Frank G. Dwyer
May 25, 2006
The weather has been cooperative and has improved fishing conditions—and angler’s moods—all around our region.
Memorial Day should bring good action for both inshore and offshore anglers as fish get into their feeding patterns for the season.
Marblehead: (2 hooks) Fishing the Neck by the lighthouse has been improving as anglers have been tussling with small stripers on both spinning gear with small metal lures and rubber/plastic baits as well as small profile flies. Flounder are becoming more available.
Salem: (2 hooks) The Danvers River has been producing excellent amounts of bass for local anglers. Pogies have also been reported in the area and this favorite striper treat is bound to increase the amount of larger fish in our waters. Fishing around Salem Harbor has also been good with bait and artificial fishermen scoring good amounts of bass.
Beverly: (2 hooks) Good fishing from West Beach, especially in the dawn hours, as stripers have been taking metal lures, popping plugs and small jigs. Anglers fishing around the islands have also found bass, with some keeper size fish now in the mix. The Beverly Fishing Pier has been yielding fish for bait fishermen.
Cape Ann: (2 hooks) Fishing around Manchester-by-the Sea and Magnolia has seen improvement over the last week. Surfcasters fishing from Singing Beach have seen more cooperative fish arriving everyday. Cut mackerel has been working well for the bait fishermen, while poppers, swimmers and jigs are working for spin casters. Fishing from Magnolia Rocks has been yielding decent amounts of small striped bass. Gloucester has also come alive with bass being taken along the usual spots like the State Pier, the Annisquam and many of the ocean beaches. In Rockport, fishing has certainly picked up for those fishing from Long Beach and Cape Hedge beach. The Essex River has been yielding good amounts of striped bass, especially for fly fishermen. Party boats are providing excellent ground-fishing for their patrons.
Ipswich: (2 hooks) Fishing in the Ipswich River has provided good action for school-sized striped bass as hungry fish take most offerings. Pavilion Beach has also surrendered stripers to fishermen working both the incoming and outgoing tides.
Newbury: (2 hooks) The fine folks at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge did a great job of cleaning up the beach at Parking Lot 1 and anglers can now fish from the beach there. The remainder of the beach remains closed as three pairs of Piping Plovers have made their home on the beaches. Sandy Point has also been a good destination for anglers in search of spring stripers.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (2 hooks) Newburyport did a great job cleaning up the beaches and while the water is still somewhat murky, the fish are back and cooperating. Good sized stripers have been taken as far up river as the Lawrence Dam and fishing around the Chain Bridge and the nearby islands has been pleasing anglers. Small bass are falling for most offerings from Fly and Spin fishermen. Joppa Flats is improving every day as the currents and water quality improve. There is no shortage of bent rods along the ocean front and in the River at Plum Island Point. Some mackerel have been seen in the area, but they are not in thick yet. Cod, Haddock, Cusk and Pollock all being taken on the Party Boats.
Salisbury: (2 hooks) Fishing from the Merrimack River at the State Reservation has certainly improved, but the current is still quite strong and debris is still somewhat prevalent. That said, anglers fishing with cut bait, sea worms and clams have all done well for striped bass. Salisbury Beach has also been providing a fairly steady pick of bass in the 14-22” range.
Seacoast, NH: (2 hooks) Striper fishing is finally starting to heat up in the Granite State as anglers have found fish from Seabrook to Portsmouth. Anglers fishing the river systems around Dover and Newmarket have found striped bass to be much more cooperative than weeks past. Some bass have also been taken in and around the Piscataqua and some sporadic mackerel activity has been noted. Off shore, Cod and Haddock fishing has also improved.
Tip of the Week:
When fishing strong currents, use the water flow to your advantage. Cast your offering upstream of the current and tend your line just enough to feel a strike, allowing your bait to run freely in the current. Often, just as your line is at the end of this “free float” you will get a hit.
May 25, 2006
May 19, 2006
Tough Start to the Season
Frank G. Dwyer
5/19/2006
Wind and rain pushed many fish out of reach of local anglers and kept party boats at bay most of the last week. As things calm down and local waters become more fish-friendly, we should have a more consistent bite.
Bluefish have started to appear in Cape Cod waters, so the toothy one’s should be in our environs soon.
Marblehead: (1 hook) Mother Nature can work wonders and hopefully one of those will be clearing out the debris and weed and bringing the fish closer to shore. Flounder should be available in numbers by this time of year, but again the weather has changed that schedule.
Salem: (1 hook) Patience is the word as we wait for our waters to become stable again. The Danvers and other rivers in the area are murky and debris-ridden. The Harbor in Salem has not yielded many fish over the last week.
