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Merrimack River
Report #17
September 11, 2006
The
inshore fishing has been good for bluefish and stripers. The blues
have been showing up around the river mouth on the low outgoing tide.
Stripers can also be found around the jetties. The blues can be small
snappers or 7 or 8 pound bruisers.
The
people I took out over the past weekend enjoyed catching and releasing
both stripers and blues. Saturday morning was very calm and it was
easy to see surface action as marauding blues were chasing baby bunker
around the mouth of the river. Sunday, after a cold front moved in it
was windy and the seas were driving into the river. We still found
many stripers around the jetties. It was good fishing but difficult
managing the boat between the wind caused waves and the weekend boat
traffic.
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Merrimack River
Report #16
August 29, 2006
The
fishing in and around the estuary has been pretty steady. Stripers
and bluefish are plentiful near the river mouth around low tide. The
water temperature has dropped and more seals are around. The baby
bunkers have not been coming up river with the rising tide as they
were a week ago. The fish are favoring soft baits and flies with
gray blue color (similar to baby bunker). Also the smaller flies and
lures are more effective.
My
clients have enjoyed catching and releasing schoolie stripers and
bluefish. Some of the blue fish have been 5 or 6 pounds. Hopefully
the hurricane heading this way will not spoil the fishing later this
week.
Today
I took out a novice fly fisherman. I have been giving Marc
instruction on fly casting and saltwater fly fishing techniques. It
was not the best of conditions for fly fishing with a steady wind
out of the north and light rain. The wind created swells that moved
into the river mouth between the jetties. I managed to keep the boat
in close to the north jetty for some protection from the wind while
Marc exercised his new skill. He hooked a nice bluefish but the fly
was bitten off. Another threw the hook. But he did get his first fly
rod striper before we headed into calmer water.
Later
as we fished the
Salisbury
side of the river I hooked a heavy fish on a gray/white clouser. The
fish moved slowly and I could not bring it close. It stripped out
line against my heavy drag setting at will. As the boat drifted into
the mooring area I tried to get it closer before getting caught on a
mooring line or boat. I managed to turn it but then the hook pulled
out. I never saw the fish. I wondered what it could have been. Since
it moved slowly with a steady pulsating pull The only possibility I
could come up with was that it was one of the sturgeons known to be
in the
Merrimack River
. I wish I could have seen it.
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Merrimack River
Report # 15,
August 21, 2006
In
the early part of August it was hot and dry and the fishing slowed
down. It was difficult to consistently find fish although there were
usually some blues and/or stripers somewhere in the river or just
off the outside of the jetties. About mid August the baby bunker
showed up in the river on the incoming tides and with them came
droves of schoolie stripers. The average size was about 17-inches
and ranged between 15 and 22.
They
were aggressively hitting bunkers they chased to the surface. There
was constant action on flies and soft baits. In the case of the
latter, many were chopped off by snapper blues that were mixed in
with the stripers.
Today
I took out clients, Adam and Powell (father and adult son). We left
the dock at
7AM
and hooked onto the first striper about
7:02
, just outside the last slip. From then until we quit about
11AM
they were catching and releasing stripers. They caught them on
fliesd and soft baits. Anything that resembled a baby bunker in
color and size caught stripers and an occasional snapper blue fish.
From
past experience I am expecting schools of larger stripers to come
into the area as they begin their migration south from along the
Maine
coast.
I
saw a photo taken by one of charter
captains at the marina. It showed a 27 pound football tuna that he
caught somewhere between here and
Province
Town
. But the tuna fishing remains very slow according to most local
reports.
One of Adam's many catches |
Powell's first Blue on a Fly |
Baby Bunker and Clouser Fly |
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Merrimack River
Report #14 August 7, 2006
The
fishing has drifted into the August routine and was further slowed by
the extreme hot humid weather. Bluefish have moved in all over the
area. Both snappers and 7 or 8 pound blues are being caught. Sometimes
they are in the river and at others out along the beaches.
I
enjoyed one morning, fishing between the jetties, around the low tide,
catching blues and then stripers as the tide rolled in.
On
Sunday morning I saw breaking fish just off the marina docks as I
prepared for my charter. When they arrived I took the boat out and my
clients enjoyed catching schoolie stripers on light spinning gear. I
followed the fish up to
Ram
Island
before they dispersed. Later they caught more fish up near
Eagle
Island
. We tried for blues off of
Plum
Island
but had no luck while we were there. It was a good morning considering
I didn’t see many fish being caught anywhere. The boats anchored off
of
Plum
Island
and those fishing off the beach were not catching stripers or blues
around the high tide.
