June 10, Heat is on!

10 Jun June 10, Heat is on!

Today is scheduled to be the best weather of the weekend, and boy, there were fishermen out in droves this morning. The mouth of the Mack was a clusterf***k. Maybe 20 boats were spinning around, cutting each others drift, etc. In other words, a regular weekend on the Merrimack. Remember that most boats drift with the tide, and those of you that anchor may incur the wrath of other boats.

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There is a reason though, the fishing has been excellent bot from the beach and boat. The most popular method this week by boat has been going to Breaking Rocks off Salisbury beach, jigging up a bucket of tinker mackerel, and hauling ass back to the river mouth to dangle the spastic little buggers in the tide. It’s been very prolific with the macs, taking little time to load up your bucket. Pretty regular hookups with 6 at a time using Sabiki rigs. The MR buoy has also been productive for the tinks.

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There are every-which-way to rig your live macs, but I just hook them through the nostril with a circle hook and throw them in. I have about an 18″ mono leader with a swivel to the main line. They get to swim pretty naturally that way, and you can feel the light tugging on your line as they dash around. When I get a real strong blast of speed I figure they’re being chased. Usually that is followed by a firm hit on my line and a short fight to the boat. The bluefish haven’t shown up yet, so we’re getting many nice stripers in the 25-35″ range.

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South of the jetties has been producing a good selection of flounder. Even the beach and sandbar fishermen have been getting them. Still a little small, but there are plenty, with a fair share of skate along with them.

Send you Catch and release pics to me, stickman@surflandbt.com, and I’ll try to get the pics up for you. Here are two from my boat this week. A nice 33″ fish caught by Cheryl W., and an incredible Mackerel/Sabiki ball from this morning. I was being greedy and trying to fill up the whole rig, therefore the nasty tangle.

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You may have heard about the little spill they had up the Merrimack River this spring. The Town of Hooksett Wastewater Treatment Plant overflowed into the river. Inside the plant they used silver-dollar sized plastic discs to help break down the waste. Well they released, depending on who you talk to, between 4 and 25 MILLION of these discs. The cleanup has been ongoing ever since, with some of the plastic found in Gloucester, Beverly, Cape Cod, and even Nantucket. It’s estimated they are on their way to Ireland now, but there are still plenty around our area. I find 10-15 of them out my back door on the Plum Island Basin every week.

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Well, Surfland has the answer! When you find the discs, bring them down and we’ll show you how to turn them into an excellent pogie imitation!

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Here is a photo of a 45-46″ striper that was caught today (6/10) on the outgoing high tide in Joppa. One measurement read 45 and another 46, so being a fisherman I’ll take the 46″.  The striper was caught casting a 4″ Rapala jerk bait and after the photo was taken the fish was immediately released.