Beverly: (1 hook) At the risk of sounding like a broken record, anglers fishing from West Beach and other locations in Beverly have found weed infested waters and little action.
Cape Ann: (1 hook) Striper fishermen are not the only one’s suffering with the weather as the cod and haddock bite has been hurt by the storms. While more unsettled weather is predicted for the weekend, it’s nowhere near the magnitude of our last week so hopefully things will quickly improve. As with the rest of the area, favorite river and ocean fishing spots like the Annisquam and Halibut Point have yielded very few fish. The Essex River should yield fish soon for anglers itching for a tight line.
Ipswich: (1 hook) Provided we can get a few days of somewhat decent weather, anglers prospecting around Crane Beach should find fish reappearing slowly. Pavilion beach and the back side of Ipswich Neck should also provide opportunities to anglers looking for fish.
Newbury: (1 hook) The southern end of Plum Island, aka Sandy Point, would typically be a great place to fish this weekend, but with our extraordinary weather over the last week, fish have been nowhere to be found. If you’re going to give it a go, the Parker River would probably be your best shot.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (1 hook) The Merrimack has raw sewage and massive amounts of trash and other objects floating down river. The ocean front also was a mess of flotsam, trash and weed making fishing not only difficult but somewhat depressing. Anglers looking for fish would do well trying in the Plum Island River or upriver around Deer Island.
Salisbury: (1 hook) Much like the beaches on Plum Island, Salisbury Beach has lot’s of washed up trash and debris as well as a good amount of weed in the water. It will be a few days at least before it’s truly fishable. The Merrimack as previously mentioned is a mess.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) New Hampshire anglers are experiencing the same frustrations as those of us in the Commonwealth as the weather has wreaked havoc on most fishing locations. Hopefully next week the beaches from Seabrook to Rye will offer the Spring fishing that we all dream about during the winter.
TIP OF THE WEEK:
As things warm up, skates will start to show in more numbers. If you’d like to avoid this winged bottom dwellers when bait fishing for striped bass, flounder and many other fish, you’ll do well applying a small float to your line, six to eight inches above the hook. Your bait will now float just above the bottom, allowing you to catch more fish and weed out the skates.
5/19/2006
Wind and rain pushed many fish out of reach of local anglers and kept party boats at bay most of the last week. As things calm down and local waters become more fish-friendly, we should have a more consistent bite.
Bluefish have started to appear in Cape Cod waters, so the toothy one’s should be in our environs soon.
Marblehead: (1 hook) Mother Nature can work wonders and hopefully one of those will be clearing out the debris and weed and bringing the fish closer to shore. Flounder should be available in numbers by this time of year, but again the weather has changed that schedule.
Salem: (1 hook) Patience is the word as we wait for our waters to become stable again. The Danvers and other rivers in the area are murky and debris-ridden. The Harbor in Salem has not yielded many fish over the last week.
Beverly: (1 hook) At the risk of sounding like a broken record, anglers fishing from West Beach and other locations in Beverly have found weed infested waters and little action.
Cape Ann: (1 hook) Striper fishermen are not the only one’s suffering with the weather as the cod and haddock bite has been hurt by the storms. While more unsettled weather is predicted for the weekend, it’s nowhere near the magnitude of our last week so hopefully things will quickly improve. As with the rest of the area, favorite river and ocean fishing spots like the Annisquam and Halibut Point have yielded very few fish. The Essex River should yield fish soon for anglers itching for a tight line.
Ipswich: (1 hook) Provided we can get a few days of somewhat decent weather, anglers prospecting around Crane Beach should find fish reappearing slowly. Pavilion beach and the back side of Ipswich Neck should also provide opportunities to anglers looking for fish.
Newbury: (1 hook) The southern end of Plum Island, aka Sandy Point, would typically be a great place to fish this weekend, but with our extraordinary weather over the last week, fish have been nowhere to be found. If you’re going to give it a go, the Parker River would probably be your best shot.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (1 hook) The Merrimack has raw sewage and massive amounts of trash and other objects floating down river. The ocean front also was a mess of flotsam, trash and weed making fishing not only difficult but somewhat depressing. Anglers looking for fish would do well trying in the Plum Island River or upriver around Deer Island.
Salisbury: (1 hook) Much like the beaches on Plum Island, Salisbury Beach has lot’s of washed up trash and debris as well as a good amount of weed in the water. It will be a few days at least before it’s truly fishable. The Merrimack as previously mentioned is a mess.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) New Hampshire anglers are experiencing the same frustrations as those of us in the Commonwealth as the weather has wreaked havoc on most fishing locations. Hopefully next week the beaches from Seabrook to Rye will offer the Spring fishing that we all dream about during the winter.
