Fishing near Topsfield in Essex County, MA

Check Prices

• Power Eggs
• Our typical Merrimack bucket contains DAt food boilies, chick peas as well as a bread crumb/anise/oats/ferret food ground bait.
• This time around we kept it simple. Chick peas, Dat food and a good anise/pepper ground mix did the trick.
• Soft plastic 8" worm
• Chicks Peas are slamming them right now. Pescaviva corn trout pellet flavored is also producing. We always have DAT food as well and Maple peas
• We used a variety of things. Chick peas and Dat food are staples now, never do I go anywhere without them. This trip I added Pescaviva "trout pellet" flavored sweet corn, Wacker Bait Pips in Tutti Fruity. The winning combo of the day was 1 chick on top of two sweet corn on a long hair.
  
  
• KVD 1.5, sunfish colored
• 1lb 13oz on a creature bait on a jig head
  2-1/4lber on a Squarebill
• Used a rattle trap (not sure if there's another name for it. Couldn't find it listed. I'm pretty new still.) I reeled it pretty fast, pause and let it come up a bit and so on. Bass hit it hard about 12 feet from bridge, on right side under some trees.
• Pescaviva trout/shrimp/scopex
  Dat food scopex/cherry-choco-nut
  WCB Scopex pop-ups
  various Dat food Doughs
  chickj peas
  Sweet/spicy method mix

Live Bait (Other) Check Prices

• Sea worm
• Live mackerel
• Sea worms on flounder hook with yellow bead.
• Mackerel
• Clams
• Mackerel on a baitrunner.
• fishing bottom with hand dug worms
• Seaworms on a custom flounder rig
• Fresh live mackeral
• A "well seasoned" dead shiner, sent to the bottom.

Tube Check Prices

• Tube and huge sea worms
• Flippin a Blue&Black tube with a 1/2oz tungsten weight in and around the pads.
• 1/4oz white tube jig/ watermelon and and red flake 1/4oz tube jig
• T-rigged Pearl Damiki Hydra
  White Ice Zoom Small tube
  White Super Fluke Jr drop-shot
• 3 Bass in the 6 and 7 inch Variety

Creature Check Prices

• Creature Bait on Shakey Head
• 1lb 10oz was my best on the day, with a couple 1lbers too
• My other 5 were:
  2lb 2oz
  two 1-1/2lbers
  two 1lbers
• Green pumpkin sweet beaver
• Mixed it up every half hour, the Hog was caught on a pumpkin creature with black flake, but both the black with red flake and watermelon with black flake were effective.
• Orange Pumpkin Yama creature... my go-to soft plastic
• Gary Yamamato Kreature bait 4" green w/ black and purple
• Lightly weighted Kreature drifting in current.
• Jigs, Shakyheads with worms or jig trailers, creature baits
• Zoom Super Hog - Candy color

Minnow Check Prices

• hooked through back on tipup
• A Couple 2-1/4lbers
  Ten 2lbers
  A Couple 1-3/4lbers
  The rest between 1-1/2lbs and 1lb
• 1st was 1lb 4oz
  2nd was 10in
• 1st ever Ice Bass was 1lb-1/4lb, and 2nd was 1lb 10oz
• 1st was 25in 3lb 2oz
  2nd was 15in
• Couple 2lbers, 1-3/4lbers, and 1-1/2lbers
• 1st was 3lb 6oz
  2nd was about 1lb
• One 2lber
  Two 1-3/4lbers
  Two 1-1/2lbers
  Five between 1-1/4lbs - 1lbs
• 2lb 9oz
  1-1/2lbs
  3-3/4lbs
• Used primarily live bait, crawlers and shiners. Creatures work well for bass as well.

Topwater Bait Check Prices

• Xcalibur jimmy
• MS Slammer hitch
• Jitterbug
• Black buzzbait with a black blade
• FROG
• Frog...we also caught em on the jig here too
• Bone Zara spook
• Rapala original floater #7 bleeding lip firetiger
• 3 on Hulla popper and 2 on senko worms
• Zara spook and jitterbug

Lizard Check Prices

• Baby bass lizard
• YUM 6" Chartreuse Lizard
• green w/ red fleck
• Chartruese Lizard, weedless rig
• I was using Daiwa Lexa spinning Rod Pflueger Supreme XT reel with 50lb Braid with a Zoom Purple Lizard .
• hit while sinking
• Zoom Lizards and creature baits. Texas rigged or on a shaky head jig.
• Lizard on a 1/8 oz Round Head jig

