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.

Stripers with Pogies May 25- June 5.

Last 2 weeks have been hectic so I haven’t been able to post, but I’m back. This year the pogie fishing has been hot and cold, not very consistent yet. A couple of times out I caught less than 2 fish one time I caught 10. See what I mean inconsistent. It appears there are quite a few small stripers around (30-34 inch class). Don’t get me wrong that’s a nice fish by any standard but that size fish has a hard time swallowing a pogie. I’ve had a lot of hits, stripers harassing pogies at the surface and pogies stolen right off the hook. These are all signs of relatively small fish. The ones I’ve managed to catch have been around the 34-36 inch range with a couple in the low 40’s. The pogies were more spotty in late May than in previous years but they seem to be more consistent in the first week of June. Hopefully the bigger fish will come in big, but it’s anybodies guess if that will happen. Last year mid June was on fire so there’s still hope. I’ve also been marking large numbers of big fish on my fish finder but they’ve been very fussy, a sign of too much bait not enough stripers.


Tactics:

Find the pogies as soon as you can. Snag a bunch. Live line them on 2 or 3 drifts of 100-200 yards. If you don’t get a hit move 100 yard to the left or right of the first drift, still nothing move to another spot and try again. The stripers are not always under the pogies. Recently I’ve taken to driving around an area slowly looking foe fish on the fish finder. If I find a cluster of big fish I give the area a few drifts. If it produces I stick around until the fish have left then move on. I also like to drift 2 rods one with a cigar weight one with no weight. I don’t weigh the pogies down to much just enough to make them tired and slow down (about ½ to 1 oz). Whichever rod gets a hit first that’s what I switch to. I also use a mono leader, my brother had on a wire leader on and I caught 4 fish to his 1. The only problem with the mono is there are some blues around so stock up on hooks.






Below is a video compilation of some of the last few weeks. I was out on Memorial Day with my friend Paul (an experienced angler) and some time later with my brother and his son Matthew. Mat and I managed to hook up 2 good fish at the same time. That was a good day I was on the water for about 8 hours and managed to land about 10 fish from 36-44 inches.

Pogies Pogies Pogies

Went out yesterday 5/16/09. Guess what the upper bay is beginning to fill up with menhaden. I snagged a few pogies drifted them and they were harassed by smaller stripers unable to swallow them. I didn’t see any fish in the 30-40 lb class. But that’s just a matter of time. Within the next week or 2 the big boys will follow. Once that happens all you’ll have to do is find a group of pogies snag a few and live line then. I like to just drift and let them swim around. Things are primed and ready once the big fish are here all hell is going to break loose.

Click play on the video below:

Striper Madness is here

They’re here went out saturday caught a ridiculous number of stripers (around 80). I caught about 50 on my own picked my 2 brothers Mike and Dave a caught another 30 they also caught about 30 a piece.There were so many fish I fished from early morning till early evening. Most of the fish were in the 24-27 inch range. About 10 percent were keepers, with a few around 35 inches. The fish are keying on tiny silversides. The problem is that when they are on that small bait they can be really fussy. I threw everything at them plastics, metal, swimmers, poppers, needlefish you name it I tried it. Only 1 thing seemed to work a white cocahoe with a 3/8 oz white jig head retrieved slowly. You’ll have to use a light 12lb class outfit to throw something that light. It was interesting some of the schools were aggressive while others wouldn’t even hit the cocahoe. Even the cocahoe wasn’t stunning just effective. Most casts yielded fish, but they hit very mellow just sucking in the cocahoe. If you didn’t set the hook as soon as you felt tension they were gone and usually didn’t hit again. Even though they were fussy I caught a ton mainly due to the fact there were so many. Multiple schools as many as seven at a time meant there was a lot of opportunity to hook up. The weather was uncomfortable and perfect. It was uncomfortable for me perfect for stripers, rainy, drizzly, foggy, overcast the best possible weather for striped bass.

