Striped Bass On Saconesset Shoal In The Morning
By Braeden Smaykiewicz
The wake up call rings around four in the mornIng. I jump up and get ready for the fun day ahead of me and the others that are going for the striper bite on Saconesset shoal. I get ready as quickly as I usually do when we are going fishing, trying to stay quiet as I go downstairs and meet my Dad who is getting his things together.
I throw on my hat, Costa glasses, jacket and step out the door to a dewy Sunday morning. The 24 foot bay boat, already hooked up to the truck, was sitting in the driveway waiting to be released. I uncovered the white beast and set up the rods as we were waiting for the others. I put on pinkish lures to represent small squids that were being targeted by these amazing fighters, especially when you are using 3000 and 4000 size reels with 20 pound braid and a 15 pound fluorocarbon.
It was about 5 am when we set out of the driveway for the freeing blue water of the Atlantic. We went to White’s Landing in Wa- quoit to launch the boat. I drove the boat off the trail- er and pulled it up to the dock. My Dad parks the truck and trailer while everyone jumps into the boat. We putt out of the river and into Waquoit Bay where my Dad guns the boat to 45 mph with no protection from the wind. The Yama- ha 250 VMAX SHO engine shows off its power and it feels like we are flying.
We turned left out of the jetties of Waquoit to the rips of Saconesset shoal where there were barely any boats, but we found the spot. I put down the trolling motor and my Dad sets it up for the outgoing tide.
The fish were jumping out of the water to get their meal of small 4-5 inch squid. I threw my line to- ward the rip and it was an instant hit. I was tight and there were no dinky fish. Then, it happened, we tripled up. I quickly took off my fish and casted back out, and again I was hooked up. This fish was bigger though, and stronger. I took my time and got it to the boat. My Dad pulled it out of the water and measured it, and sure enough it was a keeper. There were also some good size Bluefish mixed in. We were pulling them in one after the other until the tide changed to slack.
So we left our spot and went to another where we saw some big stripers that we sight cast in shallow water. We stayed there until the tide had switched over to an incoming, we headed back to the bite.
We set up like we did before just opposite because the tide had shifted. There were a lot more boats now that it was later in the day. The bite was not as good as the early morning bite but it was still pretty good.
Unfortunately it was time to go home. So if you want some great topwater ac- tion with a Striped bass go out to Saconesset shoal on the squid bite and you are guaranteed to have a blast.
