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| 10 Ways to Beat the Summer Doldrums
I've been hearing a lot of grousing lately about poor catches. Welcome to the summer doldrums guys! If you've been experiencing diminishing returns lately, it's time to re-think your strategy. Fishing the same old harbor rip for a schoolie or two, or working a river hard to come up skunked isn't anyone's idea of a stellar outing. Let's take a look at some ideas that'll hopefully get you into some fish in the heat of the summer. #2. Fish the rocks - Pay attention: fishing NEAR the rocks isn't nearly good enough. You should be casting your fly ideally right into the white water where the liquid meets the hard stuff. Yes, you will loose flies...but you'll be fishing. (More on this below) #3. Get offshore - If the blues aren't finning on the surface, you'll probably find them suspending 15-40'in the water column in 60-90 feet of water. You can get down to them with a sinking line, but honestly, it's not what I'd consider fly fishing (cast, wait 5 minutes, retrieve). Downriggers work really well for them though. One guide used to make a living trolling "fly rods" clipped in downriggers. Really, they were noodle rods, to my way of thinking. #4. Get further offshore - There's all kinds of interesting stuff out at Stellwagen. I've routinely found big blues out there, plus lots of stripers (but you can't keep 'em - they're in the Economic Exclusion Zone). There's other interesting stuff too...UPDATE: It is illegal to fish for Striped Bass in the EEZ...more info here...#5. Fish the beaches - Many Boston anglers get engrained to fish only tidal rips and moving rivers. Try getting out on a long expanse of beach and work it, baby! Boom that cast out into the waves and fish big patterns. The fish are out there, but you should cover the beach well. Cast a few times, then move. Anything that hints of structure or different current flow, like small riptide, troughs between bars, etc. should get extra attention. See item #1. #7. Go for flounder - If you're fishing during the day and things aren't working, try working a Clouser or half 'n half along a sandy bottom. It may not appeal the SWFFing elitist, but it's a part of the sport, too. And sometimes it's the only game in town when the sun's high. FYI, Quincy used to be known as the "Flounder Capital of the World." Poor water quality changed that, but the harbor is on the upswing. #8. Learn to fish FROM the rocks - There's a lot in common with fishing TO the rocks from a boat, but you've got some added points of interest. It can be darned hard to keep the fly line from getting tangled up as you fish. And the rocks are, of course, slippery...and hard. See item #1. #9. Try a guided trip - Nothing can shake you from that "same old, same old" like a little strange. Fish a new area with a guide and learn a thing or two. #10. If all else fails, take up golf - no wait, that's not the answer...gear up and get out there for some tuna! Okay, the list is a little glib and it gives short shrift to a lot of issues that could really be the subject of a full column. So I'm going to take the time to give you a little more info about fishing the rocks from and boat. Fishing the Rocks For his part, the angler's got to be able to cast right to the whitewater line. Dropping a fly 5 feet off the rocks is not good enough. The fly needs to get caught up in the whitewater and tossed around. You'll need to be ready to strip set on any movement, which means you should be setting the hook a lot. A simple short jerk on the line will do the trick. Once again, points of convergence, gaps in the rocks, etc. should all be probed. Fish a sinking line and short leader, and let it drop. I really like working offshore rockpiles (get a map) and letting the fly drop down into the deeper water - that means you need to wait! Count the fly down it you need to to get it to the base of the rock. Big fluffy flies are the order of the day. I use big deceivers tied with fistfuls of stuff. They're kind of crude creations, but then I never claimed to be an expert tyer. CCA Tournament The Coastal Conservation Association Massachusetts will be holding the 2003 Boston Harbor Fishing Tournament on Saturday, August 9 from dusk to dawn. The tourney is sponsored by Monahan's Marine and hosted by the CCA Boston/Metrowest Chapter and the Cottage Park Yacht Club. You will find more information here. A Note of Thanks... Sam Riley is now editing the photos for all the FishWires, which should give me a little more time to spend on the column. Many thanks to Sam for easing my burden! Be sure to get those photos in by noon on Thursday. Special Fly Line for School Bluefin Tuna Just saw a very interesting post from Capt. Derek Spingler of First Light Anglers on the forum. He and Capt. Nat Moody are testing a new line and are looking to get enough interested parties to get the line made. Post in the forum if you are interested. New SBFT Fly Line!! Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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#1. Fish at night - This little trick isn't a big secret. Going to the beach at noontime is for sunbathers, not for striper fishermen. Try the dead of night, fish black or solid color flies with strong silouettes. First light rules...