How to find them:

Look for birds working bait. It was most productive when sea gulls were combined with cormorants. The combination of the 2 spelled fish. Once you arrive at the birds look for small swirls on the surface. Stripers generally don’t splash violently like blues so keep your eyes peeled. You can’t judge a striper by the size of the swirl so don’t assume a small swirl means small fish. Cast directly into the largest group of swirls.

How to approach them:

The best bet for approaching them is from up wind. Get up wing shut the motor and drift into them stripers are very boat shy and any motor noise will spook them. This will usually cause the birds to spook and fly off but don’t give up other boats will leave after the birds. Just stay put and be patient keep casting a looking for swirls. They will usually come back up and you’ll be all alone right in the middle of fish while the other boats are running around. It also possible to come upon a school the birds haven’t found yet, but it takes a keen eye. If the water is very calm it’s a lot easier. If your on a school with no birds stay there you’ll probably be the only boat.

Note:
In the past few years this early season madness has only lasted about a week or so. So get out and get going the fishing is fabulous.

Click Play on the video below to see what the morning was like.

Click play on the video below to see what the afternoon was like.

Schoolies arrive at RI shore

Finally the schoolies are in. Schoolies have been caught in significant numbers along the shore. Most of the action started early this week. Most fish are in the 14-20 inch range with an occasional keeper. They are hitting white cocahoe minnows usually with a 3/8 oz white jig head. Light tackle in the 12lb class range is also the preferred equipment. Most of the action is occuring from late afternoon (5:00) till sunset. The west wall seems to be the most consistent spot.

This weekend looks good for the bay. Nice overcast showery weather is predicted. I'm going to take advantage of the weather and give things a try. In the bay wildeye shad are usually very effective.

Meteroligical Data Points to a Big Early Season Weekend

Just finished checking the meteorological data for April 19 to May 19 and all the info points to a big striper weekend this weekend (April 24 to April 27). Really big tides combined with warming water lead me to believe this weekend is going to be awesome for early season fish. Big tides mean a lot of water flowing. Warmer water means more active fish; the magic number is above 50 degrees. Right now the numbers are flirting with the 50-degree mark. I’ve also heard from various sources that baitfish are stacked up in many of the bays estuaries. Here is a step-by-step process that anyone can use to find fish.

Step 1-Tidal oscillations
Go to NOAA and check tidal frequency oscillations for the bay. I usually use a central station like Quonset.
Use this link: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?bdate=20090419&edate=20090520&unit=1&shift=g&mins=60&datum=6&stn=8454049+Quonset+Point%2C+RI&type=Tide+Predictions&format=View+Plot

Once you get there use the pull down at the bottom to get the range you want. I usually use a month. Click view plot. Then go to the right side of the page and click view larger plot. Print it out and you’ll have a clear view of the high and lows for the next month the bigger the difference the better. There is a big oscillation from this Thursday to about Tuesday.

Step2-Water vs. air temp
Go to NOAA and check the water temp vs. air temp data to view any trends. Right now things are heating up.
Use this link:http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?bdate=20090401&edate=20090420&metinterval=&unit=1&shift=g&stn=8454049+Quonset+Point%2C+RI&type=Meteorological+Observations&format=View+Plot


Once you get there use the pull down at the bottom to get the range you want. I usually go one month back to get a feel for the trend. Click view plot. Then go to the right side of the page and click view larger plot. Print it out and you’ll see the warming trends. As air heats up water follows so there’s about a 1-3 day lag time. The recent warm weather spiked the water temp about 4 degrees. Since April 1 the water temp has increased about 10 degrees. It is nearing 50 degrees. 50 to 62 degrees F is the magic range for stripers.

Step3-Tide times (tide chart)
Go to Maine Harbors get the tide chart for the area you’ll be fishing.
Use this link:
http://www.maineharbors.com/ri/tideri.htm

Once you get there just click on the month and area your going to be fishing the tide chart will appear just print it out. I use Maine Harbors because it’s a simple easy way to get an easy to read tide chart. Now you know the exact times when the tides will be rising and falling. This important because you can combine it with the marine forecast and see if the tide and wind will be going in a similar direction over the period of big tides (this weekend). The 2 together equal a major flow of water.

