Merrimack River Report #4 May 29, 2007
Merrimack River Report #4 May 29, 2007
The striper season has definitely begun on the Merrimack River. Schoolies, ranging from about 17-inches to almost keeper length, are abundant. At times they have been smashing small minnows at the surface or feeding on sand eels a little deeper. They can be found on any tide. The other evening I had a report that they were busting the surface inside the North end of Plum Island. I have found them just across from my marina, between Carr and Ram Islands. Shore fishermen have been doing well off of the Chain Bridge Island. Wade fishermen are nailing small schoolies along the edge of the AYC mooring area. So, overall the season is off to a nice start.
I keep expecting to see a keeper come to the boat. My clients over the last two days have had constant action during the entire four hour trips. Friday it was all fly fishing mostly along the Salisbury side of the River. Saturday my client and his wife enjoyed a beautiful morning while catching and releasing many fish with light spinning tackle and soft baits rigged on jig heads.
A few mackerel have been caught outside the mouth of the river.
Monday morning my clients started their trip under cloudy skies with some light rain. It looked to be good weather for striper action. As we all learn if we spend a lot of time fishing, the stripers can change their feeding pattern from on trip to the next. Yesterday was example of such change. The action was slower. There were fewer fish in areas that produced constant action the day before. My clients caught and released a couple dozen schoolies thru the last of the incoming and early outgoing tide. There was one very nice almost keeper size striper that took a white Sluggo and gave a great fight one the light spinning rod.
Although our fishing was slower I learned from some of my friends that there was good action at other places. Steve caught a keeper over on the Parker River using his fly rod. David reported a bunch of big stripers on Joppa Flats but they disappeared after a short period of time. I also heard that there was fast action very early in the morning outside the jetties. I saw evidence of the results down there at my marina as I saw my neighbor filleting a looked to be about a 32 inch striper caught on bait.
Merrimack River Report #3 May 22, 2007
May 22, 2007
The fishing has definitely improved in the Merrimack River. We tolerated lousy weather last weekend, but for the intrepid striper fishermen, there were lots of stripers to be caught. Most fish were small schoolies up to 20 inches in length but they hit a fly as though they were bigger. Saturday afternoon, in unpleasant weather, I found fish breaking across from my new marina. Sunday morning more fish, but not as many. That trip included connecting with a very large Carps using my fly rod (see the earlier post).
The weather changed and clear skies prevailed on Monday morning. But, there was a strong wind from the north. That is usually not good for fishing, as it turned out to be. Anyhow, it was very nice to get out on a sunny morning, although I only caught one scchoolie.
Tuesday morning was much nicer. I had postponed a charter because of the previous day’s poor fishing. As it turned out that was a mistake but I don’t like to take anglers out if the fishing is not good. Anyway I decided to go out in the morning. I didn’t start until after the tide was about half way down. It was cold early and I wasn’t anxious to experience more cold with few fish. It turned out to be a near perfect morning, weather-wise, and very good striper fishing. I caught and released at least 17 stripers out on Joppa Flats. They were big schoolies and a couple of them were close to being keepers (28 inches). It was a fun morning and since I wasn’t chartering I could enjoy the action myself. Now I am ready to
host clients to enjoy our great fishery.
May 5-11, 2007 Fishing on the Cape
I spent a week in early May on Cape Cod. I planned and did quite a bit of shore fishing wading from the various beaches or casting off the jetties. The first few days it was very quiet. I checked the locals for likely spots for the first incoming stripers. I tried Bass River, Wychmere Harbor entrance jetties and couple other places. I heard that there were getting schoolies on Folsom Pond, which connects to Bass River. I tried it but the wind and timing were not good so I didn’t fish it much.
On Tuesday, May 8, I caught my first two stripers of the season at Wychmere Harbor. The following day I decided to try Morris Island in Chatham, which is the inshore access point to Monomoy. I waded in the area and caught and released 8 stripers that had sea lice on them. They had recently arrived! The next day I went back and after the tide got running out I hit a bonanza of striper action. I caught and released well over fifty stripers while using my light spinning rod and fly rod. I used a Fin-S with a jig head with the spin gear and a deer head/white hackle fly with the fly rod. The stripers were mostly 17 to 20 inches with one about 26 inches.
On Friday, May 11, I returned to Morris Island in the early morning. The tide was still coming in but close to high. I didn’t get a hit so I decided to try another area and return as the tilde dropped. When I returned the tide was running out. I saw fish breaking that were out of reach for fly or spin gear. I kept casting and picked up a couple schoolies. I switched to the spinning tackle and cast out a Yozuri Lure that looks like a big sand eel. Zit worked Hooked a 30 inch striper. Then a little later, using my fly rod I experienced another hit. It was a soft take like a fish inhaling the fly. I set the hook and realized that it was not a small schoolie. I fought it for several minutes but each time I brought in close it made another run. Finally it made a run directly away from me and broke off. I think that the gill plates may have cut my leader.
