Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

	Friday (17-MAY) around noon time (high tide) we caught 3 Stripers 
	in the merrimack. The fish were 16" and 18". I caught mine on a fly 
	(chartruse Clouser) and the others were caught on a sea worm.

	Paul

         Last Wednesday in the Saugus river up by Lynn, we (two of us)
        caught 30+ schoolies up to 19". The action was steady for three
        hours after high tide. All I had was my freshwater tackle and was
        throwing everything at them from Rooster Tails,Rapala's,spoons to small
        jigs with salty grub trailers. They were hitting anything that
        moved. Bring on the big em's!            
    
    						jeff

    On Saturday i fished Great Bay for an hour or two.  Got 6 schoolies on
    a chartreuse clouser just about high tide.  Water temp got up to about
    53-54 degrees up in the Oyster river.  These appeared to be holdover
    fish.
    
    regards, mark

    Anyone tried the Canal lately. I'll be in the area this weekend and was
    wondering if it was worth trying given limited time available to fish
    (ie late Sat night, early Sun Morning). Missed last Friday's newspapers
    so I haven't a clue about action and/or tides. Any info much
    appreciated!
    
    Thanks, 
    Bob

I found the following URL to provide fairly up-to-date striper & blue info
for Cape Cod.

	http://www.reel-time.com/fishwire/update-fw.html


Enjoy!

Joe

    The stripers are definitely here.  I made my first trip to the
    Merrimack yesterday, and got my first keeper of the season.  The
    season is off to a great start for me!
    
    My partner and I boated roughly 30 fish from 6:00-8:30 in the
    lower part of the river last night.  Most were 28"-30", and the
    largest just past the 34" mark. Much to my surprise, the fish were
    well filled out and not skinny at all.  Usually the fish I get
    this time of year are a little on the thin side.  My 34" fish
    weighed a decent 17 pounds.
    
    We caught them on mackeral chunks, herring, and live eels.
    
    There weren't many boats out but the sand bar was full of fly
    fisherman and surf casters.  They were into fish and having
    an absolute ball.  Lots of screaming and hollering, and at least
    one keeper taken.
    
    Sure feels good to start the season like this!
    
    Mark,
    

Mark,

What was the tide doing?  Coming or going?  Were you fishing the Toothpick to
Badgers Rocks area?

Thanks,

Joe

    Now that we are back up and running...... I was out there Friday night
    from 8:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m.. We got two around 28" and were quite
    disappointed. Just as we were running out of steam the bite seemed to
    be coming up as the tide was going out. Me thinks tide out to low tide
    was the time to be there...
    
    I'll get 'em next time.
    Congrats on the keeper.
    Bob M�

    Yes, the action came during the bottom half of the tide.  I struck out
    on the flats at the top of the tide.  Usually the flyfishing it good
    there this time of year.
    
    We fished below badgers, but there were many more boats around the
    toothpick, so there were probably fish there as well.
    
    Mark
    

    Didn't get to fish much, but we covered several spots (Scuset Beach,
    Herring Run, Maritime Academy, RR bridge ) along the canal, and went to 
    Onset as well on Sat afternoon ( low tide heading east) and Sunday AM
    (high tide, slack/ shifting west). Saw many fishing with a variety of
    lures and baits. Talked to several parties staying at our motel - no
    one saw ANYTHING caught. Everyone complained it was very slow. Weather
    was overcast > foggy > sunny. Tried 2 baitshops and both were out of
    pogies. They recommended the RR bridge area.
    
    Anyone have any luck elsewhere ?
    
    Thanks
    

    Heard that the size limit has been dropped again this year? Down to
    32", is this true?
    
    Don
    

    We fished the Merricmac from shore Satruday night between 11:00p.m. and
    3:00a.m.. Fishing was very slooow there as well. We were all excited
    after hearing all the reports but got the big disappointment. No action
    until dead low about 1:00 a.m.. I had one on and lost him (small) and
    had another run which dropped the bait. Saw a couple in the 15" range
    caught but nothing worth the trip.
    
    I talked with a local who got two keepers during the week and about
    40 shorts. Almost all of them were caught on the hook with Bucktail
    Jigs. These guys definately know what they are doing to walk out on
    that thing in the dark of night. Not this kid!!! We'll give it one 
    more try next Saturday a.m. by boat. 
    
    I think I have a the tricks to try this time :^)
    Bob M�                                          

re: size limit

	NH - 32"
	MA - 34"
	ME - 36"


Went out to Dover Pt both Sat. & Sunday PM to catch the last 2-3 hours of 
the incoming tide.  used mack chunks and light tackle w/white tube & jigs.

Sat:  caught 10-15 schoolies on tube jig, mostly 12-16"; no pick-ups on
      the mackeral bait.  Saw one 31.5" striper caught - just shy of 32" limit

Sun:  less schoolies around (not as many blue-back herring as Sat.)  picked 
      up 6-8, same size as Sat.  Caught 2 larger schoolies on mack chuncks,
      one was 24", the other was 28".  One keeper caught .... 35".


later....

Joe

     I caught a couple of 18" Schoolies from the Docks in downtown
    Newburyport, MA on yellow Bucktail jig Sunday (6/9) morning
    about 30 minutes after High Tide. I went back to the exact
    same spot 12 hours later and fished for an hour with the
    same lure, but struck out.
    
    						keep em' tight,
    							Bob
    

    Anyone chasing the Stripers around. Thinking of hitting the Merrimac
    for an early a.m. outing on Saturday. It looks like dead low should be
    somewhere around 6:00 a.m..
    
    Thanks,
    Bob M�

    Last couple of weeks we have been catching plenty of Bass in MR during
    the mornings. No keepers but there have been some in the high twenties.
    Actualy more fish in the A.M. then at night. I cann't go this weekend
    due to farther's Day??
    
    Jim

       Father's Day (6/16) yielded alot of small Stripers at Plum Island's
    "sandbar" on the morning Low Tide. The action was fast and furious for
    the baitcaster's from a hour before Low to a hour after. The flycaster's
    and bucktailer's had alot of action before Low, but not much after Low.
    The beach on both sides of the Merrimack had hundreds of folks fishing,
    and it was elbow-to-elbow casting conditions.
    
    							see ya at Low Tide,
    
    								Bob
    

       Yesterday, I witnessed the weigh-in of a "keeper" on Plum Island.
    It was caught from a boat in the Merrimack about a hour before Low.
    I asked the guy what bait he caught it on and he said white Bucktail.
    
    						wet them lines at Low,
    
    								Bob
    

    How big?
    

       It was measured and weighed at Surfland B & T,
    and then Kay snapped a Polaroid picture of it.
    
       	length = 35"	weight = 15 and 3/4 pounds
    
    

    Quiet weekend I guess did any body got any fish at all.

Am heading down to Martha's Vineyard on Friday to fish a 5-6 hr charter with
my son.  Spoke with him last night and he said the charter skipper had the 
worst day of the year yesterday.  Only 11 keepers caught.

Tough to take.  I'm psyched.

-Joe-

    How about some help down the Cape? I'll be renting a place next week in
    Eastham. The place is right on Cook's Brook Beach on the Bay Side. If
    you look at it on a map it's dead nuts across from Cape Cod National
    Seashore.
    
    Is there any Striper and Blue fishing on the Bayside without a boat?
    Does anyone have any experience down there and is willing to share
    it? I'ld rather get info from you guys than a local Bait and Tackle
    Dealer as they usually tell you anything to get you to buy that
    special lure and or bait. It has never failed on me!!!!
    
    Let me know,
    Thanks,
    Bob M�

    
    
    Bob Re:It has never failed on me! Does the bait/tackle ever work for
    you? I do the same thing got a tackle box full of stuff I bought on an
    experts advice and never even got a bite!
    
    Dave

	I was talking with a good friend of mine last evening whose been
fishing for stripers in the Merrimack all week.  He said that the fishing
has been very, very slow.  There is little to no bait in the river, unless
you count snapper blues.  He has caught very few fish all week and he's
still hasn't caught a keeper this week.

I sure hope things pick up over the next couple of weeks?  I hope that
it's not a repeat of a couple of years ago when the pogies disappeared
from the river....

Rats...

Dave (AKA Baitmaster)

    Dave,
    
    I got my second legal size fish of the season there last night
    on an eel.  The fish were very finicky, they'd pick up the eel then
    drop it.  I finally started setting the hook quickly and did much
    better.  I got a bunch of 30" fish and the one barely 34".  I agree
    about not much bait.  We saw a few pogies last week, but none
    yesterday.  The only bait we saw were clouds of very small fish in
    the middle of the river.  I'm not sure what they were, but there
    was no sign of fish feeding on them.
    
    Let's keep our fingers crossed that more bait moves in.
    
    Mark,
    

    re: Yee Gods and Big Fishies
    
    Reports via the internet put the bulk of the "keeper classes" just north
    of the New York area/along coastal Connecticut last week. I'd guess
    that ought to bring them up to the north shore fisheries in another 
    week or so (which would make them as late as the appearance of actual
    summer weather around these parts!)
    
    Don't know if they're herding bait along the way but that wouldn't
    surprise me. So hang in there, keep the faith, etc. The best should be
    yet to come!

Martha's Vineyard report... 6/28

As promised, here's how I did on my charter trip.

Just my son and I on 1/2 day (5+ hrs) out of MV.  I caught my biggest 
striper ever, a 42" critter that weighed about 30 lbs. and another one that 
was about 39-40" and was released.  Caught several in the 32-34" ranges and 
a number if smaller schoolines in the 20-30" range.  One bluefish about 5 
lbs.  We caught a total of 22 stripers all on artificial lures, which, 
according to the captain, was much better than he expected as the wind was
blowing out of the east. According to him, fish just don't bite with an
east wind (which was probably his setup excuse for a "bad" day if we didn't 
do well). 

If any one is interested, here's the charter info:

	Boat:	Bass Ackwards  (26' or 28' diesel, wide beam)
	Owner:	Capt. Peter D'Amico
	Tel: 	(508) 645-2915
	Where:	Chilmark, MV
	Rates:	$350 half day, $600 full day, max 6 people.

Pete is a full-time police officer in Chilmark and runs charters on a 
part-time basis.  He's lived on MV 20+ years and seems pretty knowledgable 
with the area and is acknowledged as one of the best skippers around. 

Had a great time.  It will be a Dad's Day gift I'll always remember!

-Joe-

    
    
    I too was out on a deep sea charter fishing for stripers on 6/28.
    We left on the Misty out of Point Judith, with six people on board
    plus the Captain and one crew member.  Left the docks at 5:35 and
    headed out to the south west side of Block Island, took about
    40-50 minutes to get on location.
    
    We drew cards for the fishing order, since only two were allowed
    to fishing at a time.  We were deep trolling steel line with 
    white bucktail jigs and 6-inch pork trailers.
    
    The first line was let out and handed to the first person and he
    was only a fish within in two minute.  The second line was being
    let out as the first fish was being reeled in.  Before the first 
    striper got close to the boat, the second guy was already into
    a fish.  Both stripers were keepers.  This repeated itself through
    three full rotations of the six fisherman, and was only broken
    by one 15 pound bluefish that I got on my second turn. On the
    forth rotation the Fisherman 1 got skunked to break the streak.
    
    All in all, within one hour we had caught our legal limit of keepers.
    Only 6-8 shorts were hooked.  We kept fishing anyway waiting for
    a hawg, and playing catch and release till our arms were aching.
    The total was 30 keepers caught, 16 were kept (8 x 2 each, counting
    the non fishing Capt and crew).  The biggest striper was 29 lbs, with
    second being one of mine weighing 22 lbs. The rest of the keepers
    were around 15 to 19 lbs.  Two times during the frenzy we actually
    had three fish on at one time, since the mate was rotating three rods
    to the two primary fisherman as fast as he could net a fish and remove
    the hook.
    
    After the frenzy, the Captain moved off his spot to slow things down
    a bit.  He put out two umbrellas on heavyier rods and had two guys
    in the fighting chairs.... and guess what... within five minutes
    both guys were on for the fight of their lives.  Each umbrella picked
    up three stripers.  These two guys were spent for the rest of the day
    from reeling in triples. The umbrellas were cut off and the Capt put
    on some 12" plastic lure that he said were being killed by the blues.
    We hooked up quick on one but didn't land it.  But the lure was
    trashed.
    
    So how do you kill the rest of the a fishing charter when you have 
    a morning like that?  Well we headed back into shore close to
    the home harbor and started to fish for Flounder.  This kept us
    busy up to 2:30 as we boated 80 flouder over legal limit of 14 inches.
    
    I don't go deep sea fishing very often... but I guess this is a good
    as it gets.  My arms are still stiff....
    
    the harbormaster
               
    
    

    Sunday i went out of York Harbor, Maine with Chris Hardy who guides
    full time.  We were fly fishing the coastline pretty tight to the
    rocks on the afternoon rising tide.  We both got a dozen or so
    schoolies but no larger fish.  Chris said that recently his charters
    got quite a few larger fish to 40" ... all fly fishing.  Fish were
    hitting 5" deceivers, white with darker backs and similar offerings.
    It was a nice 4 hour trip.  I was pleasantly surprized with the
    number of fish we got given the time of day we were fishing ... in
    bright sunlight!
    
    Should anyone want to contact Chris for a charter,  his phone
    number is 207-361-1205.

    I got out for the first time this year on the Merrimack on the 4th
    of July. Using Mackeral chuncks, I boated 8 or 9 schoolies and 1
    keeper (35 inches). The action was steady for most of the day.
    
    stan
    

    Fished the Merrimack Friday Night. Caught a 39" 21lb keeper . WE also
    released a 32" and several smaller Bass. We had a few eels shortened by
    small Blues. 
    
    Jim

    Last night I was out with Capt John Savage of Rye, NH.  We fished the
    tail end of the falling tide with live mackeral.  We started with
    about 50 mackeral in the baitwell and used them all.  Managed to boat
    30-40 bass most ranging in size from 30-36" inside of 2 hours.
    Action was so fast it was hard to keep multiple lines baited.
    John Savage's charters are pretty reasonable ... we paid $160 for
    a 4 hour trip.  John can be reached at 603-964-6967.
    
    regards, mark
    

    Mark H.
    
    How does Capt John Savage do it so cheap? Does he fish in the Merrimack
    or the Isle of Shoals?
    
    Sounds like an excellent trip for the money!!
    
    let me know,
    Thanks,
    Bob M�

    Bob,  John Savage is fairly inexpensive because he hold costs down ...
    he doesn't advertise and he doesn't troll.  Apart from that, he's
    in the business because he loves it.  Most of the time he uses a
    22' Mako rather than a larger boat.  As you may be aware,  larger
    boats tend to have operating costs that are exponential with size.
    
    In any case, I've gone out with John Savage at least once a year for
    the past 3 years running.  While his fee has gone up (it started at
    $120 for an evening and is now $160),  its still a bargain.
    
    Furthermore, on all of the trips I've taken with he,  we've kept
    bass.  If you figure 10 lbs of fish at say $4/lb ... that further
    reduces the cost of the sport.
    
    You might refer to an earlier note i posted last year about a
    trip with John.  We got 5 keepers on that occaision.
    
    Regards, mark
    

    Thanks Mark, I'll give him a call and try to set something up. I could
    handle action like that. That's the kind of action I could get use to.
    
    Bob M�

    Hello all,
                    It's the new guy again with another question. I'd
    like to pick up a couple lures for strippers to be used off a jetty
    as well as the beach. Im sure everyone has an opinion of which one
    is best so Im open for suggestions.
                                                    hanks, Jim

    	I here $1 bills work very well to lure strippers to you. Now for
    stripers on the other hand ;-), white buck-tail jigs are one of the
    classics.
    
    	Big metal (Hopkins, Kastmasters, Pet Spoons, etc.) will work, as
    will diving Rebels/Rapalas, to name a few.
    
    	Ray
    

    I fished the Merrimack on Saturday. At high tide, it was dead. After
    the tide changed, the small schoolies started hitting..Half an hour
    later, the size average increased to 25 to 27 inches..Half an hour
    after that, the average increased to 31,32,33 inches...but we couldn't
    bread the 34 in barrier. They were hitting fast and at times, my buddy
    and I were each pulling in stripers at the same time..it was wild..
    
    stan
    

    re: .25
    
    Dave, have you or anyone else seen any pogies in the Merrimack yet?
    I haven't been out lately, but haven't seen much bait so far.
    
    Thanks,
    Mark
    

    I saw pogies jumping in the channel 3 or 4 weekends ago and again 2
    weekends ago.  The first time there weren't that many of them and I 
    couldn't see them that well.  The second time there were lots of them 
    on the north side of the channel, from the jetty all the way up past
    the large rips, and they looked 12-15 inches.   
    
    Tom

There have been several small schools of pogies in the Merrimack this year, but
they've been very hard to find when you want them.  The river is definitely not
loaded with them like it was last year.  During the first week in July I was
able to get them, but I had to work hard for them.  I stopped fishing for them
during the 2nd week because the bass just didn't want them - they preferred
mackerel and herring.  I assume their preference has something to do with the
lask of pogies and the excess of herring and mackerel?  Go figure....

The past couple of weekends I did notice what looked like a sizable school of
pogies popping on the surface around Rt1, but I can't confirm that they were
pogies because I didn't try to catch any...

I hope that helps...
Dave (AKA Baitmaster)

    Thanks.  I'm going to give it a try in the morning.  I'll let you
    know if I can find any of them.
    
    Mark,
    

    Any reports for the week? I think we'll head out tomorrow.
    
    Thanks,
    Bob Mercier

    Well, I'm sorry to report that there were no pogies in the Merrimack
    this morning.  Pretty disappointing.  There were plenty of schoolies
    in the lower river hitting mackeral chunks, but nothing of any size.
    
    Mark,
    

    re: .45  What's the water temperature of the lower 'Mack these days?

As of a week ago today, the water termperature in the Merrimack
in Newburyport was between 69-72 degrees according to my depth
sounder.  Usually this time of year it's in the mid to upper 70s.

The cooler weather and rain has kept the temperature down this
year.  The temperature may have had something to do with why the
pogies haven't come in heavy, but I doubt it.  I've seen pogies
in the past in water temps from 50 to 78...Of course they tend
to be much healthier in cooler water...

Dave

    Gee...  I just got back and I thought there were pogies everywhere.
    IN the channel outside of badgers and in the bay all around Woodbridge.
    Many more around noon time than earlier.  The bottom fisherman were
    having doubles, triples and quadruple hookups but I don't think there
    was a keeper in the mix.  Us fly fisherman did real good starting
    about noon but very slow earlier in the day.  Lots of sand eels in with
    the pogies.
    
    This is real unusual for August as this is typically the doldrums.
    Aside from the fabulous fishing the lack of green heads/horse flys
    is a real bonus.

    When out on Friday night, got 12 fish 5 keepers, largest being 40
    inchs long.  All on pogies.
    
    john
    

    Anyone have a chart of the tides in Maine for the week of 08/11 - 
    08/17? Anyone know how the Striper fishing has been in Maine this 
    year? What are they hitting on?
    I usually use lures such as poppers etc, or cut mackeral.
    Any info is greatly appreciated.
    
    
    
                                  JS

    re: .50
    
    If you have access to a web browser, point it at:
    
    http://www.shore.not/~mcmorran/tide/tideform
    
    and poke the map where you're going to be...
    
    Everything I've read and heard is that the Maine striper fishing has been
    nothing short of fantastic this year. They're hitting everything from
    flies to frozen fish sticks ;^)
    
    

     You sure that's the right URL?
    
    Error
    
    The requested item could not be loaded by the proxy. Netscape Proxy was
    unable to locate the server: www.shore.not. The server does not have a
    DNS entry. Check that the server name in the Location field (URL) is
    correctly spelled and try again.
    
    
    
    

    Yup, I had the same fatal error. I assume they changed the location of
    they're home page.
    
    
    
    
                                  JS

re: .50 - .53

I have it as this url:

	http://www.shore.net/~mcmorran/tide/tideform.html

Works for me.  Pretty neat also...

P.

    Ooops - 'scuse the typo (it's ".net" not ".not")
    
    http://www.shore.net/~mcmorran/tide/tideform.html
    

    re: .49
    John, were those live pogies?  If so, where can you catch them
    in that area?
    
    thanks,
    Mark
    

    Re -last
    Gill Net the pogies... drive the boat in circle around the net
    

    Hmmmm.  You did this in the harbor during the day????  Certainly
    an interesting technique, maybe I'll give that a try.
    
    Thanks,
    Mark
    

    re-last
    no it was about 1AM and on a flat that was only about 3 ft deep.
    We ran out of bait and had to get some more.
    
    It was fun having a boat with radar as we were able to get around
    in the dark and could see all the rocks, boats etc.
    
    The net has reflective floats at each end and we would put a 
    light on the floats (from the boat) so that they show up.  It
    was the first time I have seen this done.
    
