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| Striper fishing has been super for me from the kayak. There are lots of hefty schoolies along with some good size slots and overs. |
If you are a saltwater fisherman you realize that Labor Day is usually the turning point when fishing goes from bad to better. Well, it's happened earlier this year. I'm guessing the cooler weather has had a big effect in jumpstarting the improved fishing.mThe last week has been the BEST week of fishing for me all year. My striper numbers and sizes have improved dramatically, blues are in abundance in some locations, and the albies I posted about (last post) give me hope that they might be here soon.
I have been out in my kayak as well as fishing from shore in the last 7 days. For me, the key to success has been fishing in the Bay. Some places in the Bay are loaded with bait right now (mainly peanut bunker), and that has brought in a lot of predators. On the other hand, the oceanfront has improved but is still off compared to other years. A lack of bait and the recent extreme waves have caused the marginal fishing for stripers and blues along the beachfront, although sharpies fishing at night are finding some success. All of this might improve in the coming days and weeks. Contrary to recent reports you might be reading, there are NOT a lot of bonito around. I know guys who fish for them every day in all parts of the oceanfront from shore and boat, and they have been catching very little. It's all part of the albie and bonito hype that comes along at this time of year.
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| From the yak, the plastic Finesse Fish fished weightless has been a hot lure. |
From the kayak, it's been mostly stripers for me. I'm using my usual Finesse Fish (5.75 inches) in a white color. I fish this weightless on a BKK Titan Rider hook (size 5/0). It's a finesse game that requires finesse tactics. I am using 30 lb. test Varivas Braid (super fine and casts beautifully) along with a Varivas fluoro leader. Just twitch the plastic on top or just below the surface and reel slowly. You want the Finesse Fish to dart back and forth like a reel fish. The other morning I fished a shallow water shoreline with no fish showing and came away with 12 stripers. Many of those were slots and maybe some over slots.
Blues are on the rampage in a number of shore locations in the Bay almost daily, but they are fussy. I've been doing best using DOA paddle tails and Cocahoes on half ounce jigheads. I'm going through lots of paddle tails. I hate using plastics for bluefish, but they are rarely taking the hard plugs. Most of these bluefish are 3 to 5 lbs. I've seen several mini blitzes of them in the past week.
So, fishing is really looking up as we go into this Labor Day weekend. Hope you get out and catch some of the action. Fall fishing has started. early this year.
