Fish Finder
Frank Dwyer
The heat has a firm grip on our region, and with that many fish have headed for deeper, cooler water. As we near the end of July, anglers targeting bass need to be out at night or predawn. Bluefish are still tearing it up in most of our waters although not in typical numbers, while off shore the tuna fishing continues to be decent.
Marblehead: (3 hooks) Anglers have been using the abundance of pollock in the water and live-lining them off Marblehead for good-sized bass. Jigheads and soft plastics have been working well at night out on the Neck.
Salem: (3 hooks) Pogies are still in Salem Harbor and large bass continue to pursue them. If you can snag a few and either live-line or dead-float them, you should be rewarded with bass over 30 inches. Salem Willows has slowed for bait anglers, but bluefish continue to be plentiful.
Beverly: (3 hooks) Bait fishermen have found some bass action in the predawn hours near West Beach. Anglers fishing the Islands have done well for keeper bass with live-lined pogies and tube-n-worm rigs. The Beverly Fishing Pier continues to provide decent bass action for bait fishermen.
Cape Ann: (3 hooks) Anglers fishing the rocks from Manchester to Rockport have found some larger bass at night. The ledges from Pickworth Point to Magnolia Harbor are well worth investigating. Bluefishing has been quite consistent, with some real monsters in the mix. Rockport beaches are also fishing well at night with large plugs and Sluggos working well. Anglers targeting tuna have done well at Jeffrey's Ledge and the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank.
Ipswich: (3 hooks) Greenhead season is at its height, making daylight fishing less enjoyable. Small baitfish continues to be in the waters off Crane Beach, and fly fishermen continue to do well exploring the area. There is plenty of action for blues and bass in Ipswich Bay.
Newbury: (3 hooks) On the Parker River Wildlife Reservation, Parking Lots 1, 6 and 7 are now open to walk-on fishermen, but be forewarned that it is the peak of the greenhead season. The Parker River has been fishing slowly, but patient anglers have found bass predawn and at night.
Newburyport/Plum Island: (3 hooks) Anglers are finding bass and blues at Plum Island point and off the front beach. Mackerel are still quite plentiful. Fishermen working Joppa Flats at night with eels, unweighted Sluggos and large swimming plugs have found cooperative keeper-size bass. Boat anglers and surfcasters report decent catches of flounder along the Plum Island coastline. Party boats are still providing their patrons with good ground fishing. Lastly, I neglected to mention last week that an angler fishing off the jetty on Plum Island landed a 28-pound cod. That's quite unusual from shore.
Salisbury: (3 hooks) Trolling off the Salisbury Beach area has been good for bluefish to 15 pounds. Deep swimming Rapalas have been working very well. Bass fishing has been fair at night for surfcasters fishing the beach.
New Hampshire seacoast: (4 hooks) Bait is still thick from Great Bay to the mouth of the Piscataqua, and the fishing has been quite good. Live-lining mackerel is your best bet for a large linesider. Bluefish have been somewhat spotty, so the mackerel have been hanging around. Cod and pollock fishing has been excellent for the charter captains.
Frank Dwyer is a fishing and outdoor columnist based in Newburyport. Contact him at dwyer.f@comcast.net or www.frankdwyeroutdoors.blogspot.com
Tip of the week
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If you don't have Polarized sunglasses as part of your fishing gear, you are doing yourself a disservice. Polarized lenses cut glare and allow fishermen to see into the water with ease to identify bait and catch more fish.
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