2003 Merrimack River Retrospective

Newburyport Sunrise

By
Captain Charles Crue
Channel Edge Charters
Tel 978-462-9212
www.channeledgecharters.com
channeledge@comcast.net

Early Season Merrimack Striper

Last year the Merrimack River Estuary area provided outstanding fishing for striped bass and bluefish plus early season Shad. As the season approached it was clear that the 2003 winter did not want to end and continued to produce cold and snow into April. The winter weather was followed by a cold wet May and June. The good news was that the poor weather did not affect the early fishing. Shad were caught in late April as they moved up the river to spawn. Locations between Rocks Village in Haverhill and North Andover near Interstate 495 found hardy anglers getting some nice catches. Fishing was good for those willing to brave the poor weather. The striped bass showed up at the north end of Plum Island the second week of May, about a week later than the previous year. Small fish at first, quickly followed by big ones chasing herring up through the estuary area and on up river to the Lawrence dam.

The cold weather of the winter and early season kept the water temperatures down. This helped to keep bait and big stripers in the waters through July and into August. There were few of the usual doldrums days even in late August. Overall the season turned out to be a great one for the local striper and bluefish anglers. However, the tuna fishermen had a much less productive season than the year before. That could have been a result of the cooler water.

My charter clients caught, and mostly released, more keepers than in any past season. When you consider that most of the fish were caught on flies with the remainder taken on light spinning jigs and lures, it was a very good year! On the one hand it showed that the fish are back in good numbers with many more large fish. However, there is still concern for the future as the regulating bodies up and down the coast continue to liberalize catch limits for the "commercial fishermen". Remember, unlike the sport fishermen, the commercial people kill every legal sized fish that they catch.

Early May Merrimack River Shad

The previous season, 2002, after a very mild winter, we enjoyed striper action beginning May 6 with the arrival of the first migrating fish. In 2003, everyone was anticipating a later start to the season. I caught my first shad on May 2 and my first striper on May 12 off the beach on Plum Island . The inshore water temperature was reasonable. I measured 56 deg on a high tide at Cashman Park . But, I also had heard offshore reports from various automated buoys with temperatures in the mid 40 deg range so maybe that did delay the arrival of stripers migrating into this area.

The following are some excerpts from my fishing notes and reports of last season.

My new boat, Reel Time III, was launched on May 15 and well christened that day. All three anglers onboard (including me) caught lots of eager stripers. Len caught the largest fish with an olive/white clouser. The surface water temperature was 56 deg F.

Reel Time III First Day May 15, 2003

One of Len's May 15 Catches

The new season was underway!! The striped bass invaded the Merrimack River ! Stripers arrived, hungry and very actively chasing sand eels and anything else that looked like food. Striper action was somewhat unpredictable at first but later, stripers could be found on any tide in large schools. They were attracting the attention of terns as they drove the small bait to the surface. Clouser flies with white, chartreuse/white, or olive/white were effective with these fresh marauders from the open sea. For lures, soft baits like Sluggos or Fin-s did the trick.

The fish ranged in size from little 14-inch bantams to 30 to 34-inch middle weights. They were chasing the bait everywhere. In the morning with the outgoing tide they were along the channel between the #15 and #13 buoys. On the incoming afternoon tide they were active between the #11 and #13 buoys.

Paul's Early Season Catch

Many of those days my clients and I passed through schools of feeding bass after an exhausting day of fishing. By late May there was no doubting that the striped bass had arrived in the Merrimack River Estuary area. They could be found almost anywhere as they followed the bait, sometimes driving the schools of frantic minnows (sand eels, baby smelt or silversides) to the surface. In spite of the lousy weather fishermen were catching stripers ranging from "micros" (14-inch) to small keeper size (28 to 33-inches). They were caught from the beaches, the river banks and boats. Lures and flies were working well. For flies, the preferred colors were olive/white, white, chartreuse/white and various other clouser and deceiver combinations. The spin guys were doing well with swimming and surface lures as well as jigs and softbaits. A spin fisherman who stopped into Hudson's Fishing & Boating Center, where I had been spending time helping out with the fly and other tackle sales, reported that he did very well on stripers casting a Zara Spook.

