Merrimack River Fishing Report #12 July 24, 2008
Merrimack River Fishing Report #12
July 24, 2008
The bluefish are still absent from the local inshore areas. I have not seen any blues being caught near the mouth of the Merrimack. Therefore the mackerel are still in the outside areas and bait fishermen have been doing well by live lining them. There still big stripers in deep water offshore according to one of my marina neighbors. High fuel costs continue to slow fishing as boats and charter clients hold back due to the slow economy. I have offered a $50 discount for trips taken between now and the end of August in order to recover some of my expenses.
The striper fishing was pretty good last Sunday morning. I fished mostly inside the river, between the jetties, and off the outside of the north jetty. I caught about a dozen hard fighting stripers in the 20 inch range. I got them on flies and Fin-S soft baits. Yesterday I brought in a nice fluke that hit a jig Fin-S rig fished deep between the jetties. I filleted it and had it for dinner! There were some big swells from the tropical storm that passed off shore so I didn’t fish outside the jetties.
I had a reliable report of a short lived blitz of striper action on Joppa very early Tuesday morning. I did see a blitz off the sandbar inside of Plum Island. I got to the area as the action subsided but did get one nice 25 inch striper that followed the fly to near the boat before striking. Fun!
Someone said there were baby bunker in the area of Cranes beach. Can the blues be far behind?
Merrimack River Fishing Report #10 July 17, 2008
Merrimack River Fishing Report #10
July 17, 2008
I haven’t been out fishing much over the past week but the few times I did, we found the fishing to be slow. I heard that the “quasi” commercial guys are getting stripers on Joppa Flats at night. However, the morning fishing has been generally slow. I was out this morning and we got only a couple schoolies fishing the lower river to just out side the jetties after the tide change. We did see some pogies near the #13 Buoy but no stripers around. People dragging bait at the mouth were getting an occasional striper.
We are still experiencing wide water temperature fluctuations with very warm river water and very cool ocean water with the incoming tide. So right now the thing to do is get out enough to get into the action when it takes place. The blues are still hard to find but I haven’t been down off of the Plum Island beach yet.
Merrimack River Fishing Report #9 July 10, 2008
Merrimack River Fishing Report #9
July 10, 2008
I have altered my report schedule a little so it will fit better with the updates that forward to other sites. I will be getting my new reports out about mid-week.
The Merrimack fishing has slowed down but overall the fishing is still good. Stripers, some blue fish, and a few shad (moving back to the saltwater after their early season spawn) are being caught. Every season the fishing changes as we move into July and August. The water gets warm and some stripers begin to migrate further north. However there continues to be in incoming migration of stripers moving into the areas further south. There are still plenty of mackerel around and that will keep more stripers here.
On the 4th of July I guided for some people who brought there boat up to keep here while they are on a vacation and staying at a rented cottage on Plum Island. They wanted me to show them some fishing spots and to familiarize them with navigating the area using their 25 foot boat. They met me at the marina about mid-day as the tide approached the high. They were primarily bait fishermen and had caught a bunch of mackerel before arriving. I took them up river, below the Route 95 Bridge. The fish finder indicated lots of fish and there was another boat pulling in stripers on chunk. We stayed longer than I planned when they started catching mid-twenty inch stripers. Then I took them down as far as Joppa Flats. Since we ran out of time before I showed them all locations I gave them a marked up chart with good fishing locations.
On the Monday after the 4th weekend I guided for a couple good fly fishermen. They hadn’t fished for stripers but after a little instruction they were well able to handle the 8 and 9 WT rods with 350 Grain fast sinking lines. We found breaking stripers at the upper end of Joppa Flats. They would show for only a few minutes. They were probably chasing Silverside minnows or some other small bait fish. The guys were still getting used to the heavier fly gear but they managed a few catches. The stripers were in the large schoolie size of 20 to 25 inches. They were very hard fighters. When that action slowed we tried other areas. It was slow but as the low tide bottomed out and the tide changed to incoming, I noticed bird action just outside the jetties. They caught some more nice 20 plus inch stripers to end the morning.
I still have not experienced or heard of other fishermen getting into Blue Fish. Compared to last season, they are late. It is one of the challenges of guiding, to predict when the fish will arrive, and it keeps us guessing. It makes it all more interesting and rewarding when you connect with anticipated fish.
On Tuesday morning I had a free morning and fished on my own. There were not any obvious signs of fish but a few terns showed up and they were obviously seeing bait on Joppa. I fished the areas and caught 8 or 10 large schoolies on my light spinning rod.
