Action, Parking, and a Birthday

The past few days with high tide and sunrise at the same time has produced schoolies at parking lot #1. Low tide down the river has consistently been productive. Worms and clams during the low tides have been the bait. Guys fishing off the jetties are using mackerel chunks, whole tinker macks, clams, and even squid strip. Heard of some keeper fish. As big as 40″ have been released.

Mackerel has been tough to find above Cape Ann. Pogies are starting to arrive. We just got some fresh mackerel in for the weekend caught over in Gloucester.

We have heard of schoolie stripers from PL#1 to the south jetty at dawn and dusk with lures and flies. But once the sun comes up, the morning bite shuts off and the bait guys will do better.

“Boy oh Boy what a mess Plum Island fishing has turned into. Went to the mouth of the river to fish at 4 am and parked in the lot there and when I returned to my car at 7am there was a parking ticket fee of 15 dollars to be paid for the 3 hrs I was there. It has happened to several other surf fishers I spoke with and they also were upset.”

“This is a blatant rip-off and a discouragement to us surf fishing people, and probably a loss of patronage to Surfland and other businesses. I have fished the island for over 60 yrs and now I have to look for a more fishing friendly place. Just look at what happened to the P.I. Refuge over the past 25 yrs with the “birders” running amuck and having things in their favor.”

“Let’s us surfing fishing people band together and petition the town to stop this B.S. and be supportive to the businesses that pay their taxes, and supply us sportsmen / sportswomen. I certainly hope this gets posted and watch the feedback come poring in.”

Regards, Ed Bonczar

Parking on Plum Island is a pain in the butt. On the Newbury end, there are only 4 no-cost parking spots for non-residents. Newbury residents with a parking tag they can get from the police department don’t fare much better. 5 spaces in the main lot. However, they can park along the East side of Northern Boulevard with that sticker. They ticket hard during the summer there too, so if you aren’t a resident, it’s a tough deal.

Of course you can pay to park. The fees, especially on a weekend, run between $5 and $20 in private lots. Many folks park at the PI bridge for free, and walk to the beach. That’s a long haul in waders though.

Up in Newburyport, the town lot charges different fees on weekdays/weekends. Weekdays $10/$15, weekends $12/$20. You can see the explanation here:

Watching this island kid grow up to be the man he is now has been a pleasure. Your Surfland family would like to wish you a happy birthday yesterday!

Liz says, “Call them the boys of summer. They were in Wednesday always catch loads of little fish on worms. They are the PRWR pack rats.” Bob reports, “Caught & released using a lite rod with a  6” black rubber eel from Surfland.”

Had a nice bite this morning (6/2) on outgoing tide bigger fish is close to 40 inches used my shoe ruler. Caught one 29” and a bunch smaller. Up and down river. Just had to find the bait.

Also this was from last week Thursday had a good morning. Plenty of fish at bottom of the tide in the inlet.

This fish was way back in 2008. Wish I was that skinny now.