Overview:
The presence or lack of heat will usually be the driver of most fishing pursuits in August, at least from my perspective. It’s one of the main factors that drives fish feeding schedules, along with bait, and in saltwater, tides. So, if I’m planning on doing any sort of fishing in August, my first focus will be on the heat and also, for saltwater anglers more than for fresh, the presence or lack of wind. And in that vein, I’d like to begin this report by advocating for something that, for some reason, I find many anglers are hesitant to do: get up earlier.
In New England, we wait all year for summer. Winter can be fun, but it’s also dark, cold, and sometimes downright miserable. So, I always wonder why, when I speak with local anglers, so many balk at the idea of getting up at 4 am to get on the water early. If there was ever a time all year for anglers to forget their sleep schedule and give up an extra hour or two or shut eye, it’s the middle of the summer. If you’re chasing largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, or trophy striped bass, the cooler, low-light hours are always going to out-produce the high heat of midday. So, get up early! Who cares if you’re tired later or if it’s hard…it’s summer, it’s fishing – it’s fun! I’m not saying you have to do the night shift and fish from 2 am until sunrise. I’m talking about getting up at 3:30 or 4 am and being on the water an hour later for first light and an eventual peach pink sunrise. The things you see out there at that hour are special. And what you don’t see – a ton of other boats – matters just as much as what you do see. I challenge you, especially in August, to get up an hour earlier than you normally would, get some buddies lined up, put someone on coffee duty, pack the night before, and get out there. It’s worth it.
Saltwater
We’re going to focus on trophy striped bass hunting to start. Because they are notoriously impacted by heat and high sun in terms of where they spend their time. I’ve caught dozens of striped bass over 45 inches long, and I’d say about 85-90% of them came out of water shallower than 15 feet deep. And out of that percentage that came in 15 feet of water or less, 99% of them came either in the middle of the night, or within an hour on either side of sunrise or sunset. That’s because big striped bass, which get big because they’re smart, not by accident, come in shallower at night when the sun is gone and the shallow waters cool. There are tons of bait there and it’s trapped in shallower waters, therefore easier to hunt. And when it’s easier to hunt, that means these big bass are expending less energy to hunt. And when they expend less energy than they consume, they grow. It also makes targeting big striped bass much easier from an angler’s perspective, because you’re now focusing on shoreline or shallow structure, rather than large reefs, which can sometimes be miles long, contain heavy current, and generally are tougher to fish. There are a lot of advantages to going shallow and sticking to low-light hours.
Bait selection can be just as important as location when you do choose to fish these low-light or night hours. I’ve been a huge fan of the Gravity Tackle 13.5” GT eel for years, and I firmly believe that there is no better big fish bait out there in the artificial world than a GT Eel (black sapphire or shimmering eel are my go-to colors), rigged on a ½ ounce Gravity Tackle Atlas jig head (or a similar, very strong jighead). Picking apart shallow reefs and structure with a GT takes repetition and trust in the bait. You’ve got to be precise, know the depth, and not rush things, and the GT will make it worth your while.
Live eels are, of course, a decades-old producer of giant striped bass. I call it striper spaghetti at the shop because it seems like they just slurp these things down. Fishing them shallow is as simple as it can be frustrating. You need a 6/0 or 7/0 circle hook, a bucket of eels, and a rag. And I’d also recommend using a leader in the 50-80lb range, depending on what structure is around. The snaggier the structure, the heavier the leader. I typically use 50 pound and a leader around 4-5’ in length. Use the rag to grip the eel behind the head and hook it up from the bottom and through both its upper and lower jaw. Don’t hook it too far back, or you’ll hit its brain and kill it. Once the hook pops through the top of its head, get it in the water quickly. I usually rig an eel with my bail open so I can toss it in the water as soon as it’s hooked. If you don’t get it in the water, they will writhe and spin around your line and create the dreaded “eel donut.” Your line will be wrapped so tightly around the eel with its slime mixed in that you will likely need to cut your line and retie. Once it hits the water, it’ll start swimming, and you’re much less likely to deal with the eel donut issue. Cast the eel gently towards your target, keep the rod tip up, and reel slowly, fast enough to keep the eel from swimming down into the rocks. Striped bass eat these things in one go, so when you feel a thump, reel until your rod tip begins to bend and then lift into the fish to set the circle hook. Then enjoy the fight!
August can be a lot of fun in the New England inshore world. Usually, by the last 2 weeks, there are rumors of false albacore poking around the Vineyard Sound and Block Island. And, in the last few years, we’ve had a nice influx of good-sized Atlantic bonito in the Long Island Sound, which are both delicious and fun to catch. Beyond those hardtails, you’ve got some good ground fishing opportunities with your black seabass, porgy, and fluke.
Freshwater
Low-light is still the go-to for me here as well, but if you have a local lake with deep humps, you can use a variety of tactics to fish those – Carolina rigs, drop shots, and jigs are popular, along with deep diving crankbaits. For me, I’ll stay focused on heavy veggies in the morning or at night and throw topwater frogs or soft plastics. There’s just something about a 5-pounder ripping through the lily pads to hit your hollow-body frog that is pretty insane.