Fish the Area During the Spring and Fall Runs to
Maximize You Catch of Striped Bass
MID-OCTOBER,
IPSWICH, MA ---- The high wind and cold weather pattern finally having broken
and another early-fall midweek day off announcing itself with the buzz of the
alarm clock, I drive north to Ipswich's Pavilion Beach with the kayak strapped
to the roof, launch from the beach's narrow ribbon of sand, and probe with
trolling gear the 20-foot depths which cave away from the shores of nearby
desolate and sandy Plum Island's Sandy Point.
A narrow
tidal strait runs between the island and the main boat channel at Sandy Point,
about a half mile paddle east of the put-in, so I troll a tube-and-worm in the
tidal flow waiting for the tide to attain its maximum velocity of about four
knots.
Overseen
by a variety of state, federal and local agencies, Plum Island is a lengthy
national wildlife refuge just two miles out of Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Tides run moderately fast along the southern and western the shores of the
island. The island and its waters accessible from three put-ins. The island's
marshes and shores hold extensive striper habitat. During the fall larger fish
feed close to the island.
A glance
at the chart shows why: both island and marsh are blessed with a rich plethora
of channels and dropoffs, in the form of sandbars and shoals, along the
island's eastern shore, where a whitewater break forms on the shallows.
Meanwhile the tidal current, along the back of the island and at Sandy Point,
is predictable and consistent. Trolling is a good tactic here.
There are
distinct dents in the island to land at along its inner shores; a rocky section
off the ocean side; the aforementioned tidal gap; a finally the eleven
mile-long outer shoreline of the island itself. Mackerel and herring ---
favored striped bass forage --- like to school along the flanks of the island
in the fall, providing soon-to-migrate bass with the fuel they need for the journey
back to the coastal waters of the mid-Atlantic.
Anglers
who fish the area three hours on either side of the tides in winds from any
direction but the northeast and northwest can't go wrong here. Mid-tide
outgoing especially creates sufficient tidal movement off Sandy Point and in
the island's back marshes to coax baitfish into holding patterns.
Striped
bass tend to hang in the backeddies or along the edges of the flats off Sandy
Point waiting for forage to flutter past. Low winds render the whorls made in
the water by the current easier to discern from tail brushings, so too from the
swirls and upwelled watery mushrooms which indicate that the tide has bent
around a change in the underwater topography or is flexing over a rise in the
sea bottom.
What takes
place during the fall along this lengthy stretch of Ipswich and Newburyport
shoreline is as what happens all over the North Shore during the spring and
fall: anglers venturing onto the water with concern that the weather changes of
those two season have disrupted the fishing will discover that the fishing
drops off only because anglers haven't been on the water. The fish are still
there in abundance until late October.
To access
the area, launch a hand-carry boat from Pavilion Beach in Ipswich, a powerboat
from the town landing in Essex or from the municipal ramp in downtown
Newburyport. Caution include the mouth the Essex River, the mouth of the
Merrimack, the roughwater conditions that kick up if the wind is against the
tide off Plum Island's Sandy Point.
