| Over the past week the fishing up at the Merrimack remained very good, lots of fish, but mostly school sized fish in the 20” range. I had charter clients out on two occasions last week and they enjoyed non-stop action throughout the tide. The anglers used flies and an assortment of light tackle options, including the “Tufcore” jig head soft bait in white (Surfland B&T carries them) , small bucktail jigs and top water plugs. The Tufcore was by far the most productive of the spinning tackle.
I have had reports of large stripers (40”+) being caught on live eels in the flats at night on the outgoing tides. So if you up for some terrific big striper action, the dark hours are best. (We do night-time charters on request). At the end of this week, I will begin fishing and chartering on Cape Ann. The Merrimack will no doubt continue to fish well for a few more weeks or until daytime water temperatures start hitting 77-80 deg. The night-time fishing will continue to improve and large stripers can be had on the flats drifting live eels. Daytime anglers will switch to “chunkin” herring at the river mouth on the incoming tide. Look for bluefish at the river mouth and on beaches north and south. With the ocean water in the low 60’s, football tuna may begin to show just offshore. I have heard on reliable source that good numbers of tuna are actively feeding at Stellwagon.  
Captain Skip Montello | |