August Schoolie |
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Merrimack River
Report #11 July 17, 2006
Last
week the bluefish entered the river. We found snapper blues mixed in
with feeding stripers on the incoming tide just outside of my marina
near the Coast Guard Station. We followed them as they stayed with the
bait and moved up river beyond the Route 1 bridge. There was good
action using Fin-S soft baits at the surface.
On
Tuesday I fished between the jetties just after the morning low tide.
My first cast with a Rhody Flat Wing fly resulted in hooking a
6 or 7 pound blue fish which bit off the fly at boat side. I expected
to lose the fish since was only using 18# leader. I had better results
after adding a 25# shock tippet. I tried wire but saw stripers around
so switched back to the fluorocarbon leader. My friend Bill and I got
into a voracious bunch of mid-size striper schoolies by the north
jetty. That fun lasted about one hour before they moved on. By then I
was tired and headed back to the marina.
That
same morning there was a nice 40-inch striper taken on a fly near the
#11 buoy.
Big
cow stripers have been caught with live pogies and eels at the upper
end of Joppa Flats. Much of this catching has been at night.
There
are still prodigious numbers of small schoolies in the river. They
attack flies and soft baits. During the hot bright days the best
fishing has been during the early
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Merrimack River
Report #10 July 10, 2006
Last
Monday was a beautiful day. The morning was clear and it was a pleasure
to be out on the
Merrimack
. I finally had a day to myself without a charter. I decided to go
fishing when I was up and ready—no pressure. I left the marina about
6:15 AM
. I enjoyed a snack breakfast and the began fishing on the upper area of
Joppa Flats. As usual the small schoolies were hitting well. I decided
to try some other areas. I did well with small schoolies by catching a
22-inch striper and I was fortunate to see my friend Steve hook up,
catch and release a 35-inch striper. I took some video footage as he
battled the fish. I cut my fishing short to get to some of the home yard
and garden obligations. I remember thinking that I was already looking
forward to another morning fishing the
Merrimack
estuary.
We
fished early July 4th morning. The stripers were plentiful
and bigger than we have been catching in the estuary area. There were
many between about 20 to 27-inches with a few close to keeper size. It
was a good fishing morning with most fish hitting flies. My Rhody Flat
Wing worked best.
Wednesday
and Thursday were excellent fishing mornings. Finally we were often
getting stripers over 20-inches and up to the low 30-inch range. These
fish moved onto the Joppa Flats on the high tide. They exhibited the
reluctance to hit flies and lures, but experienced fishermen, including
my clients and me, have found many fish that would hit the artificials.
Thursday
I enjoyed a day off from chartering when I caught a 26-inch striper on
my first fly cast of the morning. I caught and released a dozen stripers
over 20-inches with the largest measuring 30-inches. Those fish were all
hard fighting and gave the fly rod and fisherman a good battle. Great
fun!!
Friday
I chartered and it was difficult morning fishing. A weather front passed
through Thursday night and the morning was very bright. In addition, the
incoming tide was cold with a surface temperature of about 52 degrees.
All of these factors and probably some I am not aware of, shut the
fishing down. We caught some schoolies but that was it.
Over
the weekend my clients form NH and NY enjoyed a great day of fishing on
Saturday. They caught stripers from the early incoming tide and out
going tide. They enjoyed about eight hours of catching as opposed to
“just fishing”. The stripers hit flies and Fin-S lures (the latter
on the surface). Mark caught two or three almost keepers on the flats.
Early Sunday morning they had some fast action over the sand bar at the
north end of
Plum
Island
.
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Merrimack River
Report #9 July 3, 2006
The
estuary waters have returned to more normal flow and color. It is still
has a coffee color to it but the incoming tides are running in strong.
The striper fishing has been good with lots of action but most on small
schoolies. However, some keeper sized fish are caught on almost every
tide. A friend caught a 38-inch striper early Sunday morning. It had sea
lice on it indicating that it just came in from the ocean. It could be a
sign that our missing schools large stripers are finally coming into the
river as it returns to more normal condition There have been reliable
reports of schools of very large stripers off shore by captains looking
for tuna.
My
snake fly and Rhody Flat Wing fly have produced very well. For light
spinning tackle Tufcore jigs and Suggos or Fin-S soft baits have been
good. A Fin-S rigged with and either an offset hook or jig head have
been getting solid hits.
Last
Tuesday my three clients Grandpa, son-in-law and grandson had a great
morning catching stripers. Evan (10 years old) and his dad, Mark,
enjoyed catching lots of stripers with a light spinning rod while
grandpa did well with the fly rod. The best fish of the day was caught
by Mark. It was a 29-inch keeper which, after a photo was taken, was
released to grow even bigger. They enjoyed a lot of friendly
competition. Evan finally tired as the trip ended.
