Wire leader or no wire leader? That is the question.

I hate to lose lures. For some reason, the thought of losing even a $3 bucktail jig really upsets me. I know that it is best to fish your jigs or plugs close to the bottom for bass, so I’m ok with the occasional lost lure if I’m flirting with the bottom, but when I’m cut off by a bluefish, I just really feel bad about it.

This past weekend, I was able to get out in the boat in Boston Harbor with my brother and father. We got out later than anticipated, but stumbled upon a school of mackerel that seemed content feasting on juvenile herring. I decided to fish the outside of the school with a small soft plastic shad hoping there may be some stripers around feeding on either the herring or mackerel. My brother put on the sabiki and tried getting a few macks to live line. It didn’t take long for me to hook up, but it wasn’t with a striper, or even a big optimistic mackerel, but rather with a ten pound bluefish. After a short fight, the razor sharp teeth found my 20lb mono leader and that blue was gone. In the meantime, my brother hooked up with a few mackerel that were nailed by a bluefish or school of bluefish on the way in. There was only one little hook left out of 6 on the sabiki rig.

Being the hopeful angler that I am, I still felt there would be bass hanging around this bait. I fixed up another rod with a 40lb mono leader and a slightly larger soft plastic and got back to work. A few casts later I hooked into a much better fish. After some good runs I got the fish to within sight of the boat. Turns out it was another bluefish, this time around 15 lbs. I could see that my line was in the danger zone near the corner of the blues jaw. As I reached to grab the fish, one quick move parted the line and off went my second lure for the day. I was upset.

I decided that even though there had been no surface action and no blitzing fish that I was going to put a wire leader on and a topwater plug with a single siwash. By now the bait had dispersed and it was looking pretty disappointing. We came across a small commotion on the surface, which looked like a mackerel going after a juvenile baitfish. I decided to toss out my newly tied wire leader and topwater to see if there were any bluefish around. It didn’t take long before I had an explosion on my plug. I didn’t get a good look at the fish, but I assumed it was another good sized bluefish. After a couple good runs and some give and take, I got a glimpse of the fish. It was a nice bass.

That was all I caught for the rest of the morning. I need to learn how to take better pictures. This fished pulled the boga down to just below 20lbs. Something about the way it is held, or maybe it’s the white shirt, but to me, the fish looks small. Or maybe it is the crappy cell phone used to take it. I’m still bitter about losing the soft plastic shads, even though it only cost about $1.50.

Deep Water Near Shore for Summer Stripers

Targeting stripers in the heat of summer from shore can be tricky. One way to improve your odds is to find deep water close to shore. Now this doesn't have to water that is 60 feet deep, but look for areas where depths of 15 feet or more can be found close to shore.

One spot that I've had some success at on the North Shore has water that is between 15 and 20 feet deep immediatly off the rocks at low tide. This also means that as the tide rises there are some great points and troughs for bass to hunt prey and still have some deep water nearby. The image on the right shows a rocky outcropping at low tide. I was standing on a similar point and had depths of more than 10 feet right off the tips of my toes. This creates an excellent bass habitat, but also presents a safety concern. I encourage not wearing waders in such scenarios as one false step, or slip, can land you in some deep water. I prefer to fish these areas in the summer, which also allows me to wear a bathing suit, neoprene socks, and studded wading boots. This way, if I happen to fall in, I will not have to worry about waders filling up with water.

A great way to target areas like this is with bucktail jigs. I almost always carry Andrus Jetty Caster bucktails between 3/4oz and 1 1/2 oz, regardless of where I am fishing. Match them with a pork rind strip and you've got a deadly bass catcher. I stick to three colors: white, black, and yellow. Usually white will work day and night, but sometimes black seems to produce better on really dark nights. I really only use yellow if the water is murky or if fishing white water. Yellow seems to stand out better in these circumstances.

Here is a football of a fish taken at the spot pictured above on a 1oz bucktail near the bottom of the tide. Make sure you remain safe on the rocks, pick a good landing spot before you begin fishing, and keep an eye on the tide, swells, and current.

Find deep water near shore and you should find some fish. These areas are filled with prey, both of the fish and crustacean variety. Low light or no light periods are the way to go this time of year. Tight lines.

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.