Rich's 28-incher

For many of my charter trips we went up the river to the area between the Route 1 and Route 95 bridges to fish the high tide. My clients enjoyed catching many stripers with usually at least one large enough to be very close or above keeper size, although all were released. I continued to use flies and lures with bent down barbs on the hooks.

One Tuesday morning my client and I found a large school of stripers smashing minnows at the edge of the channel just across from my marina in downtown Newburyport . Richard is an experience trout fly fisherman but had not caught a striper on a fly until then. He caught and released so many stripers that he is now "experienced". His largest very hard fighting striper measured just over 28-inches.

The Captain's Hand Lined Striper

In early June I hosted a fine group of guys that get together each year for some fishing and camaraderie. They came from Idaho , Colorado , Virginia and other states including our own. It was an enjoyable three days for me, as their guide, and for them, most having their first exposure to our wonderful striped bass fishery here on the Merrimack River . The first day of fishing they kept two legal stripers, which I filleted so they could take them to the chef at Stripers Grill for dinner that evening. Those were the only two fish that we killed out of several keepers that they caught over the three days. Each evening, over dinner, after a day of fishing, they had lively debates about which angler did best. I think the overall winner was Noel, the small guy, of Irish extraction, who managed to get several large fish to the boat without being pulled overboard.

Rick's 17 Pound Striper

During the three days we had one very interesting catch and release. Noel thought he hooked a fish but as he reeled in we observed that he had snagged a line. I went over to free up his lure but felt a strong tug on the line in my hand. I pulled on it more and felt the unmistakable pulsation of a fish. The harder I pulled, the harder it pulled back. Fortunately I was wearing my light canvas gloves and began a hand over hand struggle with the fish. I let line slip out when I felt strong surges and gained line during slack periods. To make a long story short, I finally got the fish close enough to see that it was a nice big striper. I got it to the side of the boat and brought it aboard. It was a reel nice striper measuring 32-inches, with a circle hook in the side of its mouth. I removed the hook and took a photo before the release

Karl and Thorne with a Nice Catch

One Sunday, my clients, George, Chenson and his son, Nicholas, enjoyed some good striper action with a mix of schoolies and some big fish. The action continued to be good the following Monday when I guided for Tom, his daughter Liz, and friend Rick. Rick ended the morning by catching a 37-inch, 17 pound striper on a small olive/white clouser.

After a day off the water to have my new Honda 130 in for its 20 hour check, I hosted Bill and his friend Regis. We found some large stripers out on Joppa Flats.

On other fronts, I heard of a 37 pound striper taken at the river mouth on a drifted dead herring. Mackerel were being caught around breaking rock up the coast. There were many reports of large stripers in the area. The weather continued to be less than comfortable for fishermen but we didn't care as long as we could get out enjoying our great sport!

Nice Joppa Striper

In late June the morning tides favored fishing the incoming tide, beginning between the jetties and working up the river with the tide. My clients experienced some great Merrimack fishing. Many stripers were caught ranging in size from small schoolies to fish in the 12 to 14 pound range. All of the stripers hit either soft bait lures, using light spinning rods, or flies. Every fish was revived and released. The weather continued to be poor for the fishermen but great for good striper action. Most fish were caught below the surface except for those caught out on Joppa Flats around the high tide when, surface plugs and soft baits produced some spectacular action.

Jeff Jr's Prize Striper Joppa Bluefish

One Sunday, near the end of the month, I guided for Jeff, Jeff Jr, and his nephew. It was very foggy in the early morning. I navigated the boat down to sand bar at the north end of Plum Island using my new chart plotter GPS. What a great tool! We found action slow at the low tide but got into a feeding school of stripers as the tide surge moved into the river. Boat traffic became very heavy as we worked up river and onto Joppa Flats where my anglers caught some big fish. Jeff Jr. caught the best fish of the morning after a 14 pound striper hit his soft bait near the boat. I was forced to run the boat and pursue the fish for a short time to keep the light spinning reel from being spooled off. After I brought the striper in for photos I revived and released it. Jeff Jr's excitement and thrill can be seen in the photo.

