Fishing Forecast
By Joe Gugino, Why Knot Fishing
September successfully kicked off the Fall Run here in New England. The Adult mendhaden (pogies, bunker) that were plentiful all summer, continued to draw attention from large Striped Bass and Bluefish. Now that we are in October, it is your last chance to get in on the fishing while it is good before winter moves in!
We were excited to successfully run our Why Knot Fishing 2nd Annual Fall Run Striper Classic on Boston’s North Shore. The tournament was a Catch-Photo-Release format, where anglers can fish in the waters from Boston Harbor to the Merrimack River, and fish for the total combined length in inches of their two best fish. There are divisions for both fly and spin anglers from shore and boat, and there is a special prize for the best kayak-caught Striper sponsored by Little Harbor Boathouse in Marblehead, MA. This is a fun and exciting low barrier-of-entry tournament that is aimed at engaging local recreational anglers in a competitive format with the focus on catching, and most importantly releasing, big fish. We were honored to have our tournament sponsored by awesome companies like Costa Sunglasses, BUFF USA, Cheeky Fishing, XtraTuf Boots, YETI Coolers, Cortland Line, Little Harbor Boathouse, Tomo’s Tackle, Capefish Co., The Fly Pack, East Coast Flies, Mud Dog Flies, 247 Lures, Daddy Mac Lures, Al Gags Lures, and many more! Check out the full wrap-up on Why Knot Fishing to see who won, and get a taste of the tournament atmosphere. We hope you can join us next year!
As I mentioned last week, the Fall Run may be the most important time to always keep a rod in your car. You don’t want to be driving to or from work, see a blitz happening, and be stuck watching! The fishing can change from day-to-day as different waves of fish make their migration down the East Coast. It pays to take some longer routes from place to place, to go along the ocean to check out the spots. Don’t just look for fish actively feeding; keeping an eye on bait in the area can be a good indication of fish there. And even if it looks barren, taking the time to work the beaches or rocky structure to take some blind casts may prove successful.
Some of the best searching lures are topwater lures like poppers or spooks and swimming lures like Dawia SP minnows. Having some unweighted soft plastics, and soft plastics on jig heads are great as well. My favorite soft plastics are ones with paddle tails like the Al Gag’s Whip-It Fish. These lures are great because you can real them straight in at a medium or fast pace to cover water, but can also jig them to cover the water column, and hit the fish who may be holding closer to the bottom.
FORECAST BY: Joe is a life-long fisherman, who fell in love with the sport when he moved to the North Shore and started fishing in saltwater for striped bass. After fishing from a kayak for the first time, he became even more excited about (and obsessed with) fishing. Joe is also the co-founder/co-owner of Why Knot Fishing (whyknotfishing.com), a community-based fishing organization.
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