    I will be going out againg next week but this time for tuna.
    If the seas are bad then we will go for Stripers.
    
    john
    
    

    The only time I have this week to go fishing is this evening. High tide
    is at 8:00ish this evening out of Plumb Island. Is it even worth
    fishing hide tide for stripers . We have had pretty good luck with low
    tide but have not tried hight tride. 
    
    Any comments??
    
    Hurls, who is still looking for his first keeper.. :-(

    re: .59.
    
    Thanks for the info & good luck with the tuna!
    
    Mark,
    

    re: .-1, In past years I've had pretty good luck with a dusk high
    tide by fishing up on the flats.  Recently, I haven't had as much
    luck on the flats, but who knows what tonight might bring.....
    
    mark
    

    (Not to highjack the "striper" thread, but...)
    
    Anyone else catch the news about a half-ton bluefin boated somewhere
    off the MA coast on Thursday? This thing was friggin' enormous! It took
    two hours of hauling and chasing to get the critter in the boat.
    Unfortunately those two hours off fighting caused enough stress on the
    fish that the value of the beast dropped from $30/lb down to $8/pound (!)
    

    Tried Salisbury Beach Reservation last Sunday but to no avail. Arrived
    at 9 w/ high tide set for 10:30. The party next to me on the jetty were
    guys I knew. They said they had caught 17 between the 4 of them around
    7:30-8.30. No keepers but one waas 1/2" short. They were using sea
    clams.
    I tried cut mackerel, cut herring, white bucktails and a white
    needlefish w/ black teaser and never had a hit. Tried a few "odds and
    ends" with no results while they continued to have periodic strikes and
    caught 4 more schoolies. Watched others who caught fish and they were
    using clams also. No keepers although folks said they expected fishing
    to improve around 1pm on the ongoing tide. Naturally I had to leave at
    1 to take family to the amusement rides before leaving at 3 to return
    home.
    Blues have been scarce, according to those I asked, but everyone seemed
    happy with that.

	Saturday was my first time out on the Merrimack this summer. My friend 
	and I were using cut macks and poppers in the morning near the Rt 1 
	bridge with no luck. We headed up by the tooth pick around noon time 
	and set anchor. A few people were catching stripers but we saw no 
	keepers.

	Shortly after our lines hit bottom, my friend caught his first 
	28 inch striper. It wasn't long before he set the hook on another
    	striper. This time it was 31 inches. The cut macks were working!
        Needless to say he is hooked on salt water bass. I had a few hits but 
        no hookups until my rod decided to bend over in two. 
    
    	I set the hook and it was my turn this time. The fish took out about 
	50 yards of line before it finally stopped. During it's run we were
	fighting with my drag and I had to back spin the reel to keep the line 
	from snapping. With the drag finally working properly, I couldn't budge 
	him so we decided to go after him. As we moved in on it's location
	my friend yelled out "it's a keeper". 
	
	As luck would have it while he was trying to boat it for me the line
	snapped and it happily swam away.;'(.. After hitting him over the
	head a couple of times with my hat, laughing and crying at the same
	time, we anchored again for another twenty minutes before we had to 
	call it a day. 

	We estimated it to be @38 inches or more;'). Oh well we had a great 
    	time and alot of laughs and we'll be back out for him Wednesday night.  

        Gus

        P.S. Anyone else heading out on Wednesday? 

    
    I was on vacation all last week up at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
    Didnt bring my fishing stuff and saw a nice size schoolie while
    sweimming at the beach. Ended up renting a rod saturday afternoon
    and caught 2 small schoolies on mack chunks. My friend had 2 hits
    and missed them both.
    
    Walt

    I got out Sunday (9/1) on the Merrimack. Boated about 15 schoolies.
    The largest being 29 inches. I did see a couple of boats with
    keepers. Don't know where on the river they actually fished. These
    schoolies seemed to be smaller then what I was catching in July.
    
    stan
    

       I've caught alot of Schoolies the past couple of weeks, and all of
    them have been while fishing from shore with cut "frozen" Herring and
    1 ounce of weight. Where? Rye, Hampton, Newburyport.
    
    							good luck,
    								Bob
    

    So with the storm of the past 2 days gone and way up north any
    predictions what it does to the blues/stripers in the Merrimack?
    