Fishing the rocks from a boat really requires a good team of angler and captain. The captain must be able to handle the boat well, especially having the ability to hold the boat stationary in a current. He's also got to be willing to put his prop in harm's way. He's got to be good enough to get you close to but NOT onto the rocks, and that is actually easier said than done. In some conditions, it's just too dangerous to try to fish the rocks. Big waves can mean big trouble.Boston Metropolitan Regions
| NEWS |
| The nice thing about the cold rainy weather we had earlier in the season is that it seems the dog days have held off, at least in some areas. Plymouth has been fishing well, as have the outer beaches such as Duxbury. The rocks are starting to heat up, so take a look at places like Minot, or to the north any of the usual suspects. Plum Island has been giving up fish, but the greenheads will be your constant companions. |
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Boston Harbor
Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters reports: The Draggin' Fly was back on the water on Sunday, July 6th after taking July 4th off. On board was repeat client, Paul Morey of Weymouth. Joining Paul for this light tackle trip were two of his friends, Chris and Steve of North Weymouth. It didn't take long for these experienced anglers to hook up. There was a good dawn bite off of the Castle Island ledges. Action was all on the surface with jerk baits producing best. Capt. Wayne Frieden of Reel Dream Charters had this: Paul Lynch, his nephew Doug and Paul's friend Ethan fished with me on Monday. Unlike Sunday, there was no early morning action on top nor did the fish come up after the tide turned. However, we did locate a number of small bass and blues which were landed and released (except for the blues which were kept for dinner) on fly and light spinning tackle. We not only found fish inside the Bay but also off some of the Outer Harbor Islands and rock piles. Paul especially enjoyed the challenge of casting into the white water to take a striper on the fly. For some reason, these fish always seem to fight harder in the deeper water off the Outer Harbor Islands. Wednesday, July 16, 2003: No charter today but received another encouraging report indicating good early morning action through slack low tide in one of the Bays. I'll be out tomorrow afternoon for a charter and will report what I find. Until next time,we'll see you out there... Capt. Wayne
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Tuesday, July 15, 2003: A very encouraging report today from my friend, Capt. Tom Koerber who found a decent school of fish on the outgoing morning tide. Tom's sports were on fish up to 36" mainly fishing top water sluggos. The bass were apparently feeding on a mix of small bait and larger herring.
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South Shore
This from JettyJockey earlier in the week: Plymouth Harbor Micro Invasion... the micros invaded right at first light...feisty little fishies that ate whatever you threw at them...size ranged from 12-18 inches, not bad on the 6' ugly stik...action lasted 'bout an hour... Bet the fishing would have been even more fun with a flyrod... Peter Sorensen had this: The whole bay is filled with bait right now and there have been stacks of big fish taken in the last two weeks. You need to either fish structure or get lucky and see some birds working. My suggestion would be to work the channel edges by White's flat or the Nummit. With 56 to 60 degree water the big fish are inshore and have the feedbag on in a big way. Now's the time. Get out there and get them before the water heats up and then they will go bye bye. Manomet had this: 7/16 Plymouth South
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The word is that Plymouth Harbor is happening. Although I have conflicting information that things have slowed over at the Powder Point Bridge. I've also had more reports that things are happening at the Mary Ann Rocks. Expect things to be heating up along Duxbury Beach and Minot's Ledges as the water warms. |
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North Shore
Capt. Randy Sigler of Sigler Guide Service reports: Got this late report in from First Light Anglers: July 18th- The fishing still remains steady. Some days have been very tough, especially with those low tides at dawn and dusk, however, we are now moving into a much better tide cycle and the fishing should respond. I have broken down and started doing a bit of chunking on some recent charters and overall the action has been great. It is always a good reminder of how many nice fish there are around. The big bluefish have been coming into the slick, which is always entertaining particularly for the kids. The rock fishing has been OK. A good caster can work along the rocks and pick away at schoolies; however, accuracy and diligence are critical at this time of the year. The fly has to land in the white water and the angler must keep varying his strip until they find something that works. Fast and erratic seem to work the best for me. We have also been fishing a lot of small dark flies without a lot of flash. The fish have also been on top devouring the lobster fry. A lot of the time they can be tough to get to eat, but we have been having decent luck with them early and late in the day. Either big flies stripped as fast as possible or again small dark flies or crease flies have been good. The bluefish have been quite thick off Tinker's Island to Halfway Rock. There has also been a good school of small blues at the mouth of Gloucester Harbor. Folks trolling have also done very well by the Salvages and Halibut Point. Ipswich Bay has had some fish up on the surface from the green buoy off of the Essex River over to the Annisquam and out to Halibut. Supposedly, the Castle Neck and Essex Rivers have been loaded with schoolies and small bluefish. Apparently the fish have been hitting surface plugs and flies very well and although most fish are less than 26", it has been great surface action. The front sides of the beaches have had mixed reports with a few decent surface feeds but nothing consistent. I have hear about the same for up in the Ipswich, Parker and Rowley Rivers Soundking had a great report from Stellwagen for last weekend. That guy is having a lot of fun this season! North Shore 7/12 am- why I need bigger trolling sticks |
The live bait scene has been non-existent for the last few weeks, but if you throw flies, it hasn't mattered. The fly fishing has been very good!  |
The Merrimack River
I'm getting reports of lots of sand eels in the river, and that Plum Island is heating up. That unfortunately also means you can expect lots of greenheaded friends to... Capt. Charles Crue of Channel Edge Charters emailed this: Merrimack River Report #9 July 16, 2003 Blues often spew up their latest meal when brought into the boat. I always check to see what they have been feeding on. My latest observations are: very small minnows (1 inch) small worms and large baitfish such as herring or menhaden. A friend reported catching a 29-inch striper with sea lice, indicating fresh migrating fish. Bait fishing charter captains reported some big fish near the river mouth on Monday. I had been out that morning for a while catching blues an a few stripers on the early incoming tide. They were connecting on the later incoming tide reporting breaking fish near the river mouth. A few tuna have been brought in over the past week. As usual there are stories of hooked tuna and break offs. Dog fish are around in great numbers. Some fishermen are going far offshore to get away from the dogs. The presence of lots of bluefish has made live liners struggle to find mackerel. |
The striper fishing has slowed but the bluefish are taking up the slack. Blues are attacking flies and lures on the surface and below. Fishing gear is being tested by the aggressive blues. Heavy leaders or wire are needed to get a bluefish to boat side. I find that using wire tends to cause stripers to shy away after following a fly to the boat. Heavy mono or fluorocarbon will allow the angler to get blues or stripers. However you must check the leader after each catch to ensure it hasn't been frayed enough to make it too weak for the next hit.