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Date: October 29, 2007 at 17:10:41
From: merch, [ip68-99-171-185.ri.ri.cox.net]
Subject: Flying gaffs and storm shads
That's what you need to catch fish. All the other stuff is useless. A storm shad to hook'em and the flying gaff for the big one in case it wants to take another run...
Leave the house at dawn to go out and fish because the fish are always on the feed at dawn. The magazine said it was the time and place to go and all you need is a 5" storm shad, but only the bunker colored one, because the fish are on bunker, remember? Go out and pick a spot or maybe follow a report or maybe a bunch of cars will be in the lot. There has to be fish there right? Everyone wouldn't show up if fish weren't jumping onto the beach right? Better just get out there and cast and reel with everyone else.
You need holographic finishes, electric chartreuse paddletails and sluggos rigged with Gamakatsus. That's what you need. You need a Vann Staal reel and a high modulus graphite, 11ft custom rod with a shining, un-nicked varnish finish and tri-colored guide wraps. You need ceramic fuji guides, aluminum reel seats and a 24" butt for fighting the big one. Make sure you rinse your gear and wipe it down when your done. You should use conventional gear if you want to catch a big one. You can't pull as hard on a fish with 50lb spinning gear as you can with 50lb conventional gear. Long hard pumps of the rod after you hook up. That'll get the big one in.
What's that? Another bluefish? Damn! How are we going to catch bass if we can't get our lures through the blues. The bass always feed below the bluefish. I wonder if we should go somewhere else? Nawww!
You need custom wood plugs, the $30 one looks like it catches. Blue on top and white on the bottom. All fish are white on the bottom, no need for any color on the belly. It’s all about the color of the back especially with poppers. Unless it's at night of course. Then it's all black and only black, well maybe blurple. Only fish on the new moons when it's really dark. Not a day before and not a day after. But only go if the wind is out of the southwest. Stay home if it's out of the northwest, the fish won't feed in a northwest and you'll have to wait until next month to go out again at night.
Use cordel redfins, but they have to be loaded with 10cc's of water, not a drop more and not a drop less. The unweighted ones won't work anymore. Did I mention that you should only use the blurple one?
Use live eels but not the rigged ones. Rigged eels worked in the 50's but now there's too many bluefish around so there not worth rigging anymore. Besides, we have sluggos and surf hogy's now remember?
You need to fish out front, in the surf. Big fish are only in the surf, not the bays and inlets. Try Block Island too. I heard the SW Ledge has huge fish on it all summer. Those fish don't come to the mainland. You have to go to the Block if you want to catch trophies. One after another too! Bring those eels, but you have to 3-way them with circle hooks and 50# fluorocarbon leaders. 10/0 and 12/0 circles. These are big fish, remember? Consistent big fish.
The fall run is going to be a late this year. The fish stick around if it's a mild fall or winter is arriving late. Is the water 50 degrees yet? The run will happen when the water temp is 50. Let me check...nope...still 52. Check again next weekend. Maybe the temp will be right for the fall run then. No sweat though. Even if you miss the fall run there are plenty of holdover fish in the Thames. You'll need a boat, 10lb fireline and 1/4oz jigs with paddletails. I know, I know, a 1/4oz jig sounds really small but there aren't any big fish around in the winter anyway. Use the fishfinder to find them and drop it on there heads. Don't keep the fish though. The meat goes bad in the winter and they won't be edible again until June.
Don't forget to check the power plant outflows too. Make sure the barometer is falling before you head out. If it's not, they'll go deep, refuse to eat and you're better off staying home.
In the winter they move up into the shallows but only on indian summer days, when the water is warmed by the sun and they are comfortable swimming around. Go out in the afternoon when the water is warmest to find them. They should be eating silversides at low tide. That's the only bait around that time of year.
Holdover fish aren't as good as the migrating fish either. They don't fight as hard. I'd rather catch a migrating fish because they are better. The ones that stick around are stupid and diseased. Lot's of white gooky stuff on them. They wouldn't get the white gooky stuff if they swam back to the Chesapeake like the rest of the fish. Wonder why they get stuck here and don't swim back? The air must get too cold and the seas too rough so they decide it would be too dangerous to swim back after October.
I heard there are still fish in New Hampshire! The best is yet to come! Let's see... It should be about a week before those fish get here, so wait until then to go out. Check the water temp first though. I hope they don't pass by us offshore like they did last year. Stock up on storms! Cast and reel. Simple as that. The blues should be gone by now and I know I'll catch the big one this time.
Whew! A season full of quality advice purged all at once... damn that felt good!
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