essex river boat ramp

[fishmedic]

Anyone ever launch out of the Essex? Any tide problems? How long does it take to reach the mouth? Thanks for any info

[dereks]

Depending on the size of the boat, tide generally should not be a problem, just be a bit careful. There is a town ramp next to the old ship building museam which is fine. The only challenge is that you need to park behind the police station and then walk the couple hundred yards back to the boat. There is a little dock to tie the boat up to while you park, however, it isn't very big and on a Saturday it may get a bit challenging. Essex Marina on the other side of the river charges $10 to launch, but you get to park about 50yds from your launch site. The "no wake" zone keeps expanding so it will probably take you a good 20-30 minutes to get to the mouth if the traffic is heavy and the tide is low. If the tide is high and you can take the shortcuts probably more like 15 minutes. The place is generally empty during the week. The mouth has changed a lot this winter. The tip of Crane's got hammered away, very interesting. Derek

[fishmedic]

Thanks ,sounds like essex marina is worth the $10 launch fee

[JohnDe]

Essex Marina has a floating dock and is a good place to launch. You need to be cognisant of where you are at all times and look out for hazards. Derek may be paying a grandfathered rate. The last several years the launch fee has been $20 or $400 for the season.

[Onshore]

Wherever you launch; don't be in a rush to get to the rivermouth unless you are bound to go offshore. There are a lot of good areas to fish within the main river and estuary; especially up in that creek behind Crane Beach that runs all the way into Ipswich near the Crane Estate.

When I lived up that way we fished the river a lot and took some nice fish inside.

The narrows just NW of Conomo Point is deep and has produced a lot of big Striper over the years as have the bars just inside and outside the mouth of the river.