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| FishWire Coordinator: | Mark Cahill |
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| Our Time...
Long time Boston FishWire readers will know that we've just entered my favorite time of the season. It's the time of year when the jetskiers have put their sleds away (without winterizing them) and started waxing their snowboards and the lifeguards have mostly given up their Baywatch garb and returned to school or the check out at the local 7-11. The beaches are ours! And it's come just in time. We've settled into a definite fall pattern, which I suspect is a week to two weeks ahead of schedule. That can mean many things, but rather than trying to read the tea leaves for you, I will offer this one bit of advice: spend every minute on the water you can now. Boston will shut down somtime in the next few weeks (between Oct. 1 and 15, usually), so any time on the water now will help averting the shack-nasties that are sure to come when you've tied your trillionth Clouser or half and half of the winter. We're again getting good reports of bluefin close to shore, but these are not really the smaller fish that you'd want for fly rodding. These babies are the mammoth tackle busting, 70 mile an hour freight trains. Remember, you need a NMFS tuna permit if you're fishing for those bad boys. But then if you've got the gear to handle them and the ability to hook them, you should already know that. The bigger bass are showing up again, at times mixed with smaller bass and blues. If you only get out a few times a year, now would definitely be the time to try to get out on a guide trip to get into some of the best action that can be expected in this area. On the subject of the Plymouth Power Plant being closed, which I wrote about last week, I recieved this note from Red, which I wanted to share: Hey Mark, I agree with you about the Ply. Pow. Plant., it was a great place to fish. I have many fine memories of fishing there since I was 12 years old. Got my 1st bluefish on a fly there, no easy feat with 10 bait chunkers around you. I even caught a 4# bluefin off those rocks. It's too bad they could'nt cnstruct a jetty nearby, but I suppose that would pose the same threat. Tightlines, Red. Red reminds me that as much as I loved it, I can think of at least 10 people I put on their first striper or blue there. It was always my "day saver", but to many it was the equivilent of the '58 Chevy they lost their virginity in. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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Boston Metropolitan Regions
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Boston Harbor
Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters reports: What a change one day makes! With decreased winds and calmer seas, Tuesday was a day to remember for Dr. Sary Aranki and 12 year old Alex of Wednesday was the day most anglers only dream about. Captain Bill pushed Mike Bertrand of Florida was in town for a three day charter. On Sandy reports from Quincy Bay: Quincy Bay 9-1 Got out to Quincy Bay at first light. The birds were working hard chasing large schools of blues. I was alone for about an hour which was great and caught a bunch on flies and surface plugs. It wasn't long before the parade showed up. Luckily the fish didn't seem to mind and stuck around until the wind drove them away.
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South ShoreNo reports from Plymouth this week and I've been too busy with the day job to get on the water down there. Still, this is the timoe of year when Plymouth shines. Get out, and don't forget to send me a report.
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North Shore
Capt. Derek Spingle of First Light Anglers reports: Sept. 5th- Now I remember why the fall on the North Shore is so much fun. The fishing has been simply fantastic. The bass and blues have been hammering the bunker throughout the North Shore. Although the bunker is small 1-3 inches, there is plenty of it. There have been schools of it trapped in certain areas for over a week now and when found the fishing is spectacular. If you have the time I would definitely get out there as who knows how long it will last. Although the volume of bait suggests it may be a couple of weeks! Sean reports: 9/3 Salem Harbor - Blues!!! Sorry to post so late, but that work thing is really cramping my lifestyle. Anyway...Man, I got into some blues last night. Last of the incoming tide just off my mooring between Salem Light and Hawthorne Cove Marina. Must have been over five hundred of the toothy buggers. They were jumping clear outta the water chasing bait into the air. Unbelievable. Clouds of juvenile herring (I Think??), and the blues were absolutely ravaging them. Almost every cast was a hook-up. Sguinach posts on the RT NE Forum: North Shore/Salem Sound Hats off to those who toughed it out today. More foul weather gear than fly testing today. As we were in my buddies 17' this am we did not venture far outside of naugus head and kept close to shore. After being rolled around in the chop and taking one over the bow headed back into the harbor. Happy to say that we were able to find the bait that everyone has been speaking of. Bass kept popping up and even when they were not blitzing they were under the bait. While the number of bass taken was good to great the size was not. No keepers, mostly 18-22" size with a couple 24-26. May have been bigger fish deep but given the speed of the drifts it was hard to fish more than a few feet down. After a weekend of 4-6 looking forward to 1-3 ft seas! Kayaker had this bit on Ipswich Bay in response: North Shore Similar conditions in Ipswich Bay, from Annisquam north, Saturday through Monday, but I did not encounter bait and pursuing bass until early Monday evening. Several packs of stripers, moving rapidly, from Coffin Beach to Hodgkins Cove (the maximum safe range in those seas in a 16-foot Lund). The slender baitfish were about 2 inches long, and the bass, 16-to-26-inchers, took a 4-inch Deceiver with abandon. |
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The Merrimack River
Capt. Charlie Crue of Channel Edge Charters confirms what I'd suspected: the Merrimack is getting hot. Here's his report: Merrimack River Report #21 September 5, 2002 The inshore fishing has shifted to a fall like pattern. Last weekend stripers were smashing sand eels up and down the river between Newburyport and Plum Island. Terns gave away the locations of the schools of stripers as they joined the feast from the air. Sunday morning my clients, both excellent fly fishers, used poppers and sliders to catch (and release) schoolies ranging from "micro" size (nine to 10 inches) to mid-twenty inch fish. The action was great as we did "run and gun" to keep up with the fast-moving schools of stripers. At one time there were stripers braking all around the boat. I captured some of it with my video camera and will include it in my season video that I bring to the Marlboro and Wilmington Fly Fishing Shows. There are lots of minnows in the river. Someone at the marina said they appeared to be baby smelt. But, I think, they could be silversides. I had reports that the snapper blues were back in the Parker River on the high tide. Schools of big bluefish have been feeding just outside the jetties. I ventured out this morning in windy and choppy seas and landed a 10 to 12 pound blue that smashed an atom popper. I quit after I won the ten minute fight that gave my light spinning gear a good workout. The fish was large enough to have my atom popper crosswise in its mouth! Joppa Flats continues to be very quiet. All of the action has been along the channel and offshore. There more and more signs of fall with water fowl moving south. I saw a bunch of egrets flying over this morning. It all makes me feel, although it is beautiful to watch, that our season will be ending before long. |