Guys who fish the Merrimack and other estuaries, how will all this rain affect the fishing?

IMO it has, the water is very dark.They seem to want a darker colored top water plugs. Most of the fish are blowing clean out of the water.

I was up in the Mnts over the weekend and all the rivers up there are crested over. The Saco was way over it's banks and looked like the Colorado. Dark Brown.

Might as well hang it up, last year it totally screwed it up. plus
the gate at the Lawrence da is locked and has been for a month.

The Merrimack in Lowell was the highest I'd ever seen. It was dark and there was a lot of debris in the water. I managed to snap a few shots with my phone. And the thing in the water to the right of the wall is a 5 foot sign that is usually in the sand on the little beach there.

In my opinion the excess water will dirty up the river so much that the fishing will be lousey. It will also wash a ton of debrie downstream and make it almost impossible to fish any kind of jig or lure. The last time this happened it took a long time for the river to become fishable. :wall:

JUST Got in //water was flowing out like a race horse /beween the the dropping tide /rain & north wind //yet I had my best night in a L O N G T I M E :kewl:

big rvs like mmac your screw 4 a wk .may-b more..at the jetty could b alot diff..lots of dirty water pass-in through the bays w/ this rain ..who knows ??? tough way to start the season !!!!

Just got back from a small estuary down this way and the water was as dark brown as I have ever seen but I got some REAL nice fish lots of small,one around 15# and another around 25# and one I lost at the shore that looked to be bigger yet. All on Ledgerunner blueback herring color 5" split tail. Bob I NEED more you got to get back to pouring guy. By the way there was a friend of mine there he had taken a few small fish but could not come close to what I did with the blueback. Also the fish were rolling on the surface for an hour before I got there so he said but would not hit. Must be some kind of bait getting washed down by the rains.

This sux! Too much water to get to my spots without scuba gear. I think I'm going to start fishing with the Russians off the bridge. Just need to buy some 130# test and some gloves to pull em up.:laughs: I only get about 5-6 good weeks of fishing around my parts and it looks like at least some of that time is going to be a complete wash. No pun intended.:wall: :wall:

Thousands of gallons of raw sewage pouring into the Merrimack. I wouldn't fish it. I wouldn't want to be near it for the next couple of weeks.

35 million gallons a day from Haverhill
PLUS 115 million gallons a day from Lawrence.
Untreated sewage in the Mac.
Not counting any of the other garbage that washes down.
Plum Island probably smells just like just like Deer Island used to.

Can't wait till my well starts picking it up!:af: :af:

35 million gallons a day from Haverhill
PLUS 115 million gallons a day from Lawrence.
Untreated sewage in the Mac.
Not counting any of the other garbage that washes down.
Plum Island probably smells just like just like Deer Island used to.

Only the 42" line in Haverhill was breached. There was a concern that the Lawrence line would break but it did not.

That 35 million gallon per day figure is BS anyways. The entire city of Haverhill has average flows of around 10 million gallons per day.

See here:
http://www.ci.haverhill.ma.us/departments/water/waste_water/treatment.htm

Even if it was 35 million gallons per day, the Merrimac is currently flowing at something like 7 billion gallons per day. 35 million gallons of sewage per day - while definitely not a good thing - is a true "drop in the bucket".

IMO it has, the water is very dark.They seem to want a darker colored top water plugs. Most of the fish are blowing clean out of the water.
Tony, that's funny you say that, makes sence. They were blowing uo on Dannies like I've never seen yesterday. What a rush!!:bounce:

gf2020
I stand corrected.
They exaggerated in the news.
NEVER thought that would happen.
Drop in the bucket yes but I don't think I would want to wade anywhere inside the mouth of the river for a while.
Some of "IT" has to wash up somewhere.