All
of the trips had my clients enjoying lots of good action on Joppa Flats
and around
Plum
Island
.
Evan and Dad with Keeper |
Jim, Mark and Evan - Triple Play |
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Merrimack River
Report #8 June 26, 2006
I
am starting this report on Saturday June 24 because my memory is not
what it used to be. The Merrimack estuary has been returning to a more
normal June pattern.
.There
are still lots of small “twinkie” stripers but the big ones are
showing up in increasing numbers out on Joppa Flats on the high tides.
My clients enjoyed catching lots of schoolies with an occasional heavy
hitter. Some of my experienced friends have caught and released
stripers between 30 and forty inches in length.
Today
I guided for two young anglers with a little fly fishing experience on
fresh water. One of them was a natural at casting with the fly rod. He
soon switched entirely from light spinning gear to the long rod and
caught several mid-twenty inch stripers. He also battled and lost a
very large striper when he stressed the 18 pound test leader which was
probably frayed during the early fight. I didn’t see the fish but it
had little difficulty going well into the backing on the reel. It
stayed deep although we were only in about eight of water. The
struggle between fish and angler went on for about five long minutes
before it broke off. As I told my young client we all suffer through
that disappointing experience at times. It is part of the game.
The
bluefish are outside the river mouth according to the folks going
outside. So far I have not seen or heard of any being taken inside the
jetties. But I expect they will move in any day.
We
had some unusual activity on the flats when we found schools of big
carp swimming around on Joppa Flats. They must have moved or been
washed down the river with the floods of May. They were big (at least
twenty inches) and a few of us were wondering about what kind of fly
might work. They like corn so a fly that looks like a corn kernel
might work.
The
harbor seals are back in the river. I have seen them out on Joppa on
the high tide.
The
weather continues to be wetter than normal but the fishing is getting
better for bigger stripers.
Sunday
I hosted a grandfather, his son, and his grandson. The weather was
dull and damp but the rain of earlier in the morning had stopped.
Grandpa fly fished while the others used the light spinning gear. We
left the marina relatively late in order catch the incoming tide. I
had hopes of a big striper or two as the tide approached high. Well,
they didn’t get a big striper but had constant action on schoolies
up to 18-inches until we quit. The fish may have been small but they
sure fought on the light tackle. All three had a great time! That is
what I like.
I
am looking forward to good fishing ahead since it looks like we missed
the heavy flooding rain.
Leonard's Joppa Fly Rod Striper |
Joe's 24 Incher |
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Merrimack River
Report #7 June 19, 2006
The
fishing in the area continues to be abnormal in terms of fish size.
Normally we are catching a good mix of small and big stripers this time
in the season. The water has been improving in clarity each day. I have
seen cormorants coming to the surface with what looks to be large sand
eels. The mackerel offshore have been dispersed by the first bluefish
arriving in the near shore waters. So far there haven’t been any blues
in the river or out side the jetties.
Last
week my clients caught and released many small schoolies. It has been
the situation all week except for on day when my grandson caught using
herring chunks off the boat while it was tied up at the marina. There
are small schoolies everywhere. They are aggressive and take on flies
and fairly large soft baits offered via the light spinning rod.
On
Tuesday my clients enjoyed fast action just off of the north jetty while
we drifted out on the low out going tide.
Occasionally
a big striper has been caught after many small schoolies were brought
boat side. It seems that the big ones are few but present among the
small schoolies and will often chase after hooked schoolie right up to
the boat.
We
are all waiting for the influx of big stripers onto Joppa flats. They
are over due.
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Merrimack
River
Report #6 June 12, 2006
Last
Tuesday, I had three clients out fishing on Joppa Flats all morning
after a late start (their choice). One fly fisherman and two using
spinning gear with jig heads rigged with soft baits (sluggos,Fin-S). It
was one of our rare (lately) days with sun and relatively light breeze.
There
were around ten other boats on the flats. Everyone, including my guys
were catching those small schoolies. We fished until
noon
with more or less constant action. We didn't see a fish over 18-20
inches. That was the case for all the other catches I saw in the other
boats.
The
previous day, one of clients did catch an "almost" keeper bass
using an olive/white clouser after they caught about fifty "twinkies".
Mid-week
we had more lousy weather that continued through to Saturday. The river
rose and turned muddy again. I didn’t go out fishing.
