white clousers.

From there on, the season just get better with more and more big stripers arriving.

May 23 thru the 26^th was a total bust with a couple of very strong Northeaster’s smashing the north shore. All boats at my marina were forced to move up river to avoid the high winds and extreme tidal surges. I managed to move my boat with help of a couple of friends at the marina. The wind was howling and the waves were 3 to 4 feet. It was a harrowing experience. One 40 foot sail boat broke from its mooring was grounded on half tide rocks where it was pounded and later sank on Joppa Flats. After everything had quieted down, I was able to take my charter clients out on a relatively quiet morning. We fished the upper end of Joppa Flats with very good results. They caught and released many schoolies taken on flies and jigs. The biggest catch was about 22 inches but on light tackle it provided a good fight.

 

 

                        

 

 

One day I hosted a client from San Diego, Jonathon; he enjoyed catching many schoolies. They were truly small stripers; some were only 12 inches in length. That was a new experience fishing our Merrimack Estuary area. They usually run about 15 to 18 inches. The crazy weather with low temperatures definitely affected the striper fishing. The good news was that with the tremendous abundance of small stripers, we could anticipate great fishing in the future. Of course, that assumes that regulators don’t over liberalize the controls on the fishery.

Wading fishermen were collecting lots of very small stripers. The fish were only 11 to 13 inches. I hadn’t seen so many small stripers for years. It boded well for the years ahead if they have adequate food available. Last year there was only a very small herring run and Menhaden were in short supply. Even mackerel seemed to be more scarce. A boat docked at my marina went out to get some mackerel and only came back with one.

Fishing in the estuary area continued to provide rapid action as more small schoolies invaded the river. Those small fish all looked to be very healthy and were feeding on the l" sand eels. We were also getting some of the bigger stripers. My clients brought 4 or 5 keepers to the boat and quite a few mid-twenty inch fish. To help the survivability of stripers that you catch and release, take a pair of pliers and bend the hook barb down. It makes for it easy to release and does less harm to the fish. You won’t lose fish because of doing it.

I took a couple of clients outside the jetties one day after a friend reported birds working over breaking stripers. One of my guys caught two very hard fighting keepers measuring 31 and 33 inches and 10 to 12 pounds. The other guy caught some smaller stripers plus 2 or 3 mackerel that hit the deceiver he was using.

Later in June the striper fishing improved dramatically. There were thousands of hungry, aggressive and fast “twinkie” sized fish with big stripers mixed in the fray. The dilemma was how to get the fly or lure through the little guys to let the larger and slower big fish have a chance to hit. We often cast and let the fly sink before retrieving it. But, sometimes I think it was just a lucky cast  that landed near a big striper so that it got the fly before the little ones attacked.

                                

Fishing trips were filled with action, often fast action with the aggressive small fish.                                          

One Monday my clients Bill and his son, Doug, caught and released about 50 small stripers. Bill had a monster on for about fifteen minutes. I only saw the tail out of the water as it started another run and it was the size of my two hands next to each other with fingers spread. When it threw the fly I slammed my Boga Grip on the leaning post and made a censored exclamation. (It was not good behavior for a guide, I thought later.)

 

                                               

                                      

Fortunately Bill’s son, Doug, brought a very hard fighting, 36-inch, 14 pound striper to the boat prior to the end of the trip.

In late June the weather turned sour with a rapid drop in temperature and strong winds from the north. My clients managed to get a few hours of fishing between heavy rain showers. They each caught many schoolies during their fishing time. Wednesday was a washout.

There continued to be an influx of big stripers. There were lots of keepers out on the flats around the time of high tide. They hit sand eel imitation flies as well as big mackerel imitations. A friend caught his biggest fly rod fish on Saturday. It measured 45-inches and weighed close to 40 pounds.