Step4- Marine Forecast
Go to NOAA a couple of days before the big tides and check the wind speed, direction and weather.
Use this link:
http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/an/anz236.txt

This link will give you a day-by-day list of the predicted weather. Remember cloudy, overcast, foggy weather is best but at this time of year stripers will be active in sunlight especially early morning sunlight. Now you have everything you need.

Step5-Putting it all together
(See using meteorological data to find fish on Narragansett Bay 2/21/09)
2 to 3 days before the predicted big tides check the marine forecast and pick a day when the wind and tide will be going in a similar direction. Check the water temp to make sure it’s at or above 50 degrees; check the tide chart to see the exact time when the tides and wind will be moving together. Use a Nautical chart, check out the bay and look to fish the wind ward side of things, look for areas that transition from high to low water drastically, look for areas that constrict water flow, that’s where the stripers will be. When you get there take a few casts use the zoom fluke or wild eye shad (see terminal tackle and successful lures 3/31/09). Look for birds, look for small wakes on the surface of the water, stop listen for popping sounds if you find any of these signs your in fish (see using natures signals to find fish 3/5/09). Remember striper are very boat shy head into the wind get 25-75 yards away from the action and shut the motor off and drift into them. If there’s a significant amount of bait around they’ll use the boat as cover and you’ll have fish right at your feet.

Get ready get setup it looks like this weekend could be the beginning of the season and the season usually starts out with a bang. The fish usually aren’t huge (20in-34in) but there can be a lot of them. A 12lb class outfit is a lot of fun on these fish (see The Right Fishing Gear 2/09)

Nows The time to Get Ready

It’s about that time, just came up from the basement. I respooled all the reels; Stocked up on gear, organized the fishing bag and finished getting the boat ready yesterday. The Last 2 weeks of April is when the first of the season’s stripers usually arrive. I really enjoy the early season run. Not many guys are ready and you can catch fish in daylight, weathers cool but the lack of boats around means you have the bay to yourself. Last year my friend Paul and I went out one day in late April and we caught about 80 stripers (24-32 inches) in about 3 hours. There wasn’t another boat in sight. We used light tackle, 12lb test line and it was crazy. The storm shad would hit the water and within 2 cranks of the reel you were on. If you lost the fish you had on you’d have another one on in 2 more cranks.


The first fish to arrive like to feed on small bait on or near the surface, they’re not huge but there numbers can be very large. From April 24-28 there’s a real good set of tides. I’m definitely going to make it a point to go out on one of those days. The key with the early fish is to search for the birds and any small boils on the surface. There tough to spot but if you find them you can have real good time. Then once the schoolies arrive the big boys show up shortly after. So get you gear ready it’s all about to start and you don’t want to be left behind.

Terminal Tackle and Successful Artificial Lures

Terminal Tackle is what you put on the end of your line swivels, snaps, hooks and leaders. Artificial lures are what you use to imitate bait. Terminal tackle doesn’t sound like much but it can make the difference between going home happy and going home bummed out by the one that got away. The lures I’m going to talk about are my surefire go to lures. Stripers can be very fussy and very subtle changes in shape, action or color can make a big difference.

Terminal tackle:

Barrel swivels and snaps- I usually make my own setups. The barrel swivels I use on big equipment can handle up to 90 lb test, the ones I use on light to medium equipment can handle 50lb test. I’ll never use that much on them but over kill in this area isn’t a bad thing. The very first thing I put on the end of any line is a barrel swivel snap combination. This makes it easy to change leaders and setups instantly. There are a lot of snap types but for making your own snap/swivels I like duolock snaps or Berkley crosslock snaps of the 2 the crosslocks are the best. Big stripers can trash must snaps when they get them in their mouths but I’ve yet to see them abuse a crosslock snap.

Leaders- There are basically 2 types of leaders monofilament and wire. I make my own and vary the length and strength depending on the type of fishing I’m going to do. The wire leaders are usually about 1 ½ ft long made out of 50 lb test black coated wire. On one end I put a barrel swivel on the other end I put a crosslock snap. I like them relatively long because they are predominantly for blues and when I catch a blue I’ll generally pick it up by the leader and remove the hook over the side of the boat.

Stripers will not hit anything with a wire leader on it for that reason you need mono leaders on board. I used to make monofilament leaders out of regular monofilament but in the last few years my friend Paul has turned me on to fluorocarbon and I’m hooked. Fluorocarbon is really tough and abrasion resistant. I only use two different lb tests 60 and 20. Heavy tackle gets the 60; light to medium tackle gets the 20. I usually put a barrel swivel and snap at either end, but often on the 20 lb test I’ll use the barrel swivel with just line to tie directly to the lure on the other end. The general rule for length is 3 ft that’s enough so the fish wont see the snaps and swivels.

Lures

Soft Plastics-Hands down the best baits for striped bass in the schoolie class 14-34 inches. These are deadly and what I use most for boat and shore schoolies. The problem is if there are blues mixed in they will get chopped up like confetti. For that reason I bring a bunch of them.

Zoom fluke- Lots of color choices a couple of different sizes 3” and 4”. Great lure for smaller stripers 14”-24” inches and sometimes big ones if their feeding on small bait. You can use them with a variety of jig heads. My favorites ¼oz-3/8oz jig head with smoking shad color or pearl color.

Cocahoe- Similar to a zoom fluke but has more of a fish like action. These are very effective in the early season along the coast. My favorite white cocahoe with white 3/8oz-1/2oz jig head.

Storm Wildeye Shad- I’ve caught more 20”-35” stripers on these than any other lure. They are fabulous; the best colors are shad and blue. Unfortunately they no longer make the blue, but Calcutta makes one that I’ll be trying out this year. The best size is 4”, they can be cast and retrieved or jigged/bounced off the bottom. Stripers go crazy over them but like all plastics better have a lot of them because any blue will make a mess of them with just one hit. More and more companies are making this type of bait and they seem be here to stay.

Swimmers -I almost exclusively use Bomber swimmers. They are tough and effective. They’re not usually as effective as soft plastics on stripers however blues cant chop them up. The only drawback is the number of hooks, be very careful when removing all those treble hooks. My favorites are the small 4” black backed silver side bomber for stripers and the medium 6” blue back silver side blue bomber for blues. They can be cast and retrieved or trolled. When all else fails and I can’t find fish I usually go to a flat along the western side of the bay and troll both bombers which ever gets hit first I go with. After dark late at night a totally black 6” bomber can also be very effective for stripers.

Buck tail jigs- They’ve been around since the stone age and they still work really well. They come in a variety of sizes and colors, but white is my favorite. They can be cast and retrieved or jigged off the bottom. You can sometimes substitute them for zoom flukes when blues are chopping up all your plastic. They are much more durable than plastic but blues will still shred them after quite a few fish. My favorite way to rig them is with a curly tail hooked on or with a piece of red or white pork rind (jig and pig).


Poppers-I love catching fish on top and poppers are the lure of choice for that kind of action. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. Most people use poppers that are way to big. I make my own and usually don’t fish any that are bigger than 4” long and ¾ “ diameter. Sometimes I’ll use poppers as small as 2 “ long with a 3/8 “ diameter. Stripers seem to love a silver body with a green back. When your fishing for stripers a buck tail attached to the back hook is really helpful. When it comes to blues color and buck tail is not that important just skim it fast and hang on. This is the most effective lure for blues when hey are near the surface.

Live lining rigs- When it comes to live lining pogies I usually pre rig a bunch of barrel swivels, leaders and hooks before going out. I’ll put a barrel swivel at one end then 3ft of 60Lb test fluorocarbon then either a 5/0 treble hook or an 8/0 hook at the other end. Remember the line has a barrel swivel and snap at the end so if I need to change rigs fast or I want to put a cigar weight on to get the fish down I only have to undo the snap and replace the gear.

The secret weapon- This is real old school but some times you need to cast a relative light lure (zoom fluke, cocahoe, small buck tail jig, wild eye shad) a long distance. When fish are boat shy or when your fishing for shore this is the trick. Go to a craft store buy a wooden egg. Place a screw eye at each end or drill a hole straight through and use some plumber’s wire with a loop at each end (this is the strongest and best way). Put a small finish nail in the egg at an angle to act as a keeper for the lure. Tie a 3ft or somewhat longer piece of leader material to one end of the egg and tie any of the above lures at the other end connect it to the snap on the line and you’ll be able to launch things a mile.

Using Natures Signals to Find Fish

If you want to find fish on the bay and all the high tech NOAA data and fancy gps/fishfinder information has failed there’s other options. There are many times I’ve gone out and the fish weren’t where they were supposed to be. So the next best thing to do is stop, think, look around and try to get a grasp of what’s happening.

If fish are on the surface there will almost always be sea gulls feeding from above. If you see a large group of gulls diving and hovering over a small area the fish are probably there. But there’s even a more subtle signs. If there is a very large concentration of seagulls sitting on a shore it’s likely fish have been in the area and are about to reappear. Just stop the motor sit and watch and look around. In nature it’s all about conservation of energy if fish and bait go deep the gulls won’t leave until something better starts to happen elsewhere. On those days where the fish are tough to find I head up or down the bay and stop every ½ mile or so look and study the birds. Sometimes you’ll see almost no gulls and the ones you do see are all headed in the same direction. So what do I do? I follow them. Quite a few times they have led me to huge schools of blues or stripers. It makes scene that if 1000’s of fish are chasing huge numbers of bait most of the sea gulls will also be feeding there.

Fish movement can also play a part. If you're fishing on sat afternoon/evening and your catch large numbers of blues in the upper bay and you notice a general trend that most of the schools are moving south, it’s a good bet the fish will be a mile or more south of your position on Sunday. This is especially true during mid fall when fish are leaving the bay and migrating south. The opposite is true for spring. In that case start where you ended on Saturday and move south stopping occasionally to look for the birds and splashes.

Senses like sight, hearing and smell are also important assets. Blues splash the water pretty violently when they’re feeding and if the gulls haven’t found them yet the white splashes they create are pretty easy to see in blue/gray water. Splashes are real easy to see off in the distance if the sun is at your back. Gulls are real easy to see off in the distance if the sun is in front of you. Most people don’t give much credit to their scene of hearing when looking for fish but it can be very useful. Sound travels a long distance on water. When stripers are feeding on small bait on the surface they make a sucking, popping sound but they don’t splash much. You can’t see them from very far but you can hear them. In fact if it’s not too windy you can hear them from 100-150 yrds or more. This is especially true after dark when the bay may be pretty calm. If you hear that sound go to it and make some casts you may be happy with the result. Smell can also be an indicator. There have been times when I could smell the fish before I’ve seen them. If you think about it, 1000’s of pounds of baitfish are being consumed by 1000’s of fish. Not everything gets eaten; bits and pieces sometimes float to the surface or wash up along the shore and give off an odor. If you come across a strong odor of fish as your moving along the bay stop shut off your motor, look for gulls in the air or along the shore, look for splashes, listen for popping sucking sounds, and be patient trust your senses and wait to see what they are telling you.

The Best Time of day to Fish

What’s the most productive time of day to fish? Sounds like a simple question but the answer is tougher than you think. The best way to answer the question is to take it by season and fish species.

Striped Bass

I used to think nighttime was the right time for stripers but that’s not necessarily true.
In the early spring (late April-mid May) stripers are active pretty much all day. During this time daylight hours seem to be most productive. Cloudy, rainy, foggy, overcast days tend to be the best.

As the water warms up (mid May-end of June) these fish become more active in the evening or at the transitions from dawn and dusk. There is a real increase in feeding activity from sunrise into early morning and again at late afternoon till dark. For an hour after sunset there is usually an adjustment period where the action slows down then begins to pick up so if you were hitting fish at dusk and things slow down stick around and give it a shot a little later. After dark is also pretty productive at this time of year. One Night my friend Paul and I were pitching eels all night till dawn; we caught so many nice fish we didn’t want to stop. Mid day especially a sunny day is tough usually not much is happening. The exception is a cloudy overcast light rain and foggy day these days are productive all day. In the past few years I’ve come to believe dawn to early morning is the most productive time, the only problem is you have a very limited amount of time to locate the fish before things slow down.

