Rexlace 2

For mackerel fishing from a pier, I used Rexbait rigs many times. One of the good things for Rexlace-based sabiki is color variation you can choose. My first model was silver holo and it worked very well. When I lost chartreuse color of a jigging spoon which caught some mack, I wanted to make green colored ones. I bought green holo, clear green and silver Rexlace and tried a few combinations. I also found some glow color strips. I thought they might work better in the evening. I bought glow white and used in combination with silver.

Tools
Paper binder clips, scissors, a craft knife, a pin, a ruler

Materials
Rexlace, scotch tape, hooks (Octopus #4 or similar), mono lines, glue (silicon based, no-solvent type) , non‐woven fabric (used for a connecting strip of upper and lower Rexlace ), nylon hair, feather 

Design finished shape

Cut strip into 2’’.

Fold at the center, clip and fix using scotch tape.

Cut out upper and lower parts with a craft knife.

Remove scotch tape and open strips.

Make a pin hole in upper part.

Put leader tied with hook through the hole.

Apply glue to the inner side of strips and let them dry for 5 minutes.

Attach glued surface with a connecting strip.

Fix with scotch tape and clip overnight.

Attach nylon hair (or feather) tail and fix with scotch tape overnight.

Make a complete rig.

At first, I led the mono line from the lower corner of the tail end. Sometimes it caused trouble in leader when I caught mack. Therefore I changed the design and led the line from the tail end as in the photo above.

Schoolie

In 2012, warm winter brought us earlier start of the season. I got the first flounder in the first week of April. Probably because of the earlier bloom of the plankton near shore, bait fish grew faster and they fed record high amount of squid from the middle of June.

When I went to Beverly pier early June, there were tons of small herring. Striper chased these bait fish and you could see active surface action every night. I brought a medium rod and a sabiki rig with a jig. I wanted to catch some mackerel for bait but couldn’t catch anything. Instead, I hooked small herring during jigging. When I slowly trolled the rig with a herring on a hook, I got a hit. The way it ran was different from that of mackerel. It was a schoolie, 16’’ or so. When I hooked another herring, I traced the same zone again and got another. It was also the same size. Although it was a catch and release fishing, it was fun. I kept fishing for a while and, caught and released a dozen.

Blackseabass Limit

Massachusetts regulation of blackseabass has been published. Although minnimum size is the same as 2013, 14 inches, bag limit is increased to 8. Hyline may resume seabass trips in summer.

Fluke and Blue

I wanted to go to a fluke trip at Frances Fleet in August. My friend was also interested in the trip. We reviewed the report and found that Wednesday was good and Thursday was decent with 6 keepers for high hook. We decided to go that Saturday. I thought that although I couldn’t expect limit-out, I could keep a few as long as drifting condition was good. Some additional blackseabass could make the trip very good. Blackseabass tastes good even if you freeze them.

It took 2 hours driving over to Rhode Island. We planned on arriving at 5:30 to keep spots. When I got to the dock, my friend had already kept spots at bow.

Although I didn’t have a rod for fluke, I didn’t feel like buying one because it was once-a-year event. The question was which substitute rod I would use. Weather forecast said that Saturday would be windy. I worried about higher drift speed. Heavy sinker is the key to keep the bottom in such condition. I decided to carry cod tackle, which can handle up to 16 oz of sinker. A conventional reel also works better in choppy condition. In addition to it, I brought in a medium rod, Shimano Sojourn 7’ with a spinning reel with 30 LB power pro. This rod was the sturdiest in medium rods I had. It was good for an option when the ocean calmed down. It can handle 4 oz SPRO or a lighter sinker. The only risk was bluefish, which might break the rod. Rigs were high-low with 4/0 baitholder hooks. I also stocked 3-4 oz SPRO bucktail jigs and Gulp swimming mullet 2.5’’. For bluefish, I carried 2-3 oz metal jigs such as Crippled herring and Hopkins.

Gail Frances left the dock at 7. It was choppy from the beginning and I got mildly sick when I took a nap in the cabin. Soon after I got out to the deck, the boat arrived at the first spot, I started with the light rod and SPRO. However, it didn’t work well and the rig tangled with the one on the other side of the boat. A few nice keeper fluke showed up in the bow area soon. I switched to the original plan, cod tackle with a bait rig with a 16 oz sinker. After catching an undersize seabass, the rig broke with a snag. I reset the rig with an 8 oz sinker. After one reset of the drift, I felt a bite. After waiting 10 seconds, I set a hook. I thought it might be a dog because it ran well. However what I found after reeling was a decent fluke. A mate brought the fish in the boat with a net.