Jerk Bait Check Prices

• 8" & 10" Largemouth
• 4" Senko in pumpkinseed, and Zoom Fluke in Baby Bass.
• Senko
• Senko.
• 4" Senko in Watermelon with Red Flake, fished weightless on a Texas-rig.
• 4-inch Senko in Watermelon/Red Flake
• 5-inch Senko in Black w/Red Flake
• 4-inch Senko in Watermelon/REd Flake
• 4.5in Slug-go - Arkansas Shad
• 4.5in Slug-Go

Fly (Other) Check Prices

• Joes fly
• Berkley PowerBait
  1" Power Honey Worms
  

Saltwater Swimbait Check Prices

• BFG Duel Runners

Spinnerbait / Buzzbait Check Prices

• See photo - chartreuse 3" Mr. Twister trailer.
• Fire Tiger, Double Willow
• 2lb 2oz, and two 1-3/4lbers on a spinner bait
  1-1/2lber on a craw
• Dark Colors
• White, double silver blade
• Giant white double bladed buzzbait
• 1/2 ounce black double bladed buzz bait
• Chartreuse spinnah
• same as before
• White spinnerbait

Frog Bait Check Prices

• 10" on Senko, 1/2lb and 3/4lb on Rage Frog
• caught 2 with Yamamoto 5" Senko's and one with frog.
• Ribbit Frog pulled slowly across the service.
• Southern Lure Company Scum Frog Weedless Popper
• White Boyah Pad Crasher. I hopped it in with jerks.
• Southern Lure Company-Scum Frog Weedless Frog Popper

Casting & Trolling Spoon Check Prices

Streamer Check Prices

• Thomas's buoyant spoon
  woolly bugger
  Honey worm

Stick Bait Check Prices

• Jerkbait
• Jerkbait
  1st was 12-1/2in 1Lb
  2nd was 14in 1-1/4lbs
  3rd was 8in
• Rapala Original Silver
• Trolling main channel
• Rapala F05 BCF
  Rebel minnow F07 Silver
• Rapala F05 bleeding copper flash
• rapala
• 5" Yamamoto green
  1/4 oz Crankbait
• pumkin stick bait, yumm

In-Line Spinner Check Prices

• 1/8oz Rooster Tail
• 1/6oz Rooster Tail - Brown Metallic
• 1st. 12in 12oz
  2nd. 11.5in 10oz
  3rd. 11.5in 9oz
• 1st. 7in
  2nd. 7 3/4in
• silver 1/16 oz single hook rooster tail
• Smaller bass on a 4" rubber worm
  Lunker on a red inline spinner
• rooster tail
• 1st. 5in
  2nd. 10in 8oz
• 1/6oz Rooster Tail
• 4" and 5" Sunfish

Dry Fly Check Prices

Saltwater Jig Check Prices

• Sabiki rig, white
• shad darts
• Non-Keeper

Nymph Check Prices

• Gold bead head Prince black

Worm Check Prices

• char. color senko
• Shakey Head
  1st was 1lb 5oz
  2nd was 1lb
• Shakey Head
• I caught a 1-1/4lb and a 2-1/4lb Largemouth
• 5 inch dinger
• Gulp red "bloodworms"
• yamamoto senkos texas rigged or wacky
• Texas Rigged Weightless.. Deadly when thrown into cover or into structure.
• Classic Texas Rig
• Senko for bass
  
  Hotdog on the bobbah for cattys

Plastic Swimbait Check Prices

• Skippyfish 4" Alewife Shad
• Modeled after a baby yellow perch
• Rapala- minnow like colors, 2.5"

Hard Baits Check Prices

• Topwater, Spinnerbait, Swimbait
• We each caught 5 Keepers each.
  Best 5 were of Chuck's 4lber, 3lber, 2-3/4lber, and My 4lber, and 1-3/4lber.
  
