Cape Ann Report

Captain Allan Smith Well, the last two weeks have seen the first good numbers of small bluefin tuna. The action at times has been very hot. From big schools of fish in the 50-130lb range smashing on the surface, to smaller "pods" of tuna popping up sporadicly, in the rips. The fish have not been easy to fool, but we did land two fish last sunday. This year I have not had much success at the "run and gun" game, despite many good shots, but we have had better luck trolling. Birds with Green-machines have been very effective, as well as spreader bars. Though, the action slowed the end of the week. There are still, some fish around, and reports of lots of tuna off of Cape Cod. I feel confident that the the small tuna will soon return in good numbers, as there is alot of bait offshore. The best is yet to come! The summer fishing pattern is well underway along the Cape Ann coast and up along Plum Island and in the Merrimack River. Captain Al reports the striper action has slowed down considerably during the daylight hours but has turned on significantly for night fishing. Surf fishing the Plum Island beach with cut bait could easily land you some hefty stripers. Casting from the High Sandy area of the beach, northward to the sand bars are good choices for this nighttime action. Al also reports that the Merrimack River is yielding some good stripers being caught at night fishing live eels on the Salisbury flat drift and in some locations up river near the chain bridge. If you fish the river at night, be very careful navigating the channel as well as out of channel. There continues to be good numbers of stripers along the Cape Ann coastline, but as we mentioned last week, the fish are skittish and wary of most artificial offerings. Live lining Mackerel or small Pollock will get results. Finding and catching live bait may be a more difficult than catching stripers! The bluefish are still on the “flatground” and over along Halibut Point. Capt. Skip Montello For more info on this fishing or for guided services, call or email me. 978-546-9704 northcoastangler@yahoo.com Captain Skip Montello