A few casts later I hooked another heavy striper. That one I did drag to shore. It was a 32 inch beauty. I took a quick photo with my digital camera and released it.
My early season week on the Cape was great!
Early Season Fishing Story 2007
AN EARLY SEASON FISH STORY 2007
I have been fishing over the past few days in spite of the inclement weather of this weekend (May 18-20). Last Thursday the weather prediction was for heavy rain and some river flooding. I took my boat out of the water because in an earlier storm the river was extremely high and my new marina, Newburyport Basin, was flood enough so that the parked boats were in jeopardy as the water rose into the parking lot. Fortunately those boats and the newly installed sections of docks survived the flood. But there was a lot of junk piled up that stalled additional dock installation.
I put my boat back in my slip at the marina on Saturday, May 19, in the afternoon. The weather was still lousy, wet but but little wind. I saw fish breaking between Ram and Carr Island and went out. I met a couple of my friends who were into schoolies on flies. I joined in nearby and caught and released a dozen or so using my fly rod and an olive/white Clouser fly.
Sunday morning I went out for a couple hours. It was still crumby weather. I spent quite a bit of time learning how to operate my new Huminbird fish finder but caught a few schoolies also. I was getting ready to quit and decided to try one other area around Carr Island. The fish finder marked some fish down deep so I cast my Clouser and let it sink. As I was stripping the fly I felt a soft hit and the a solid pull. I could tell by the fight that it wasn’t a striper but it was big. I thought maybe it was one of the sturgeon none to be in the Merrimack River. The tide was running out and as I felt the pressure of the fish I knew that it was going to be a while to get this fish. I had to use my free arm to put the boat in reverse to avoid being dragged into rocks or a moored lobster boat. I alternately maneuver the boat worked the fish up from the depths. I looked at my watch and noted I had been fighting the fish for about 15 minutes. It was still down deep.
I continued to alter my concentration between the fish on my fly rod and moving the boat away from danger.
Finally I got the fish to the surface and discovered it was a very big Carp. It was hooked on its head just above the mouth. I don’t if it went for the fly or I snagged it.
I managed to get the Carp next to the boat but I knew that without a net (I didn’t want to use a gaff) I had little chance of bringing it into the boat for a photo before I released it. I decided to try and grab the tail end but as I did so the monster broke my fly leader and slowly swam off into the depths. My guess is that it weighed over 20 pounds.
I saw schools of carp on Joppa Flats after the flood of last year. This was my first experience of hooking one.
Merrimack River Report #2 May 19, 2007
Merrimack River Report #2
For those of you who follow my reports I am posting one a little earlier than my usual weekly. Although the weather has not been good the last few days, it hasn’t been bad enough to mess up the arrival of striped bass. The river water is warm, approaching 60 degrees. Yesterday the forecast was for heavy rain and astronomical high tides. Because of the flood back in April and, last May, I chose to haul my boat out from my new marina (just in case). It did rain but not as heavily as predicted and the storm tides were not excessive so today, in spite of the heavy mist and continued unpleasant conditions, I launched the boat again. It was wet but the wind was minimal. I left the launch ramp at my new marina and went across to an area that I have fished many times. I saw fish rises and sure enough the early season schoolies had arrived. I fished the local area for about an hour and caught and released 20 or 30 striper schoolies on my fly rod. They were not particular about what fly I used. They were hungry and hitting anything that looked like food.
It was wet but warm and the fishing was action was great. My largest fish measured 20 inches. Most were 17 or 18 inches.
So, the season has begun. Now we can expect the arrival of the bigger fish.
Merrimack river report #1 2007
Merrimack River Report #1 May 14, 2007
The 2007 season is off to a later start than most years past. The very cold, stormy early spring weather kept the water temperatures down well into late April. I was off fishing on the Cape over the past week. I will put those results in a separate story on the website.
I fished a few times before going to the Cape on May 5 with no results. I tried shad once at Rocks Village and several times for stripers in the Parker River. The heavy rain and resulting local flooding didn’t help the situation. It is truly extraordinary that we have had two major floods on the Merrimack in the span of a single year. I have lived and fished here for over thirty years and never experienced such high waters before the recent events.
There are a few migrating stripers in the area. I caught and released a couple in the Parker River.
First 2007 Parker River Striper
I haven’t been back to try for shad but the reports are that people have been catching them.
My boat is still on the trailer in the driveway but I am planning to put it in the water at my new marina, Newburyport Basin Marina (formerly Ferry Landing) tomorrow morning. I will try some striper fishing in the river.
A few stripers have been caught on the Plum Island beaches the last few days. I think we can expect the big onslaught of stripers by this coming weekend.
Look for my report on the Cape fishing last week to be posted soon. It was good fishing!
