Hey folks...

I'm spending next Thursday night up on Plum Island. First time up on the north shore, and I can't wait! We're staying at Blue(?) Inn, and since its right on the beach, I'll have to bring some gear... (Yippeee!)

I'm not expecting the keys to the castle, of course, but I was wondering if anyone might offer some insight as to where I might be able to toss a few casts out there? I'm a complete rook on the Plum. I'd be happy to get into Blues, Bass, whatever..

Thanks!

Go to Surfland! Spend a couple bucks and they will certainly put you in the right direction. Even if the fishing sucks surfland is always a good time.

Thanks Luds.. Already had that stop in mind for sure.. I hope they sell eels..

They do sell eels.

You can usually pick up some fish at the mouth of the merrimac....trust me..... no Spot Burn there...the place is always packed.

Kay will help you out at surfland, she always tries to put people on fish.....good people there at surfland.

hope you don't mind crowds.

if your right on the beach sounds like you should just walk out your front door :)

i do so i travel a few miles south.

Stay inside during the daytime...if you've never encountered greenhead flies, it should be an experience if you decide to venture out during the day :-)
Avon Skin So Soft works as a repellent on some people...

dude, blue is a pretty damn nice place, should be a great time!
yeah, def watch out for the greenheads, my advice would be to walk out your door at night or pre-dawn and either walk the beach tossing eels or if you are in a more leisurely mood, get some sea worms and just soak them, they seem to be the best bait to put on the bottom around there

try the mouth in the dead of night...im sure you could cull out a few schoolies.

think small though, i.e. small bucktails tiped with rinds or small sluggos on 1 oz leadheads, or even bombers.

Greenheads should not be so bad by next week. Walk right out in front of Blue and walk south into the refuge at dawn and at night.

Go to Surfland it is worth the trip.

If you are going to fish bai,t worms out front usually do pretty well. If you are plugging metal is good this time of year as well as some surface lures. Distance can be important there so plan accordingly.

Kay at Surfland is great and will tell you what to use and when and where to fish!!! Of course with that information it helps to buy a few things from the shop also!!!
She will reccomend things to use!!!
Fish at sunrise and before dusk to avoid the beach crowds!!!
I would wear long pants with a long sleeve shirt and hat to keep the bugs to a minimum!!!
Around high tide is the best for stripers and low tide for blues!!!
You can fish off the jetty at around low tide, but be CAREFUL!!!
Some people go all the way out to the end of the jetty and fish!!!

:tooth:If you are there only one night - and I have to assume it will be next Thursday as you said next and not today. You are going to have a 4:09 +- am high tide. Loose the sleep and fish that tide right in front of the Blues. There is a rocky breakwater there and you can toss a live eel there and catch a biggie. PI has been slow, but it is due to open soon.

Beach at high tide -- river at low tide, the river is swift but productive

Kay is the Guru of PI and will steer you right.

Good luck.:tooth:

Right on, Folks! Thanks for all the help. If y'all ever make it down to SoCo, I'd be glad to return the favor.

It will be next Thursday, and I'm glad to hear that the early morning on Friday will be a good time to fish, as I'm thinking that's going to be my best opportunity. Kayaking, beach, and dinner the night before with some friends.

Everyone's mentioning the greenheads, it must really be a problem... Man eating flies? Are they bad at night, too?

The ability to fish right in front of Blue would be great and it sounds as if that's not only possible, but that it's a great place to fish. A friend or two will be joining me. I'm feeling better and better about this trip! I'm thinking the best fit for me is going to be eeling in the early AM.

Why don't those bugs make it to the NH coast which is right up the street from Plum?

Dunno. I'm glad they don't make it down our way, though.. How's the health, Steve?

Just spoke with a good friend from Newburyport today. I'm having lunch with him up there and doing some recon with him this afternoon. Thanks for all the tips, everybody!

I'm going to see kay for a headlamp and some other goodies..

Why don't those bugs make it to the NH coast which is right up the street from Plum?

Because they live and breed in the marsh.
They are almost gone and no they don't come out at night or in the rain.

Brian L.- I'm doing much better, thanks.

Everyone's mentioning the greenheads, it must really be a problem... Man eating flies?

I once had 2 of them follow me into my car and attack me the entire ride off of Plum Island....seriously........They are voracious and never give up, but they are just about done for the season.

I would also stay off the jetty, korkers or not that place is a death trap. Boulders the size of a VW bug, covered in slime, with gaps between them that could swallow a man whole.

Just spoke with a good friend from Newburyport today. I'm having lunch with him up there and doing some recon with him this afternoon. Thanks for all the tips, everybody!