On a late June afternoon I hosted two of my favorite clients, Dick and Carol. They had been out with me many times. I always enjoy their enthusiasm and enjoyment of our Merrimack River fishery. That day we took on the wily Joppa stripers on the high tide. They were out there in great numbers but in one of their frustratingly disinterested moods. Fish could be seen all over, boiling to the surface. It was our first very warm morning on the water and bright and clear. Dick and Carol tried gamely, for over two hours with all types of flies, while I made a few casts using sluggos and a few plugs. The net result only to catch a few schoolies. We finally decided to give it up and went down river near plum Island where we found terns diving as hordes of schoolies chased what were probably sand eels. Carol enjoys top water action with poppers so it was fine. Dick brought many to the boat side with an inverted clouser (olive/white) that I gave him to use.

One of Noel's Catches

The fishing continued to be good in the Merrimack estuary area. The wild frenzy of the early fishing changed to a somewhat slower pace. It required more effort and skill to get large stripers to take artificial baits. We saw mornings with blitzes as well as quieter ones when fishing was less predictable. Fly selection needed to be made more carefully as the water warmed and the full summer fishing pattern came into being. Fly type, color and size often determined the degree of an angler's success, not to mention skill of the presentation to the fish. They had been in the area for a while by then and some had been caught and released a couple of times. I began experimenting with some variations of my standard flies as well as some new designs.

It seems that every season has its dramatic boating accident in the area. Once in a while it is the result of weather conditions but most often it is just poor behavior and judgment of the boat operator. July 4 th there was just such an incident when the operator of a 29 foot Chaparral drove his boat onto the rocks of the south jetty.

Boating Accident

Six people were injured but fortunately there was no loss of life.

During July, bluefish, mostly small snappers, showed up all over the area. They took many of my softbaits apart and I donated a few flies. The new Rio fly leader for blues and other such toothy fish was employed to save some lures and flies. They are called Toothy Critters Leaders. They are tapered and have a nylon coated piece of cable (about a foot long) tied in at the end. They worked fine for blues and did not seem to cause stripers to shy away. You can get them at Hudson 's Fishing and Boating center on Route 1 in Salisbury . It is about a mile north of the Gillis Bridge across the river from Newburyport .

Bait fishermen scored well while anchored just down stream of the Plum Island Point sand bar. I had some success with a small clouser in the same area. One morning I had a day off from chartering and enjoyed a couple of hours of fishing for my own pleasure. I caught what I call the Merrimack "grand slam" consisting of stripers, bluefish and shad. Except for the striper, they were all relatively small but enjoyable to fight with my 8 WT fly rod.

By mid-month the striper fishing slowed but larger bluefish took up the slack. Blues were attacking flies and lures on the surface and below. Light fishing gear was tested to the limits by the aggressive blues. Heavy leaders or wire were needed to get a bluefish to boat side. I found that using wire tended to cause stripers to shy away after following a fly to the boat. Heavy mono or fluorocarbon would allow me to get both blues and stripers. However, it was necessary to check the leader after each bluefish catch to ensure it hadn't been frayed enough to make it too weak for the next hit. Blues often spewed up their latest meal when brought into the boat. I checked to see what they were feeding on. It was very small minnows (1 inch), small worms, and chewed up baitfish such as herring or menhaden.

Although there was a lot of tuna fishing going on, few tuna were brought in. As usual there were many stories of hooked tuna and break offs. Dog fish were around in great numbers. Some fishermen went far offshore to get away from the dogs.

The presence of lots of bluefish made it difficult for live liners to find mackerel for bait.

Good Eating Size Bluefish

There was a migration of new stripers into the Merrimack River Estuary. For a week or so, only blues and small schoolies could be found but the last week of July some keepers were been caught with the telltale indicators, sea lice, meaning fish fresh from the ocean.

One day my client connected with one of those fish. I had spotted a tight bunch of terns and breaking fish. I ran the boat over and had everyone cast. One of the fishermen connected with a solid hit. The fish was big based upon the singing drag of the spin reel. After some exciting runs the striper came to the boat, a nice 30-inch keeper. After that quick action they were gone.

Offshore the dog fish continued spoiling efforts of the bait fishermen. Few tuna were taken.

Jacob's Bluefish

One morning we found lots of schoolies in the river. They were holding deep along the north side of the channel. They were very selective as to what flies they would take. A small (#1 hook) green/white clouser tied with fish fur worked pretty well.

