Frank Dwyer
September 2, 2004
Marblehead: It seems the summer doldrums have continued a bit longer than we’d all like as the fishing continues to be somewhat slow. Bait has been thin in the waters around Marblehead, and anglers are working hard to find fish. Shore bound anglers have found fish off Devereux Beach as well as off the Neck, with bait anglers scoring more consistently.
Salem: Early morning and night continues to be the time to fish if you’re searching for bigger fish. While the last week of weather has been quite nice, fishing during the day has been a bit slow, with the exception being bluefish that have still been cooperating in the Harbor and around the Islands. Anglers fishing off the Salem Willows Pier have reported a few keeper bass with the Danvers River also producing fish. Anglers dunking worms continue to land flounder.
Beverly: Striped Bass have been landed off West Beach and the Islands just off shore. Anglers trolling tube and worm setups as well as those using live eels have done well. Fishing off Tuck Point has also yielded bass and bluefish, while anglers looking for flounder have continued to be land these fish along the Beverly shoreline.
Cape Ann: There are plenty of herring in and around Manchester Harbor, and angler’s live-lining or chunking herring have done well. Fishing off Singing Beach continues to be a bit slow for surfcasters, but fish have been landed on both bait and large plugs. Boat anglers trolling tube and worms off Singing Beach have also scored both bass and bluefish. Further north, anglers fishing the rocks off Gloucester, Magnolia and Rockport report slower activity for striped bass with many working quite hard for a handful of fish. The Annisquam and Essex River are full of bait (sand eels mostly) however the fishing has been quite spotty. Offshore, party boats continue to land good numbers of ground fish and anglers in search of tuna have reported many sightings, but fewer landings.
Ipswich: Most of the activity around Ipswich continues to be in the early morning or in the evening. Fly anglers fishing off Cranes Beach have reported a few evenings with stripers chasing sand eels right up on to the beach and taking flies in the wash. Boat fishermen have reported a few surface feeds at the mouth of the Ipswich River this past week, but the activity is far from predictable. Once the peanut bunker show up in numbers, the fishing should improve drastically.
Newbury: With the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge beaches now completely open, it seems more fish are being caught there. Emerson Rocks has been home to several surface feeds with a mix of blues and bass over the past week. Anglers working the night patrol off the beaches have also been scoring bass on both bait and large plugs. Plum Island Sound has been quiet over the past week with anglers having to work to find fish.
Newburyport / Plum Island: I fished upriver of the Route 1 Bridge on Wednesday evening and found cooperative schoolie bass around Carr and Ram Island and further upriver by Eagle and Deer Island. The fish were hitting sluggos rigged on a small lead head which I was twitching quite slowly along the bottom of the river. Earlier in the week, I found bass drifting the mooring area by the AYC as well as just off the channel by the Captain’s Fishing Party boats off Plum Island Point. There are plenty of sand eels and silversides in the river as evidenced by the many terns feeding on them. I also tried using sand eels for bait quite successfully both anchored and drifting. Further down river, anglers drifting through the river and out the mouth on the outgoing tide have done well drifting whole herring. Surfcasters continue to score bass in the river off the Point, with sea worms, clams and chunk bait all producing fish. The Plum Island beach front has also been home to some fish over the past week, and the crowds are quite smaller than those at the mouth of the river. Anglers fishing offshore have scored a few tuna, but all are hoping the activity picks up in the coming weeks. Party boats continue to please their patrons with good numbers of cod and haddock.
Salisbury: Boats fishing off the Salisbury beachfront has found small pods of striped bass, especially up against the North Jetty. Surfcasters have faired well at night with bait, but lures and flies have not been attracting as many fish. Crowds continue to flock to the State Reservation to try their luck in the river and have had fairly consistent action on school sized bass. Bluefish have been scarce, but have made a few runs through the river over the last week.
Seacoast, NH: Fishing off Hampton Beach has been fair this past week with many small fish being landed and a few keepers in the mix. Fishing in the marsh area has also seen an increase in fish activity. Sea worms and chunk herring seem to be the preferred bait. In the Piscataqua, fish continue to be landed as anglers drift the river using flies on sinking lines as well as using sluggos and other plastics. The Isle of Shoals has had some larger stripers landed over the last week. Tuna activity remains light.
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