Ambush Points

Headed out into 25 knots against my best judgement, but I figured it would eventually die off (it did a bit). It was a great night other than the wind. At first most fish I caught were in the mid-upper teens, but then things quickly changed. Once I found the nicer fish (most were 25-28"), I stayed with them for the entire night. I had two fish that had to be close to 30" but I lost one at the boat and the other was covered with sores so I didn't get any pics. I was reviewing my plotter (recent waypoints that have held good fish) and it became clear that the bigger fish seemed to be at "ambush points". Not every mark, but logical places where the bay "bottle necked" into a smaller area were the baitfish could be pushed or up against drop offs. Tonight was no different, but the bigger fish were in water only 15' deep. I saw a few other boats chasing birds (and dinks), but no one came close to me tonight simply because there were only a few birds around.

I didn't want to keep the fish out of the water too long tonight so I tried to get as much of this fish in the frame as I could...it's tough when they were 25+"!!!

Wasting Time

Tonight I thought it was going to be another great night. But, you guess it...WIND and a tough bite to boot!! I quickly found some birds and caught some fish including a few decent ones, but they were on the move so I decided to do the same. I looked at a few places and wasted too much time in the process. I should have gone directly to where I found them last night because they were still there (nice ones). By the time I (and some friends..nice seeing you guys out there) started to fish the spot it died off a bit. Within 30 minutes they were pretty much gone. I don't know if this weather has anything to do with it, but I continue to find some nasty looking fish (mid-20"ers mostly).

Lesson Learned: Go where you know they have been recently.

Crazy Bait

After taking the kids tubing this evening (and looking for birds..a win.win), I took off for a quick trip. Almost every place I looked I found fish, not too big but a lot. Birds were working hard tonight. Didn't manage anything over 22-24", but did find a "sweet spot". I discovered a school of bunker (I know because they were jumping all over the place) that filled my screen for a 15 minute drift...crazy!!! Unfortunately I only found a few fish, but it's just a matter of time before the bigger fish find them and I'll be ready if they do!!

Easy Pickings

Went out tonight and (once again) had to deal with 15+ knots of wind. Oh well, I decided it was worth it last week so why not give it a try. I started off at a different spot and found some really good marks that produced fish up to about 24". Not every one, but enough so I stayed on them for about an hour (no birds, they were in 20 feet of water close to deeper water). The only issue was many had red sores on them which isn't a good sign. I then decide to make a run and look for something different. Well, they say to follow the birds and that is exactly what I did. When I finally found the flock it was massive, easily 1/4 mile wide worth of birds. I think it was the largest flock I've ever seen on the bay. Of course that meant easy picking with the fish. Not many over 20" but many in the 18" range.

Show of White Water

Ran out for an early morning session to find the bigger fish I've had lately. Did manage to find a lot of breaking fish that put on quite a show of white water, but they were all small. I managed a few that were in the 18-20", but most went 15" or so. Sounds like the better fish finally showed up after I left...just missed it by a few hours!!!

Two Hours of Non-Stop Catching!!!!!

It's hard to believe but I think the fishing was even hotter than the temperature today. We (went with R&R) absolutely CRUSHED them today. It was so good it's tough to describe. Imagine a few breakers here and there, but fish stacked from top to bottom for over two hours. In those two hours we might have made five casts that didn't result in a 20+" fish. Not quite as big as last night but many (and I mean many) 24-26"ers. The best part...we had them all to ourselves!!!

Was it worth it......

....I think it was!!!! How bad could 15-20 be anyway, since it was only the 100th time this year with too much wind. It didn't take long for me to find a few birds and a boat load of fish. The birds didn't hang around long, but the fish did in a big way and they weren't dinks either. Most were in the upper 20" class and a few defiantly were pushing 30". What a great way to cool down on such a hot day. Working channel edges and steep drop offs is the best game in town right now. I also saw a disturbing sight. A Coast Guard helicopter was lowering a basket to a Coast Guard boat? I hope they were just practicing, but there were some big swells
out there tonight.

Too many kids

Usually I can at least find some fish in the mid-teens, but not tonight. Everything was less than 10". I went for about an hour straight and had a fish on just about every cast. I just couldn't find any teenagers or mid-20"ers. I did find some serious bait balls tonight and even managed to catch one. The western shore just isn't producing as many nice fish for me so far this year.

The Big One Actually Did Get Away

What a great night!!! I received an invite from a friend and his son to give it a try tonight. It was a beautiful night to be out. We were marking some really nice fish and plenty of bait, but the tide just wasn't moving much so it was slow at first. Then things started to pick up as the tide turned. We managed to find our first true "blitz" of the year...what a wonderful sight seeing breaking fish and birds crashing bait!!! We picked up some legal (just barely) fish, but most were on the small side. If you can believe it, we had several mid-upper 20"ers that managed to get off..I'm not lying..it really did happen..the big ones got away tonight. In the mix we found a nice blue fish which was a first for the year (I actually didn't catch it). It's always fun catching fish especially when there are kids involved in the action. The summer pattern is finally taking shape.

Martha's Vineyard...15-20 Lb Bass

Just got back from a few days on the Vineyard and it was quite an experience. It wasn't the first time I fished up there (thanks again PM), but I fished in a different way this trip. First I tried some local salt ponds and wasn't expecting much, but was I wrong. I managed several nice mid 20"ers and lost one that had to be at least 30". It was really cool fishing in only 2-3 feet of water. Next I was off to sight fish on the flats. It was just like fishing in Florida or the Caribbean, in gin clear water but over white sandy bottom. The only issue I had was my less than accurate casting ability, especially when I was trying to place my fly right in front of the fish while it was blowing 20 knots. I did manage some good casts and had some nice fish (the biggest one I broke off..only using 10 Lb leader Vs 20 that I'm used to here at home). We then found some serious bluefish in the 15-18 Lb range. Talk about a pull on the line. Unfortunately, we weren't prepared and we were still using our 10 Lb leader so you know the result (a few lost flies). Finally, we found some nice bass (15-20 Lb class) busting sand eels. To top it all off, I filled up on a 3.5 Lb lobster that came right off the boat. What a fantastic trip!! To say it's a fishing mecca would be an understatement...definitely put it on your "bucket list".

I finally found good fish!!

Even though I've had some beautiful evenings on the water, it's been tough fishing. This morning I had a great bite for a solid two hours. The fish were a bit spread out, but I did managed to drift over some really good sized schools. As a result, I caught many 20-25" fish (at least 25-30 keepers...biggest was about 26"). Earlier in the morning they were in about 30 feet of water, but moved into about 25 feet of water later on in the morning.