July Scup

Scup is an easy target in the water south of cape. I once went to Hyline Cruises in early July. In a 4-hour trip, I kept more than a dozen, releasing several smaller keeper size ones. Fish are not so big in this season compared to the spring run but you can easily fill a middle size of cooler box. It is the right volume to eat. If you carry plenty of ice, you can enjoy super fresh fish of solid flavor.

Rod & reel

Ideally 6-7’ medium power saltwater rods are the best. I don’t have this type of rod but if I could buy one I would choose UglyStik BWS1101 6’6’’. However, many others also work as long as the rod can handle 6 oz sinker, typically line rating within the range of 10-30 lb. What I picked up from my stock is Shakespeare Alpha 8’. It is sold as an entry glass spinning combo. I like the softness of a glass blank. As for scup fishing, you cannot hook up at light bites. For waiting until a sure bite, softness of a glass blank works very well. When the rod tip goes down a foot, it is time to set hook. For main line, 30 lb mono works well. Unfortunately I don’t have a reel for it either. So I use an Okuma reel with the bait runner system with 50 lb PowerPro. It is the one I bought for striper fishing. This combination is never the best but better than the rental tackle, which consists of a super sturdy glass rod with a heavy duty conventional reel.

Rig

Most fleets use 6-8 oz sinker for the rental tackle. A few bank sinkers of 6 oz works. If you use light tackles, you may want a 4 oz one. I use a kind of high-low rig. A 5’’ branch for the higher hook is tied at 10’’ from the top swivel. A dropper loop is made for a sinker at 20’’ below the branch and the lower hook is tied at 12’’ below the dropper loop. I prefer to use half an inch of dropper loop for the branch connected with a small swivel. It keeps the branch away from tangle with the main line and twist during retrieval. As for the hook size, baitholder #2-#1 works best for 11’’-13’’ scup. I use 30 lb or 40 lb mono line throughout the rig. I connect braid main line directly with a swivel at the top of the rig.

On the boat, what you need is just to keep the sinker at the bottom. If scup are there, you feel the bite very soon. Once you catch a sure bite, you need to set the hook. It is very simple. So, the most important thing is that bait is on hooks. Scup nibble clams and steal from the rig. Choosing hard part of clam to hook first helps to retain the bait longer. If you found no bite when fish are caught in the boat, most likely bait is gone.