Fishing Report 7/15

[FirstLightAnglers]

Well the fishing this week has been all over the place. I had days live mackerel fishing where almost every time the mackerel hit the water it got devoured by a 28-32" striper. On one trip we had to actually go re-load on mackerel as we had already gone through the first 40 baits, truly awesome fishing. Fishing with lures and flies, however, proved very very frustrating with a few trips getting only a few or skunked on artificials. The bright side was that there were some excellent surface feeds this week and those produced great numbers of fish on the fly and with lures. The best surface feeds were along the front side of Plum Island between Emerson Rocks and where the houses start to the north. Most of these fish were crushing small sea herring right along the beach in 3-10' of water. The other good surface feeds were over by Marblehead and Salem. Some of these feeds were on small herring and some were on mackerel which made for some pretty fun fast moving feeds with almost all big fish!! A bunch of mung weed moved in to some of the coves I like to fish from Manchester to Rockport which made the fishing impossible at times. So overall the fishing has remained pretty solid, just a bit more of the feast or famine that we associate with the warmer waters of mid summer. Although water temps dropped a bit Friday and Saturday I would expect them to stay in the mid to high 60's. May be time to start slinging eels at night!! There has also still been a ton of squid around which may also have the stripers feeding through the night and being a bit more lethargic during the daylight hours.
Offshore the tuna fishing has still been pretty slow with a few giants being caught on the bank and Jeffries but nothing solid at all. Sounds like the ground fishing has still been pretty solid up on Jeffries around the cove, curl and prong. Good luck, Derek

[jgooge]

I am looking to jig up some macks from the kayak in or around Beverly and Salem. Any suggestions on where I should go?

Also I have had some success with eels earlier this summer in Rockport and around the Endicott rocks. Are there better spots to hit? Is it worth it to try from a kayak?

[randy]

I think if you laucnh from Manchester harbor, or Winter Island in Salem you may have some luck getting mackeral out around islands in deeperwater. They have been getting spotty so you may have to paddle a bunch.

Your options with the Kayak are pretty endless, and if you have eels thats takes it to whole new level. I would suggest fishing at night, and start fishing spots you know hold fish, and even try fishy water that is just too busy during the day. You'd be suprised the spots you find slowly paddling around with a live eel in your wake. I never used it but the tube and worm in Kayak might be one of most effective ways to fish.

[jgooge]

Randy,

I have been solely using the tube and worm from the kayak up to this point and have been very successful. The fish love that thing for some reason! I can't figure out what the bass like about it.

I am looking forward to my first night kayak trip, but am a little hesitant to try it by myself.

[randy]

you should check out NewEnglandKayakFishing.com

[Squaretail]

Does anybody have any intel on the fishing from shore action up in Wells, Maine. I have spots, just want to know if they have been catching stripers. Any other spots are appreciated! thanks