new to salt

[Eastciderida]

Looking to break my quabbin seal and do some boat fishing in the salt. What's some good lures to just go out and huck around? Looking to hook up with anything that would be accessible in a 16ft boat. Probably be fishing mouth of Merrimack and down around point judith.

[Baitbucket]

Plenty of places to get out in a 16ft'er. Hell ive had my 12ft yak 3 miles out lol.

Talk to Allan (stripernut) on theses forums. He will probably go out with you and show u how, where, and when. Its good to get a couple trips under your belt with someone who knows whats what. The ocean is a different animal.

[Jschumacher]

I launch in Winthrop at the Town launch. Very short run to the Boston Harbor Islands. Lots of fishing in the area. Flounder, Sea Bass, Inshore Cod, Stripers.
Jigging up live Macks out off Martins Ledge and slow troll them will get you onto some stripers. Also trolling a tube and worm works very well. I find red to be the most productive color on the tube.

[Baitbucket]

Daiwa SP Minnows are a good choice for hard plastics, Hogy makes a great soft plastic with their 3/4oz Barbarian jig heads. Good for casting and shallow vertical jigging.

Jeffs suggestion of Tube and Worm is very very effective as well. Caught TONS of bass out of my yak, as well as some nice ones out of the boat. Hogy also makes one of the best 24" Tube. Red and black are the only two colors i use. Just slow troll (1-2mph) them as close to the bottom as you can. Hogy has videos on their site. If u can find macks they are the way to go. They make a cheap ($50) sabiki rod that will make storing the sabiki rigs much easier.

[Knot there yet]

Mouth of Merrimack ? I have 18' Lund w/150hp a d I stay away from mouth. Parker river ,Joppa flats.
 Got a few friends that live out west they would trailer to cape or Hampton. With Mass pike going all the way to revere now. I ve coverted them to fishing Boston harbor. Winthrop has old school concrete ramp no bump rails couple of big pot holes too. Blossom st. Lynn ramp nice but surf and wind can be a challenge. Stoneham boat works in Saugus on Saugus River ramp is not great but in River no surf just current. Salem has a few good ramp. Kernwood ramp is great  and has docks with lots of parking cheap ($5). Long no wake zone. Liberty st ramp great too but longer no wake zone. (30-40 min. Trip) For us aluminium boat guys there is mystic ramp. You launch in fresh water Locke out to salt then back. Locke operated a little deaf so blow horn early and offend.
 Tube and worm is great to but not those imitators. Santini tube and worm out fish all the rest. I agree red and black are the colors you want. Good worms is key also. Santini tubes comes with direction on how to fish it.never put rod down or in holder.
 You. CAll Pete Santini at his shop Fishing Fanatics Everett MA. he guides. Rent the legend himself. You'll see why his tubes are the best. He'll put on Mack's and stripers.
 The info and stories he tells you will be worth the price alone.
Getting and taking good advice is the key to success in life and in fishing!

[stripernut]

Probably be fishing mouth of Merrimack and down around point judith.

Eastciderida, I don't know your "skill" level in a boat and the salt, but keep in mind that the mouth of the Merrimack is said to be the 2nd most dangerous inlet in the US. The best part about the Merrimack (I have guided on it for over 20 years) is that most of the time, the best fishing is in the river, not in the mouth. Beside fishing the mouth of the river, you are with all the boaters that don't know what they are doing! As to most fishing, think presentation and you will catch more fish... The Tsunami Split Tail Minnow is one lure that I don't leave home with out and can be fished many different ways and has caught fish (fresh and salt) all over the country for me, but again, it is all in the presentation!

[james1981]

 I can attest to the mouth being very nasty,  I have seen the swell get pretty big in there.  I would feel more comfortable in a boat at least 20ft long venturing out through the mouth. But I have seen some very small boats in the river itself... Just be careful and fish safely...


 

[xjbob99]

i wouldnt even try the mouth of the merrimac with a 20 horse motor. That current moves.

[stripernut]

i wouldnt even try the mouth of the merrimac with a 20 horse motor. That current moves.

True, but years ago I was "chased" out of the mouth by the Coast Guard (killjoys) a couple time, riding (surfing) the big swells in a dory (for fun) and all I had was oars... I know where to row and find the "slower" water, but for most boats it is an issue of free board... That 14 ft dory (Salsbury Point Rowing Skiff, built for me at Lowell's Boat Shop) would "rise" up with any wave, where many boats, a swell would just roll on in... I am not kidding that there are people that walk the Plum Island beaches in the winter to find the bones of fisherman that were lost in the Merrimack in the summer, and they find them... The mouth of the river needs to be respected...

[200fisher]

http://youtu.be/kLXsKeybUeA

[porkpiehat]

What do you have for the 16 footer? I just bought a used lund that I was planning to also use in the salt occasionally but I'm going to hold onto my RIB for a bit for striper fishing. Having a RIB has probably made me a sloppy boater I'm sure I would have sunk a conventional hull.

How did that work out?

[Eastciderida]

Had a 16ft Starcraft deep v. Been out halfway to block island in it. Also been in some 4-6 ft seas in the same area when reports were 1-2 feet only had a 20hp on it so made climbing the swell a little scary. Sold the boat last year now I have an old town pdl kayak then I hit the ocean with

[Knot there yet]

Had a 16ft Starcraft deep v. Been out halfway to block island in it. Also been in some 4-6 ft seas in the same area when reports were 1-2 feet only had a 20hp on it so made climbing the swell a little scary. Sold the boat last year now I have an old town pdl kayak then I hit the ocean with

your in box is full. Can't pm you location north shore. Broad sound

[Roccus]

 16 ' boat in the mouth of the river is not uncommon...or unheard of... I've been in on more rescues from bigger boats than small ones... any size boat  can get in trouble there in a hurry. Caution is always advised.... tides... SIZE of tides and wind direction all must be factored in... I've been fishing the MM river on my own ( no parental restraints)  for  50 years.. 3 -4 nights a week.. and have logged countless hours during the day.. a good many of them in a 16' mirrocraft with a 50 HP mecr ( which I went as far as the isle of shoals with looking for mackerel for bait)...my current boat is only 18'  with a 115 and I've been fishing there in that since 1986... there were many years when we fished cod all winter in the mouth of the river in those 16' boats..often times sliding them over beach ice to launch,,, story for another day...

as noted.. best fishing is usually up inside the river.. there is a diverse network of marshes.. rock piles  and flats the set the dinner table for hungry bass...water temps at high tide are running in the mid 60's.. bottom of the tide is a touch over 70.. depending on location... the middle  hours of the drop have been very good all week... early in the drop the warm water is backed up flowing over the denser cold water.. once the tide runs out an hour or so the temp drops down rapidly to the mid 60's and the fish turn on... latter in the tide it once again goes over 70 and the fishing slows down...most fish are in the 8 to 10lb range but every night I  see a few fish in the 20lb class... 26lb was the best fish this week...live eels.. white sluggos with a feather teaser 18"  in front have done big business..

 tight lines
  Roc

[lowaccord66]

Thanks for sharing that info Joe, the housy down by me has been fishing the same regarding the tides and temp swings  Also if I talk to Jimmy I will tell him you say hi.  You taught that guy how to make quite the jointed eel.  I lost my last one one a cow in a breachway and have missed them since.  Are you still spinning wood?