The operative word for Plum Island and the river is SLOW!!!!! for stripers. But bluefish have been plentiful and are the mainstay for now.
With bait blitzes happening to the north and south, the big hungry girls are are making their push south from Vacationland and will soon be in the river and on the beach. This fall is reminiscent of 05-07 when big stripers pushed south chasing bait through october and into early November. Let's hope I'm right!
Cape Ann Report
The early fall weather is upon us with morning temps in the 40’s, just the kind of weather that gets the stripers eager to eat. This past week has been one of contrasts; Saturday and Sunday were epic with solid numbers of big blues and 40+ inch stripers smacking topwater stick baits from Crane Beach down to the back shore of Gloucester. However, getting anywhere near the surf was risky at best with the strong south/southeast wind driving huge waves crashing into the rocks. A few hardy, and sometimes not so smart anglers had their way hammering numerous large stripers Sunday morning all the while holding their breath as big waves crashed into them. Lucky for them they were not swept out to sea! Monday the bigger fish were gone and the fishing was slow throughout the day. However, Tuesday brought clear and breezy conditions but also large pods of baitfish. The bait was mostly small herring and I believe some peanut bunker were also in the mix. I got into a mini blitz at Back Beach with solid numbers of stripers ranging in size from 25 to 35 inches. But by Wednesday, with a cold front pushing through, the fishing quieted down again with only a few small fish taken and no bait blitzes. The good news is that on Thursday and Friday morning the bait showed up at Good Harbor and several good feeds happened and several anglers had success with topwater baits taking good numbers of 25-35 inch bass with a few blues mixed in. I expect the bait to hang in and the fishing should only improve this weekend. We have wind and rain in the forecast for Saturday into Sunday, which does not bode well for the boat anglers but surf anglers should do well along the area beaches (don’t overlook Gloucester Harbor Beaches!). If you intend to fish the rocks be aware of the dangers; a local angler was knocked off his perch by a rogue wave this week and swept along the rocks for 40 yards before he was lucky enough to get back to shore with his life. Need I say more?
Overall the fishing is shaping up well and I expect it will continue well into the month and beyond. I’ll maintain my weekly report for a few more weeks.
Porter B. and Brian O'C casting to blitzing bass behind Salt Island
One of several quality stripers taken at Back Beach