TIP OF THE WEEK:
As things warm up, skates will start to show in more numbers. If you’d like to avoid this winged bottom dwellers when bait fishing for striped bass, flounder and many other fish, you’ll do well applying a small float to your line, six to eight inches above the hook. Your bait will now float just above the bottom, allowing you to catch more fish and weed out the skates.
May 10, 2006
Weather may be foul, but fish are here!
Frank G. Dwyer
5/10/2006
The nice weather we had last weekend enticed the striped bass to show up in more numbers. Anglers up and down the coast found hungry schoolie’s in river systems as well as along the ocean front.
While we seem to be in for some more unsettled weather in the coming days, fish are still out there for the hearty angler.
Marblehead: (2 hooks) Anglers fishing the Neck have found newly arrived bass close to shore. While these fish average 14-18”’s, they are the scouts for a new season and bigger fish will not be far behind. Flounder fishing has been spotty.
Salem: (2 hooks) Fishing in the Danvers and North Rivers has been good with hungry stripers providing the action. Winter Island and Kernwood Bridge have also been good locations to try your luck. Some flounder have been taken in the harbor and when the weather allows, cod and haddock fishing has been decent.
Beverly: (2 hooks) Veterans Memorial Bridge and the White Fuel Bridge have been yielding striped bass for both spin and fly anglers. West Beach has also been providing action for school-sized bass. Small flies, plastic/rubber baits and small poppers have all been working.
Cape Ann: (2 hooks) A few flounder to be found off the Manchester and Magnolia coast, but stripers have been more cooperative. Singing Beach and White Beach saw hungry bass in the wash this past weekend. The Annisquam has heated up over the last week despite the miserable weather. Many locations have been yielding decent numbers of striped bass in the 14-18” range on average. Small flies on sinking lines and sluggo’s or fin-s are working quite well. The Essex and Castle Neck have also seen an awakening over the past week as hungry schoolies have been taking most offerings. Cod and Haddock have been caught on the party boats, but weather has been hindering efforts.
Ipswich: (2 hooks) Fish have arrived at Pavilion and Crane Beaches and they’re hungry! Olive/White and Chartreuse/White clouser and deceivers on a sinking line have been working quite well. Small popping plugs along with bucktail jigs have also been enticing the fish to hit.
Newbury: (2 hooks) Fishing in Plum Island Sound was decent last weekend with schoolies in many spots. The Parker River has also been presenting anglers with good fishing as hungry striped bass take most offerings.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (2 hooks) Fishing upriver has been spotty for Shad, but the fish are being taken from Rock’s Village to the Gillis Bridge. Small stripers have also been congregating upriver around Carr, Eagle and Deer Island, probably hiding from the weather like the rest of us. Joppa Flats was sparsely populated with anglers this past weekend, but small fish have been cooperating from the AYC to Woodbridge Island. The ocean front yielded small bass on almost every cast for over an hour last Saturday on the last of the incoming tide, while the same spot yielded only 3 fish the next day, after all, it’s still Spring!
Salisbury: (2 hooks) Fishing from the State Reservation across from Plum Island Point has yielded decent numbers of bass over the last week. Fish are still small, but they are there for the taking. While many anglers are using sea worms and clams, this early in the season you’ll do just as well with artificial baits.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) The Granite State appears to be lagging behind Massachusetts just a bit as things are slowly starting to get underway. Some small bass have been taken off Seabrook and Hampton, while some early arrivals have also been taken around Portsmouth.
Tip Of The Week:
Bucktail Jigs are an excellent choice from both shore and boat in targeting many species of fish in our waters. It’s important to maintain contact with the bottom during your jigging to ensure the bait is being presented to the fish feeding on the bottom and to create an easier target for the fish to strike.
5/10/2006
The nice weather we had last weekend enticed the striped bass to show up in more numbers. Anglers up and down the coast found hungry schoolie’s in river systems as well as along the ocean front.
While we seem to be in for some more unsettled weather in the coming days, fish are still out there for the hearty angler.
Marblehead: (2 hooks) Anglers fishing the Neck have found newly arrived bass close to shore. While these fish average 14-18”’s, they are the scouts for a new season and bigger fish will not be far behind. Flounder fishing has been spotty.
