By Joe Gugino
Every year we look forward to the start of spring, and the start of fishing season, but this year maybe more than ever! The striped bass have finally made their way back to Massachusetts waters and we couldn’t be happier.
The first stripers of the year are usually caught from shore in back estuaries on small soft plastic lures, like the Al Gag’s Whip-it Fish or Hogy Sandeels, or small bucktails; and this year was no different. The first schoolies showed up at the end of the first full week of May and the fishing has only heated up from there!
The first keepers of the year were caught only a week after that, and on topwater to boot! The hot lures on topwater this year have been the 247 Lures Flippin Mullet, Heddon Super Spook and Cotton Cordell Red Fin. The schoolies are still around in larger numbers thank keepers, but more and more large fish are moving in by the day.
As the water temperatures, and air temperature, get warmer it makes it more practical, enjoyable and safer to get out on the water on the kayak. And even if the fishing isn’t too hot, it’s important to take that first shake down cruise or two to get the muscle memory back and be as prepared as possible for hooking and landing a fish.
Our first big group kayak trip of the year wasn’t a success in the amount of fish we caught, even though we did catch a few, but it was a huge success in the amount of water we covered, new area we learned and fun we had while getting back out on the kayaks to fish!
This month is a great month to target big striped bass. Slow trolling or drifting live eels at night either from a boat or a kayak usually tends to catch the most big bass, but large soft plastics or using a tube-and-worm can sometimes work just as well.
I am extremely excited for the fishing season this year, as I always am, but this season even more so! This season will be my first season running kayak fishing charters and the North Shore’s first Kayak Fishing Kid’s Camp at Little Harbor Boathouse in Marblehead, MA. We will also be running monthly Kayak Fishing events like our bi-monthly Group Kayak Fishing trips on Thursday nights (June 4th & June 18th) and our Take A Kid Fishing event on June 6.
I love fishing and kayak fishing and helping people to get started or get better. Please check out our websites online at www.whyknotfishing.com and www.littleharborboathouse.com to stay in touch and keep in the loop with what is happening. Don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an e-mail if you are interested in any of our kayak fishing programs or have any fishing questions or comments at all!
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 cofounder/co-owerner of Why Knot Fishing (www.whyknotfishing.com), a community-based fishing organization. He will be running Kayak Fishing Charters and the North Shore’s first Kayak Fishing Kids camp this summer at Little Harbor Boathouse (www.littleharborboathouse.com) in Marblehead, MA.