Reel-Time Feature:

by Capt. Charles Crue
of Channel Edge Charters fishes the waters of the Merrimack River and can be reached at (978) 462-9212

Editors Note: This article is another installment in Capt. Charles Crue's Merrimack River Retrospective series, which we have run annually for several years. The words and experiences are his own, and are drawn from years of experience fishing the area. We're proud to be able to offer this unique insight into the fishery. Mark Cahill, Managing Editor, Reel-Time.com

The 2002 season began, as it usually does, with the migration of American Shad moving up the river to spawn. The winter had been very mild and the March water temperature was higher than earlier years. I recorded 52 degrees at a depth of 15 feet on March 14. The fishing was well underway in late April at Rocks Village, where I like to fish for shad. I fish from my canoe staying far enough from shore so that I don't impede the folks that cast from shore by casting shad darts with light spinning tackle. I prefer to use my 8 WT fly rod with a good sinking line to get the fly down near the bottom in the river current. I caught and released many beautiful, acrobatic and hard fighting shad. They were typically three or four pound fish.

Because of the mild winter and warmer early season water temperatures, it was expected that the striped bass would show up earlier than normal (usually mid-May). There were some very warm, even uncomfortably warm days in mid-April but they were followed by some cold days late in the month. Shad were being caught in the Rocks Village area the third week of April. That is when the action really began. The shad responded to bright flies introduced to me by a great local fisherman and that I had used in past years (gold Aberdeen #2 or #4 hooks with color combinations such as chartreuse, red and white). I tried a new spoon fly that I had used in Florida for redfish; it worked well with shad also. It has bright gold and red colors.

The river was fairly clean and free of high water debris and it looked like a good start for the season. In late April I witnessed five or six nice shad taken by spin fishermen at Rocks Village in West Newbury.

The weather made for difficult fishing days with rain, cold and wind. Surfcasters on the Plum Island beach were catching a few stripers. The first week of May I fished the north end of the island a couple mornings without seeing a sign of a striper. I caught my first stripers on May 6. By May 8 the river was full of stripers. A friend and I fished from my boat and caught and released dozens of stripers up 30-inches.

A day or two later we caught fish all the way up to Eagle Island. The stripers had dispersed a lot from the big concentrations earlier. One fly fisherman took twenty or so stripers from the shore across from Carr Island.

Clousers and other sinking flies were most productive. Near the moth of the river seals were competing with the fly fisherman for the stripers. Chartreuse/white and olive/white flies were colors of choice.

On the beach surfcasters were connecting with stripers by casting white jigs across the current on the outgoing tides. Many of the hits occurred as the lure drifted in close to shore. The Plum River had good action for shore bound fly fishermen around low tides. It is a tricky area to fish with high slick banks to contend with.

Late in May a cold front moved in with a strong wind blowing. There weren't any boats out that I could see between Newburyport and Plum Island. One guy said he fished a while at the north end of Plum Island, near the party boat dock, and caught a bunch of stripers using a white jig.

The fishing continued to be good off of the north end of Plum Island. I stayed with fly fishing while most other fishermen were using bait or casting jigs. The outgoing tides produced well. Bait fishermen using sand worms or clams scored well with many stripers that were just shy of keeper length. One morning I caught and released a dozen schoolies using my 9 wt with a heavy sinking line and an olive/white clouser. One hard fighting striper was my favorite fly rod size, about 25-inches. Such fish give a great battle, especially when they are in the current of an outgoing tide.

The "go to" jig (white) became less effective as the water warmed. Some surfcasters switched to silver spoons or other lures to get more action.

In early June, there were keeper size fish around Joppa flats and some good fishing near the marinas in Newburyport on the slack tides. A veteran surfcaster registered a 19.9 pound striper at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island. He caught that striper, and another, almost as big on a metal lure, in the midst of a bunch of bait fisherman off the ocean beach.

One June morning stripers were banging small bait in the mooring area of the American Yacht Club. There were a dozen boats and a couple canoes with occupants having some good striper action. The diving terns showed where to catch fish. One fellow in a canoe landed a minimum keeper but most fish were small.

One morning we found hordes of hungry stripers thrashing sand eels or silver side minnows in the AYC mooring area near Half Tide Rocks. Later we fished up the river as far as Eagle Island on the late incoming tide. We found fish scattered through out the area. One of my clients caught his first striper with the long rod and an olive/white clouser. There was some exciting striper action around Joppa Flats. My clients caught and released dozens of stripers with many being mid-twenty inch fish and one 32-inch bruiser.