I remember one very beautiful morning. It was so bright, after our preceding lousy weather. I didn’t have high hopes. We had success with the very small schoolies as we stared our venture. We moved around the river down towards Plum Island with little activity. As the tide rose we moved out onto Joppa Flats. It was clear with bright blue sky I thought the stripers would be very easily spooked but a strong sea breeze developed from the east. The wind pushing against the outgoing tide produced what I call “the striper chop”. As a result we were less visible to the fish and my clients enjoyed a couple hours of spectacular striper fishing using flies and soft baits.

 

 

                                   

 

I hauled 6 or 7 big stripers (32-38 inches) into the boat. The fishermen kept two; I revived and released the others. They lost an equal number of fish during the foray. It was a memorable day for everyone!

                             

 

Clients, Russ from Vermont and his friend Rich from Canada, had a good day. It was a slow start with a weather front moving through that caused a delayed beginning as heavy rain and wind pushed through the area. After the weather settled we were able to get out and fish Joppa Flats near high tide. They enjoyed some spectacular hits on soft baits. We boated and released a couple of stripers. One measured 36 inches and weighed 16 pounds. There were lots of smashing hits at the lures. All of the fish were big. It was trophy time.

At the end of June, in spite of hot weather and heavy boat traffic, we got a lot of small stripers. The best action for big fish was very, very early in the morning. At first light there was good action for about an hour. Then the smaller fish took over on Joppa Flats. They provided constant action on flies and spinning soft baits but they were all under twenty inches.

 

 

                                      

The bluefish could be found just off the beaches. A surf fishing friend reported bluefish blitzes near High Sandy on Plum Island.

For the first time in a long while I saw some pogies in the river. There weren’t many but it was good to see them. I hope they make a come back after being decimated by the factory ships off shore over the last few years. They are an important food source for striped bass and their presence in the area attracts big stripers.

 

Mid Season

The inshore Merrimack fishing continued to be very good. We were still catching and releasing many very small “twinkie” stripers but there was a good mix of big fish. For instance I took a leisurely journey out on Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful summer morning. After my coffee and muffin I caught 17 twinkies. I always have the barbs bent down on my flies to minimize injury to the fish. I want them to grow to keeper size! Later as the tide came in I fished Joppa Flats. I found some very nice stripers plus a couple of nasty blue fish. I brought five stripers to the boat that measured between 24 and 29-inches. Great fly rod action! I used a fly of my own style made using synthetic material called Fishhair.

                                       

 

Bait chuckers did pretty well at the river mouth.

July 4^th, I hosted a grandfather, Jeff who lives in Florida, and his grandson, Jason. Jeff and some of his other young family members had fished with me a few years ago and had a great time. We began fishing at 7AM so that I could get them out on Joppa Flats when the tide was approaching high. They caught numerous “twinkie” stripers on Fin-S soft baits using the light spinning gear. Jason, age 9, had been up late the night before enjoying some 4^th fireworks so he was not his usual sharp fishing sport. However, with my help casting for him he soon lead his granddad at 14 to 12 fish brought to the boat. When the tide got up I took them onto Joppa flats. The big stripers were there but not interested in eating. Josh wanted to take a break so I got out my fly rod and did some casting. There were boils from big stripers all around the boat at times. I connected with a relatively big fish (compared to the twinkies) and gave the fly rod to Jeff to fight the fish. Although not experienced in fighting a big striper using a fly rod, he managed to get it to the boat. It measured 27 inches and weighed about 8 pounds. Later I repeated the hook up on the fly and helped Jason bring another 27 inch striper to the boat. It wasn’t a bad morning for grandpa and grandson plus, it was beautiful weather.

                                           

 

Our weather last season was quite changeable. Days of cool wet weather were followed by bright hot ones. Throughout the differing weather conditions the inshore fly and light spin tackle fishing remained very productive. White and olive/white fly patterns were good to use. Sluggos and Fin-S soft baits work well for stripers and bluefish.

