Dear Fishermen and Friends,
We settled into a fun and predictable pattern in our fishery. The weather has been so perfect and consistent, there isn’t much reason for our fishery to evolve. Whenever we get the next big storm, this will shift the bait and push more and different fish into our fishery, but for now, consistency is king. And, with fishing this good, who doesn’t want consistency!
Our inshore waters are filled with Bluefish. For those of you with a 20 year view on our fishery, this is great but probably expected. For those of you who think back about the last five years, we feel very blessed that this fishery is so good. Last year, we had a similar a fishery, but for the previous three years, there were tides that we couldn’t catch bluefish. It seemed like there were weeks, when Charter boats wouldn’t even fish Great Point because it was devoid of fish. Luckily, it seems like that trend was short lived and our fishery is back in full gear.
Remember though, our fishery and all fisheries are extremely fragile. Treat the fish you catch with care and release them. Treble hooks are generally destructive to a fishes mouth, so use single hooks. Even if you buy a plug with trebles, you can switch them out. When you are handling a fish, do your best to keep them in the water and if you take a picture with the fish, keep it out of the water for a minimal time. Lastly, please only keep fish that you will consume in the next few days. I love fresh fish and kill my fair share, but I only kill fish that I know will be consumed while it is fresh.
Bluefish continue to surround the Island. From the beach, I would spend most of my time at Eel Point in the evening. We still have a lot of Blues pushing close to the beach. I would also not be surprised to find a bass in those waters. I personally love the feeling of the south shore. During low light hours we have Blues push right onto the beach. It has been better closer to Madequecham and Tom Nevers, but there are fish off Miacomet as well. At night, there are Bass in the mix on the south shore if we get some turbulent waters. Bluefish love action and Striped Bass like a soft slow approach on the South Shore.
The east side of the Island, all of the way to Great Point has plenty of Bluefish. This is colder, fresher water and these fish have been very active. I have not heard of many Bass caught in this stretch, but I have to imagine they are there.
Thinking of beach fishing, I always keep a rod on my car in case I get the opportunity to jump on the water, even if just for a few minutes. Unfortunately, we have had several reports of rods being stolen from on vehicles, at night. This is such a disappointment because this is just one or two bad apples, which have forced us to change our habits. I’ve grown used to trusting everyone on our Island, but this news put me on guard. If you have heard of anyone coming across new gear or someone selling gear cheap, please let either tackle shop know. Thank you!
From the boat, the bluefish are not as prevalent on the west end as they have been. We still have Bass mixed into the edges, but this entire fishery has slowed down in the last week. Most of these fish simply migrated to the south shore and are there en masse. On these flat calm days, they are simply cruising the surface. You can find similar fish, perhaps not as many all of the way up the east side of the Island and in the Chord of the Bay as well.
If you are focused on Bass, you’ll have to push out to our eastern edges where the water temps are in the low 60’s. This is the most consistent fishery, but you have to work to get there. You’ll also find some great bottom fishing in those edges so be prepared.
Tight lines.
Credit: Bill Fisher Tackle