Quick North Shore Mass Fishing Report

I haven't been fishing much do to work and family obligations, but I have been out enough recently to give a short report. There certainly is no lack of bait anywhere from Boston Harbor to the NH border. I've seen mackerel, sand eels, sea herring, adult and peanut bunker, and juvenille herring and spearing. This plethora of bait should be yeilding great fishing, yet I have not been overly satisfied with the outcome of most of my haunts. There are certainly fish to be caught, but with the amount of bait I've seen in some places, I have been surprised that the fishing has not been better. With that being said, however, some anglers have been finding great blitzes, and have even tied into some very large fish.

One lure that seems to shine when there is such a wide variety of bait around is the bucktail jig. On a recent trip to a rocky outcropping on the North Shore I got into some good action with a 3/4 oz Andrus Jetty Caster bucktail. I am a huge fan of the Jetty Casters and recommend them for a variety of scenarios. In this case, the 3/4oz densely tied bucktail with a pork rind allowed me to fish a boulderfield successfully while keeping my presentation near the bottom where the bass where hiding. Unfortunately I lost the only 3/4oz jig I had on me that night due to the sharp craggy bottom. Lesson learned.

Though we have entered the "summer doldrums" there is still some great fishing to be had. With manageable temperatures at night and in the early am, I recommend getting out to your favorite beach or rock pile and trying your luck for some bass and blues. Nothing beats catching some fish and watching the sun rise. Try the river mouths in the area or find some deeper water close to shore. Live eels are a good bet at night, with bucktail jigs and soft plastics close behind. As the sun begins to rise don't be afraid to clip on a spook or popper.

Your Lucky Fishing Hat: More than a Mojo Builder?

Adjectives that descibe my favorite fishing hat: smelly, faded, salt-encrusted, lucky. The one adjective that is seldom listed, yet is one of the most important is: safe. I almost always wear a hat when I'm fishing. Not only does it look totally awesome, but it provides protection from the sun, the rain, and the occasional flying hazard, say a swimming plug with two treble hooks that somehow finds its way whizzing past my head.

The brim of a hat can help protect your face from being impaled by a hook, whether that hook is being cast by a partner next to you, or it is being spit from a fishes mouth as you reach to grab it. Having a hat on can be the difference between a hook in the face, and a close call. I encourage you to wear a hat, even when fishing at night, to help prevent any accidents.

While on the topic of safety, I'd like to address a little landing technique that will help keep everyone safer. Too often do I see someone reaching straight for the fishes mouth, which is always just out of reach, and in doing so they put tremendous stress on the line. If the fish happens to free itself from the hook, it is likely that the lure will come catapulting back toward you. To prevent this, I recommend angling your rod to either side when a fish is nearing you. Even a slight angle off center will prevent the plug from flying straight at you should it come loose. I also recommend using a leader and swivel, as this presents a spot where you can grab the line, especially when using braided lines. Grabbing the line a few feet above where the fish is hooked will take all that pressure of the line, and will not allow the catapulting effect mentioned earlier. Then place the rod under your armpit, slide your hand down to the lure, and grab the fish. Hopefully I'll have a video up soon of this landing method to help illustrate the point.

Back to hats. Here is a good selection from my favorite tackle shop: Hats

Tight lines - S.B.

Rigged Eels for Big Stripers

Eels have long been one of the top striper baits around, particularly along the New England coast. Some anglers become so heavily invested in live eel fishing that they build complex eel tanks in their garages, and either buy in bulk, or trap their own eels so they always have a healthy selection at their disposal. All this effort to fish eels is certainly worth it, as live eels account for incredible striped bass catches year after year.

I never really liked fishing live eels, even though my largest bass to date was taken on a live eel.  A few years ago I started to explore options with rigged eels, and have been extremely impressed. Though it takes some time to rig eels, and there is a bit of a learning curve, the effort is well worth it. Here are a few videos on how to rig eels, using a few different methods. The first features Rudy from the Saltwater Edge in RI, and the second, John Skinner from FishersLog and author of A Season on the Edge.

These two guys are excellent fishermen, and are great a rigging eels. If you want to try rigging some eels, you can't go wrong with either method. The zip tie method will save some time, while the rigging floss style leads to a more natural look and usually more durability. You decide which is best for you. Check out their YouTube channels to learn more: The Saltwater Edge and John Skinner.

Pencil Poppers for Big Stripers in New England

Despite my advice in the last post to fish deep for summer stripers, there are still some tactics from the spring that will work. One of my favorite tactics that I carry over from the spring is first light pencil popper fishing. Although summer stripers combat the hot summer sun by heading to deep water, they still spend their nights prowling the shallows for baitfish, crustatceans, and other prey. Fishing pencil poppers in a shallow boulder field, or even in deeper water like at the Cape Cod Canal, at first light can be a great way to catch large striped bass.

One reason why I believe pencil poppers (and spook baits alike) work so well at first light is because large profile baits, like pogies (bunker/menhaden) and snapper bluefish come into the areas as well, and the stripers are tight on their tails. Pencil poppers and spooks mimic these baitfish extremely well.

Due to their popularity, there is a wide selection of pencil poppers on the market today, ranging from inexpensive plastic models, to pricey custom built wood plugs, and even build your own plug kits. My favorite pencil over the past few years has been the Salty's 2.5 oz canal style lure kit. Not only do these plugs perform well, but it is also pretty fun painting and assembling them yourself.

Other great pencils include those from Left Hook, Afterhours, Guppy, Gibbs, and Cape Cod Tackle. For spooks it is tough to beat the Tattoo Sea Pup.