I guided for three spin fishing sportsman, two adults and one ten year old grandson. The weather was sour, with wet heavy mist and fog. Early in the morning they managed to get some small stripers. We fished around the inside of the jetties where I marked a lot of fish. After one chopped off a Sluggo I knew the fish were blues. As the tide rose we moved up onto the sand bar off of Plum Island Point. That’s where they connected lots of tackle busting bluefish.  Two blues were kept for dinner, one a six pound fish and the other weighed eight pounds.

 

 

                                         

 

One weekend my clients warmed up catching and releasing the small schoolies and then were able to get some large schoolies and a few keeper size fish. I enjoy watching kids getting fish after fish, while keeping  a running tally of the number of fish released.

In late July I hosted my grandson, brother-in-law and a nephew. They enjoyed a super morning of fishing catching small schoolies early and then tackling some monsters on Joppa Flats. Jacob caught the largest a 14 pound 33-inch beauty. They were using Sluggos and light spinning gear so each fish was a good fight. Later in the week as the days got brighter and a front came through, the Joppa fishing action slowed down.

                                        

 

I recall a morning when the weather was great and bright sky prevailed. I didn’t have high expectations. The tide was approaching low as we began our trip. I took my clients down the river near the sandbar at the buoy #11 for some early tries but it was dead so we moved down to the jetties. There was not much going on, even for the dozen or so bait fishing guys in the area. I moved the boat outside the jetties and saw some swirls at the surface so we drifted in that area. The swirls were from bluefish which my clients managed to hook up with and, in spite of relatively light tippets, they brought them to the boat they also managed to get a few stripers. The size of the blues and stripers was varied. The largest blue about 7 pounds and the largest striper was about 23 inches long. As the tide rose, there was a decline in action at the river mouth, so we moved up onto Joppa Flats. Out on Joppa we found stripers, my clients could not get action on flies, but a nice keeper hit a big sluggo on the spinning gear. Overall it was a good morning considering the bright sky and near full moon the night before.

 

                                      

As August began the water was warm with morning skies that were bright. Most large stripers moved outside of the river mouth or further north. There were  some big fish being caught, but not many on flies or artificials. There were still pods of very big stripers moving onto Joppa Flats on some high tides. I had a client out there one Tuesday and we saw some of those big fish but were only able to get one to hit.

One day I saw what appeared to be schools of pogies near the marina in the early morning. A fisherman, who was fueling his boat, said that they weren’t pogies but very small stripers. He said they were so small, 8 to 10 inches that he wondered if they were spawned in the Merrimack. I wonder.

Sometimes the August fishing was slow. I recall a report that even the quasi-commercial striper fishermen did poorly. ( it didn’t hurt my feelings since I support game fish status for striped bass). Mid-month the weather was bright and mostly hot so the river water at the surface was generally in the low seventies. Blues continued to invade the river.

 

                                  

I had good action one day on a the late outgoing tide. It began with schools of small stripers thrashing bait on the surface between Newburyport and buoy #11. They provided lots of hits on soft bait jig head spinning lures and my McVay Special Fly on the long rod. Later I got some larger stripers and a couple of bluefish off of Plum Island Point.

The river continued to hold lots feeding stripers on the outgoing tide. They were slurping sand eels at the surface. They were very selective and wouldn’t hit just any fly or lure. Most of the hits were on flies or soft lures about 4 inches long. Most of the stripers were small but during the early morning there were large schoolies mixed in. They were 20 to about 26 inches long. There were also bluefish. 

 

 

Yes, it was August and the faint of heart thought that unless you fished all night with eels, etc, you wouldn’t catch fish. However, for those of us that prefer the action on light spinning or fly fishing gear still had a lot of fun with schoolies plus the occasional surprise of a big fish. The difficulty was being prepared and rigged for that big striper or bluefish. We tended to expect small fish. I recall an off day the previous year August when I trolled a big Sluggo out on Joppa. My fish finder indicated some fish. Suddenly my rod bent and the drag was screaming. I stopped the boat and prepared to fight the fish only to discover that my light reel was almost spooled out. A couple seconds later I was totally spooled, and my line broke. It was a something I will remember.

