Wind + Clouds+Bait = Feeding Stripers within reach!!!

I was able to get down to a favorite spot of mine in the bay this weekend.  The conditions were promising with a steady wind, cloudy conditions and visible signs of larger bait being present.  I started out fishing a secondary spot at the location as my primary spot was being fished by another guy.  I watched him chug poppers through the white water being stirred up by the heavy surf for about a half hour.  Finally, he gave up and left.

As soon as he moved on, I moved in.  The water looked great.  The tide was just right.  On my second cast I landed a nice, hard-fighting schoolie-sized bass of about 26"-27".  The success continued for the next 30 minutes or so and made for a very memorable afternoon of fishing in what is usually a very slow month for taking striped bass from shore.   All in all I landed 6 nice sized shoolies the smallest being about 14"-15".


So, what was I using?  A home-made casting egg with a short leader and a home-tied 3/4 oz. white bucktail with a pork rind attached!  This setup is killer in these type of situations as I found out for the first time today!  Thank you Dave Pickering for all of your posts about using this very effective method for presenting a small offering in windy weather and rocky locations. 

It was a very memorable afternoon that I was blessed to share with my lovely and beautiful wife Jennifer who took these wonderful pictures.
See you in the surf - jc

Bluefish!!!

The past three evenings have been very exciting at one of my favorite south shore locations.  There are tons of small bait and plenty of action using top-water and subsurface artificials.  I had the pleasure of catching some 2-4 lb. blues on some of my own artificial poppers that I made out of some downed tree limbs from the yard over the winter.  Pretty cool. Jen (my beautiful wife) was able to land a couple of nice blues last evening as well.  I was very proud.

The picture here was taken by Dave Pickering who was also on the jetty yesterday.   You can see more at his excellent blog:  http://ristripedbass.blogspot.com/  
Ferocious blitzes like this occurred off and on for the entire time Jen and I were there.

Two days ago Jen and I had to run for cover during a massive blitz that stretched from the shore to the first bend of the jetty in order to escape lighting and a monsoon type rain.  As long as the bait is there, I'm sure the fish will remain as well.  See you in the surf! - jc

Sealing the Deal

I was able to make it out this morning to a couple of good spots in Narragansett.  The first spot on the bay side had nothing happening so I moved on to my back-up spot.  I was only able to connect with one schoolie size bass this morning.  Wouldn't you know - I caught it on a white 3/4 oz. bucktail while working some rocky structure with a lot of good white water.  This is the most productive lure I have ever used!

While fishing this a.m., I also saw a small seal.  It scared me a bit as it did a quick flip in the wash near the lip of the shore just a few feet in front of me.  Be on the lookout for these dudes if your are fishing Narragansett.  I also saw a couple of nice rainbows in the sky as there was a sprinkle just as the sun came over the horizon.

This previous weekend I made deliveries of my casting eggs to Quonny Bait and Tackle and Cardinal Bait and Tackle.  I was really pleased with how these turned out and can't wait to hear how they are working out for customers.

Bucktailing Success!

So far this year I have landed 88 Striped Bass.  Every single one has been on some type of subsurface lure.  Cocahoe and jighead, soft plastic swimshad and jighead, or bucktail with porkrind trailer.

I have caught 5 keeper size bass thus far and all of them have been on a white 3/4 oz. bucktail with a trailer.  The picture above is of my most recent catch.  This bass was holding behind a visible piece of structure that was breaking the incoming current.  I dropped the bucktail just in back of that structure and WHAM!  Fish on!!!

I am really enjoying learning how to fish bucktail jigs.  I have fished them on sand beaches, rocky shores, rocks and inlets and continue to be amazed at the fish producing power of this lure.  If you haven't tried bucktailing - you should.  You will catch fish and losing jigs just doesn't happen as much as you might think it does.  I would also highly recommend John Skinner's new book Fishing the Bucktail.  This book has decreased my learning curve by a ton and helped me to make and dye my own bucktails for fishing. 

With bigger tides set for this weekend, I am looking to the bucktail to produce more keeper bass.  Hopefully my first 20 pounder!

See you in the surf - jc.

Full Moon Fever!

The big tides over the weekend also brought in some big fish.  I landed 4 keepers over the weekend in Narragansett.  The smallest was 9.5lbs 29 inches and the largest 35 inches probably 17-20 lbs.  All except one of these beauties were caught using my new favorite lure - the BUCKTAIL!  I am loving learning how to fish this lure.

I am looking forward to new moon fever later in the month.  Hopefully it will mean some even bigger fish for the taking.  See you in the surf - jc.

Schoolie Madness!!!

Yesterday I was down on the south shore at a popular spring schoolie fishing location - and what an afternoon I had!  In total I was able to land 50 nice schoolie bass.  The smallest were 8-11 inches in size and the largest were 12-19 inches. 

The majority of the fish were caught on cocahoe minnows, but I was also able to catch a few on some of the bucktails I tied up over the winter.  These were my first ever fish caught on bucktails!  Very exciting!

I am looking forward to the very near arrival of larger bass.  See you in the surf - jc

Plugs and Eggs

 In addition to tying up about a dozen bucktails this winter, I have also been busy building several casting eggs and wooden lure kits from Salty's Wooden Lures.  I even made some small poppers for spring schoolies out of some downed treelimbs in my back yard.

I can't wait for the fish to get here so that I can test out some of these winter creations.

See you in the surf - jc.

2012 - The Year of the Bucktail

I have decided that this year I will learn to fish bucktail jigs.  As with any new skill that I attempt to learn, my first step is to do extensive research.  I have read some great books including "Doc" Muller's book on fishing bucktails and John Skinner's article in Zeno Hromin's book - "The Hunt for Big Stripers."  I am hoping to get my hands on a copy of John Skinner's new book on bucktail fishing as well. 

In addition I have been watching some of the online seminars available by surfcasters journal and John Skinner himself.  These videos in conjunction with my reading research have got me excited about learning (and hopefully mastering with time) this time tested method for catching fish from the surf.

Two important factors have also influenced my decision to learn to bucktail.  First is the cost of bucktails.  They are way cheaper than most other lures that you will use from the surf.  With custom metal lips selling for upwards of $30 a pop, bucktails seem like a wise investment.  Second these things are small - which reduces the size of the plug bag that I need to carry in order to fish by about 10 lbs.

I look forward to reporting on my progress in the art of bucktailing as the season progresses.  I'll see you in the surf.  - JC