Salem: (2 hooks) Fishing in the Danvers and North Rivers has been good with hungry stripers providing the action. Winter Island and Kernwood Bridge have also been good locations to try your luck. Some flounder have been taken in the harbor and when the weather allows, cod and haddock fishing has been decent.
Beverly: (2 hooks) Veterans Memorial Bridge and the White Fuel Bridge have been yielding striped bass for both spin and fly anglers. West Beach has also been providing action for school-sized bass. Small flies, plastic/rubber baits and small poppers have all been working.
Cape Ann: (2 hooks) A few flounder to be found off the Manchester and Magnolia coast, but stripers have been more cooperative. Singing Beach and White Beach saw hungry bass in the wash this past weekend. The Annisquam has heated up over the last week despite the miserable weather. Many locations have been yielding decent numbers of striped bass in the 14-18” range on average. Small flies on sinking lines and sluggo’s or fin-s are working quite well. The Essex and Castle Neck have also seen an awakening over the past week as hungry schoolies have been taking most offerings. Cod and Haddock have been caught on the party boats, but weather has been hindering efforts.
Ipswich: (2 hooks) Fish have arrived at Pavilion and Crane Beaches and they’re hungry! Olive/White and Chartreuse/White clouser and deceivers on a sinking line have been working quite well. Small popping plugs along with bucktail jigs have also been enticing the fish to hit.
Newbury: (2 hooks) Fishing in Plum Island Sound was decent last weekend with schoolies in many spots. The Parker River has also been presenting anglers with good fishing as hungry striped bass take most offerings.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (2 hooks) Fishing upriver has been spotty for Shad, but the fish are being taken from Rock’s Village to the Gillis Bridge. Small stripers have also been congregating upriver around Carr, Eagle and Deer Island, probably hiding from the weather like the rest of us. Joppa Flats was sparsely populated with anglers this past weekend, but small fish have been cooperating from the AYC to Woodbridge Island. The ocean front yielded small bass on almost every cast for over an hour last Saturday on the last of the incoming tide, while the same spot yielded only 3 fish the next day, after all, it’s still Spring!
Salisbury: (2 hooks) Fishing from the State Reservation across from Plum Island Point has yielded decent numbers of bass over the last week. Fish are still small, but they are there for the taking. While many anglers are using sea worms and clams, this early in the season you’ll do just as well with artificial baits.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) The Granite State appears to be lagging behind Massachusetts just a bit as things are slowly starting to get underway. Some small bass have been taken off Seabrook and Hampton, while some early arrivals have also been taken around Portsmouth.
Tip Of The Week:
Bucktail Jigs are an excellent choice from both shore and boat in targeting many species of fish in our waters. It’s important to maintain contact with the bottom during your jigging to ensure the bait is being presented to the fish feeding on the bottom and to create an easier target for the fish to strike.
May 3, 2006
Here We Go Again
5/3/2005
Frank G. Dwyer
Anglers to our south have been enjoying newly arrived striped bass for sometime now. The waters of the North Shore are slowly warming, but the chilly water combined with poor weather at the beginning of the week certainly has not helped fishing. We can expect an influx of stripers over the next few weeks. You’ll have to work a little harder, but you can find them now!
As a reminder, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has put a three-year moratorium on the harvest, possession, and sale of river herring. Possessing herring in Massachusetts is prohibited through 2008. This is a response to recent studies showing steep declines in river spawning runs.
Marblehead: (2 hooks) A few flounder have been taken around the harbor and reports have a few schoolie bass being taken near the Power Plant. With the improving weather, fishing around the Neck should be good in the coming days.
Salem: (2 hooks) Haddock fishing has been decent off the old Dumping Grounds, while a few stripers have been landed near the Lead Mills. Other early season spots to check are Winter Island and Kernwood Bridge.
Beverly: (2 hooks) Some flounder have been caught just off the Beverly coast, mostly on seaworms. Spring spots for striped bass include the Bass River and the Danvers River as well as around Danversport.
Cape Ann: (2 hooks) Manchester-by-the-Sea has had some flounder action at the mouth, but again, the weather earlier this week has not been helpful. There have been reports of a few bass being taken around Gloucester, but the weather has been making things difficult around the Cape. Alternatively, anglers heading to Stellwagen have had good luck with Cod and Haddock. Remember as of May 1, cod fish must be 24 inches to keep. Silversides and Alewives have been spotted in the Essex River, stripers can’t be far behind.
Ipswich: (1 hook) The Ipswich River system is a good place to prospect for early season bass. In the next week or so, fish should be cooperating off Crane, Steephill and Pavilion beaches.