The area experienced some wild water temperature extremes that had a definite impact on the fishing. Water temperatures, measured at the surface ranged from about 49 degrees to 68 degrees depending on which side of the tide you happened to be in. There were corresponding differences in the air temperatures in the same area. The result of those conditions was that feeding stripers were very difficult to find. Even the bait fishing charter boats were skunked. On incoming tides terns could be seen diving into the water to get sand eels. The river was full of eels. It looked like it should be good striper fishing but the only threat to the sand eels, from under the water, were cormorants. The stripers were not there. Occasionally we did find stripers holding down deep and caught them by dragging flies or lures along the bottom.

Yes, a 55 Pound Joppa Flats Striper

I had one totally dead morning during late July where I could not find feeding fish anywhere. It was my first skunked trip of the season. A couple days after that trip, I guided for clients who did fairly well in spite of the conditions. They caught stripers and a couple of blues and enjoyed fighting a couple big fish. Conditions quickly improved.

Large stripers could be found out on Joppa Flats on the high tides but they were very reluctant to chase artificial baits, flies or lures. One extremely fortunate young fisherman caught the prize fish of the season out on Joppa Flats. A 55pound trophy striper!

I had a "captain's day off" so I went out a little later than usual to enjoy some casual fishing and the great weather we were having out on the water. The striper fishing had definitely improved. I caught and released about a dozen, plus one bluefish. The two largest stripers worked my new Sage TCR 8 WT rod pretty hard. They were just shy of keepers. I met a couple friends heading to their marina to go to work. They reported a good early morning catching several legal sized stripers which they released. The water temperature had returned to more normal.

Jacob's Striper

In early August the weather affected the inshore fishing again. Friday, August 1, conditions were poor for fishermen and fishing was slow. However, ardent anglers did catch fish. I recall a Friday morning that was particularly tough on fishermen and guides, with a cold north wind and fog followed by heavy rain. My clients were dedicated fishermen and stayed in the game. They caught a few schoolies and lost a really big striper just as it was fought to boat side. It looked to be well above the legal size limit. I hated to see that happen.

Here is a little aside on bait and imitation flies. The photo shows two of my flies along with a real silverside minnow (at the top). I think it illustrates why stripers hit the flies.

Silverside Minnow and Imitations

One Sunday I enjoyed guiding for a couple novice saltwater fly fishers. After some instruction in using the saltwater fly gear they each caught some schoolies and enjoyed the experience - they will be back! It is always a pleasure for me to introduce anglers to our great saltwater fly fishing.

I had a couple days off and with the weather (rain and fog) and I was glad to stay home. Then one morning the weather was great with lower humidity and pleasant temperatures and I didn't have a charter so I decided to check the inshore striper fishing. I began on the high tide out on Joppa where I found lots of big stripers. They were easily spooked but I managed to get a nice fat 30-incher to hit soft bait on the surface while using my light spinning rod. It was a fun battle. Later I fished down near buoy #11 where I caught and released half dozen stripers on flies and light spin gear including a healthy 25-inch striper on an olive/white clouser. When the action slowed I went back up the river to the AYC mooring area. I saw a tight bunch of terns diving into the water. I got a hit on my first cast (20-inch schoolie). I switched over to the fly rod and had hits on almost every cast for over an hour. They were mostly schoolies but I did get one surprise, another 30-inch striper that fought hard taking line into the backing on my fly reel. It was a very enjoyable morning of striper fishing!

13 Pound Joppa Bluefish

One morning during a slow Joppa Flats period I caught a nice 13 pound bluefish. It followed and took a sluggo near the boat in about five feet of water. It fought hard with a couple of good leaps out of the water. I managed to get it to the boat without breaking off.

As we moved well into August with the weather was wet. The Merrimack River was dark with rain water coming down stream. Surprisingly we enjoyed some very good striper action. It was like early season fishing where schoolie stripers attacked flies with abandon and fought like crazy. On several outings I had stripers hit flies on almost every cast. Most of the good fishing was in the river on both incoming and outgoing tides. Besides stripers, there were bluefish. Stripers were feeding on sand eels so flies that imitated that bait worked best. Olive/white clousers, deceivers or epoxy flies were effective.

Pete's Nice Striper

Shore fishing slowed down as evidenced by the absence of bait chunkers on the beach. Big stripers were in short supply in the inshore waters.

