Merrimac River Fishing Report

Cashman Park Stripers Incoming Tide

This is my favorite spot for consistent striper fishing on an incoming tide from shore. It doesn't get much better from shore. I fished it May through October this year perhaps 30x and caught at least 100 stripers. Maybe 1/10 of the fish are 25" or more. August is painfully slow, and I was skunked October 27. In addition to Stripers, you can catch HUGE eels on a rod and real in the summer, and you can fill a 5-gallon bucket of green crabs in no time with drop or throw crab traps (Unless you are heading off shore to ground fish, I don't know what you would use the green crabs for.). If you put in enough time, you might lock into a Sturgeon by accident. And if you know what you are doing, you might land it (see my profile pic.lol).

LOCATION: Park at Cashman Park and fish any of the shore line up to the 1A bridge. There is plenty of parking. You'll find a lot of structure, rips, and public and private docs.

TIDE: The entire incoming tide is productive. Check a current chart too. You want to fish the peak of the current hard. Most importantly at this part of the river, the last hour of the incoming is the MOST productive. For the outgoing tide, I move to Deer Island, up river, or Plum Island, at the mouth.

RIG: 20lb mono, 4 or 5 hook w/a mono leader > swivel > 1-2 Oz egg sinker

BAIT: Clams or seaworms. Clams and seaworms are eaten voraciously equal, but clams hold a little tighter with the current. I've tried everything else alive, dead, or fake and failed (even a live eel in the middle of a blitz). I've watched countless others throw everything else and fail.

TECHNIQUE: Work/bounce bait with the current, keep a tight line, and stick them hard when they hit. On good days in the spring in fall, every cast can produce a hit in peak times.

PICTURES: The two attached pics are from Sept 1. The bigger fish was 25". The two on the ground are average (maybe 16). The reason they're included is because I was catching them 2 at a time.

• Added By: live4fish on 10/31/13 01:38 PM
• Location: Merrimac River
• Report Date: 9/1/2013
• # of Hotspots: 2
• # of Photos: 1
• # of Fish Caught: 8
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