As I write this, I am looking at low-20-degree high air temperatures with overnight lows in the teens over the next few days; great weather for ice fishing but downright miserable for those of us who love to fish in the ocean! This followed a rather warm early winter season which was capped off by a crazy amount of rain which caused coastal flooding the likes of which hasn’t been seen modern times in some places. Due to this, my winter fishing in the salt has pretty much been put on hold for the near future, likely not to kick back into gear until I start poking around my spring hunts; trout fishing and even a little ice fishing will have to scratch the itch!
If you’re not a hard water fan, and trout don’t do much for you, there are still some options for you. First, now is the best time to tackle any gear repairs that you have pending. If you’re not handy with a screwdriver and some grease, then by all means get your reels in to a local service shop! While I truly enjoy working on my own gear, it’s tough to beat a certified service tech when it comes to high-end fishing gear. This also goes a long way towards helping to keep your local tackle shop in business through the slow months. Saving a few bucks here and there might seem like a good play, but when the season is in full swing and your closest full service tackle shop is a 30 or even 45-minute drive away, you’ll be kicking yourself for not spending your money locally.
There are also many local tackle shops and marine stores running in-house seminars, used tackle sales and events this winter to help ward off the shack-nasties. This is a great opportunity to learn a few new tactics, support those local tackle shops, which are so crucial to our success, and keep your mind in tune to fishing thoughts and ideas. I fully believe that like any other sport, the more one “practices” fishing, the better an angler they can become!
Something you can do yourself, and something, which both supports your local shop as well as helps prepare for the upcoming season, is simple rig tying. Every winter I make it a point to buy terminal tackle locally and then set out to tying leaders and rigs for the season. I’ll tie up a bunch of surf plugging leaders, chunking leaders and hopefully enough blackfish rigs to get me through most of the season. Each individual rig goes into its own small baggie, is labeled with hook size and line type, and goes into a small plastic bin. I can easily tie up a few dozen while watching a hockey or football game, and if there isn’t a good game on TV then I’ll sit down at my kitchen table for a few hours. It’s amazing how quickly I can tie up a good supply of rigs, and I find that doing so under controlled and more relaxed conditions results in far higher quality end products. In season if I am tying on the fly, I might be more willing to accept an OK knot, but when I know the next cast is a few months away, I make it a point to inspect each rig thoroughly and only accept the best of the best.
Ok, ok, if you REALLY need to fish then you do have a few choices, but they’re very weather dependent and the last few winters have been a rollercoaster of consistency when it comes to Mother Nature and the weather gods. Cod fishing remains an option, although it is perhaps the most inconsistent winter fishery we have going these days. Fishing can be good one day, on fire the next and then totally tank the third day for seemingly no reason at all. There are a thousand factors at play here, too many to really get into right now, but at the end of the day, even if the fishing is slow, can you really complain if you at least get to spend a few hours out in the salt? I was on a head boat about nine or ten years ago that sailed out of Snug Harbor, Rhode Island. The fishing was what I would describe as a slow pick, and I had one of my worst bouts of seasickness in recent memories, but I still had a fun time. Between the salt air, banter between friends and fellow fishers, and the fact that I simply wasn’t attached to my couch for a day in the middle of winter made it all worth the effort.
The other salty option is in the modern winter standby, holdover striped bass. I have covered this subject before, and while February into March is the toughest stretch of the winter to target striped bass, if you choose your days and nights carefully, it is possible to squeak out a decent catch. Avoid extended stretches of extremely chilly weather as this can really turn off the bite. It is also not only miserable to fish in, but if you do finally catch the extremely frigid air can be bad on the survivor rate of released fish. Instead, look for post-storm fishing to find success. This can come in the form of rain or snow as both have a way of kicking a bite into gear, so long as neither is too extreme as too much rain floods the rivers and too much snow just seems to mess with the water.
Last up for now we are smack dab in the heart of the annual winter boating, fishing and outdoor show season, something that never disappoints! For February and March, you have at least four major shows in Southern New England, more if you’re willing to travel to New York or New Jersey. First up we have the Springfield Sportsmen’s Show at the Big-E Fairgrounds, February 23-25, in my old stomping grounds of Western Massachusetts. This show has become more of a hunting show in recent years but is still worth a visit if you are outdoorsman. Next up on March 8 – 10 is one of if not the biggest saltwater fishing show in the region, the New England Saltwater Fishing Show, also referred to by many at the RISAA Show as it is run by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association. This show is held annually at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. If you are a saltwater angler, this show is NOT TO BE MISSED! It is packed with saltwater fishing vendors, free seminars and more. I enjoy this one and look forward to it every year. Last up on the official show circuit is the up-and-coming Connecticut Fishing & Outdoor Show at Mohegan Sun Casino, March 22 – 24. This show is well attended by both vendors and fishermen alike, and with its convenient location at Mohegan Sun Casino, it makes for a solid option to grab a bite to eat, play the slots and maybe even catch a concert after walking the showroom floor. There will be a great slate of A+ seminars for both fresh and saltwater anglers throughout the three days of the show as well.
Well, there you have it; not quite the fishing forecast we have on the horizon but still plenty to do on the fishing and fishing-related front for February and March in Southern New England!