During the summer months (July and August) striper fishing in general trickles down dramatically. Your only hope during the day is deep cool water usually outside of the bay or nighttime.

In the fall (Sept-Nov) the return migration begins and things go from evening fishing to any time of day as the water gets colder. Remember dawn to early morning and late afternoon to sunset there is an increase in feeding and tend to be more productive. Also overcast days tend to be better than sunny.

Blue Fish

Two things are important with blues, they are a warm water summer/fall fish and they are pretty much a daytime fish. You can get blues in June and July but the real big numbers are later in the summer. During the early months of June and July you can pick up blues here and there but they’re usually mixed in with bass. During this time of year you can catch them at night but usually only on live bait (eels, menhaden chunks etc…) they don’t usually like artificial lures at night. At night you usually you don’t get large numbers but the fish tend to be large 9-12lb range.

Blues tend to arrive in large numbers in mid August and stick around till October. Blues feed mostly during the day in big frenzied schools. From August-October and it’s not unusual to catch 75 or more in an afternoon. Cloudy days tend to be better but sunny days can also be pretty productive. The key to bluefish activity is a little chop and light to moderate wind, if it’s dead calm things can be tough. Even at this most productive time of year nighttime blue fishing is not very productive. Blues tend to be much less aggressive and concentrated at night. It’s not unusual to be surrounded by hundreds of feeding blues then once the sun goes down bang nothing. Like stripers however dawn to early morning and afternoon to sunset are the most productive. I personally think 3:00 pm till dark is the best time to blue fish.

Click Play on the video below to see a school of frenzied blues:

Using Meterological Data to Find Fish on Narragansett Bay

If you plan and are aware of a few basic principles you can greatly improve your chances of finding fish. Wind, tide, weather, water temperature can all be used to predict where fish will show up. I know it sounds a little too much but it really works. You can use the NOAA sites included in the useful links on the left to help you. Here are a few basic principles that can be useful when you go Fishing.

Wind: The general rule is to fish the windward side of things. If the wind is from the east fish the western shorelines. Look for areas where the shore forms a cove facing into the wind. Debris, bait, and nutrients will be blown into the shore and if there’s a cove the fish will likely hold there. This is true for both blues and stripers. It’s especially effective if there is a nearby estuary feeding into the same cove.

Tides: Stripers like to hide just off the edge of current in the slack water and ambush bait as the current moves by. If you have a moon tide series coming up fish along points that break up that tide. A point or other solid long structure (break wall, bridge piling) will funnel or split the current the stripers will hang just off the edge in the calmer water. During moon tides a much higher volume of water is moving taking with it bait and nutrients. You may also want to fish behind shoals, rock outcroppings and sand bars. These are places where rushing water scrubs the shallow bottom and deposits materials off the edge in the deeper water, that’s where the stripers will hang.

Wind and Tide: Every once in a while you’ll get a moon tide and the wind in the same direction. For example a north/northeast wind with a dropping moon tide. The moon tide pushes the water out of the bay and the wind helps the water move even faster. Under these conditions water can rush much faster than tide alone. If the wind is blowing out of the northeast with the tide dropping and there’s a cove facing the NE crazy things can happen. I was fishing the upper bay one day with these conditions I went to a cove that faces NE and didn’t catch much but I didn’t give up. I moved further down the bay to another NE facing cove and I caught about 60 stripers from 26-34 inches it was amazing. Another thing to consider is water will spill from estuaries much faster than usual also the previous high tide will be much higher than usual. Under these conditions small grass shrimp, worms etc can be trapped in the fast moving water. The stripers will hang where the estuary spills into the bay.

