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: