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Stripers
are the first and last fish of the season and in my mind the stars of the
show. We will start pursuing them in April and have great
expectations thru June. They are a great game fish and we will use a
variety of methods and baits to fool them.
Spring time live herring trips are some of the most productive, but as the population has continued to increase warm weather night fishing with plugs has improved greatly, and we can put together a trip anytime throughout the summer with good expectations for success. In recent years fall has been the most productive. Starting early October daylight trips with live spot, bunker, mullet, and eels will be productive. However thru mid-November it is the night time which will put maximum numbers of big stripers on the end of your line. Good fishing continues until the water temperature falls below 50 degrees when the fishing changes to chasing schools of migrating fish off the beach. This is amazing action, however the whims of the weather limit the fishable days with my small boats. |
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Weakfish are the summertime gamester in our back bay waters. As the
population is making a comeback, more and more "Tide Runners"
are foraging in the bays on their northerly migration beginning in the
month of May. The early fishing can be hot or frustrating as the
fish are on the move and eating a variety of baits which you will imitate
with bucktail or rubber tailed jigs or a variety of hard
plugs.
When the crabs begin to shed in June shedder crab is king thru the summer. Because I maintain tanks and shed out softshell crabs here, there is always a great supply of shedders for my fishing trips. Fished on jigs at the right time makes weakfishing the closest thing to a sure bet you will find. When the late summer turns the bays into a boiling caldron baitfish some of the best weakfishing is available. Live lining bunker or mullet will bring some of the biggest fish of the year. Metal and rubber jigs will also fool large numbers of fish and if you have the patients to work a sinking fly line you can turn a fly rod into a "magic wand" . Good fishing for weakfish continues until the Stripers become the predominant predator in October. |
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Nothing is more vicious than a Bluefish and no fish is more fun to catch
when the Tailors and Choppers invade the bay. Early May is time for
vast schools of medium sized bluefish to push into the warm waters of the
flats of Great Bay. They prowl the shallow waters looking for
anything eatable. With razor teeth slashing they attack. When it is
your surface popper that is their victim there is no greater sight or
sensation in all of fishing.
During this early run, fish up to ten pounds can be caught on ultra light tackle in less than three feet of water. If you want a taste of a great fish on fly tackle, this is the time. Even though the bluefish responds to a super fast retrieve difficult to accomplish with the fly rod, they can be fooled by baiting and switching from hookless surface plugs to a topwater popper. Just remember to bring plenty of tackle, because bluefish love to destroy it. Even though the main push of bluefish usually ends sometime in June, I always have a few resident schools which can break up some slower days. These are usually smaller one to two pound fish, but fighters just the same. If you want a great meal, take just enough of these smaller fish to filet and eat that same night and fry the skinless filets in garlic butter. There is no better fish in the world. |
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This
is the most popular fish in the area. The fluke or summer flounder
has been making a miraculous comeback over the last several years.
So good in fact that it has the regulators completely baffled.
Because of that we are faced with shortened seasons and lower
limits. Still the flounder is the summertime staple, and probably
the best eating fish in the bay.
I will admit that I may not be the very best fluke fisherman in the area, because I prefer to target the more exciting aggressive species, however if your desire is to put some filets in the freezer, I have more than a few spots and some tricks that will catch them. In fact it is a very rare day of chasing weakfish with shedder crabs that we do not put some nice fluke in the box. If you are on a family trip I can almost guarantee some consistent action throughout the summer. |
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609-484-0409 |
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