‘tis the Season

Frank Dwyer
September 15, 2005

The fishing has been great over the past week as most of the North Shore has been alive with bluefish and stripers furiously feeding along the coast. Hopefully this earlier than usual action will not signal an earlier Fall migration than usual.

This weekend, the Plum Island Surfcasters, Massachusetts Beach Buggy Association and the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge welcome distance-casting champion Ron Arra for a fun morning of fishing for beginners and veterans alike. The event, called the “Beach Blast” will include instruction and demonstrations by Mr. Arra and their will be fishing rods for usage by those that don’t have their own. The event runs from sunrise to 1pm on Saturday, September 17 at Parking Lot 1 of the NWR.

Marblehead: (4 hooks) Fishing in Marblehead has been good as stripers and blues have been feeding in the harbor as well as around area beaches. Fly and spin anglers have found feeding schools of blues and bass off Devereuax Beach as well as from the Neck. Larger profile flies and popping plugs have worked best on these hungry fish.

Salem: (4 hooks) Bluefish and bass have been in Salem Harbor and anglers have had good luck getting both on the line. The Danvers River has been fishing quite well for shore anglers using chunk bait or clam strips, as well as boat anglers trolling tune-n-worm rigs.

Beverly: (4 hooks) Fly anglers have been catching a mix of blues and stripers at sunrise from West Beach. When the bluefish are biting in numbers, long-rodders do well using a piano wire leader to their fly allowing them to catch these toothy critters without sacrificing numerous flies. The Beverly Fishing Pier has yielded some big stripers to bait fishermen at night.

Cape Ann: (4 hooks) Manchester-by-the-Sea beaches have been hot for surfcasters as White Beach and Singing Beach have been providing good action for bluefish and striped bass. Bait anglers as well as those tossing plugs have done well. In Gloucester, the Annisquam has been alive with bass most mornings at sun up, while bluefish have been just outside the harbor, with some in the mid-teens being landed. Good Harbor and Wingaersheek Beaches have also been good destinations for fishermen. Tuna fever continues as many “footballs” from 30-100 pounds have been seen and landed by anglers off Halibut Point, Thachers Island and out on the Banks. The Essex River has also been providing steady action for bass and some blues closer to the mouth. Cod and Haddock fishing continues to please those in search of ground fish.

Ipswich: (4 hooks) Night fishing from Crane Beach has been quite good with fly anglers using large black flies and spin casters using pencil poppers or other popping plugs landing good sized bass. Bluefish have been at the mouth of the Ipswich River most mornings and have been taking most offerings.

Newbury: (4 hooks) The Plum Island Sound has also been very busy with fish and anglers in pursuit of both bass and blues. The Parker River has also been delivering more consistent action for fishermen in search of bass. The beaches on the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge have seen consistent bluefish action close to shore early in the morning and good bass fishing at night.

Newburyport / Plum Island: (4 hooks) Bass have been feeding on top most mornings over the past week as the sun comes up. In the Back River as well as in Town Creek, schoolie bass—and some bigger ones too—have been taken on small popping plugs as well as sluggos. Drifting on Joppa Flats has been good on the outgoing tide as bass have been actively hitting flies, lures and bait. Anglers fishing from Plum Island Point have also had good bass action with some blues in the mix. The Plum Island beachfront has also had several near shore feeding frenzy’s from Plum Island Boulevard to the South Jetty. Party Boats have had great cod and haddock fishing over the past week.

Salisbury: (4 hooks) Much like the beaches of Newburyport, Salisbury Beach has also had some in-shore surface feeds allowing surfcasters to land blues and stripers. The State Reservation has also been attracting anglers who have been catching a mix of stripers and blues from the Merrimack on bait and lures.

Seacoast, NH: (4 hooks) The mouth of Hampton Harbor has had some decent surface feeds over the last week as blues and bass have been actively feeding on bunker. Rye Harbor and just outside has also seen surface feeds this week as the waters have been filled with bait. Further north, the waters around Newcastle have been full of bait and birds and good numbers of mostly school sized bass. In the Piscataqua, surface feeds have been seen near the Navy Yard as well as at the mouth of the River. Anglers taking the ride to the Isle of Shoals report large bluefish and some bass around the rocks.