Belle Isle Kayak Report: July 2014

By Guide Rick Buss:

Late spring/early summer can be a real dilemma for fishermen, including members of our “plastic Navy.” Where to launch and fish and what to fish for can drive a sane angler nuts. Some of my kayaking friends are pretty screwy anyway. Do we head south for a red-hot sea bass bite or stay local and clean up on winter flounder? Big bass are showing up in the usual places, and decent cod are being jigged up close enough to shore for most yak anglers.

Let’s start this report with my home waters. Schoolie striped bass are everywhere and willing to bite. Small white soft plastic baits will keep you busy catching and releasing until your arms are sore. There are some big girls around also. Kerri Cook picked up some nice mid-30″ fish near the start of the North Shore. I had the pleasure of fishing with my friend, Bob “Lefty” Harnish further north, a mixed bag of sizes from dinks of 15-18″ to some decent 30-somethings. We were both dragging a tube and worm rig and picking up fish about every 5 minutes. As we were pedaling back to our launch site, we kept picking up fish, which is usually a good thing, but as we were fighting a stiff breeze every time we had a fish on, we lost a couple of hundred hard-earned yards toward our landing spot. We both had to put the rods up in order to make it back before the tide went out too much and left us stranded on mud flats.

My young friend, Ethan Bourque, caught his personal best, a fat 45″ monster, right in my backyard last week. Way to go E-Bour!

South Shore and Buzzards Bay are hot as a pistol with everyone picking up sea bass, tautog and scup on almost every drop. The sea bass are coming in with a decent keeper in every 8 or 10 fish. If you’ve never eaten a black sea bass, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Nice cod are within reach of experienced kayakers. They can be found in deeper water around humps. They are hitting soft plastics on jig heads, shiny jigs with stinger hooks and good ol’ clams.

There have been some reports of fluke being caught locally, but not confirmed. I wouldn’t be surprised as many species that we used to only catch further south have been showing up further north. Although mackerel are around now, I’m hoping that squid will make a strong showing like they did last year as I did well live-lining calamari.

Right now is the time to wet a line as it is a veritable smorgasbord out there. The only decision is “Where to fish?” Be careful. Plan your outings with awareness of winds, weather and tides. Let someone know where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Stay safe!