 

 

                                   

As I worked through the August doldrums. I had an off day and went out to enjoy the beautiful weather and maybe get a fish or two. To my surprise, after noticing a couple of boils in the water near the AYC mooring area I had a hit. It was a very hard fighting acrobatic blue. After losing that one, and a couple more, I went to my heavy bluefish rigs and brought in an 8 pound blue. My tackle took a beating. Later I found the blues out on Joppa Flats along with some big stripers. I brought in 12 pound 32 inch striper to the boat before I released it as well as a few blues. It was a very good August morning.

The bluefish action with schools of big blues feeding on minnows (silversides?) and sand eels. I hosted my daughter and her husband. They enjoyed some spectacular acrobatics by bluefish after being hooked. It made me think of tarpon down in Florida. If you don’t bow when a tarpon breaks water they will often throw the lure. We didn’t get any stripers but saw two or three thirty inch or so caught on sluggos and poppers.

Bluefish, bluefish, that has been the main action during late August. They could be found outside the jetties and/or off the beach at Parker River Wildlife Sanctuary. Party boats anchored up just a few hundred yards off of the beach. Sometimes the blues were down deep and at other times they were busting the surface. They were feeding on baby bunker.

 

 

                                        

Stripers could be found in the shallows off of Cranes Beach as well as the usual haunts around Plum Island. They were also moving up river on the incoming tides.

I had a painful reminder of the need to be prepared for a big fish when my grandson, while fishing off the boat tied at my slip, put his rod down to check my rod. I was busy doing some small repair work on my bimini top. I heard a banging noise and looked up to see Jacob’s rod being pulled onto the bow. I made a quick jump and grabbed for it but it went over the side before I could get it. The rod, Penn reel and fish were heading up the river not to be seen again! Oh well, it happens!

Late Season

Early September the inshore fishing was slow and the seas were not good for going outside along the beaches as remnants of  the hurricanes that struck Florida passed off to our East.

One Friday turned out to be a classic early September trip. The river was full of bait. We began fishing near the AYC mooring area with little to show for it so we moved down towards the mouth thinking of going outside along the beaches. When we arrived near buoy #11 we saw a bluefish blitz underway. We nailed a few nice blues on flies and lures before the action died as the tide rose opening escape routes for the trapped bunker. We checked around the river mouth and found that there wasn’t much going on so we headed south off of the Parker River Wildlife refuge beaches. About half way down the island we saw birds working. There we found a school of large stripers chasing bait to the surface. We caught a mix of stripers and blues. We moved farther south and got into breaking pods of bluefish. We re-rigged for blues and had some great fighting action on the fly rods. Our 8 WT rods got a good workout. We closed out the trip by going behind Plum Island and found a few stripers across from Castle Island. We ended the trip in the Parker River where we witnessed a terrific bluefish blitz. There was constant action all the time we were there. The blues were big and tough fighting, especially since we were using our fly rods. It was a great fishing trip.

 

The inshore fishing changed into a typical late season mode. The river was full of peanut bunker and the stripers and blues could be found blitzing all over the area. The Salisbury side of the river consistently produced schoolie stripers on the outgoing tide. Soft baits that resembled the baby bunker in size and color worked well on light spinning gear. Flies made with of white/blue/purple materials with pearl flash did the trick for fly fishing.

I didn’t get out along the beaches as much as I wanted, due to nasty conditions at the mouth of the river with large swells from distant passing storms.

Football tuna moved closer to shore with several caught within a couple miles of the river mouth. There are also reports of many different species of whales. There was one of a shark sighting off of the Parker Wildlife Refuge beach.

The local season ended for me when I went down to Cape Cod for some late season fishing there. I hope that the upcoming new season will be as good as the last one!