Next time you're out slinging eels all night, try to stick it out to first light, and clip on a pencil popper or spook. I prefer to work these lures slower and really emphasize the side to side movement of both, even though conventional pencil popper fisherman insist on whipping the tip back and forth to create a spastic movement. Both methods certainly work.

Here is a 44" striper I caught mid July last year on a pencil popper at first light. May have broke 30lbs, but it was fairly skinny. Not bad considering I had caught nothing throwing rigged eels most of the night.

-S.B.

Fish Soft Plastics Deep for Summer Stripers

As water temperatures rise, bass will seek deeper water. This statement is true for the entire striper coast. In my home waters of Boston Harbor and the North Shore, this usually begins to happen around early July. Although there has been some great blitzes (from what I hear) in my area recently, I can guarentee that the best way to target bigger fish is to get down deep, preferably anywhere from 30 to 60 ft deep. One of the best ways to target these fish is with soft plastic shads, such as the Tsunami or Storm shads.

Although stripers will frequent water deeper than 60 feet, I find that targeting them becomes more difficult and less fun. Targeting stripers that deep requires heavy gear and heavy lures, which can be very effective, but it takes a lot of the fun out of it in my eyes. I have, however, caught stripers on vertical jigs meant for tuna in 100 feet of water or more. (expect a blog on vertical jigging for stripers at a later date!)

Finding deep stripers is not an easy task, but if you have even a bottom line fish finder, and knowledge of structure and channels in the area, you will be able to find them. Focus your efforts around humps, rock piles, and soft structure (sand) that creates an ambush point for stripers. Find these areas and simply drop your soft plastic shads down to the bottom. It helps to use a shad that weighs around 2oz and braided line to help reduce line drag. Often times, the vibration of the paddle tail on the shad is enough to draw strikes. I've caught numerous big stripers out of the same school simply by dropping my swim shad down and letting the tail do the work. If fish are there, and your shad is in front of them, it is a good chance that they'll grab it.

Tsunami also makes 'Deep Shads" which are heavier and will hold bottom in water 50ft or more, assuming the current speed is moderate.

Next time you're out on the water try finding some deep structure and dropping down a soft plastic shad.

-S.B.

Bonito and Albie Fishing This Summer

Living up on the North Shore of MA makes it really hard to put in the time needed to effectively target and catch these speedsters. However, for those on the Cape and Islands, Buzzards Bay, Southern RI from Little Compton to Watch Hill and into CT, Albie and Bonito fishing is beginning to heat up. Anglers hurling small shiny tins like Deadly Dicks, Yozuri L-Jacks, Maria Jigs, and Pt. Judes at inlets, outflows, jetties, breachways, even open beaches will all have a shot at a bone or albie from now until October, assuming the bait is there to keep these fish feeding. I truly envy those who can target these speedsters every day.

I do however, get to fish for bones and albies almost excusively when I fish the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby each year, and one lure that I love to use is the Spofford's Needlefish, originally made by Arnold Spofford on the Vineyard. Since Mr. Spofford's passing, these lures have become difficult to find, especially off the island of MV, so I suggest buying them up when you find them. The slim profile of these needlefish mimic sandeels and silversides perfectly, and draw some incredibly viscious strikes. I wrote an article in the August 2010 On The Water NE edition about using these baits for albies and bonito, so if you have that issue, you should take a look back at it.

Even though the Spofford Needle looks simple, and is not as flashy as the newer metal lures on the market, there is not doubting their effectiveness. A small selection of fishermen on the Vineyard and Nantucket know how well these lures work and use them excusively for bones and albies.

I recommend trying one of these if you can find them, or even using the smallest Super Strike or Choopy needles. Fish them with a fairly quick retrieve and impart action with the rod tip. I prefer to hold my tip down and to the side and impart the desired action by twitching the rod. When done correctly this will mimic a fleeing baitfish perfectly.

Don't forget the other topwater baits too. Jumpin Minnows, Tattoo Walking Sticks, and small pencil poppers all work extremely well.  Next time you're out fishing for funny fish, make sure you bring along a few topwaters. You won't be disappointed.

Tight Lines,
S.B.

The Heat of Summer for Some Hot Action

We've reached the second week of July, and judging by the recent heat wave, summer is definitely here. For a striper fisherman, this means that your success will improve as you go deeper or darker, and those day time blitzes that we all love will take a break until the fall migration starts.

With this heat comes the arrival of funny fish in our waters. Bonito, False Albacore, Spanish Mackerel, and the occasional King Mackerel and Jack Crevalle will make their way into New England waters and drive fishermen crazy until October. This is one of my favorite times of year. If you've never hooked into a fiesty bonito or albie I highly recommend you try to this year.

Targeting funny fish can be downright frustrating. Though these fish can put the feed-bag on in a downright crazy blitz, it is more likely that they'll pop up in one spot for a quick snack, then before you can get a cast off they're 200 yds away. Then when you finally do get a cast into a feeding school, they shun your offering away.

This is what I find most fun about funny fishing. Oh ya the screaming drag and incredible fight on light and fly tackle really don't hurt either. They will test your fishing IQ, fishing etiquette, your knots, your endurance, and more, and very rarely will they weigh more than 10 lbs while doing so.

I am a firm believer in topwater baits for funny fish, specifically albies. My go to lure is a lime green spoffords needlefish. These lures were made by Arnold Spofford on MV and have become difficult to find. I advise grabbing all you can when you find them (just save some for me). These topwater baits mimic sandeels and silversides perfectly and draw strikes from even the most finicky of albies and bones.

Stay tuned for some more info on targeting bonito and albies. Yeah, I know this is a striper blog, but I will make an exception for these speedsters.