I have big plans for this August, and so should you! While I am sure many will not come to fruition, heading into this month with a solid game plan is, well, a good game plan. Many fishermen in Southern New England refer to the summer doldrums when it comes to eight-month fishing, but not me. From the surf to the inshore grounds to the canyons, there are plenty of fish to be caught whether you’re looking for pure sport, table fare, or a mix of the two. Here are a few options to hopefully get you into some fish over the next few weeks.
I’ll start with the longest steam of the month, and that’s the offshore bite. Last year’s near-offshore tuna fishing was spotty at best. There were bluefin and yellowfin to be had, but I feel that fishing pressure had a lot to do with the mixed results had by many. Some days I counted more than 75 boats working areas where the bite was yesterday. The number of times I saw a fleet jigging for tuna bisected by someone trolling, causing more mayhem and danger than anything, might surprise those unfamiliar with the fishery of late. Sure, there were some epic feeds that popped up here and there, every so often right in the middle of the fleet, but when 30 to 40 boats converge on them it does nothing more than break up the fish and spook them even further. Imagine albie fever but instead of center consoles and bay boats picture sportfishers and 30-plus-foot center consoles and you get the idea of what happens far too often.
So, how does one find success in all this chaos? I wish there was a simple answer, but for me, so far, there is not. Staying with the fleet has its advantages some days, but from my experience moving away from the mass of boats often proves beneficial. Look for the smaller pods of whales or dolphin, perhaps the handful of birds constantly eyeing a small piece of water, and work that. Keep an eye on your electronics and work any sign of life that shows itself. Approach with caution, as quietly as you can, and go at it easy. Try dropping a baited line – squid, bunker, or mackerel – down to where you’ve been marking fish and/or bait and deadstick it along with a soft bait like a RonZ while you drift and jig. Further, be prepared to capitalize on any and every opportunity. Have rods rigged ahead of time with poppers, stickbaits and a castable soft bait so that when you see fish break within range, someone on the boat can quickly adjust. I can’t tell you how many feeds I missed last year by not being prepared, I will not make this mistake again!
Another option, if you’re looking to make the long run pay off, is to be willing to run even further. What I mean by this is sometimes you need to forgo the plan of working nearshore bait and yesterday’s reports in favor of a Hail Mary. We made just such a call on a trip last August when we couldn’t buy a bite amid seemingly hundreds of boats, opting instead to run to the shipping lanes to pot-hop for mahi. The first few stops proved fruitless, but once we found life it was lock-and-load until the fish box was full and our collective arms were toast. Mahi are a great and fun option, and when the bite is good the fishing is simple. We employ a two-part approach with the first angler or anglers pitching bait – squid or peanut bunker – fished on a small circle hook at a likely pot line. If fish show themselves either by taking a bait or flashing in the water below, we continue to cast bait until a frenzy develops at which time the fun begins! While I always heard bucktail jigs were the best bet for mahi, I found that the same stuff I throw for albies – resin jigs, soft plastics, and small spooks – work wonders on them. Resin jigs quickly became my go-to mahi offering as they can be fished everywhere from the surface skipped along at high speed, the mid-water by being reeled at a slow speed, to drop down below where, hopefully, the bigger mahi can be found. If you’re not finding much life, don’t ignore trolling past the pots in search of life as the usual tuna spread, with some sort of high-speed swimming plug added in, is a good way to hunt for fish willing to be caught. You might also pick up some bonus fish with this approach as friends have pulled yellowfin, bluefin and even a few wahoo with this approach!
Whether as a plan B on your way home from a tuna run or as the top choice when conditions and the bite dictate, August bottom fishing can be extremely productive and popular. We employed both approaches last summer and always came back with fillets in the cooler. Fluke, black sea bass and porgies are the main players in this game, be sure you’re on top of the regulations as they change a little this year (refer to my past installments for a complete update.) Also keep in mind, as I always make a point to remind anglers, if you plan to or even run the chance of passing through multiple state jurisdictions, then you must abide by the most restrictive regardless of where the fish were caught. The law applies to where you are currently in possession at the time you are searched, so be careful and don’t think ignorance is going to save your hide!
One of the more exciting approaches I used last summer while bottom fishing was sort of a modified snap-jigging technique with small resin jigs. ½- to 2-ounce JoeBaggs resins, rigged with a standard tail hook and small assist hook up front, bounced along the bottom steadily produced keeper porgies, fluke and black sea bass every time the conditions allowed. You’re not going to find this fishing easy on days with super speedy drifts, but when the drift is slower, or as you approach/come off slack, give it a try! Fished on a light spinning rod, 3000-size reel and 10- to 15-pound braid, this style of fishing is extremely addicting. Vary your jigging cadence from bottom-bouncing to yo-yoing to almost speed jigging until you figure out the tactic du-jour and get ready for some fun. What’s even better is that you truly never know what will jump on that jig at any time in the day as I’ve landed nearly every species regularly found in our waters in this manner.
I’ll close out with an old-time August favorite of mine, but one which has been inconsistent in recent years, and that’s snapper bluefish. When they’re in, you can find these scrappy little gamesters in just about every marina, harbor creek and estuary. The tackle is simple and requires little more than a lightweight freshwater rod and lure. You can go old-school like me and toss a small metal (the 1/8-ounce Kastmaster is tough to beat) or try a snapper rig which consists of a popper, trailing leader, and small surgical tubing lure. Some even opt for live or cut bait fished under a bobber, but for me, that’s too much work that doesn’t seem necessary. Last up, be sure to follow regulations for harvest and know that the limit on bluefish is now 3 fish per angler, per day, regardless of size. That means a 3-inch snapper equals a 15-pound chopper in your daily harvest.