Rainy vs. sunny weather: Rainy overcast foggy days are universally better producers than sunny days. However sunny days can be productive especially when menhaden are around or early in the season (May) or during summer blue fishing. Again the above principles apply current and winds are keys. If given the choice I’ll almost always choose the rainy overcast day I’ve caught so many fish in that kind of weather it’s an easy decision. However I don’t go out if the wind is going to be very strong and torrential rain is forecast it’s just not worth it. But a light to medium wind with light to intermittent rain is fabulous.

Dead calm: The absolute curse is a dead calm sunny day. Under these conditions go deep. If the tides aren’t big not much is going to be happening. Deep rocky bottoms, steep ledges are the best bet. Even bluefish get mellow under these conditions.

Water temp: Stripers get really active when the surface temp is between low 50’s to low 60’s. That’s generally early May to Mid June. After that they go deeper. Blues on the other hand get active when the water temp reaches Mid 60’s or higher.

Perfect conditions: Tide and wind in similar direction, water temp 55 degrees, Cloudy overcast light rain, light to medium wind. Fish the windward side of the shore you cant miss.
Note: Use the links in the useful link section to get tide, water temp, and weather data. I usually print out a graph of the tide oscillations highlight the dates when extremes will occur, then I get the marine forecast a few days ahead and come up with a plan. On the day of the fishing I get the real time data and make any last minute adjustments.

The Right Fishing Gear

Many people will get into striped bass/blue fishing by going out and buying a rod and real combo without any thought to how they will be fishing. Believe it or not there’s a lot of thought that should go into your gear. You have to consider what type and size fish you may be encountering. You also have to take into consideration what type of terminal tackle you’ll be using. For these reasons I will almost always go out with 3-4 rod and real combos. People are also under the illusion that you have to spend a ton of money on an outfit, not true. I’ve scored some really nice rugged rods and reels at Wal-Mart, dick’s etc…That being said here’s some guidelines.

Spinning Gear: You have to decide what you’ll be fishing for and what type of lures you’ll be throwing. You can’t throw a ¾ oz buck tail jig with 20-30lb test line. It just won’t go anywhere. Like wise you cant pitch a 3-4 oz popper with a 12lb test outfit. So I usually take 2-3 spinning outfits along on any given day.

Outfit 1: I usually bring along a 12 lb class outfit, which is made up of a light reel with about 180 yd capacity of 12 lb test. The rod is usually a 7-8 ft light medium action capable of throwing ½--1 1/2 oz. This rod is used primarily for fussy medium stripers and schoolies. For these fish I’m usually throwing light jigs, poppers or Wildeye shad. During blue fish blitzes it’s also a lot of fun to try to land a big feisty fish with one of these small outfits.

Outfit 2: The next rod I usually bring is a 15lb class outfit, which is made up of a medium reel with about 180-200 yd capacity of 15lb test. The rod is usually a 7-8 ft medium action capable of casting ½ -3 oz. This is really my go to rod it’s the most versatile. You can snag menhaden with it, throw medium to large poppers, use large swimmers, and still be able to cast light stuff a decent distance.

Outfit 3: The spinning beef stick. It’s composed of a heavy 6 1/2 Ft spinning rod with rated at 1-4 oz. The reel is heavy with 200-250 yd capacity of 20lb test. I spool this reel with 30-50 lb test Powerpro braided line. This is my menhaden snagging, heavy jig bouncing, eel pitching meat rod. I like Powerpro on this rod because it has great feel and is so tough. When you’re in 40-80 ft of water bouncing a 4 oz buck tail jig on the bottom you need a line with almost no flex so you can feel the slightest hit. This is also a great outfit for snagging because you can throw a snagging hook a mile and once snagged you can get the menhaden to the boat as fast as possible. It’s also great for eel pitching, eels are heavy and you need the beef of this outfit to get the job done.

Bait casting/conventional gear: In this category the concept is power. These are my live lining menhaden, chunking off the bottom, trolling tube and worm rods. This category is for big fish, big bait, and big lures. Menhaden weigh from ¾ -1 1/12 lbs and the big stripers that eat them have big tough mouths. You need a heavy tough outfit to set a big hook in that tough mouth. I was hammering big stripers with menhaden one day and a guy and his son pulled up next to me with what I estimate were medium weight spinning outfits. They couldn’t keep a fish on the frustration was evident they just didn’t have enough leverage.