Stripers were everywhere. Just after an early morning charter ended, I caught a 27-inch striper off my boat at the dock. The fish were hitting silver side minnows as they were buffeted around by the outgoing tide turbulence. The stripers were stacked up under the dock darted to the surface to grab a minnow. I used my fly rod and flipped out a white clouser on a 300 grain line and let it sink. On the first strip I had a solid hit. The fish was strong and much of the battle had my line under the dock. Luckily it didn't break off and I finally tired it and brought it to the boat with cheers from the few boat owners that were around. Fun!

During June a mix of very large, medium and small stripers moved into the Merrimack River. One day my clients caught some of each. At the top end it was a 38-inch, 17 pound fish.

After an early storm one morning, the weather improved and there was great striper fishing on Joppa Flats. I took my son and grandson out. Within 10 minutes of leaving the dock they had a 32-inch keeper. We took it in and put it on ice for dinner. Then we fished a couple more hours during which time they caught and released half dozen stripers close to keeper size. I shot some video of my six year old grandson fighting some stripers that threatened to pull him out of the boat.

I witnessed a 41-inch, 26 pound striper being fought and battled to the boat by a very good local angler. He used a lot of skill and finesse to bring the striper to the boat. A few photos were taken and the fish was released. The fish hit a large sand eel pattern fly.

In June bulletin board at Surfland Bait and Tackle, on Plum Island, was filling up with photos of keeper size stripers caught around Plum Island.

Some days there were breaking stripers near Buoy #13 on the incoming tide. They were small schoolies that provided rapid action to my fly fishing clients. Later on we found some big stripers out on Joppa Flats but they had "lock jaw", for the most part. We caught a couple.

Fishermen drifting herring chunks did, catching stripers around 30-inches. Some were using surface poppers with good results. Surfcasters were getting some big fish off of the South Jetty. Over all the stripers were big and hitting well on flies and lures.

In late June the Merrimack River continued to produce good striper action with a few bluefish mixed in. One morning the stripers very busy whacking small bait on the outgoing tide. My clients, Dave and his dad, visiting from Colorado, began catching fish as soon as arrived we arrived at the upper end of Joppa Flats which is only a five minute ride from the marina. They caught dozens of stripers including a few "micros" and several in the low 30-inch range. We finished that morning by fishing near the party boat docks at the north end of Plum Island, where Dave dredged up a 32-inch bruiser by counting the fly down to the bottom (about 20-feet). The fish hit a small olive/white clouser.

Some mornings the stripers were slamming sand eels on the outgoing tide near Buoy #11. There were lots of schoolies with an occasional big striper. (Photo)

Some days we caught spawned out shad on the striper flies. Blues were at the river mouth but often moved off shore. I had reports that they offshore and down deep (100 feet) so, not much good for fly or light tackle fishing. I heard of a 47-inch, 44 pound striper that was caught at the river mouth by a live bait fisherman.

I have been pleased to host Karl Wickstrom (Florida Sportsman Magazine) each season for the past two. He is an ardent fisherman and enjoys this beautiful area and the great fishery here. He was not disappointed. After about a half hour of fishing we boated a 34-inch striper and soon after that lost a huge bluefish that stayed on until it was at the boat, at which point the inevitable happened as he cut the leader. It was a great morning out on Joppa Flats followed with some fast action near Plum Island after the tide got running good.

One June morning I took out Todd and his girlfriend, Lorraine. Lorraine had never caught a striper on a fly and in fact had hardly caught any fish on a fly. Her life has been changed thanks to many nice Merrimack River stripers. Both anglers did well using clousers and other flies.

During this period, my clients and I did well in the Merrimack River estuary. We were into fast action on the morning tides. One Sunday I hosted a couple of guys, one of which was a "newbie' to fly fishing for stripers. He caught his first half dozen schoolies on flies and enjoyed every minute of the experience. That's one reason that I do this guiding thing! The more new fisherman I can introduce to our fishery, the more support we will have to preserve the resource. Just read the conservation articles in magazines and you will realize that our sport fishing is still in jeopardy.

On another Sunday morning, early, before the weekend boat traffic, I took out a couple of guys that were relatively inexperienced at saltwater fly fishing. Once they got into the rhythm and retrieve techniques I use, they did well. Matt, the more experienced racked up lots of schoolies down by Plum Island. His friend caught on and soon brought his first striper, ever, to the boat. He followed with many more fish. One unusual fish was brought to the boat but got off just as the angler was going to bring it in. It was a nice sized fluke. I saw it and think it was 6 or 7 ponds. It would have made a nice meal. By the time the boat traffic was peaking we were back at the dock after a nice morning of catch and release.

In Early July I hosted a dad, his eleven year old son, and his nephew (Jeff, Jeff Jr. and Bill) for some striper action using light spinning gear with softbaits. They all did well bringing between 20 and 30 stripers to the boat plus one nice shad. All fish were released. (Photo) The weather was warm with an overcast sky so they enjoyed catching fish over the entire time we were out. It was great for me to share in their collective enthusiasm and enjoyment of the excellent fishing. The stripers ranged in size from a couple of 12-inch micros to several 25 to 27-inch stripers plus the nice 4 or 5-pound shad.

During July, there were plenty of big striped bass in the Merrimack estuary. They moved in and out of the lower river with the tides. During high tides some very large stripers were lolling around on Joppa Flats but they were very difficult to catch no matter what an angler used (bait, lures or flies). But persistence did pay off. One morning I watched a very large striper hit my softbait. I had made a long cast with my light spinning rod and the fish took off away from the boat I tightened the drag as much as I dared on my 14 pound test line. Just as I was about to start the engine to follow the fish, he stopped running and I gained line. At boat side the striper was over 40 inches.

One day I talked to a couple of friends who were engaged in tuna fishing They said they were chumming well off shore and one of them saw what at first looked like sharks and then more like stripers. They rigged up suitable rods and caught two stripers, one over thirty pounds and the other over forty pounds.

One morning I had two clients fishing the early incoming tide. One fly fished the other spin fished. They enjoyed over two solid hours of constant striper action, including one boated keeper (released) on an olive/white clouser and one that got off a lure. They also had almost simultaneous hits and break offs from marauding bluefish.

There were weekend days of heavy boat traffic. One afternoon, I had a couple of clients that were fishing in the CCA-NH tournament. We started fishing at the time of the high tide, thinking that Joppa Flats might have some good fish and we could get away from the boat traffic. No luck on either count. There weren't any stripers on Joppa but there were 3 foot boat wakes coming from all directions. I finally decided to go to the sandbar near Buoy #11 because I could see some terns diving into the water. It was a good decision for getting fish as we soon had hits by some big stripers, one of which I saw in wave as it hit my soft bait. Unfortunately after a reel screeching run he got off as did several other nice fish because it is tough fighting fish when you must hold on to avoid being knocked overboard by the wake from a big boat. We did get some mid-size schoolies and totaled some thirty three stripers caught and released.

Later, I fished the same area with a client on a beautiful, quiet morning. The fishing was very good including a fat 33-inch striper that forced me to run the boat to avoid having my light spinning reel spooled off. We estimated that we caught and released over fifty stripers measuring from 11-1/2 to 33-inches.

Some mornings the high outgoing tide produced some good striper fishing inside of Plum Island and off of the big sandbar at the north end of the Island. One time I stopped the boat to demonstrate the fly fishing technique I use for stripers to one of my clients. I cast out an olive/white deceiver with my 8-WT and a 300 grain sinking line. On the second strip I hooked up with an 18-inch schoolie so I just handed the rod to him and said "that's all there is to it". Well it happens. They caught lots of stripers that morning.

I remember one trip with Pat and her father, Joe; they just wanted to have some fun out on the water. They did! After they each caught some small schoolies Joe hooked up with a bigger fish on a light spinning rod. The striper made some powerful runs peeling the 14 pound line off the reel. He finally brought it to the boat. It measured a little over 27-inches, an" almost" keeper.

I can't remember a better early season. Aggressive stripers ranging in size from micros (11-12-inches) to twenty pound monsters were caught and released. The beauty of it was that most of the big fish were caught in shallow water resulting in spectacular fights. We only killed a couple of those big fish. I hope that more fishermen will join in our efforts to protect this exciting fishery.

As the season progressed, the bluefish took over the action, although my clients did get a few stripers. The blues showed up at the river mouth around the low tide. They were eight to ten pound fish that provided great action on light spin tackle.

 In August there were fewer big stripers in the area. They probably moved further north as the water was been getting warmer. The river continued to be full of sand eels and there were lots of small stripers feeding on them. We caught small bluefish mixed in with the stripers off the north end of Plum Island. The best colors for lures and flies continued to be olive/white combinations.

