Monday, August 19, 2013

Sandeel Imitators Very Effective Right Now

This fish, taken from the boat,
hit a Red Gill teaser rigged
ahead of a Zoom fluke.
I got out again yesterday evening/night and fished from shore along the oceanfront.  I had the biggest schoolie night of the summer with a load of fish.  At times it was a hit or a fish for sometimes ten casts in a row.
The Kastmaster XL has been very effective
from shore and boat.
The hot lures right now are anything that imitates a sandeel.  I'm talking long and slender lures.  Also, teasers have been hot both from shore and from the boat in the last week.  I am using either a Red Gill teaser or a Deceiver fly teaser on my leader that is rigged ahead of my main offering. I have been getting roughly a third of my fish on teasers.  Lots of lures have been working in this recent hot streak of schoolies.  Overall, metal is hot, especially when a long cast is needed.  The slender Kastmaster XL in a four inch length was especially good last night before dark when the fish were a good distance out.  It also worked well earlier in week when fishing from the boat as we lowered it to the bottom and just bounced it as we drifted along.  From the boat, the plastic Zoom  fluke mounted on a half to three quarter oz. jighead was a good producer too.  Last night I had real good luck with a jointed Red Fin swimmer after dark.  This lure stays close to the top and has a tight wiggle that seems to work well when the stripers are feeding on sandeels. Some other suggestions of lures that would imitate sandeels might be a bucktail jig, a small needlefish plug and small skinny plastic.
Schoolie fishing is very hot in certain locations right now.  The fish seem to be after small sandeels, and any plugs with a slim profile should get hit.