Winter Cod Fishing is hot

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine and I decided to go have a bite to eat. We stoped at a friends restaurant Pizzarelli’s in Woonsocket. We know Luca, the owner and he knows how much we like to fish so he came out from the kitchen and asked us if we wanted to go cod fishing the next day. Well we’re not really big cod fishermen so we thought he was pulling our leg. Cod fishing in the middle of the winter what’s up with that? He went on to tell us a friend of his from New York has a charter boat operating out of snug harbor and they were making a killing on Cod. I was a bit perplexed since I had never fished for cod in the middle of winter so I politely thanked him for the offer and declined.

The next day Luca calls me and tells me he caught a ton of cod, some as big as 25Lbs. So I told Luca to have the charter captain email me here’s what he sent:

The ISLAND CURRENT III has been winter CODFISHING daily at 4 AM from its winter berth located in Snug Harbor, RI. The cod fishing has been super with limit catches frequently being reached. Our largest codfish to date is 33 pounds caught by Paul Chung from Flushing, NY. We supply everything onboard at NO additional charge. A special $10 off coupon can be used when purchasing from ZERVE at 212.209.3370 or online at http://www.islandcurrent.com/. Always use the ticket code RI COD in order to receive your discounts.

Captain Chris tells me that they will be cod fishing from snug harbor until the end of March. So if you’ve got the itch to go and catch some fish check out their web site or send him an email at captchris@islandcurrent.com. Go to the site and check out catch of the week. They also have a fishing report section and, they limited out the boat on January 31. Looks like I’m going to be trying some winter cod fishing soon. Geez you learn something new everyday.

How to fish videos

My Brother(David Pickering www.ristrpedbass.bolgspot.com) and I are thinking of producing a series of how to fish videos. We were wondering if anyone would be interested. We have a pretty good catalog of videos and we'd cover a variety of boat and shore fishing techniques for striped bass, blues, fluke, black sea bass, bonito, false albacore etc.... We would like to get a scene of how many people would be interested in purchasing how to fish videos and what topics you'd like to see. We're looking at costs and we think we could probably do them for under $8.00 per DVD. But we need to get an idea if it's worth the attempt. So if think you'd be interested in purchasing a how to fish video in the future send us an email at: nbfishing@cox.net .

Take a look at this small sample and let us know you'd be interested.

Highlights from last Year's Fishing

I've put together a series of slides on you tube from last year's fishing trips. There's some early season schoolies as well as some big stripers caught while live lining. Just press play and enjoy the show. Hope you like it.

If You’re Going to Repower Bass Pro is the way to Go

The fall fishing motor blues:

Starting at the end of summer and into fall my motor was giving me problems. The fall fishing was a total waste for me. The fish were in, I know because I had to fish from shore and watch huge schools of fish and birds feeding on bait along the Rhode Island coast. It was so frustrating, what torture. There I am fishing from shore watching the carnage out in front of me and only getting a fleeting chance at fish that move in close from time to time. Boy was my blood boiling. So I made the choice to repower. My motor is 10 yrs old and I assumed that repairs would get to be routine at that age and I didn’t want to go through the same frustration in the spring.

The Hunt for the right motor:

O.K. so I made the decision to repower now it was time to hunt for a motor at a reasonable price. I have this thing about getting the right deal. Whenever I buy a large ticket item like a car or washer I research, research, research to find the best product at the right price. It is usually a lot of work but it being winter and me not using the boat I figured I had the time. So I began calling around and researching prices on the Internet I must have phoned or emailed at least 10 different local marinas/ Stores. I even considered Ed’s marine superstore in Virginia, or ordering a motor from Boats.net in Florida and having it shipped and installed up here. It was while I was searching on the internet that I came across Bass Pro Shops (Tracker Boats) repower specials.

The search ends at Bass Pro Shops:

I had no idea Bass Pro did repowering. I thought they only sold boat packages. If you go to the Bass Proshops site (Tracker Boats) they boast that they are the number one Mercury dealer in the world. That's a pretty big claim and if you’ve lived as long as I have you get pretty skeptical of big claims, but I decided to give them a try. I went down to the store in Foxborough and spoke with Blake Phillips. He was very courteous, professional, and knowledgeable. There was no sales pitch, meeting in different rooms, or high pressure tactics like you’d get at a car dealer, just 2 guys talking about repowering a boat. After some back and forth I realized that they had the best price on a midrange 90 hp by far. No one else could come close. So I decided to order it, but in the back of my mind was that little skeptical voice saying how are they going to make up for the engine price, hammer me with an outrageous installation fee?

The Bottom Line:

Well I got a call recently the motor was in. So I headed down to settle the price of the new motor, removal of my old motor, installation of the new motor, prop, tach, trim guage, everything hooked up ready to run with my old motor crated. All I have to say is WOW! Not only was the price of the motor less than other dealers, the price of the installation and removal was ½ what other dealers wanted to charge. The whole price was from $2000-$2500 less than other dealers wanted. I’m truly impressed with their sales and service departments and I’m not that easy to please. It appears their claims were true. So if you’re thinking of repowering give them a call or send them an email. Tell them Steve Pickering sent you.

