Merrimack River (Lawrence/Haverhill)

Kerry Lynn · #1 07-06-2011, 09:23 PM

me and my girl friends were wondering what stripers would eat outta the freezer? Ive used hot dogs before and caught some.. Just wondering if they eat other stuff aswell maybe like chicken or left over chunks of steak.. the help would be greatly appreciated thanks

Roccus · #2 07-07-2011, 10:38 AM

The calender has turned to July.. those bass that were chasing herring and shad up to the Lawrence dam have returned to the brackish water and the sea... those baits ( especialy the liver) will only attract catfish, bull heads and eels in those waters now... IF it were earlier in the seasn ( Late may -June) herring ( bought , vacume sealed and frozen) would be your best bet... in years past, i have seen them taken on night crawlers drifted under a float... and of coarse on plugs and jigs...as well as live herring ( when it was legal)

None of those baits( the freezer baits) are what i ( or most season bass vetrans) would call prime baits, I'm not saying they wont work, I've seen bass swallow some bizzare things.. they are just not prime.... you could use them to catch eels and then fish the eels... you could also bait shiner traps ( the river has an abundance of them) and catch shiners and drift them for bait as well... my advise, is to move towards the ocean if you want to score on stripers for the remainder of the season... and use local baits ( sea worms, cut mackerel, clams or herring) for dead sticking, or drift and cast live eels or plugs.. those baits will give you your best chance at a bass...

tight lines
Roc

StriperHyper · #3 07-07-2011, 11:37 AM

How ya hitting 'em down your way Roc? I haven't seen many posts/pictures from ya this year except for the few when ya headed out with Coalman. It's been sporadic up here but fish are still around, just gotta work a little harder to get them.....couple weeks ago the macks were so thick you could walk practically walk across the water on them, now ya gotta put in a little work for them as well.

Kerry Lynn · #4 07-07-2011, 11:41 AM

we went yesterday to just a look and we seen a couple huge ones jumping out of the water (dunno if they were bass or what) are carp in there now?

Kerry Lynn · #5 07-07-2011, 11:50 AM

I guess im just trying to find out whats in there around this time besides catfish

Roccus · #6 07-07-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StriperHyper

How ya hitting 'em down your way Roc? I haven't seen many posts/pictures from ya this year except for the few when ya headed out with Coalman. It's been sporadic up here but fish are still around, just gotta work a little harder to get them.....couple weeks ago the macks were so thick you could walk practically walk across the water on them, now ya gotta put in a little work for them as well.

fishing has been pretty good, I'm seeing more medium fish than I have in about 10 years, the river fishing inside has been off a tick, not as consistant as it should be... one night youre wackin' em a and the next night you're taking a boat ride to see where they went... last few nights have been pretty good, last thursday was the best night since the Sept. blitz of 08... my fishng partner and I found a large school of mixed, fish out on the beach well north of the river... everything from 10lbs to 40+lbs... we had them solid for 4 hours before the bite died with the tide... I left for Maine ( saco) the next morning... but those fish were heading north..

Tuesday, I had fish on the incoming and outgoing, all on wire and plugs... no monsters that night.. biggest fish about 25lbs.. most in the low teens..

last night the T storms kept me home...hopefully tinight is good too...

here is a pictre of Mike and I for ya Will.... we were busy, often with double.. not alot of time for opictures weights etc.... I took about a dozen that night.. no need to post them.. it's pretty much more of the same...BTW.... everything was released

Roccus · #7 07-07-2011, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerry Lynn

we went yesterday to just a look and we seen a couple huge ones jumping out of the water (dunno if they were bass or what) are carp in there now?

most likely carp... but, there are quite a few short nose sturgeon in the river now.. they scare the crap out of me in the middle of the night when I'm in the boat when they jump (clearing the water like a salmon) 5' from me..

StriperHyper · #8 07-07-2011, 02:54 PM

Good deal Roc, glad to see it's business as usual down in your neck of the woods. Let me know if ya ever make it up to the Saco area again, I'd love to meet ya and maybe do a little fishing. Ok maybe just meet, I don't think you'd have much fun deadsticking with me catching 20-30" fish, LOL!!!!! Keep the pictures coming though, love seeing them cows. . . . . .

jimhey · #9 07-08-2011, 05:59 PM

Has anyone been catching any Mackerel? They were in a few weeks ago?

ThankYou
JimHey

Roccus · #10 07-11-2011, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimhey

Has anyone been catching any Mackerel? They were in a few weeks ago?

ThankYou
JimHey

yup.

jimi4290 · #11 07-15-2011, 05:54 PM

nice fish Roc....very nice indeed.

dsearles · #12 08-10-2011, 09:37 PM

You guys seem to have some experience fishing the Merrimack. I just bought a new boat (17' Starweld) and was thinking of doing some fishing on the Merrimack. What kind of fish there between Haverhill and the Hines Bridge ? I kinda new to fishing ( 3 years or so) and have really done only fresh water (bass/pickerel, ect) so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, David

Roccus · #13 08-11-2011, 08:59 AM

Welcome to the site David.... the merrimack is a diverse and wonderfull water shed... the area you speak of, tends to hold more warm water/fresh water species this time of year...including some world class carp... In the spring ( Mid May - June) striped bass run up river as far as the Lawrence dam, by July, most have receded back to the salt..

for Salt water fish, you will need to move closer to the ocean, this being August, your activity will be featured in and around the mouth... but be fore warned, it can be deadly....any easterly can turn the mouth white and frothy, as well as produce a nasty swell that pushes against the out going tide..

right now, there are good quanities of small and medium bass in the river system, as well as a few monsters... the mouth has been producing blitzes on giant gorrilla blue fish the last few evening... todays, southerly blow will most likely put an end to that fishing until the wind turns east again...

be safe out there and once again welcome to the site.

Roc