Fish was on here and there steadily. The trouble was that we got snag very often. I lost two 16oz sinkers and two 12 oz sinkers. After running out triangle swivels, I had to use a dropper loop for a sinker. This type of rig was damaged on rough bottom sooner and I lost rigs even faster. Occasionally I tried the light tackle but I didn’t feel like keeping the bottom. It was waste of time. Overall catch on the boat was not so bad and my friend got a jumbo door mat, 27’’ fluke! The mate said it looked 10 LB. I saw a few similar size of fluke in bow after that.

When I got a keeper seabass with bait, I ran out of hooks. I gave up fluke and started blue fishing. I hadn’t had big bluefish so I was interested in catching one. I took the light rod and set a 3 oz Crippled Herring with a gulp on a single hook. I casted the jig and bounced at the bottom. I felt something but couldn’t hook up. In the meantime, I got a clear hit near the boat. I thought it was a big seabass because it didn’t run. What I found, however, was a keeper fluke. It was smaller than the first one. I found the metal jig worked for bottom species as well and it was fun!

I jigged with the same action and got a strong hit. The fish pulled the drug, should be a blue. However, the leader broke after 3 seconds. Although my friend advised me to use a wire rig, I didn’t have any that day. I reset the rig using a snap swivel and a 3 oz Hopkins with a long shank single hook and a tube. It would be better as long as I hooked up before a blue ingested it. After slow time, the boat moved to a spot near Block Island. I switched to the bait for a while but didn’t have any actions. In the meantime, my friend using a jig got a hit of blue and lost the jig. I replaced a tube on Hopkins with a gulp and started jigging. I got another keeper seabass soon. Around 1:30, a bluefish hit during reeling the jig. I set the hook firmly. Although the fish ran well, the line was OK this time. The rod tip ran toward the bottom of the boat and drug was pulled with the noise. Holding the rod was a tough work. I managed to pull the fish from the other side of the boat and a mate picked it up with a gaff. It was an average size, looked like 28’’ and 8 LB. Because of the right drug setting, the rod didn’t break.

In the last 30 minutes, a boy came over to the bow. He hadn’t caught any keepers so far. I advised him to keep the rig at the bottom as other fishermen did but he copied me, jigging the rig. Under the condition that day, beginner’s luck wouldn’t happen. You had to keep the bottom on the rolling boat, avoid snag and pull the rig as the drift went. You did need the skill. If you could keep doing it diligently, you had a few chances during 6 hours of trip. It was such a trip. After I caught an under size fluke, the captain called the end a little past 2 pm. I kept 2 fluke, 2 seabass and one bluefish. I brought them home without cleaning.

Regulars said Saturday a week before was crowded and no catch. This Saturday was moderately windy with showers but there were less people and the catch was decent with several jumbos. I thought it was a good trip. The fleet reported the trip as quality rather than quantity. Larger fluke I got was 22’’ and smaller one was 21’’ both were good size to eat. Black seabass was not so big. Bluefish had a lot of fat line. I removed the dark meat and took pieces of fillets. Belly meat looked oily and delicious. I tried sashimi with ground ginger and found it was very good! It was similar to albacore. I also made a marinade using loin. It was different from any other local fishes. Although it becomes fishy soon, super fresh one is unique and delicious!

Cod Marathon, Yankee fleet

Yankee fleet has marathon trips in summer time. From Boston area, it is closer than Newburyport or Hampton fleets. I made a reservation for a marathon trip in July.

When I went to an allday cod trip for the first time, I had a hard time reeling in fish. I decided to buy a power handle for my Penn 555GS. After installing the new handle, reeling became much easier. I set the reel to Ugly Stik BWB 1140 with a clump. I also got a 14 oz LavJig this time.

Yankee Clipper left the dock at 5 and we started fishing a little after 7. I kept a spot at port side near bow. I started with a jig and a fly. At the first cast, I got a hit soon. It seemed decent but what showed up was a dogfish. Although there were some cod on board, dog were too many. After a few resets, we still had some dog. When a fisherman pulled a dog, the rig tangled with my main line and teeth of the dog cut my braided line. I grabbed the end of line so I tied the line and started fishing again. However, there was another weak point. When I jigged a few times, the main line broke again. My rig was recovered because it was tangled with another rig but I gave up main line of 50 YD or so.    

