Merrimack River Report #13 July 30, 2007

This season seems to be flying by. I guess it is true that time goes faster as you get older. Anyhow, it has been very good fishing so far and given weather and bait conditions as we have enjoyed lately we can expect more great inshore fishing action. There were reports of baby bunker showing up along the Maine coast last week. I haven’t really confirmed any around the area as yet but as August matures I expect to see them. When I see flocks of terns diving into the water mingled with the splashes of fish during the month I usually see the schools of baby bunker that they are feeding on. It happens in the river as well as out along Plum Island beaches.

I had some opened days last week to enjoy some fishing on my own. It was nice weather and good fishing. There were some big bluefish in the river and I found them in Newburyport near the Route 1 Bridge. It isn’t an easy place to fish because of the boat moorings and traffic, but in the early morning I could do it, with no traffic and near low incoming tides. I caught some 7 to 8 pound blues on my light spinning tackle. It was a challenge to keep the fish away from the mooring lines and the boat away from the moored craft.

Later in the week I hosted Larry, a transplant to Florida who spends summers up here. I fished with him and we caught lots of stripers. Most were caught down between the jetties where I could only find bluefish earlier in the week. They were scrappy 18 to 22 inch fish.

Saturday I guide for Jim, his son-in-law and grandson Brendon. We fished mostly between the jetties, catching many stripers. They were mostly around 19 or 20 inches and provided great fights on the light spinning tackle. It was difficult fishing because of the heavy boat traffic that forced me to maneuver the boat many times during a drift. All of the fishermen were steady on their feet and had no difficulty casting or fighting a hooked fish. I took them over to the sandbar located off the south jetty because I saw a few terns diving into the water. We just got to the spot and Brendon made a cast and hooked up with a strong fish. It stripped line off the spinning reel easily, so I tightened the drag as Brendan worked the rod. It took about ten minutes to bring the fish to the boat, as the fish and angler fought it out. Brendon said his arm was getting tired. However at 15, or so years old, he didn’t have any real problem mastering the fish. It turned out to be a 29 inch, 9 pound bluefish. Brendon was a very happy and proud fisherman as I congratulated him on his handling of the struggle. It is that kind of experience that highlights my enjoyment in doing what I do.

Check out the photo!

Merrimack River Report #10 July 10, 2007


The fishing has been good! I have heard reports that the striper fishing is not as good as usual. Maybe they are correct in some respects but personally I find a better description of current striper fishing to be sporadic. There have been days (I am not referring to nights) where the morning fishing has been slow but my clients have experienced mornings catching many stripers 19 to 20 inches with an occasional big fish. The recent weather has been a factor. Cool air and cooler water has had an affect. The bluefish have moved out as the waters cooled down to the lower 50’s. This has been the case when the tide was high. As the tide dropped the warmer water from up the river came into the estuary area. Usually the fishing improved with some very good action on light spinning or fly tackle.

There have been enormous stripers out on Joppa Flats but they are very difficult to get to hit flies or other artificial lures. I have seen the tails of very large stripers at the surface. One was 10 t0 12 inches top to bottom. A striper tail that big, belongs to a very large fish. I have had my clients out trying to entice a strike from those monsters. So far they have only got two or three close to keeper sized fish. One fellow got a 26 inch fish on the fly rod on Monday morning.

Fog has also been a problem restricting mobility, because I don’t like to be out where there are inexperienced boaters in fog. It isn’t worth the risk.

I will insert a few photos of client results for the recent fishing. Please understand that I try to tell it as I see and experience the fishing. My overall impression is that we still have a very nice season underway and most people are enjoying the experience out on the local waters.