Newbury: (1 hook) Cold water reigns in Plum Island Sound, but a few nice days should entice the fish to return. Surfcasters working the southern end of Plum Island will have a steady pick of fish soon.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (1 hook) Shad and more recently small striped bass are being taken at the Rock’s Village bridge in West Newbury. Deer Island and the other up-river islands are always good early-season spots. Some small fish also reportedly have been taken near the South Jetty on the Plum Island oceanfront and many anglers have begun working the river at Plum Island point. Bucktail Jigs are a favorite early season striper bait. Joppa Flats should start heating up in the coming weeks. Party boats are reporting decent cod and haddock activity.
Salisbury: (1 hook) If history is bound to repeat itself, small stripers should be frolicking in the Salisbury Beach surf in the coming week. Additionally, anglers have already been having limited success from the State Reservation side of the Merrimack River.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) If your looking for that first bass in the granite state, you’d do well to stay in some of the river and estuary systems. In and around the Hampton Marsh should yield small stripers as well as further north in the Lamprey River, as well as in Newcastle and around Great Bay. Alewives have been seen in local runs.
TIP OF THE WEEK:
Most anglers are familiar with fishing rubber/plastic baits like Fin-S and Slug-Go’s, but most fish these baits as jigs rigged to lead-heads. Try rigging a 4-5” bait on an un-weighted hook and twitch it across the surface or in a swift current and watch the bass go crazy!
Frank G. Dwyer
Anglers to our south have been enjoying newly arrived striped bass for sometime now. The waters of the North Shore are slowly warming, but the chilly water combined with poor weather at the beginning of the week certainly has not helped fishing. We can expect an influx of stripers over the next few weeks. You’ll have to work a little harder, but you can find them now!
As a reminder, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has put a three-year moratorium on the harvest, possession, and sale of river herring. Possessing herring in Massachusetts is prohibited through 2008. This is a response to recent studies showing steep declines in river spawning runs.
Marblehead: (2 hooks) A few flounder have been taken around the harbor and reports have a few schoolie bass being taken near the Power Plant. With the improving weather, fishing around the Neck should be good in the coming days.
Salem: (2 hooks) Haddock fishing has been decent off the old Dumping Grounds, while a few stripers have been landed near the Lead Mills. Other early season spots to check are Winter Island and Kernwood Bridge.
Beverly: (2 hooks) Some flounder have been caught just off the Beverly coast, mostly on seaworms. Spring spots for striped bass include the Bass River and the Danvers River as well as around Danversport.
Cape Ann: (2 hooks) Manchester-by-the-Sea has had some flounder action at the mouth, but again, the weather earlier this week has not been helpful. There have been reports of a few bass being taken around Gloucester, but the weather has been making things difficult around the Cape. Alternatively, anglers heading to Stellwagen have had good luck with Cod and Haddock. Remember as of May 1, cod fish must be 24 inches to keep. Silversides and Alewives have been spotted in the Essex River, stripers can’t be far behind.
Ipswich: (1 hook) The Ipswich River system is a good place to prospect for early season bass. In the next week or so, fish should be cooperating off Crane, Steephill and Pavilion beaches.
Newbury: (1 hook) Cold water reigns in Plum Island Sound, but a few nice days should entice the fish to return. Surfcasters working the southern end of Plum Island will have a steady pick of fish soon.
Newburyport / Plum Island: (1 hook) Shad and more recently small striped bass are being taken at the Rock’s Village bridge in West Newbury. Deer Island and the other up-river islands are always good early-season spots. Some small fish also reportedly have been taken near the South Jetty on the Plum Island oceanfront and many anglers have begun working the river at Plum Island point. Bucktail Jigs are a favorite early season striper bait. Joppa Flats should start heating up in the coming weeks. Party boats are reporting decent cod and haddock activity.
Salisbury: (1 hook) If history is bound to repeat itself, small stripers should be frolicking in the Salisbury Beach surf in the coming week. Additionally, anglers have already been having limited success from the State Reservation side of the Merrimack River.
Seacoast, NH: (1 hook) If your looking for that first bass in the granite state, you’d do well to stay in some of the river and estuary systems. In and around the Hampton Marsh should yield small stripers as well as further north in the Lamprey River, as well as in Newcastle and around Great Bay. Alewives have been seen in local runs.
TIP OF THE WEEK:
Most anglers are familiar with fishing rubber/plastic baits like Fin-S and Slug-Go’s, but most fish these baits as jigs rigged to lead-heads. Try rigging a 4-5” bait on an un-weighted hook and twitch it across the surface or in a swift current and watch the bass go crazy!
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