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Merrimack River
Report #5 June 5, 2006
The
past week began with some good inshore fishing. There were lots of small
schoolies with an occasional keeper sized fish. One Tuesday morning a
friend hailed me as he was fighting a decent striper on Joppa Flats. I
got close enough to take some video footage and then a photo of his
32-inch fish.
As
the weekend approached so did some heavy tropical type rain. I managed
to get out Friday in the early morning and although I got caught in some
heavy down pours I managed to get lots of schoolies and missed a big
striper when my fly line knotted as it was pulled up off of the deck.
The knot got caught going through the guides and the fish had no trouble
breaking my 15 pound test leader.
The
number of big stripers coming into the river has been less than normal
for early June. The high fresh water outflow has definitely affected the
usual pattern. Apparently it has not bothered the small schoolies that
much but it has affected the bait fish and thus the bigger stripers are
not enticed into the waters (at least that is my theory).
This
morning my clients Jim and Frank enjoyed plenty of schoolies. When we
began fishing just after
5 AM Jim
was using a light spinning outfit rigged with a sluggo attached to a
jig. He was into fish right away. Frank was using a fly rod with an
intermediate line. He had little action so I suggested a fast sinking
line and he immediately began to get fish, especially after he changed
flies to an olive white clouser. Later Jim switched to my 8 WT fly rod
and once he got used to casting the sinking line he caught his first
stripers on a fly. He was using one of my special flat wing flies. Both
guys started fishing near the bottom using the flat wing flies and were
both catching fish. After the tide was falling enough for good current
we drifted on Joppa where Jim hooked a nice 27-inch striper. We
photographed Jim and his catch and then released it. All of the fish
were caught with lures and flies that had the barbs bent down.
Jim's First Fly Rod Catch |
Roger's Joppa Flats Catch |
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Merrimack River
Report #4 May 29, 2006
Here
it is, Memorial Day and I haven’t launched my boat yet, however the
good news is that I will get it in tomorrow. I held off launching to
give the marina time to get back to more normal condition and to allow
for the debris to clear out of the river. The river is still coffee
color but it is flushing out each day. The stripers are in the river.
Most are still small schoolies (great fun to catch on a fly rod) and
there are some larger stripers caught now and then.
I have
been fly fishing off the beach at the north end of
Plum
Island
and have been catching stripers consistently on the outgoing tide using
an olive/white clouser. Bait fishermen have not been doing as well
largely because they cast far out where normally some bigger fish would
be but aren’t yet. I have been picking up most fish by letting the fly
drift with the current until near the shore before beginning to strip it
in. Sometimes a striper would hit on the dead drift but most often on
the first few strips near the shore.
A couple
of keeper stripers have been weighed in at Surfland. One was caught
early Saturday morning off the south jetty.
Tomorrow I
will do my first boat excursion looking for the best striper action
spots. I have a couple of days to check things out before my first
charter trip. It finally looks like the season will really get going
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Merrimack River
Report #3 May 19, 2006
Needless
to say I have not been fishing much lately. The heavy rain and
Merrimack River
flood have shut everything down. The river is still near the flood
stage. Many marinas, including the
Newburyport Harbor Marina where I dock my boat, Have been had their dock
systems devastated. Mckenzies Marina in Amesbury lost most of their
floats. My marina still has docks but they have pulled the mooring
blocks and pilings so that they are twisted from their normal positions.
Fortunately no floats were lost so the marina should be able to get up
and running again. Mackenszies will probably be closed for the season.
Ferry Landing also suffered heavy damage and probably won’t fixed any
time soon.
The river
still has lots of debris floating down and the water
looks like mud and it is running high and fast. I would not
recommend boating for a while. I have already postponed one trip and may
have to do the same for next week.
The beach
at
Plum
Island
is littered with debris and who knows what stuff might be hung up just
below the surface. I saw many big trees float by
Cashman
Park
.
I
think it will take a week before the river is the least bit fishable.
May 16 Plum Island Beach Catch |
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Merrimack River
Report #2 May 8, 2006
The season
is underway. Shad are in the
Merrimack River
along with schoolie stripers. Striped bass are also being caught in the
local estuary areas as well as the
Plum
Island
beach front.
Although
my boat is still parked on the driveway (awaiting a better weather
forecast), I have been catching stripers from the shore. Today, fishing
the
Parker
River
, I caught and released many schoolies up to twenty inches. All had sea
lice on them indicating they had come in from the ocean. I was using my
fly rod with one of my favorite clouser minnow patterns. Sometimes the
fish would follow it in and hit on a pause in my stripping. It was a
good day and very enjoyable after the winter doldrums!
I expect
the larger fish will show up very soon.
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