After I got a few small keeper cod, the captain moved to deeper water. More of the main line went out from the spool. When the jig reached the bottom, a fish hit. Good one! It was a decent size pollock. Immediately after that, I got another hit at the falling near the bottom. It was even better size of pollock. A fisherman next to me got double. School was there. I got another hit at the bottom. This one didn’t swim a lot. A bait fisherman asked surprisingly “Got another big pollock?” I replied it was like a cusk. What I reeled in was not a pollock this time but a cusk.

I found pollock hit on a falling jig. I tried squidding, reeled 15 turns and dropped to the bottom. I got another hit. When I said it was another pollock, a fisher man said might be a side-hooked dog. What I found after reeling was a nice pollock. It didn’t fit in my 50 QT cooler box. I got a coffee bag and put two big pollock in it.

After noontime, I had steady catch of cod. When I thought I got a good one, it was a side-hooked dog. The jig fisherman next to me limited out for cod. I got 7 cod at that time and wondered if I switched to bait. However, there weren’t many haddock. I kept using a jig.

In the meantime, wind stopped completely and the boat was dragged by the current. My jig caught the anchor rope. The captain decided to pull the anchor and switch to the drifting. There was little time left at that time and I fished with bait for 15 minute until the end of the fishing.

I got 8 cod, 3 pollock, and 1 cusk. Pollock were all big, 8, 10 and 13.5 lb. Although cod were not so big, they were delicious. It was very good trip and I enjoyed it!

Cod Fly

I had stock of Mustad O’Shaughnessy (3407DT) 6/0 50 pack. I bought it for cod flies. Although cod flies are not so expensive, they are consumed as you lose jigs.

When I tied cod flies last season with pink braid nylon hair, they worked well. However, there were two major problems. One was that the hair slided on the shank during jigging. The other was that occasionally a part of hair was lost. I changed the design to improve it.

I bundled a hank of nylon hair with braid line at the middle and folded the hank. The center of the hank was fixed to shank near the eye. At the beginning of tie, I put the line through the eye once. This design prevents hairs from moving and being lost during fishing.

This winter I got nylon hair materials for doll. It was softer than the material I used before. So I slightly increased the volume of the hair for a fly. Flash yellow looks very good.

Smelt Fly

When I searched web sites, I found Fishin’ Hole rig with flies. The bead head glow-in-the-dark fly looked nice. I had some materials. I tied flies of similar design.

Hook
What came up to my mind for thin wire hook with a straight eye was bronze Aberdeen #8 available at Wal-Mart. It is sold as 20CT bulk packs and reasonably priced. Although I liked the wire gauge, the gape was too narrow considering big mouth of rainbow smelt. I knew it was easy to bend this hook because I used #4 for flounder fishing as an “easy unsnag” rig. I made the gape wider and the shank shorter with a plier.

Bead and thread
Available at AC Moore. I got gold beads of 3 mm diameter and fine thread of dark red color.

Fiber
I blended glow in the dark and flash yellow nylon hairs.

Tying is simple. Hook a bead, tie fibers and fix with Krazy Glue Advanced.
















From the top, an original #8 hook, a modified hook and a tied fly

Pollock Boil

It was the middle of June. I went to State Pier for mack. I arrived at the pier a little before sun rise. I set a Rexbait rig and casted. The first fish was a 12”pollock. I released it.

In the meantime, I found surface actions here and there. Maybe stripers were chasing bait fish. I set a Storm jig to a surf rod and casted on the boil. Active surface actions were within the casting range. Although the jig dropped on the sweet spot of the action, I couldn’t have a hit. I realized that it was different from schoolie.

I got back to sabiki and casted to the surface boil. In a few seconds, I got full hook of pollock. I found some baby herring of two inches from the mouth. Pollock were chasing bait fish on the top! It surprised me a lot because pollock were bottom fish for me.

I followed the boil to the inner part of the harbor. Surface action spread all around the dock with full volume of the noise. Splendid view! It was literally the BOIL! Every time I casted the rig, I got 4-5 fish. It was tough to reel in.

Fish were gone around 6 o’clock. I came back to the original spot and got a mack, which was the only one for the day. It ate small herring, too.

 

Sea Worm

Bait shops stock sea worm in April for winter flounder and early season striper. Below are some bait shops in North Shore.

