Hot New Kastmaster XL

There are some hot looking new lures out this year from Acme. They are called Kastmaster XL's. They look like a slender version of the time tested and popular Kastmaster. They also look like a terrific imitation of a sandeel or even the slender shaped bay anchovy, our primary baitfish. With a lot of those baitfish around these days, I suspect these will be very effective to fish from both shore and boat for stripers, bluefish, false albacore and bonito from late summer into fall.
The Acme people have been around a long time and they know how to design lures. These Kastmaster XL's come in four sizes, 4 1/2 in. (almost 2 oz.),4 in. (1 1/2 oz.),3 1/2 in. (1 oz.), and 2 3/4 in. (1/2 oz.). They all have that aerodynamic shape and should cast like bullets, even into the wind. They also have that flashy chrome look matched with prismatic tape that should attract a lot of attention.
Looks like a winner to me. They are already packed in my surfbag ready to be used at the first sign of an albie or bonito.
For more information, visit the Acme website at www.acmetackle.com

On the DL

It's not pretty.

I've been dealing with a tennis elbow for over a year in my casting arm. Finally, I had an MRI two weeks ago that showed a tear in a ligament. It required surgery and elbow reconstruction. Yesterday I had the surgery.I am now wearing a cast that runs from shoulder to my hand.

It will be at least three months before I can swing a surf rod again. And, that will be after extensive therapy.

However, I will continue to post on this site. I plan to tag along with my brother and sons, mainly to shoot videos and digital pics.

I am hoping to be back saltwater fishing in October or November to get in on the fall runs.

About the Cape Cod Canal

The Canal has been one of the hottest places to fish in recent years from shore for striped bass in southern New England. The best website I have found that deals with this place is pasted below:
http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/ccc/recreation/recreation.htm
This site will give you directions, tide charts, maps and other relevant info. If you are thinking of fishing here, check this out.

Canal Running Hot

You would be lucky to catch a keeper right now from the RI mainland shore, and to do it, you probably have to put in long hours after dark slinging eels.

Not the case in the Cape Cod Canal where the stripers are keeping bankers hours. Yes, under a mid day sun, keeper bass are smashing the surface currents of the canal. Long casters line the bank in a picket fence of fishermen shoulder to shoulder that sometimes stretches for hundreds of yards, and they attempt to reach the breaking fish way out in the middle. The action has been terrific in the last week. I've fished there the last two days (mid day) and saw about a hundred keepers landed. These fish ranged from 28-45 inches. I didn't see one fish that wasn't a keeper. I myself landed 4 keepers in the two afternoons of fishing. There is nothing that comes close to this action here in RI.

The plugs that are doing the greatest damage are pencil poppers in a light color and the very pricey large Sebile plugs. Long casts are a necessity.

In the Boat at Block Island

We weren't doing much along the mainland shore so we decided to try Block Island from the boat. My son, Matt, had been fishing here with his friends and picking up decent numbers of keeper bass up to 35 inches and big bluefish while jigging with large diamond jigs in 60-80 ft. of water. So, my brother Steve and I decided to give it a try.

Yes, the fish are there. There are also big numbers of large sandeels around with some as thick as your finger attracting the stripers. At times I saw the sandeels just below the surface in clouds of bait. Most of the bass that are on these sandeels seem to be in the 28-35 inch range but there are lots of them. If you like deep water jigging from the boat, this is the place to be right now.

Not the "Good Ole Days"

I believe we are on a downhill slide for striper fishing here in RI. Oh, there are still some stripers and blues around from shore but their numbers are way down compared to a few years back. I have proof of this as evidenced by my logs that I have been keeping over the past 30 years.
Let's look back at the year 2000, exactly ten years ago. In the month of July, 2000, I landed 254 stripers from shore with the upper Bay fishing real hot. There were some evenings that the kids and I would land 40-50 schoolies from places like the East Providence Bike Path, Sabin's Point and Bold Pt. During that month you could catch them in the morning, daytime and evening. Along the oceanfront I was catching decent sized ones with many fish in the 20 lb. range. In addition, there were good numbers of blues as well as hickory shad. In July, 2000, I landed 14 blues and 45 shad.
Fast forward to 2010. I'm fishing the same spots, same number of outings and same hours. I will be lucky to catch 50 stripers and 5 blues this month. Where I caught hundreds of schoolies in the upper Bay, I'll be lucky to nab ten fish in the entire month. A big one these days seems to be 28 inches, not 20 lbs. Forget hickory shad; they are not around.
So, that's summer shore fishing, 2010. Not exactly the good ole days of striper fishing. And, not exactly the numbers many reports are giving you. If you are looking for the action to really pick up, I think you will have to wait for October. Based on last year, the real hot striper action lasted 4 weeks in the fall from mid October to mid November. I suspect it will happen that way again this year.

Hogy Rigging with new Swimbait Hooks

I have concluded that the very best hook to use when rigging a Hogy is the new swimbait hooks. These are made by Hogy as well as other companies. These hooks have a screw type device in the front, and it holds the Hogy securely in place. It is far more durable than a Texas style hook. The one drawback to this hook is that it is difficult to put a snap though the eye of the hook that also holds the screw type device. No problem....I have discovered that the Rapala knot offers the best means of connection because it allows maximum movement of the Hogy. I am using a three foot thirty pound test leader with a Rapala knot at the end.

Matching the Hatch

I've been fishing the last three evenings in an area where there are lots of sandeels along with some fish breaking. The breaking fish have attracted a lot of attention as lots of fishermen are trying, but very few are catching. I've had about the best success among the crowd because I am using a small, 6 inch skinny Hogy in a bone color. While this lure is larger than the small sandeels the fish are feeding on, it does have the correct movement and looks and that is why the fish are hitting it.

Others were using large poppers, big wild eye shads and large swimmers. Come on, man! Those guys had no chance, ZERO possibility of even getting a hit. Many inexperienced fishermen think that when stripers are feeding (jumping) they will hit any artificial. Not true. Matching the hatch is critical when fishing artificials. When sandeels are around, go small.....Hogys, small swimmers, fly teasers, etc. and not big plugs!