Stripers , Blues and Tuna Too

Frank Dwyer
July 29, 2005

Striped Bass fishing remains quite strong for night fishermen and bluefish are still plentiful off our coast. Flounder and Fluke catches have been quite good for the last few weeks and school bluefin tuna have started to make appearances in our waters.

As we move into August, we can expect the fish to continue to head for cooler/deeper water and the tuna to arrive in more numbers.


Marblehead: (3 hooks) Fishing out on the Neck near Castle Rock has been good at night especially for those using eels or fresh cut bait. Surfcasters reported limited success working the beaches at night this week as skates have become more prevalent. Fishing just outside the harbor has been good for bluefish.

Salem: (3 hooks) Boaters have found good sized bass and blues from Satan Rock to Newcome Ledge. Live and Chunk Bait has been working well as has trolling deep diving lures. The Willows and Winter Island continue to attract fishermen and bass are still willing to eat, especially at night. There has not been as much bait in the water this week as in weeks past. The Salem/Beverly Bridge is still a good spot to search out bass.

Beverly: (3 hooks) Beverly fishermen have reported excellent flounder fishing just off shore. The largest sea worms you can find will work best! Bass continue to traverse the Beverly coast line with most anglers finding fish in the rocks early in the morning or after sunset. Fly fishermen need to let their fly sink for a solid 10 count to get down to where the fish are.

Cape Ann: (4 hooks) Manchester-by-the-Sea continues to be a good spot for flounder, blues and striped bass, but most of the action is before sunrise or after sunset. Good fishing abounds for those working the water in Gloucester as bass, blues and flounder are all plentiful. Trolling for bluefish just outside the breakwater has proved productive for many anglers. Using lures that swim from 18-25 feet seems to work best. Striped bass fishing continues to be strong in the Annisquam as I was lucky enough to get out this weekend in Gloucester and it’s amazing how many fish we landed in broad daylight with extreme boat traffic. The fish were all taken with cut bait in a nice 20 foot hole up river, with a couple of keepers in the mix. Halibut Point continues to offer up good action for bluefish and bass, especially in some of the deeper water. Off shore anglers in search of Cod, Haddock and Pollock have been pleased with their catches but the bigger news is that surface feeds of tuna in the 30-100 pound range have been spotted. If you can get close enough, these fish will take popping plugs cast in their direction or trolled lures like the green machine. Rockport continues to fish just as well as Gloucester, while fishing in the Essex River may be quite picturesque, the fishing has been slow.

Ipswich: (3 hooks) Ipswich Bay has been loaded with bluefish with many anglers hooking up on the troll and others coming upon surface feeds and casting to their catch. The mouth of the Ipswich River has also had a potpourri of bass and blues for the taking with fly and spin fishermen reporting success. Pavilion, Steep Hill and Crane Beaches are all still good bets for bass, especially after dark.



Newbury: (3 hooks) Fishing the Parker River at night has been productive lately, especially for boat anglers fishing in low light conditions. Some bluefish have been carousing in the river as well. Plum Island Sound has had decent action for bass and bluefish with many fish being taken on cut bait. On the southern end of Plum Island, Sandy Point continues to be a destination for anglers in search of bass and blues.

Newburyport / Plum Island: (4 hooks) Plenty of fish and pressure around Newburyport and Plum Island this last week. I fished last Friday night in-between some severe lightning storms, and we had many bass to the boat, with three over 30” in the mix. We were anchored not far from the Route 1 bridge and using fresh herring. Joppa Flats has been fairly inconsistent during the daylight hours, however good bass fishing can be had at night around the flats and out towards the Toothpick and Badger Rocks. Plum Island Point continues to attract large crowds of anglers in search of their dream fish. Some bluefish have been taken off the South Jetty and flounder fishing just outside the mouth has been good. Anglers have been motoring towards the ledges in search of tuna and the fish should become more plentiful in the coming weeks. Party boats have been returning to the dock with lots of fish and happy patrons.

Salisbury: (3 hooks) As it is across the river, the State Reservation has seen its share of fishing pressure over the last week. Anglers pitching sea worms, cut mackerel or herring and clams have all been hooking up with fish, most in the 20-26” range. Salisbury Beach has yielded keeper bass to bait fishermen at night this past week.

Seacoast, NH: (4 hooks) Bluefish have been patrolling the waters off the New Hampshire coast in good numbers from Seabrook to Portsmouth. As with other areas, trolling deep diving swimming lures tends to lead to a hook up with these toothy critters. Bass fishermen are still finding fish during the day, but many are casting into the rock strewn shorelines around Rye and Hampton. Further north, bluefish and stripers have been just outside the mouth of the Piscataqua while anglers working off Pierce Island have also reported decent fishing conditions.