In late August Joppa Flats was dead. I checked there a couple of times and spotted a few stripers but couldn't get them to hit lures or flies. In looking at my fishing records from 2001 I noted that I had some of my biggest stripers out on Joppa Flats in early August. But that was a year earlier. It seems the August doldrums were in play. The fishing was slow, except for some bursts of bluefish action. There were schools of small blues around as the water warmed, getting up more than seventy degrees at the surface. We found good bluefish action by running down to the Parker River on high tides.

Even though the fishing slowed we still had decent action with small schoolies. Those fish were feeding on the hordes of sand eels in the river. I watched one wading fly fisherman catch half a dozen schoolies in about a half hour in inches of water just barely out on the sandbar at the north end of Plum Island.

Although I was using flies and light spinning softbaits that resembled sand eels or silverside minnows, some of my friends said they did well with very big sluggos and large flies in the deeper water.

In late August there were signs that the striper fishing was picking up with bigger fish. I caught 15 "micros" on the low tide near the Plum Island party boats then as the tide surge rolled in I drifted over the sandbar and nailed two healthy, mid-twenty inch stripers. In addition to that I saw several big keepers following my hooked fish. One of the bait fishing charter captains said they brought in a 29 and a 31-nch striper that morning.

One morning I guided two anglers who have been out fishing with me several times over the past two or three seasons. One had his son (a good fisherman at age 11) and the other had a nephew visiting from Nebraska. Guess who caught the most fish?

The quiet Nebraska kid! The fishing was slow but the weather was good and, except for fighting the weekend boat traffic, losing a big fish (hooked by the other young angler), it was a decent morning. I admire adults that will sacrifice their fishing in order to give a new fishing experience to youngsters

In late August there were more harbor seals in the area indicating that the water was beginning to cool down.

Some days my clients enjoyed "running and gunning" for snapper blues in the Plum Island Basin area. Jon and his two teenage sons caught about twenty snapper blues and lost quite a few in the furious action. (Photo) They took home four nice eating size blues and released the others.

One morning I had a "captain's day off" and went out to scout the river area. I found birds working over schoolies that were chasing bait at the edge of the AYC mooring area. I caught and released five schoolies on five casts. Then, a friend radioed that there were fish breaking the surface down the river on the Salisbury side and some were big. I went down and had good action with stripers to 20-inches. I saw a big striper, about four times the size of the one I was fighting, following the hooked fish.

One day, Pete and his college age son, Adam, enjoyed lively schoolie action on the incoming tide. We found aggressive stripers smashing sand eels or silversides near the party boats at the end of Plum Island. As the tide moved in, we followed stripers up the river and stayed in the action for about three hours. We also met with fast-moving school of snapper blues that robbed flies before we converted to wire leaders.

In early September the cooler weather and shorter days were hinting at fall. I saw ducks in V formation and flocks of birds out over the Flats. Schools of peanut bunkers moved into the river.

Stripers began blitzing them. They were trapped the minnows up against Salisbury or Plum Island beaches. The best flies were those that resembled the size (about 2-inches long) and color (silver, blue, black and flash) of that baitfish. One fly that worked well for me and my clients was a gray/white/lavender clouser.

The blue fishing slowed down a lot with cooler water and marauding football size tuna just offshore.

One morning my client from Georgia got his first striper plus many others. Interestingly, he had spent three recent days with a guide on the Cape and did not catch a single fish! After that trip, I think he was convinced that the Merrimack estuary is the place to go for good striper action!

Fly fishing for stripers was great during September. The fish moved well up river chasing huge numbers of baby bunker. The stripers were very selective on what flies they would hit but if it looked like a bunker it would draw a strike. The fish sizes ranged from 16 to 25 inches with an occasional larger fish. The action was all top water or just under the surface. One morning I watched as the bait fish were driven up to the weedy shore by the bass. Birds, including cormorants, terns, egrets and even great blue herring joined in on the feeding. It was spectacular to witness.

This area continues to be one of the best for light tackle fishing. Whether you fish from shore or on a boat you can get fish from May through September. Plus, you can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Massachusetts north shore. Newburyport has so much to offer to anglers and those who just enjoy the historic seacoast.

Consider this area for the up coming season.

Captain Charles Crue
Channel Edge Charters
cec@greennet.net

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