Bridge Street Sports
280 Bridge Street, Salem, MA
Located near Salem train station. Sea worm is available year round and reasonably priced. The only choice in early April.

Al’s Bait & Tackle
24 1/2 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA
Across the R1A from Beverly Pier. Sea worm is available from the middle of April. Competitive price. Good variety of tackles, too.

Beverly Bait & Tackle
114 Bridge Street, Beverly, MA
On another Bridge street in Beverly. It is only for bait. Although tackles are no good, sea worm is sold at competitive price and some local information is available.

Three Lantern Marine & Fishing
7 Parker Street, Gloucester, MA
Convenient when you fish in Gloucester. Although sea worm is more expensive than shops above, the advantage is that you don’t have to drive away from the highway. They stocked all sizes of LavJigs in this season.

Tomo’s Bait & Tackle
104 Wharf Street, Salem, MA
I think this shop has some bait, too. It is open from early morning. Stocks excellent variety of squid jigs.

December Eastman’s Pollock

When I looked into the weather forecast, Sunday was cold but light wind. Report of Eastman’s for Friday trip was excellent. Lots of big pollock were caught. I made a reservation Saturday morning for Sunday allday trip. The man in the office said that they could add one. Might be they had good number of crowd.

Allday trip became 7-4 after summer time ended. I made lunch and left home at 5. When I got into the boat, cabin seats were not available anymore. It is not unusual for Eastman’s. Some fishermen drove more than 100 miles to the fleet. After keeping a spot at port side near the stern, I brought my cooler box to the cabin for seating. Several were at the deck but jumped into the cabin as the boat sailed out. Temperature was low 20s and it was very tough to stay out.

Lady Merrilee Ann 3 got anchored at 9 and we started fishing. There was no bait and all started with jig or flies on a high-low rig. I set a 14 oz LavJig and a pink hand-tied cod fly (6/0 O'Shaughnessy) to Ugly Stik BWB1140 6’6’’ and Okuma Classic Pro XP-452L. The spot was relatively deep, 300 feet. I got a hit at the bottom. It was a baby size pollock. After another small pollock, I got a keeper. It was not so big, 4 lb size. I found that I was only fisherman without gloves. Although heated rail helped a lot to warm up my hands, I should have prepared ones.

I realized that pollock was the only game that day. I tried squidding, reeling up 30-40 turns and falling to the bottom. I got hits during reeling, 20-30 feet above the bottom. In most case, the fish was hooked on the teaser. I kept 4 pollock up to 8 lb until 10:30. After a few resets, I got a double and a nice 13 lb one. Both came up with tangle. There were too many people. It was impossible to avoid tangle once you got a pollock. I had to cut braided main line twice. It was the last thing I expected in a trip in December!

Catch got slower before noon. The captain reset the boat. Small hake, redfish and cod showed up there. I wanted to catch redfish. Although I looked for Gulp in my jig box, I didn't have any. I changed a treble hook to a smaller one with an octopus bait and switched a cod fly with a gummy shrimp. As I stuck to the bottom, I felt like a snag. When I pulled the line, it moved. I thought it was a nice fish. I guessed it might be a cod because it didn’t run like pollock. After reeling in, what I found was a nice pollock, with tangle as usual… After another slow hour, fishing ended at 1:30.

I kept 8 and released 3 shorts. In the boat, some caught a dozen and others just got 2. Several per person was average. I saw several 20 lb up pollock, too. I had fish filleted and got some milt as well. Although it was not a super trip, I enjoyed steady catch with a few 10 lb class. Fish tasted good. I would like to thank the captain and the mates providing a nice fishing trip in this season!

Sabiki Rig 2

Tying Sabiki is fun for a winter work. I tried new combinations this year. Detailed procedure is described in another post.

Film
Mirror film for windows is available at Home Depot. It is excellent because it is shiny and transparent, mimicing bait fish very well. Another characteristic I like is that it can make round 3D shape which imitates bait fish seen from any direction. I remove clear film, then remove glue scratching with a finger. I do this worrying if fish may dislike chemical in glue. An hour of work is good enough to get film for 100 sabiki.

Silver holo ribbon is also good. I got the ribbon below at Target. It is sturdier than mirror film.