I hauled the boat for engine maintenance and to clean the hull along the water line. After re-launching, I spent some time fishing and I was rewarded with many stripers and a few bluefish near #15 buoy. They took flies and soft baits. My fish finder showed fish stacked in the area. Most fish were in the 18 to 15-inch range and had lots of fight. I took a few stripers on the surface with sluggos. I was surprised at the good fishing when I noticed the surface water temperature was 77 degrees.

In mid-August I went to Connecticut to attend a Sage, Ross Reel, Rio and Umpqua sponsored fly fishing seminar for a couple of days. I got to try out the new Sage Xi2 fly rods catching some bluefish and stripers. When I returned, I found the Merrimack estuary fishing continued to be outstanding, even though the water temperatures at the surface were in the low seventy degree range. There were stripers everywhere. Many were schoolies, but not all. Keeper size stripers were also caught. Sand eels were still the main quarry but I did see some minnows leaping out of the water as they were pursued by stripers or bluefish. The inshore fishing with flies or light tackle was very good

The stripers continued to hold and feed in the Merrimack estuary. The high tides produced some excellent fishing. On three successive days my clients experienced the great inshore fishing of this area. Stripers were feeding on small bait fish so flies imitating those minnows gave good results. The strong northwest winds drove the bait fish into the lower end of Joppa Flats. That resulted in good striper fishing. Also, in those areas, there were days when surface action was going on, as stripers chased the minnows to the surface, so that poppers or sliders took some very nice fish.

Dan's Nice September Catch

The harbor seals returned and could be seen anywhere from the "toothpick" to Joppa flats.

There were no reports of football tuna in the area. But, overall, the tuna catches were few and far between.

Labor Day the offshore boats were getting bluefish in fifty feet of water off of Plum Island .

With the weather and wind changes of Sunday and Monday, of the Labor Day weekend, the Joppa fishing slowed. However, I found excellent striper action by going to the Parker River area. On Labor Day we caught and released well over a dozen stripers there, around the high tide, most over 20-inches. The largest was about 30-inches. They were great fighters in shallow water.

Parker River Catch

The summer was winding down but the fishing was picking up for the final blast of the season! It was the time for some spectacular action as stripers fed in preparation for their migration south...

With the advent of the hurricane that hit Bermuda , the local fishing changed in mid-September. The stripers had been actively feeding on the high tides out on Joppa Flats. But, that changed as the effects of the hurricane hit our area. I took clients out. We hit some lively fast moving striper action in the river in the early morning. It was "run and gun" type of fishing.. Terns showed where the stripers pushed bait to the surface. Then, in a matter of minutes they were gone only to show at another area.

Gary 's Catch

In late September, the fishing remained in the fall mode. That is, stripers fed voraciously and then disappeared. They were often found right up against Salisbury or Plum Island beaches. The main food source was peanut bunker. Therefore the best flies were those that resembled baby bunker (about 2-inches long) and in color (silver, blue, black and flash). One fly that has worked well for me and my clients, was a clouser with gray, white and lavender.

The blue fishing slowed down with cooler water and marauding football size tuna just offshore. I had no reports of mackerel in the area. Tuna fishermen continued to complain of dogfish taking anything that they put in the water.

The stripers were averaging in the low twenty inch size range - great for the fly rodders.

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! I think he is convinced that the Merrimack estuary is the place to go for good striper action!

Well, we were close to the end of another season. It had been terrific. We enjoyed catching many schoolies and big stripers. We caught and released more keeper sized fish than the year before. I am pleased to be able to say that, in my boat, well over 90 percent of the fish that were caught, were released. I expect that most survived since I bend down barbs on the hooks and don't bait fish. Large stripers were always revived prior to release. Flies and light spinning gear was used for our sport fishing with emphasis on catch and release. I have no problem with an angler taking a legal size striper for an enjoyable meal, but my personal preference is catch and release.

Late Season Striper

There were good catches of stripers and bluefish but weather conditions with near-miss hurricanes precluded some good fishing. I enjoyed some very good striper and bluefish action close into Salisbury and Plum Island beaches and there was some very good fishing in the Parker River area.

How was the 2003 season. From my perspective, the Merrimack River estuary area had a banner season. We were blessed with extraordinary striper and bluefish fishing. Bait, lures and flies all produced exciting action.This area continues to be one of the best for inshore light tackle fishing. Whether you fish from shore or on a boat you can get fish from May thru 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 your next season. Thanks to all of you who have been out fishing with me!