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Date: July 17, 2020 Body of Water: Crane Beach Surf - Ipswich, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Waning gibbous; New - three days Tides: Low at about 4 PM; just about mid and falling; slack low; and then starting to rise Boat: None, surf fishing With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 2:30 PM - 5 PM Conditions: Post-rain; cloudy but clearing; generally pretty calm; water clear and reportedly 62 degrees F In my short time in Massachusetts, I have been both pleased and impressed with the state park system and public access to resources in general. I was doubly delighted to find that there's a private organization with similar goals, and it was simultaneously natural and my pleasure to join The Trustees; check them out at www.thetrustees.org . Our first visit to a Trustees property was to Crane Beach in Ipswich on a weekday afternoon. It was nice to get away from work for a few hours, and the controlled access to this beach made the visit both "safe" and pleasant. Once A and M were comfortably set up on the beach, I walked down the beach to the left with a backpack full of surf tackle and a single spinning rod in hand. I'd never fished here, but had surprising success from the shore of Plum Island (directly across the mouth of the Parker River; see the October 7, 2018 post at: www.numenonfunfishing.com/numenonfunfishing/archives/10-2018) in my other fishing visit to the area. With the mid-day, mid-tide conditions I didn't expect much, but the water did look promising; and the gray skies and cool waters offered the chance at finding some active fish. My first location was a sandy point guarding the southern edge of the outlet's mouth. Deep water swept near shore here. The outflow from the estuary collided with the wind-driven current along the beach. But there were no signs of birds, bait or fish, and nothing responded to any of my presentations. These included pencil poppers, diamond jigs, swim-baits, and bucktail jigs. This was a good-looking spot, but I didn't want to burn up all my time in an empirically unproductive location. Fifteen minutes later I was set up amongst a rock pile to the northwest. A mild current rip was setting up, and a few boats worked the area, too. I was a little concerned about lack of depth (at least for the nearest half of my casting range.) I started here with a small swim-bait, just looking for a bite, but quickly switched to a Hogy popper to cover water and try to expose any fish activity. On my second or third cast with the popper, a small striper intercepted my bait near the transition from the deeper water to the rock field. It wasn't much of a striper; just 15 or 16 inches, but it was something! And, it brought in all its schoolmates as I reeled it in; it was accompanied by a half dozen other excited bass up to the mid-20-inch range. My GoPro was surprisingly dead, and the bass became unhooked while I searched for my camera; it was gone before I could capture a photo. There were fish to be caught! But the popper revealed no others in the next half hour, and when the tide slackened and the skies brightened, I switch to scratching the bottom with sand eel imitations. This produced nothing. Now with the tide beginning to rise, I returned to the waters surrounding the sandy point where I'd started. A couple of fisherman were fishing the point with bait on the bottom to no avail. I explored the adjacent waters with a Hogy epoxy jig in olive, but by 5 PM, I'd joined the girls on the beach to simply relax and watch the beach for signs of life. What do I have to say about this? Although the fishing was not great, it's always gratifying to get hit in a new location. And it was very cool to watch the school of stripers chasing my hooked fish in excitement. But the real value of the day was getting away from work and enjoying some actual fun with family. This has been a bit lacking in this Season of COVID. We were all happy to share this new place on our own terms, and we enjoyed some sightseeing in the area as well as an excellent take-out meal from a small restaurant in Essex. We returned home, tired and satisfied. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
1 Comment
Michael
8/15/2021 08:46:58 pm
I enjoy reading your posts. I’m new to surf fishing but have done a bit at our local beach, Crane Beach. What rod/reel combo would you suggest for fishing this area and the surrounding spots, Plum Island, etc?
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