Fiber
Nylon hair accessories disappeared from stores this year because of the end of boom. However, I found an online store selling nylon hair for dolls.
http://www.dollyhair.com/nylonhair.htm

I got several colors of materials for sabiki rigs and cod flies. Items of 38" hank are good. These materials are soft and frizzy. Good for flasher type of sabiki. Below is a silver color one, called Moonlight. I think fly tying materials are also good.

Hook
I got made-in-Japan hooks this season. They are super sharp and bulk packs of 100 hooks are reasonably priced.
http://www.fishhook.co.jp/pricelist/index_1_5_tataki_barb.html

Ooaji(No.9747) #13 and Shinkairyo Chinu (No.6663) #8 are good size and shape for mackerel sabiki. O'Shaughnessy #2 is also available.

Sabiki made of Ooaji#13, mirror film and nylon hairs of Daiquari Ice (light blue), Pussycat (light pink), Mango Tango (orange), and Spring Meadow (green). 

Flounder and Tautog

It was a sunny Sunday in May. High tide was around noon. Although I had to go to the airport for a business trip in the evening, I had time before that. I thought I could catch some flounder. After getting two dozens of sea worms at Beverly B&T, I went to State Pier with my daughter.

When we arrived at the pier at 11, the spot I usually fish was open. Rigs are one-hook spreader rigs with 17 LB fluorocarbon leader and Aberdeen #4 hook. Sinkers were 1/2-2 oz. Main lines were 15-20 LB braided spooled on small spinning reels. I set 3 rods. The first fish hit on a 5.5’ toy rod. I asked my daughter to reel in. What showed up was a nice winter flounder, 17’’ one. I grabbed the gill of the fish and landed. 

Soon after that, another fish hit on a 6.5’ freshwater medium rod. I had her reel again. It looked a little bigger. I picked it up from the water when she reeled it up to the surface. It was even better 18.5’’ one! Both fish hit near the pier. There was no action on a surf rod I casted farther.

As the bite became slower after high tide, I moved to Beverly pier. I wanted to consume the rest of baits. I knew there were lots of crabs so I thought fishing there was good to consume sea worms. I set the same rigs and dropped around the pier.

When I set the second rod, I found a strong hit. As I saw the rod tip bent, I thought it was not a flounder. After fighting carefully, what I found was not flat. I grabbed the main line and landed a black fish. It was a keeper tautog, 17’’ one! I was very lucky because I could catch it with a skinny Aberdeen hook. If I set hook strongly or I tightened the drag, the hook would bend and I couldn’t keep the fish. As it passed the middle of outgoing tide, I wrapped up.

I got all 17’’ up fish within 30 YD from the pier. Fishing in May is phenomenal!

Top 10 Tasty Fish

If I choose top 10 tasty fish from species I have caught in NE, I pick up following.

10. Cod
White and flaky flesh with faint sweetness. Relatively small 20’’ size tastes best. Fresh is much better than frozen.

9. Smelt
Sweet white meat with moderate fat. I like baked one.

8. Fluke
Plain white meat, good for sashimi.

7. Mackerel
Super fresh one tastes excellent.  Fall fish is the best with oil.  Excellent source of omega-3.

6. Winter Flounder
Soft flaky flesh with solid taste.  Good for everything.

5. Red fish
Flesh tastes excellent, faintly sweet.  Sashimi tastes good, too.  I would rank it in top 3 if it is not bonny.

4. Squid
Tastes excellent both fresh and frozen.  Good for pasta as well as simply boiled.

3. Scup
Very strong savory taste with rich fat.  Excellent fish-like fish especially when it is super fresh. Ice is necessary to keep them away from becoming fishy.

2. Blackseabass
Excellent white flesh with mild taste.  Excellent for both sashimi and cooked.  Frozen fish tastes excellent, too. I cannot find a weak point.

1. Tautog
It is hard to describe precisely. Simply I love it.  Moderately fatty, moist and flakey, perfect balance.  Excellent for both sashimi and cooked.

Although I wondered if I should include haddock and striper, I couldn’t drop cod and smelt.

July Clipper

I planned on going to allday cod trip with my friends. Weather looked OK so it was the matter of fleet choice. I heard they wanted to jig. Drifting boat works better for jigging because you don’t have to cast a jig. I reserved spots at Clipper Fleet. Clipper fleet always tries to drift as weather permits.

I got a few Lav Jigs of 12-14 oz at Three Lantern before the trip. Weather forecast for Saturday was few showers. During summer time, this forecast is very good because it usually reduces crowds and most likely shower doesn’t matter if any.