Who to contact:

Blake Phillips- Sales
Phone: 508-216-2663
Email: brphillips@basspro.com

Jason Hatlee- Service
Phone: 508-216-2671
Email: jrhatlee@basspro.com

Dont give up there still alot of stripers out there

The fall run is all but over, spring fishing doesn't pick up till early May. What do you do?? Get gear ready for next year, break down the reals and rods and sit around waiting and dreaming about spring. No way, there's still alot of stripers out there. Most experts believe all or at least most of the stripers head south on their annual migration, but that's not necessarily true. There are alot of small to medium fish that hang around all winter. These fish head up deep into rivers and estuarys and hold over just about all winter. In the last few years I've caught a large number of these fish through most of the winter, anywhere from 100-300 fish each winter. That's not a typo these fish usually get pretty stacked up in the rivers and estuaries and that makes them easy pickens. It's not unusual to get 30 or more in a night. It's an after dark or cloudy day thing and it can be alot of fun. This time of the year it gets dark pretty early. I dont go crazy fishing in bitter cold or myserable rain and snow storms. I just put a pole in my car and after supper or on my way back from work I stop off and take a few casts. If the fish are around you'll know it pretty fast.

Gear:
A 10-12 lb test outfit with 3" zoom fluke in white or white ice seem to do the trick just fine. I also use a 1/4-3/8 oz jig head. Cast it out and retrieve it medium slow with a slight twitch. Stripers can be very mellow in cold water so the hit can be really soft.

So dont put your stuff away and hybernate till spring the really good winter fishing is just about to start. Get a spare jacket, pole, and a bag of lures put them in the car and take a few casts you may end up fishing for hours. On a note of caution this kind of fishing can be addicting so if your wife suspects your having an affair coming home so late night after night I'm not responsibile.

Stripers and Blues Oh My!!!!

The fall run is in full swing. There are schools of fish from Narragansett to Watch hill. Just look for the birds. The Stripers range from 25-30 inches with an occasional fish in the 30-40 inch range. The blues range from 6-12 lbs. The only problem is they are very fussy. The bait they’re feeding on is small and skinny (rain bait). If you’re going to be successful try to match the bait. Try small buck tail jigs with a curly tail, small skinny poppers, Burkley gulp 3” sand eel with a 3/8-1/2 inch jig head, Zoom fluke (Dark brown/green) with a 3/8-1/2 inch jig head. Casting these small lures can be tough so medium weight outfits are necessary (line in the 12-15lb test range). The last step is to choose a leader. You could try a small thin wire leader but stripers tend to stay away from wire or you could go with 60-90lb test mono or fluorocarbon but big blues can chew that stuff up pretty good, check it often. Going through leaders and catching upwards of 20 fish can be a lot fun so who cares.

Things to consider:
In the past the fall run bait consisted mainly of peanut bunker and mullet and that kept the fish around a long time. However this current bait tends to disperse relatively quickly so it’s unlikely this is going to last more than a few weeks. Big blues can do a number on plastic so I tend to stick with buck tail jigs they may not catch as many fish as plastics but the jig will last longer. If you want to make long casts try using a droper with a jig (see terminal tackle march 31 2009). Check the marine forecast before you go out things can be rough this time of year.

Summer is Mixed Bag Season

Well summer is here and the fishing has changed. The water in the upper bay has warmed up. The pogies are scarce and the coastal fishing is picking up. However at this time of the year targeting stripers can be tough. So it’s time to adapt. Fluke fishing is phenomenal, black sea bass are hitting like crazy and the occasional striper school or bluefish school pops up here and there.

Here’s my game plan at this time of year.

I usually head out of Galilee early. I take along a full tackle bag and some squid (sea bass and fluke) and some frozen pogies or live eels(Large stripers). With that variety of bait and gear I can adjust to what ever the day brings.

The first thing I do is look for bird action. In the last 2 weeks there have been birds working from Narragansett to Charleston. The issue is finding them. Once you’ve found the birds and fish breaking the next step is to catch them. Sounds easy but they have been very fussy lately. It seems a large number of sand eels have moved in along the coast and when fish are on sand eels good luck. I’ve found success with cocahoes, small teasers, and small dark colored zoom flukes. The other problem is that there is usually a mixed bag of blues and bass and when the blues get a hold of a piece of rubber you can kiss it good bye. So bring along a lot of tackle.

After the medium bass and blues settle down 10-11 am. I go after fluke outside the center or west wall opening. I’m not really a bottom fisherman but the fluke fishing is non-stop lately. If you drop a fluke rig in with a piece of squid on the end and count to 10 you should have one. That kind of bottom fishing I can tolerate. Unfortunate most of the fluke are under sized but their still fun to catch.

Black sea bass is next on the agenda if the water is calm enough I head out near the hooter buoy and drop my fluke rig in about 60 ft of water. The sea bass are stacked up out there like crazy. Again most of them are to small to keep, but they’re still fun and if you get a keeper they are the best eating fish in these waters, very mild and tender.

Finally if the seas are really calm and I’m in the mood for big bass Block Island, Nebraska Shoal or the center wall at Galilee are my choices. This is where the eels and frozen pogies come in. Pitching eels or drifting chunks near structure can lead to big fish but you generally have to work hard for a few fish.