Friday, July 1, 2016

Holiday Weekend Best Bets

Lots of small blues in the Bay
chasing schools of
peanut bunker. This is one of
three I landed tonight.
It's the start of the fourth of July weekend and the start of summer vacation for a lot of people.  I'm sure many will wet a line in the next week or so.  Here are your best bets;
Blues in the Bay-  Whether you fish from shore or a boat, you can expect to find blues on the increase.  There are some good numbers of small ones in the 3-6 lb. range tearing through peanut bunker schools in the Bay. They are hitting a variety of lures including poppers, swimmers and jigs.  With water temperatures in the Bay climbing into the low seventies, stripers are moving out, although there are still some around, but nowwhere near the numbers we had weeks ago. With water temperatures in the upper 60's, the oceanfront might be a better bet to find stripers, although reports are not good.
Black sea bass are abundant along
the oceanfront.  Other bottom feeders
like scup and fluke are also around
in good numbers.
Bottom Fish Rule the Oceanfront-  It's that time of year when bottom fish are abundant.  Scup, black sea bass and fluke are all around in good numbers along the oceanfront and parts of the lower Bay.  Boaters have a big advantage here as they can move around and find the concentrations of these fish. However, scup, in particular, are available to shore fishermen in good numbers.  I like to use artificials for these fish.  From the boat, vertical jigging such lures as Kastmaster XL's, Deadly Dicks, and bucktail jigs spiced with squid strips are all good bets to catch these bottom feeders.  And, as a bonus these three fish are all great to eat. If you are looking for detailed tips and ideas about how to catch fluke, scup and black sea bass from the boat, check out my latest story, Bottom Fishing Trifecta in this week's Fisherman magazine.