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Had a good incoming on the Essex on Friday afternoon. Started 3 hours prior to high. Anchored up just off the main current towards the spindle and dredged down deep with a 400. The wind was nasty but this kept the boat traffic to a minimum. Tied up some mid-sized mackerel flies and these were the ticket. Fish would follow the fly through the drift and nail it on the swing. Never made more than two strips. Took 25 bass, with three just over 30 inches. Others varied from 16 to 25. Had one fish on the line that seemd to be acting differently than a striper and this turned out to be a small shad.

Captain Derek Spingler of First Light Anglers reports:

Cape Ann/ Salem Sound

June 3rd- Overall the fishing has remained steady the last week. There have been glimpses of fantastic volumes of fish in the rocks and on the surface as well as a handful of trips where we has to resort to putting in our time and picking away at the schoolies in the rocks. We did start to see our first signs of good sized fish at the harbor mouths and Salem Sound started to show some promise up on the surface towards the end of the week and weekend. The mackerel are still around in good numbers and they have been concentrating around the harbor mouths early in the morning and evening. This has definitely been when we have seen our nicest fish.
Manchester and Magnolia were steady producers over the weekend with a good number of twenty something fish in the white water. There was a nice ground swell in the rocks Friday and Saturday morning. Most of the fish we caught were on smaller dark backed flies up in the wash. Friday was definitely better than Saturday morning as that front Friday night seemed to push in some cooler water and drop the pressure.
Rockport/Gloucester have been fishing OK, but nothing really worth running to. Nat worked his way from Gloucester Harbor around to Rockport Sunday morning and got a good handful of fish. He did mention that he was surprised that only one or two fish were coming out of his favorite spots where many times you can sit and pull 4 to 6 out of many of the holes. He said he mainly fished tinker mackerel and juvenile herring patterns.
Saturday morning most of the fish we caught were more in the rocks of Beverly and Salem sound. The water was a bit warmer and the fish a bit more active. I did see the big herring gulls out in the middle of Salem Sound Saturday morning. They would pick up and start to work for about ten seconds and then sit on the water. Watching the sounder I marked some really nice pods of fish and bait at about 40 feet, but they were too deep to get the fly down to. A customer I saw on the water said he had gotten a couple of nice fish but that they were really up and down. Another customer said he saw a really nice surface blitz Saturday afternoon in the coves around the mouth of Beverly Harbor. Along these lines the biggest fish of the weekend seem to come along the grass beds at the harbor mouths about halfway into the dropping tide. Not fast and furious, however, a couple of fly anglers got some really nice mid-30’s fish.
As I have said to many folks coming through the shop the fishing has been a lot like the weather, overall steady with some true highs and lows. The beginning of this week is quiet for charters so it looks like Nat and I will get out ourselves for a couple of fishes. If we see anything outrageous I will keep you posted. As always, please call the shop for details. (978)526-4477 Take care, Derek

Merrimack River Report #7 June 6, 2002

A mix of very large, medium and small stripers continue to abound in the Merrimack River. Last Friday and Saturday my clients caught some of each. At the top end it was a 38-inch, 17 pounder (photo) and at the low end a 8 or 9 inch fish. They also hooked a couple of 3 or 4 pound shad. The action was good after the high tide on Joppa Flats. The flies of choice continued to be large white deceivers and white, olive/white, chartreuse clousers. During the dark early morning black flies are working. Sluggos are were working well for spin fishermen.

The river and Joppa Flats continue to be full of stripers. Sizes range from small schoolies to fish over 40-inches. My clients on Friday, May 31 had a very enjoyable fishing excursion. They caught and released several fish over the keeper size including a 37-inch, 17 pounder and a 18-inch, 18 pound fish. It was very good fishing! (photo)

After an early morning storm on Sunday 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 a 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.

The weather turned for Monday and my clients had a clear but very windy morning. They managed to get a bunch of stripers with flies and light spinning gear in spite of the wind.. Tuesday my client hit some big fish out on Joppa Flats including a 32-inch beauty (photo). That morning I witnessed a friend of mine fight a really big striper that hit a large sand eel imitation fly. The boated and released striper was 41-inches long and weighed in at 26 pounds.(photo)

Although we have been using olive/white flies , I had reports of good catches with large herring imitation flies.

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. (Photo) A few photos were taken and the fish was released. The fish hit a large sand eel pattern fly.

The bulletin board at Surfland Bait and Tackle, on Plum Island, is filling up with photos of keeper size stripers caught around Plum Island. The season is off to a terrific start!

Triton Dave reports on the forum:

Hit the Merrimack River yesterday for an afterwork special. I guess everyone knows that there are plenty of fish around and what to catch them with, so I will spare you the details. One interesting thing to note was the water temp differences that we saw. Temps at Joppa were 67 F, while near the mouth (incoming tide) was 46 F. There were plenty of Stripers in each location. Most fish seek the warmest water possible, I guess Stripers don't care as much. The ones on Joppa fought quite a bit harder. Highlight of the trip came after dark when 2 anglers in the back of the boat hooked up with huge fish at the same time. After a monumental battle, the Cap't boated a nice 41 inch Striper that hit a blue-ice Lance. A short while later, rookie angler "Steve" (name changed to protect the moronic) brought his prize along boat-side. It turned out to be a 31 inch piece of driftwood that he claimed gave a good account of itself in the strong current. Congrats to both anglers.