Bait casting outfit: Think big, think meat. I usually use a 6 ½ ft rod rated at 20-50 lb test line. With a level wind bait casting reel capable of holding more than 300 yards of 30-40 lb test line. No roller guides the guides are just normal ceramic or stainless steel rings; roller guides at 33-40 lb test are not practical. The line diameter is so small the line can get caught between the roller and the guide support. I also don’t like to use braided lines on the bait casters because they tend to have so little stretch that when that big fish turns around and makes a run for it there’s no give and the hook pulls out. I like using 30 –40 lb test because it’s somewhat forgiving and castable. I like to hook menhaden through the nose and cast them out a ways when they slap the water it’s like ringing the dinner bell to a big striper.

Fly-fishing: I like fly-fishing for blues. I know that most guys reading this and are thinking why not stripers? I like fly-fishing for blues because the fight is constant and vicious they are also very plentiful in the summer months. It’s not unusual to catch 30 or more in an afternoon on the fly rod. The following gear can apply to fly striper fishing as well.

Fly-fishing outfit: I use a 9 wt rod and line with a large capacity reel. The rods got a fighting butt, which is absolute necessary for fighting good size fish. I use a 9-wt rocket taper floating line. Most people like to use shooting heads but I’ve found from a boat the rocket taper is just as effective. The reel is a sturdy metal-framed heavy drag saltwater version with about 150 yards of Dacron backing. This setup is quite effective for most size blue fish. The only issue I have is the reel is 1:1 ratio so occasionally I get rapped on the knuckles by the handle but it’s a minor inconvenience.


NOTE ON EQUIPMENT BUYING—You don’t have to take out a second mortgage to get this equipment in fact I tend to shy away from really expensive stuff it’s only going to get slammed around the boat and abused by salt water.

What to look for in a reel: Good smooth drag is the most important factor of all. The reel should have a sturdy frame preferably metal or graphite not plastic. A smooth line roller on a spinning reels is a must, preferably ball bearing stainless steel.

What to look for in a rod: Nice even flex through the rod, if you flip the rod upside down and place the tip on something soft on the floor and push down from the butt end the entire rod should flex evenly. With this test you can feel if the tip is really soft or the butt's to stiff you can also get a feel for the strength of the rod. The exception is a fly rod a stiff but and soft tip are good qualities for back casting. Rods should also have guides made out of anti corrosive material. The guides should also have ceramic inserts to prevent the line from forming groves.

Recommendations:
Reels: Penn, Cabelas Salt Striker Metal, Okuma, Shimano.
Rods: Penn, Berkley, Okuma, Quantum, Shakespeare Intercoastal/Ugly Stick.
Fly rods: Berkley, LL Bean.
Fly Reels: Pfleuger, Valentine (Pricey), LL Bean

Narragansett Bay Big Strippers w/Manhaden

Last year was another banner year for big stripers. The pogies/menhaden have come back from a thirty year drought and the big bass have followed. The past 2 years have been stunning when it comes to live lining pogies for big stripers. The pogies generally move in around end of May beginning of June and with them come the big bass. All you have to do is find the menhaden, snag them, keep them alive and live line them. It's not always obvious when the big stripers are under them so it's wirth a try at live lining. It's amazing how a big fish can disturb so little water when chasing bait on top. I like to hook the menhaden right through the nostrils. I've tried hooking them through the upper lip but when stripers swallow them it's almost always head first and hooked through the upper lip the hook doesn't lay down and enter the bass's mouth properly. The other effective way to hook menhaden is through the back just behind the dorsal fin. This causes them to swim erratically resembling a wounded fish. If you suspect the stripers are deeper you can always add a cigar weight about 3 ft above the hook. I usually put a barrel swivel and snap at that point so I can add a cigar weight quickly. I'll usually lay out 2 poles one shallow one deep I'll then switch to which ever one gets hit first. It's not unusual to get 6-8, 25-40 lb fish in an afternoon.

Click play on the video below to see how to properly hook a menhaden: