Pretty Good!

 

  August is know to be a month of despair for New England fisherman, and for good reason.  This month the water temps have soared to 77 degrees in the mornings, and probably well into the 80s in the afternoon.  Warm water has less ability to hold oxygen, so fish may become lethargic, die, or move on.  The clam beds down here have been shut down for quite a while due to Vibrio bacteria which causes gastrointestinal problems if you get hit with it, no thanks!  With all the doom and gloom I am pleased to say fishing is quite good and I have been getting out.

    Every morning the fish are going on the feed and one can have one hell of a time for about an hour.  After that it shuts down and you should take up another hobby like watching paint dry or running.  It turns out the most productive spots are areas of shallow water with deep water near by(3 feet of water dropping off to 25-50 feet of water).  My theory is the fish are coming out of their deep water hideouts to go nuts for an hour then diving back into the slightly cooler water to sleep the day off.  Snappers blues have been getting bigger, but they still continue to be hunted by bigger fish.  I have also come across some adult bunker, silver sides, blue crabs, and peanut bunker.  Everything seems to be eating everything so i am not feeling the dog days of summer syndrome.
      Right now we are over run with rat 1-3 pound blues with some bigger bass and blues hanging around.  If you like to eat blues your time has come!  Have you ever heard "I don't like bluefish.  its too oily and fishy"?  Probably you have, but i believe those are people who don't like to eat fish, and these little demons of the sound are very tasty.  It is important to keep them on ice right away and cook them that night and you will love it.  We have been catching bass in the bath tub water, but they are feeding at first light and that seems to be it.  I hope to get out and do some porgy fishing, but it is hard to when i can stick some bass with the fly rod.  I do hope some bigger fish come in and push these guys out, but for right now I am happy just getting out and catching fish.
    Gear?  As usual Stillwater Smack' it jr's, Storm Chug Bugs, and Hydro Pencils have been slaying fish left and right with there loud rattles.  Flat wings, Bob's bangers, and EP flies are producing fish in their own respect; however, it does not come close to the top plugs.

      All the ingredients are in the pot for a productive late summer into fall of fishing.  I am concerned with the tropical activity as of late since Irene squashed what was to be a great fall last year.  I think if these storms can steer into Mexico or stay well out to sea I should enjoy good fishing for a while.    

   Here is a video I made of clips from a few of the trips this month August Fishing

You will see the theme of the month is rat blues.