C-MAP Featured Hotspot: Joppa Flat

Joppa Flat is a perennial striper destination that comes alive with fish in June

From the end of May through June, stripers will be present in many locations throughout the Merrimack River estuary, from the flats and all the way upstream to the Great Stone Dam in Lawrence. The fish will be on the move, hunting the entire river in search of food. After the first week of June, river water temperatures rise and Joppa Flat is the place to be.

At the mouth of the Merrimack River, Joppa Flat is a perennial striper destination that comes alive with fish in June and often gives up big bass through the summer, particularly at night.

There are many ways to target stripers on the flats, but it’s particularly popular with fly-fishermen and light-tackle anglers who fish soft-plastic stickbaits (Slug-Gos and Hogys). Other popular techniques include drifting live mackerel and trolling tube-and-worm rigs. The shallows also attract numbers of kayak fishermen, especially at night, and there are some shore anglers who will trudge several hundred yards across the Joppa mud flat near the bottom of the outgoing tide to reach the drop off.

The most important factor when fishing Joppa is the tides. The rising flood tide carries with it a higher oxygen concentration and hordes of baitfish seeking refuge. The falling tide and stronger flowing currents bring a sudden rise in water temperature that stirs the baitfish and sounds the dinner bell for stripers.
Without a doubt, the outgoing tide on Joppa Flat is the most productive. When it happens the stripers will be in feeding mode and will eat just about any type of lure or bait. It’s simply a matter of positioning the boat or kayak on the Joppa flat in the appropriate water depth and allowing the tide to carry the boat down the flat. The most productive depth is typically from 5 to 9 feet depending on the boat position on the flat and tide time, but staying within that range through the first 4 hours of the drop should be the goal. At the tide turn, most experienced striper anglers will begin their drift well up river of the flat, usually starting within the mooring field of the American Yacht Club in Newburyport. They will drift down onto the flat while making casts to each side of their drift track.

Be prepared for a sizable crowd of other anglers out on the flat with you. When you have completed your drift down the flat to the #13 green buoy, make your way out to the river channel before heading back up river to set up another drift. Do not race back up river over the flat and through other anglers as this only serves to spook the stripers and irritate anglers. Be respectful to all and enjoy fishing the Joppa!

As the tide drops further, the average water depth on the flat will decrease to less than 4 feet for most of the flat. This shallower Joppa water is no obstacle to the kayak crowd as they will still find big stripers in the skinny water. However, if you are fishing from a deep draft vessel, this would be a good time to leave Joppa and move across the main channel to work the somewhat deeper Salisbury Flat. Start your drift opposite the 13 can and float down river maintaining a water depth of 7 to 9 feet until reaching Black Rock Creek .

For More information on Fishing Joppa Flat and the North Shore of Massachusetts, visit Captain Skip Montello’s site North Coast Angler.