When you get back, can you post how your greenhead experience was?
I've got an invite for some boat fishing up there w/ a coworker, but fear the greenheads...:err:

When you get back, can you post how your greenhead experience was?
I've got an invite for some boat fishing up there w/ a coworker, but fear the greenheads...:err:


Go for it.....you'll be fine on the boat

Just got back from the North Shore. We checked out the hotel (Blue-What a great spot!) and made a Surfland Stop. Grabbed a headlamp and an eelbag and asked about some spots. Finished the trip with Harpoon IPA and Raw Bar samplers at Michael's Harborside. My bud said the greenheads are gone for the most part. Looks like steep open beach in both directions in front of the hotel with a couple curves along the way. Reminds me a little of the back beach without the sand bars. Lotsa walking and casting in my future, I think.

My buds tell me SoCo's been killer from the boats all week. I'm heading down there early in the AM with a couple friends. Good fishing week for me if I get out twice in 7 days time. Woohoo!

BL - you mentioned you are going yaking -- the Joppa Flats is a great spot to yak and fish. many monsters taken from the flats from a yak. got Tow?? go to the yaking sites and look for riddler. PM him and he will fill you in. Also a few on this site that fish from a yak. good luck.

Well...the good news is the greenheads seem to be gone. I stopped by Surfland then strolled down to the beach at the end of the street. No mosquitos, no greenheads. :-)

Picked up a bunch of eels for the boat trip. Kay said people on boats have been having luck but not so much the shore people, so the fish are coming back.

Spent from 7:30pm to 1am out on the coworker's boat and spent the early part of it wandering around practicing casts until enough of the tide came in. Mosquitos apparently can fly over water pretty well but at least you can use bug spray to keep them away :-)

The two coworkers got a hit or two before 10:30pm and the fish got off but that was a good sign that there would be fish at PI finally. Chummed w/ shads(? a nice couple gave them to me as they were leaving the launch) at another spot for a little bit and got another hit, then we spent some time pulling the eel/shad baited lines out of the prop because we didn't yank the lines out of the water before moving the boat (loads of fun). While doing this, one coworker pulled in a 34" 12# (yep, skinny w/ all the bait around???) out. Then the boat coworker pulled in a 38" 20# after a bit of a fight before the hoards of boats roamed over and we left before crashing into someone. We tried a few different spots after than and hit the launch at 1am. Talked to another boat at the launch who caught 4 all on eels (ours were on black sluggos).

Me, I think I'm going to change my nickname to Pepe Le Pieu...skunkeroonie for me again but I didn't expect anything more. I tried everything from swim lures to bass kandy to striper magnets to sluggos to baiting dead shad. The fish must smell me a mile away :-P

Scariest time of the night: pea soup fog w/ 10' visibility and trying to navigate the minefield of sailboats all over the river on the way back from the flats. Parking your sailboat in the middle of the water w/ no warning lights seems like a dumb thing to do :-P

I might try Plum Island Kayaking's fishing tour in a few weeks to get the skunk off again. The flats is a pretty cool area.

[QUOTE=kenyee;60950
Scariest time of the night: pea soup fog w/ 10' visibility and trying to navigate the minefield of sailboats all over the river on the way back from the flats. Parking your sailboat in the middle of the water w/ no warning lights seems like a dumb thing to do :-P.[/QUOTE]


It's called a mooring area!!!!..your Damn lucky you didnt find half tide rocks, which is in the middle of all those sail boats.. then you'd realy have something to be scared of!

Coworker's boat only has a 10" draft, so it probably would have been ok. Why in the world would you put a mooring area between a boat launch and the mouth of the river? It's like selling parking spots in the middle of a major road, then not marking it w/ lights and seeing how many people can hit it in the dark.... :-P

Boats on anchor in an anchorage, outside of navigation channels are not required to be lighted...

rirockhound: the navigation channel between these boats is really narrow. It really does look like boats scattered through the channel, especially in the fog. Picture both sides of the river w/ moored sailboats and a narrow channel in between that doesn't go straight. I'll have to take a pic the next time I'm up that way. I've seen other mooring areas that are pretty far away from a nav channel though I still think the concept isn't a good idea :rollem:
We did probably miss a channel marker in the fog soup though...

Kenyee, half tide rocks are totally exposed approx half way thu the tide. when you came in, if you went off course to the left you may have went right over them. luckily it was still near high tide.

sea bass: thanks...good to know :-)
Unfortunately, we had to change batteries on our GPS so we couldn't backtrack on the way back.