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.
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.
Metrological data is really very helpful to find fish,there is tide data on this website.
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