Arriving back north the second week of May, the striper fishing was just heating up on Candy House Flats in Little River. Several of us “regulars” enjoyed some of the best striper action Little River had seen in many years. I had a personal best 32 inch fish (for Little River). I know other anglers landed stripers of similar size throughout the month May and early June.

Up the coast at the Merrimack, the shad fishing started off very slow, in fact, slower than I can recall. However, the shad did finally arrive in late May, but by that time, the estuary flats were clogged with schoolies, so little attention was paid to shad.

If you all recall, during the spring of 06' we suffered through some major flooding and serious damage to many marinas, all of which hampered the striper fishing well into June. This season however, the striper action came fast with lots of stripers. The stripers were on average larger (than past springs) with many quality keeper sized fish landed. We enjoyed many excellent days on the flats. Overall, the Merrimack early season angling was very good, not the best we’ve had, but not the worse either. Bluefish arrived by the second week of June and the river mouth was alive with stripers and blues (and way too many boats!). It got down right scary out there! The striper fishing remained real good well into July. The nighttime flats fishing was better than expected. Many anglers landed some quality fish, some larger than 50 pounds. Al and Dave continued to enjoy the striper action throughout the month of July.

By the end of June, I moved my boat south to Rockport for quieter waters and the awesome rocky shoreline. Throughout July and into August, the striper fishing just got better. We got into the top water “slupers” early and that pattern held for most the summer. By September, we had Tuna to the east and south and huge bluefish up and down the Cape Ann coastline. We experienced several good blitzes of stripers and blues with hordes of miniature peanut bunker everywhere. At times, we had difficulty getting the stripers and blues to eat because of the abundant bait. As the early fall pattern began to take shape, the fishing unexpectedly cooled off inshore with the thinning out of the peanut bunker. The September fishing was mostly hit or miss throughout the month. When it was on, it was real good, but when it was off, it was terrible. Fortunately, the bait moved back in as October began. A huge school of adult menhaden moved in to the Cape Ann waters and the bluefish bonanza was on! The pogies were giant sized, something I hadn’t seen seen since the great blitzes of the 70’s. Just about everyone that owned or could borrow a fishing rod got in on the action along the beaches. The pogies also brought in some large stripers and the shoreline fishing picked up quickly. I’ll leave the rest of the story to Steve….see below.

As the ocean fishing began to wane, I got out to W. NY for three spectacular adventures. The first trip, at the end of October (with Dave, friends and Stu Apte) featured some memorable steelhead action.On the next trip, Dave and I hosted writer/ photographer Pat Ford and we spent several days fishing the Oak Orchard and Cattaraugus Creek. I had the good fortune to hook and land two tremendous brown trout. I was also fortunate to have Pat there with his skillful camera eye to record those super fish. Our final trip of the season had us out on the Salmon River for winter steelies. We got a few fish before the snow and cold chased us home. Be sure to checkout the slideshows in the special features box.

All in all we enjoyed and experienced a great year fishing with friends and guests. I look forward to the New Year and the coming season and hope we get to fish together again. Stay warm and healthy!

Steve Papows' 2007 Year in Review
The year 2007, overall, was a good year, not a great one. The spring fishery started late with schoolies arriving in fair numbers by Mother's Day. All of the major estuaries had their fair share of fish. The marsh behind Nichol's Candy (Candy House Flat) had some small keepers along with some bluefish in mid-June in the 3-5 pound range. The jumping minnow, as always, was a consistent fish producer for me and my gang. Fiord spoons and Rapala skitter pops took their share of fish, also. For more stealthy presentations, Sluggos and other soft plastics were a good selection.

The summer season was very slow as it has been for the last three years. This can be attributed to the high water temperatures and the lack of inshore bait. Those who fished nights had greater success during this period.

The fall of '07 did not disappoint. Although we did not have the numbers of large fish, the quality, overall, was up from last year. My clients and I had several fish that measured 45" yet topped out the scales over forty pounds. These were some of the fattest and healthiest fish I have seen in years. Top water plugs to note were pencil poppers, After Hour's needle fish and large Danny Style swimmers produced good results. A new plug, this year, that worked very well in all situations was Ocean Saltwater Lures, specifically their surface swimming herring lure in golden yellow. Due to the warm water temperatures the Fall run extended well into November. There was an awesome blitz of blues chasing adult menhaden on Long Beach that had to be seen to be believed. We had to fish hard but we were rewarded with some real quality stripers. Here's hoping next season will be even better. Hope to see you at on of the many seminars I will be doing this winter. Make sure to check the site for details.

Tight Lines, Steve

Click on the image to view the 2007 Season Review Slideshow