    Low tide is at 23:08 and with the wife and kiddies in bed by 8:30
    thinking of doing some surfcasting for a few hours tonight.
    
    I need a keeper before old man winter comes.. :-(

    As stated in another note the East winds drive in the Blues and I'm
    assuming the Stripers with them. My buddy was out on Plum Island
    reservation and caught one 35" Striper. He was quite happy as he has
    never landed one in the surf before. Especially a keeper! He was using
    cut Mackeral. According to him, everyone else around was using Sea
    Worms and getting the schoolies with a vengence.
    
    I'm heading out this weekend with Captain Savage on Mark H's
    recommendation. I can't wait as I haven't been out since I got my
    last keeper. Hopefully this next hurricane will not screw up this 
    weekend
    
    Keeping my fingers crossed,
    Bob M�

>Hopefully this next hurricane will not screw up this weekend
    
    Saturday (at least) should be safe. The latest forecast has Fran making
    landfall on the Carolina coast Thursday. Best guess is it'll turn
    inland from there, so I doubt we'd feel any effects as early as Saturday 
    (Sunday, perhaps)...

    Bob,
    Good luck with John Savage trip. I was out with him two weeks ago with
    two other guys and we caught a half dozen keepers along with a some
    monster bluefish. We had a great time.
    
    Jim

    Thinking of hitting plumb Island tonight after the kiddies are down for
    a few hours..
    
    	Question is. Should I try the river or the reservation? Low  tide
    is around midnight so will probably fish 8:30ish to 11:00ish..
    
    I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED A KEEPER..

    Thanks Jim......We are all kind of anxious now. I've heard nothing but
    good things about Captain Savage. We even have our own boat but don't
    come close to the catches this guy makes....We figured it was worth the
    money alone just to talk to this guy!
    
    Need a KEEPER......Try the reservation. My buddy got his at low tide
    on cut mack at area 3???? Does that make sense? I usually just give it
    a that spot looks good!!!!
    
    Good Luck Everyone......The next two months are your best chance at a
    Whopper.......
    
    Bob M�
    
    

    Going to Wells beach for the weekend, has anybody fished there and
    where are the good spots?
    
    I need a keeper this year!!!!

    Nothing good to report after my trip with Captain John Savage......
    No keepers and a total of five fish caught. The one I had the pleasure
    of catching was a whopping 15"! We unfortunately spent more time trying
    to catch the bait, which I didn't know was our responsibility!!!
    
    I'm not downing the guy for not producing fish. I've seen Easterly
    winds accompanied by cold fronts shut down everyone and that's exactly
    what happened. I guess my real gripe was with the Captain of the boat.
    He put 0 effort into it. We got a fellow by the name of Tom. I don't 
    know if he is the usual captain but he did as little as possible.
    
    I knew we were in trouble when he achored us to catch the Mack's and he
    proceeded to put his head in his hands and just sit there. We were not 
    having any luck on the Macks so I was waiting for the guy to either
    grab a rod and start jigging or find another spot. He didn't!!!
    
    Oh Well, enough whining for me! Just one question. Is this Tom a usual
    on these charters or was he just filling in?
    
    Bob �

    
    Joe Tomas and I did the Merrimack on Saturday.  I wasn't counting, but 
    I'd guess we caught around 10, no big ones (but not sure if any were as 
    small as 15").  Those east winds sure warmed the river up.  Water temp 
    in the river was ~73F!
    
    Caught a few bluefish too.
    
    Still waiting for a keeper.  Largest so far has been 33".
    
    -donmac
     

    Regarding .76, sorry to hear about the poor trip. When we went, we hab
    Capt. Bob who works for John Savage on a regular basis. I thought he was
    pretty good. We had to tell him to relax as we could handle some of
    the work like neting fish and retying lines etc. I'm surprised you
    didn't at least get into some bluefish.
    
    Jim

    Relative to note .76 .... I've heard that John Savage has people
    working for him, but I have never gone out with them.  When I have
    gone out with John Savage, we've always had good "luck". (I tend to
    doubt that there's much luck invovled.)
    
    In any case, catching bait seems to be an on-again, off-again task
    with John.  I guess it depends on what bait is in the area.  There
    have been trips during which we just used fresh cut herring, and at
    other times we jigged up some mackeral.
    
    I guess I'd recommend that in the future people charter with John
    himself and not his subs.
    
    regards, mark