Manchester By The Sea - September 27, 2010

A friend and I and our two kids went out w/ a guide yesterday. We went out of Beverly harbor, going north to Manchester, up to Kettle Island.

The goal for the day was to put the kids on a big fish, which we accomplished (a 33" striper!).

We ended up only landing two fish. I caught a schoolie-sized striper.

The guide had us working top-water plugs. I had two other stripers take a swipe at the plug, to no avail. The 33" was taken on a live mackerel.

My goal was to learn something new about the area, which is that I have given up on Graves Island too quickly (Graves Island is to the right of black and white beaches, closer to Singing Beach). There was some bird activity and that's where I picked up the schoolie-sized striper. The place to focus on is between the island and the beach. It's shallow w/ rocks, giving a lot of cover. The guide suggested a black and purple puglisi fly, on a shooting head line. Since I landed one and had another swat at a top-water plug, my suggestion is a gurgler fly, on a floating or intermediate (recommended by Orvis in recent article) line. Also, I recommend working the beach, too.