By Joe Gugino Why Knot Fishing
Some people call August the dog days of summer, but there are smart fisherman that know it is a great time to go out and target that cow striper you have been looking for! The fish are now settled into their summer haunts, and fattening up on as many sand eels, mackerel and other bait they can find. Last month there was the opportunity to catch some large fish during some day time feeds, but fishing at night is now the most effective time to fish.
Last month, as expected, we saw a school of huge fish roll through the North Shore. Last year, they came in around the 4th of July, and this year, it was about a week later. There were some huge fish in the 40-inch plus range, and they came in hungry! At night, the most effective lures were swimming plugs like the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow and the Daiwa SP Minnow. The fish were still active at first light as well, falling for big topwater plugs.
In August, we will start to use eels way more often. Eels can be effective casting from shore, boat or kayak. If you are casting the eels, you want to slowly retrieve the eel with your rod tip high in the air, and if you feel the slight tap of the fish, bow your rod down, let the fish take the eel, and then when you feel the pressure of the fish back on the line, that is when you want to set the hook!
Our favorite way is to fish them slow trolling on the kayak, over shallow water structure. Make sure you beef your tackle up when fishing, as the fish you will catch will most likely be bigger, and they have the ability to break you off in the rocks. Usually we use spinning reels with 30 pound braid, and 30 pound leader with a 7-foot medium rod. When trolling for eels we use conventional reels with 40 or 50 pound braid and 50 or 60 pound leader on a shorter 6 and a half foot heavy action rod.
We were excited to get our first big fish from the kayak last month, and look forward to continue to do the same this month. We will be participating in the New England Kayak Fishing’s Annual Striper Shootout in Winter Island from August 19th – August 21st and looking to defend our 1st and 2nd place finishes in the Fly Fishing Division.
If you would like to go on a Hobie Kayak Fishing Trip at Little Harbor Boathouse during this month, we would love to have you join us out on the water! Shoot us an e-mail at whyknotfishing@gmail.com, and we look forward to hearing from you.
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.