Charles River Stripers

[fwe]

Someone recently posted about catching a striper in the Charles River. Can they really get past the locks and dam? I would be so interested in talking to someone about it. I fish with my 6 year old son in the Charles all the time.

[bpmurray]

<P><FONT color=black face=Verdana,Geneva size=2>Oh yes - there are plenty of stripers in the Charles. A couple of weeks ago one of my colleagues told me that a woman had kept a 29" fish at the power plant outlet near the Longfellow Bridge, apparently ignorant of the limit changes, although I doubt that I would eat anything from there.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>When the herring were in, you could see the stripers attacking them, and there were plenty of splashes all around. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Note that this is in the Charles near the Sonnesta Hotel - I don't know how much of all this travels further upstream.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>If you want to entertain a 6-year-old, you should try the herring: they're easy to catch, small enough to handle but large enough to wriggle impressively on the line, and they often offer non-stop action. I know there are plenty of them in the stretch between the Longfellow Bridge and the Museum of Science, but my guess is that there are some spread all along the river. The best way to catck them is to use one of the Mustad lures - sabiki or shrimp or (surprise, surprise) herring rigs.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>B=</FONT></P>

[fwe]

I know bass congregate at the dam and locks near Mass General, but I thought that they couldn't go past this. If someone caught a striper in Watertown, then they must be able to get by. Very interesting.

[TomDunlap]

hi, at our fly-tying club we had a couple of guys involved in the river restoration project. they said the man that runs the locks on the river will open the locks and when jammed full of fish, open the inside locks to alow them upriver. this includes herring stripers and maybe shad. Tom

[fwe]

Tom, thank you very much for that info. It certainly answers my question. And now when I fish for panfish and carp with my son, I'll dream of a striper!!!! Do you know how far up stripers have been caught. It must be a rare event.

[bdowning]

I think Watertown is about as far up as the stripers can get, because I believe that's where the first dam is. Because the stripers only get through the locks intermittently, your best bet is still the Charles River Basin area.

Of course, if they had a decent fishway at the Charles River Locks, we'd also see a good shad run on the Charles as far as the fish ladders upstream would take them. But last I knew, the existing CRL fishway is still in poor condition.

-bd


<img src="http://world.std.com/~bdowning/fishing_lg_wte.gif">

[antg]

ive been catching stripers in the charles for the last 2 years in watertown between the falls and the brige.caught at least 20 this year 2-3 nice 30in.there is still a couple hanging around down there all small guys.