North Shore striper/bluefish thread.

[DEVO]

Nice fish. Here's a few pics from our season so far.

Early season 34" from the kayak.


My 10 year old hooked up


...which resulted in this 30"



Name on the old man's boat finally


Macks in the live well


Sunset over Salem

[Donkey Punch]

Macks in the live well

That looks like a well full of small Tiger Muskies. Good stuff in this thread, it makes me wish I could get on the ocean more than once a year.

[Sagamoron]

Devo,

Nice Ride! We've got the Escape 209!

[2nd mate]

if anyone wants to get out monday thru thursday any day, I am available and i have a small fast boat. Just let me know and we will set it up.

[likwid]

FUCK BASS!
tunatunatunatunatunatunatuna

[steamboat1]

Just a couple pics from this year.....

[2nd mate]

has anyone seen any stripers between Thatchers and Salem???

[Sagamoron]

I've got a buddy who guides out of Manchester, let me check and get back to you.

[DEVO]

We have not been out since last weekend. Didn't see any stripes, but did see a couple of quick up and down blue blitzes outside of Manchester. Hoping things are going to pick back up as September progresses. Wonder if we will have a real fall run? Anybody seen any peanut bunker around yet? Kinda early.

[2nd mate]

Tons of bait today inside Hawthorne Cove in Salem harbor. NOTHING after a morning lap of Beverly, Main channel, Bakers, Eagle Island, M'HEAD, South Channel and Salem. Hopefully this system will blow the fishies back in.

[Sagamoron]

Sounds like the blues are all over the place up by you guys right now.
We found them south of the Irish Riviera down to Brant Rock

[DEVO]

We fished hard all weekend due to being in a small local striper tourney for charity. I was under the (mistaken) belief that the mackerel were all gone, so we fished live eels at night and trolled tube/worm rigs, as well as fished dead herring (whole and chunks). Even threw some lures around. Didn't fly fish as it was pretty windy all weekend thanks to Earl.

Nada. Nothing. Except for one real big blue fish saturday that hit a tube/worm rig. We did break two reels, one rod and took a gouge out of the prop over the course of the weekend though. So, at a shop today replacing some of the broken gear a guy overhears me say things are slow right now and he says "Slow? we had a good weekend catching 'em on live tink macks" Guess we shoulda jigged for macks..

[2nd mate]

bumpadee doodle doo.

Whats Shakin back home? I am headed back in less than 2 weeks.

[DEVO]

Fishing has been good so far. Mostly from shore so far, all fly. Mac are pretty abundant right now so we've had a couple of days live lining them with ok results. Went up to Crane yesterday evening with my son and birds/fish crashed the beach. I got a couple close to 28", but even though Ben cast a lure a couple of times right in the mix, he didn't get a hit. A guy right next to us snapped a spey rod on a keeper.

Definitely get in touch when you get back. I have 16' skiff on loan from a friend that just needs new trailer tires to get it in the water. Perfect fly fishing boat. Hopefully we will have a repeat of last summer with all the bait sticking around.

[2nd mate]

mmmmmmmm very nice. I have a 8 wt rod/reel Ben can use if he wants. It was my first fly reel and it just came back from orvis after a few years being out of service.

[DEVO]

mmmmmmmm very nice. I have a 8 wt rod/reel Ben can use if he wants. It was my first fly reel and it just came back from orvis after a few years being out of service.

Thanks for the offer. He's been throwing my 7'6" 4wt when we go for trout to try and learn how to cast. When we go salt water fishing he uses a 7' spinning rod so he has a better chance of getting to the fish. I have a spare 8wt rod, but no reel for it right now.

[2nd mate]

perhaps we can introduce my spare 8 wt reel to your spare 8 wt rod and have one for those in need......like ADVRES or others when/if we actually have a mini with more than just the 2 of us.

[2nd mate]

yesterdays report form Salem Willows has stripers in the sound.

[DEVO]

yesterdays report form Salem Willows has stripers in the sound.

Oh I know they are there. Went out Monday am to test some new electronics with somewhat limited time. On the way back in saw lots of birds/bass chasing bait at the mouth of Salem harbor. Just enough time to catch a couple.

So, we decide to go back out yesterday early am before work to see if they are around again. About 6:00 am while motoring out to find birds, I notice we are heading pretty close to the rocks at Little Aquavitae (low tide), but I don't want to be a backseat driver, so don't say anything......BOOM....we smash the prop and destroy lower unit on a submerged rock. Limp back in and make some calls. Luckily Ryan Marine in M'Head has the parts and can fix it right away. Insurance is going to cover 95% of it and the boat should be back in the water this afternoon. If everything checks out ok, we will be testing the new lower unit/prop and fishing later today.

[hop]

About 6:00 am while motoring out to find birds, I notice we are heading pretty close to the rocks at Little Aquavitae (low tide), but I don't want to be a backseat driver, so don't say anything......BOOM....we smash the prop and destroy lower unit on a submerged rock.

Sounds like you already learned this lesson, but you ALWAYS point out the shit that you're going to hit or even possibly going to hit even if you think the operator has got it covered. A good skipper will thank you for being observant.

[2nd mate]

yikes. There is all sorts of shallow crap all around there. I have spent many low tides floating around there casting just checking out the obstructions. Glad nobody got hurt. Mt BIL got tossed out of his 23 whaler a couple years ago outside Portland harbor headed up towards Harpswell and messed up pretty good. The Ryan marine guys are pretty good fellas. They are our go to favor boat haulers. I may have a new/revamped boat for us to use as well when I get home. Waiting on a new motor on my buds Montauk. Perfect fishing for 2. How big have the schoollies been? Anything like last year?

[DEVO]

Sounds like you already learned this lesson, but you ALWAYS point out the shit that you're going to hit or even possibly going to hit even if you think the operator has got it covered. A good skipper will thank you for being observant.

Trust me, I know. The "skipper" is my father and I have "mentioned" on a few occasions that he has a habit of cutting it close to some of those islands. I will always say something now..

yikes. There is all sorts of shallow crap all around there. I have spent many low tides floating around there casting just checking out the obstructions. Glad nobody got hurt. Mt BIL got tossed out of his 23 whaler a couple years ago outside Portland harbor headed up towards Harpswell and messed up pretty good. The Ryan marine guys are pretty good fellas. They are our go to favor boat haulers. I may have a new/revamped boat for us to use as well when I get home. Waiting on a new motor on my buds Montauk. Perfect fishing for 2. How big have the schoollies been? Anything like last year?

The Ryan guys were great. Boat is already back in the water. Now if we can just figure out the new fish sonar/side image unit. The schoolies seem to be bigger this year, but not a lot of them around...yet. Hoping things will pick up over the next couple of weeks. It would be great to have a summer like we had last year, especially if we are going to have a lousy (non-existent) fall run again this year.

[P_McPoser]

Caught this fucker on mackeral off the tip of cape cod. Also caught a 32" delicious striper. First ocean fishing trip i've ever been on, it was a blast, except for the 4 hours of staring at a kite with no luck...

[2nd mate]

landed my first fish of the season today. Birds were all over Salem sound from 1000 until I left around 1330. Found a real nice area in Beverly where there is some awesome sight fishing on sand flats . Landed 2 fish there. One was borderline keepa. No pics because camera was covered in energy bar and slightly sticky.

[DEVO]

Nice. Good to see you back. The fishing has been pretty good the past couple weeks. Got into nice blitz's last week Tues. and Wed. right in Salem Harbor just like last year. Fish up to 28". I tied some silverside specific flies last night. I'll tie a few more and get some over to you.