  I also had three 1-1/4lbers
• My Biggest 2lb 13oz, followed by a couple 1-1/2lber, a couple 1lbers, and the rest were runts. Mostly shallow cranks, some jig, and senko too.
• 2 on F-5 Rapala Floater
  2 on Rooster Tail
• All between 6" & 9"
• Inline Spinner on the 8"
  Popper for the 12" 3-4lb, 1/2lb, 9"
• Inline Spinner, and Jerkbait all in the 6"-8" range
• Crank and buzzbait
• 1 on BBZ-1 Shad floating swimbat, Wicked Perch color.
  1 on 1/2 oz black Strike King Bi-Buzz.
• 3 Bass all between 7in-8in on a Jerkabait, Rooster Tail, and Finnesse Worm

Soft Baits Check Prices

• 1 on a baby bass colored lizard and another on a baby bass colored senko
• Dropshot - All between 5 and 7 inches - Nice spot for calicos, too bad I was in a Bass tourney, dohhh!
• Zoom Lizard Chartruese Watermelon
• 10", 12" & 1-1/4lb Bass on Senko
  3/4lb on Rage Frog
• .
• Swimbait, Chatterbait, Jig, Dropshot
  
  Best 5 was about 8-3/4lbs (4.29lbs, two 1-1/4lbers, two 1lbers)
  
  
• Chatterbait, Swimbait, Jig, Dropshot
  My Limit was 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 7oz, and 1lb 6oz
  
  what didn't make the cut:
  two 1lb 6oz
  half a dozen between 1-1/4lb & 1lb
  one 14oz
  one short
• Drop Shot
• Jig, Dropshot, Tube, Senko all about 11"
• 2 keepers - 2lbs. and 1-1/2lb
  The rest were in the 8"-11" range

Roundhead Jig Check Prices

• 1/16oz chartreuse and white eagle claw jig with a red Berkeley honey worm.
• 1/32oz chartreuse and white eagle claw jig with white Berkeley honey worm.

Craw Check Prices

• Yum black/blue craw
• Texas rigged craw !/2 ounce red tungsten weight/red hook
• Crafish plastic on a 1/4 ounce jighead
• Strike King Rage Tail Rage Craw. June Bug Blue.

Lure (Other) Check Prices

• Rooster tail
• Neon yellow Rooster Tail with an orange blade
• Just a Strike King 5 inch red and yellow spinner bait
• 6/30 on Rooster Tail
  7/22 on Rapala Original Minnow #5
• Spinnerbait
• Rooster Tail
• Copper/Silver 2-way spinner and a Shiner.
• Bronze 2-Way Spinner and a trout worm.
  
  Copper/Silver 2-Way Spinner and a Shiner.
• 4" black and blue yum dinger
• Rubber worms frogs,spinners
  All worked

Hard Swimbait Check Prices

• trolled it behind the canoe as I paddeled.
• Trolled behind canoe while paddling. Rapala jointed minnow fire-tiger pattern.
• Small blue and white Rat-L-Trap.
• SPRO BBZ1
• repala 2 1/2" frog countdown
• 1 on BBZ-1 Shad floating swimbait, Wicked Perch color

Saltwater Hard Bait Check Prices

• metal lures deadly dicks and 3 oz. metal mackerel jigs.

Jigs Check Prices

• Ice Jig
• 6 Perch on the Ice Jig all between 1/2lb and 1/4lb
• Nice Bass on the Ice Jig
• 7lber, 5lber, and a couple shorties
• Jig/Teaser - 20" and a 15"
• silver,green skirt

Crankbait Check Prices

• reaction strike jerk in perch
• smokey joe lipless crank, and pumpkin senko
• Squarebill
• #3 crank bait dark colored
• dark colored with red
  Strike king #3
• and senkos too
• Shiners are cheating here...
  Have to use your shallow swimmer crank bait.
• Strike King bright yellow minnow
• Strike King Minnow in bright yellow
• Silver body with a black back

Bass Jig Check Prices

• 1st was 1lb 6oz
  2nd was 1-1/4lb
  3rd was 1-3/4lb
• bucky's/sluggos/worms
• All my Fish were caught on a 1/2oz Black/Blue Jig
  
  1st was 2lb 10oz
  2nd was 1lb 7oz
  3rd was 1lb
• Brown jig with a black n blue trailer. Chigger craw
• Black n blue jig n pig
• 3/8 ounce green pumpkin Boag Hog Baits jig that I added rattles to and a black/redflake chigger craw trailer
• Bass Jig, plastic worm, jerk bait, Rat-L-Trap, swim bait
• same jig as before
• Boag Hog Brush Jig
• Pumpkin jig with pumpkin worm trailer.

