Nogz
Smolt
First, apologies, I don't really post anymore and haven't really been around since the new forum migration. Howevah, I have Boston-area species content, so I figured it was worth sharing.
My family took our annual August trip to New England, which means I get to fish for stripers from 5-8 every morning. Its not quite shoulder-to-shoulder fishing at Lincoln Park, but it will do.
My first few times out were quiet. On my third time to the beach, I ran into some guides going out before work and watched them fish. It was completely different from how I was doing it. I was kind of making my way up and down the beach and gunning the fly out there as far as I could. When I watched them, they were really interacting with the waves. I could see them finding the edge of bars by where the waves were breaking, it was really like trout fishing. I'd never really used waves to identify structure since I mostly fish Puget Sound, so it was edifying. Throwing the the fly into the waves and let it fall into a trough was the way. Soon after getting my observational lesson I was able to find a nice one.
The 'slot' or keeper size for these fish are 28" to 31". I think this one was just about that or a bit under. These thing are 8 weight fish for sure. No jumps, but they will go on runs and use the drag. They don't give up.
The next day at the beach I walked into a feeding frenzy not far down the shore. Massachusetts doesn't have our insane tidelands rules, so I was able to run down the beach and cast out just beyond a bar. The birds were going nuts and about half a dozen stripers were breaking the surface with their spiky dorsal fins. My second cast into that mess got my another fish. This one seemed quite a bit blonder, perhaps because it was a flats fish rather than the one I caught at the rocky beach.
I ended up going 4 for 8 for the week. A lot of the action coming in flurries. These fish are amazing, and their average size is a lot bigger than what we see in Puget Sound. Nevertheless, I am ready to come back for the start of our ocean fish and get after it.
My family took our annual August trip to New England, which means I get to fish for stripers from 5-8 every morning. Its not quite shoulder-to-shoulder fishing at Lincoln Park, but it will do.
My first few times out were quiet. On my third time to the beach, I ran into some guides going out before work and watched them fish. It was completely different from how I was doing it. I was kind of making my way up and down the beach and gunning the fly out there as far as I could. When I watched them, they were really interacting with the waves. I could see them finding the edge of bars by where the waves were breaking, it was really like trout fishing. I'd never really used waves to identify structure since I mostly fish Puget Sound, so it was edifying. Throwing the the fly into the waves and let it fall into a trough was the way. Soon after getting my observational lesson I was able to find a nice one.
The 'slot' or keeper size for these fish are 28" to 31". I think this one was just about that or a bit under. These thing are 8 weight fish for sure. No jumps, but they will go on runs and use the drag. They don't give up.
The next day at the beach I walked into a feeding frenzy not far down the shore. Massachusetts doesn't have our insane tidelands rules, so I was able to run down the beach and cast out just beyond a bar. The birds were going nuts and about half a dozen stripers were breaking the surface with their spiky dorsal fins. My second cast into that mess got my another fish. This one seemed quite a bit blonder, perhaps because it was a flats fish rather than the one I caught at the rocky beach.
I ended up going 4 for 8 for the week. A lot of the action coming in flurries. These fish are amazing, and their average size is a lot bigger than what we see in Puget Sound. Nevertheless, I am ready to come back for the start of our ocean fish and get after it.
