Five of us fished with Captain Kristian of 30 Fathoms Fishing Charter out of Newburyport on August 6th, and we had a fantastic morning on the water.
We left at 6:00 a.m. to beautiful weather—sunny skies, light winds, and calm seas. We started by fishing for bait and immediately found a school of mackerel. We had jigs on four lines, and as soon as they hit the water we were pulling up three, four, and sometimes six fish per line. Fishing is fun, but catching is better—even when it’s just the bait! The action was nonstop, and we quickly had all the mackerel we needed.
Captain Kristian clearly knows the area well. He grew up locally and is friendly with the other captains, letting a few of them know where we were hooking up before we set off for striped bass.
It was a bit of a run along Plum Island, but the twin Suzuki outboards on the boat made quick work of it.
Once we reached the Parker River, Kristian got the rods set up and we started drifting the outgoing tide. After a few uneventful drifts, we moved to another location and immediately got hooked up with a beautiful, fat 39-inch striped bass. We made a few more drifts and landed another fish of about the same size.
The four hours flew by, and by the time we headed back we were already wishing we’d booked a longer trip. The boat is well set up to maximize your time with lines in the water, and Kristian did a great job keeping things moving and helping whenever we needed it.
One thing to know is that Kristian was running the boat without a first mate. That wasn’t an issue for us—he handled tangles, cut lines, and everything else that came up very capably. However, if you’re booking a trip with a group, it definitely helps to have at least one or two people who are comfortable putting bait on hooks and unhooking fish so the captain can stay focused on finding and catching fish.
Overall, it was a great trip with great weather, plenty of action, and two very nice striped bass. Captain Kristian knows the local waters, runs a fast and capable boat, and clearly wants his customers to have a good day. We had a blast and would definitely consider booking with 30 Fathoms again—next time, we’ll probably book more than four hours!