Soft Swimbait Check Prices

• Skippyfish 4" Alewife Shad
• Zoom Super Fluke in Disco Violet
• 5" Swim Senko in Pumpkin with Blake Flake fished weightless.
• Lake fork magic shad
• yamamoto swimsenko
• Panther Martin Holographic Minnows Rainbow Trout 3/8 oz.
• Senko wacky rig and soft plastic swim baits

Wet Fly Check Prices

• Wolly Bugger
• Wolly Bugger tied onto spinning tackle, with bobber

Casting & Trolling Spoon;22 Check Prices

• I was chucking a copper colored Thomas spoon
• 1/8 ounce gold Phoebe
• 1/6oz Thomas’ buoyant spoons

Nightcrawler Check Prices

• Worm on a hook with a bober, a classic.
• on tipups shallow as heck
• We used Live Night Crawlers and a few Live Moths
• Silver 2-Way Spinner Hook.
  
  Off the bottom... and another surprise to pull this guy off the bottom.
• Sent to the bottom, as far into the drop off as I could cast.
• Silver 2-Way Spinner Hook.
  
  Off the bottom.
• Silver 2-way spinner hook.
• Silver 2-Way Spinner Hook.
  
  Off the bottom. Since Pickerel don't usually bottom feed, and didn't hit on the retrieve, I was a bit surprised...
• Silver 2-Way Spinner Hook.
  
  Off the bottom. To be expected with Catfish.
• Neon Yellow 2-way spinner hook.

Herring Check Prices

• chunks
• Herring Chunk

Lipless Bait Check Prices

• All fish on Strike King lipless crank bait; either Shad or silver
• Lipless crank baits and spinner baits
• smokey joe colored lipless rattletrap
• Srike King 3/4 oz red eyed shad,gold black back.7' mojo bass -st.croix crank rod with Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon 10lb.Stop and rip out of surmerged grass.
• Rapala Rattlin' Baby Bass
• Shad Rattlin' Rapala

Saltwater Baits Check Prices

• Clams
• Calms - 25" and a 18"
• Calms
• Calms - 20" and a 8"or 9"
• Clams
  1st was 25"
  2nd was 20"
• Calms - All Between 10"-12"
• Calms - One was about 17", and the Big one was about 30" around 8 or 9 pounds
• chunked herrin
• Clams on 5/0 circle hook on slider rig 5oz pyramid weight

Jigging Spoon Check Prices

• swedish pimp
• Gold Johnson silver minnow.
  
  Catch and release.

Topwater Bait (Popper, Plug) Check Prices

• My Personal best this season. This Hawg nearly ripped the rod out of my hands!!!
• Caught on Lucky craft Sammy, spinnerbaits, and 9ers umbrella rigs.
• Popper Fishing
• Popper fishing off the boat

Blade Bait Check Prices

• chartruce and whit chatter bait
• Daredevil
• Gold PK Lure PK Flutter Fish. Awesome lure.

Grub Check Prices

• gub on worm hook
• Dropshot
• Gary Yamamoto Skirted Double Tail Grub in Watermelon Black/Gold.
• T-rig Kalin's Lunker Grub in bluegill
• Orange & yellow curl tail grub

Live Baits Check Prices

• Sea Worms
• Fresh Cut Pogies
• Dough Ball
• Seaworms

Panfish Jig Check Prices

• 2 inch bps grub on a little jighead.
• ice jig tipped with tiny plastic grub

Other Check Prices

• Maple-Banana Maize
  Pescaviva sweet corn
  Chicks
  Dat Food Boilies Scopex
  
• Senkos, jitterbug, and KVD 1.5 sunfish color.
• Our sualy bait bucket include feed corn, maple peas, chick peas, dat food boilies, luncheon meat and a good ground/chum mix.
  
  Our Ground/chum mixes tend to include bread crumb, oats, cream corn, birdseed
  
  Chick peas were tearing them up here. Few off Dat food as well but the Chicks were definitely looked for and taken readily.
  
  
• Sucker Punch Bait Lead Free Micro Shad dart, pink 1/32 oz, pink with silver flash
• again oatmeal
• shiners, p-bait, worms, small spinners,spoons u name it
• The trout tend to hang in the area I marked on the map.
• Canned Corn
• Dog food boilie
• Bread