We kept 3 spots at bow. As I expected, there were only 20 on board and only 5 on port side. It couldn’t be better for jigging, super spacious. Challenger left the dock at 7 and started fishing at the first spot minutes past 9. I brought Ugly Stik and Okuma reel with level wind as usual. The rig was 14 oz Lav Jig and a yellow cod fly as a teaser.

All three of us started with jigs. We caught fish steadily but they were small pollock. Bait fishermen got some undersize haddock. I got a hit of nice one but lost it during the reeling. When I got another hit, I reeled it in carefully. It was a side-hooked whiting. Around 10 o’clock, the captain decided to move to deeper water.

After sailing 20 minutes, the boat started drifting. I got a keeper pollock soon. New spot seemed better. I kept 5-6 of pollock/cod/haddock mix during the drift. My friends kept some, too. When the fishing became slow, the captain reset a drift. Next drift started with dogs even on jigs. The captain gave up the spot soon.

I switched to bait around noon. I felt bites but couldn’t hook up. As the current got weaker, my friends started to try smaller jigs. After a short reset, I got back to jigging, seeking for the pool fish.

Cusk were caught during the new drift. It seemed like rocky bottom. A friend of mine caught a nice pollock on a jig. He said it bit 20-30 feet off the bottom. I tried squidding up to 30 feet and got a hit. Although I didn’t felt it big during reeling, what I found was a nice 10 LB pollock. It was the biggest of my catch that day. I got another pollock of just 19’’ off the bottom soon. I released it because I kept 10 or so at that time. The fishing ended a little before 2.

I kept 11 fish, mix of pollock, cod, cusk, haddock and whiting. They kept several. It was very good for the catch of jig at this time of year. Bait guys kept up to 4-5 so jigs out fished. My biggest pollock won the pool. Steady catch, a bunch of species, drift perfect weather and super spacious boat all made the trip excellent!

 

June Viking Scup

I was interested in the scup fishing of spring run. I talked with the father of a classmate of my daughter and scheduled a trip for the first week of June. When I called Hyline in the middle of May, I heard they had a charter schedule on 6/2. Helen H didn’t have enough spots. I looked into options of Buzzards Bay and found Viking Fleet. Although the ticket price was a little more expensive, they had a reasonable child price and the vessel was huge 140’, which would help in choppy condition if any. I made a reservation. My friend living in neighbor also joined.

I picked up my friend in early morning and drove to New Bedford. When we got into the boat, there was plenty of space on the port side. I kept spots for five in the middle. Soon the father and the son arrived. I set rigs and told the boy how to.

I used a surf rod and an Okuma spinning reel with 50 LB PowerPro and mono leader. When I fished scup in summer, I felt it a little tough to reel in because scup was an excellent fighter. I brought a conventional cod tackle for my daughter. It should be easier to handle. In addition to them I prepared a light tackle. When I compared the sturdiness of light rods, I found Shimano Sojourn 7’ was the toughest. I set a medium spinning reel with 30 LB PowerPro and mono leader.

As for rigs I made a bunch with 30 LB mono. I wondered which size of hooks work best. Although baitholder #2 worked best for July scup, fish of spring run seem bigger. The recommendation of Viking was #1/0. For me, Baitholder #1 looked versatile and I mainly used this size. For kids, I made dropper loop ones for easy untangle. For adults, I made a kind of high-low rigs. At 12’’ below the end loop for connecting main line, I made a dropper loop of 1’’ for a branch. I put a swivel to the dropper loop and connected 5’’ of branch. Another larger dropper loop for a sinker was made at 20’’ below the branch. Another hook was tied at 10’’ below the sinker. This rig can minimize the twist of the branch. We started with 6 oz sinkers except for my daughter, using 8 oz because of the cod tackle. I put a 4 oz one to the light rod.

The boat left the dock at 5 and arrived at the spot around 6:30. As soon as I dropped the rig for my daughter, fish bit on. I couldn’t have time to set mine. She got a big one soon and it was a big seabass. Great start! I started fishing with my rod. We kept steadily and the cooler was filled in high pace. Average size was 12-13’’ and occasionally 15’’ size showed up. Fish filled 60% of cooler space in one and a half hour. It was still before 8! Others did well too. Although my friend wanted to catch a seabass, he continuously reeled in scup after every drop.

Around 9 o’clock, the wind got stronger as the weather forecast said. If the wind came from the bow, the boat would be pretty stable because of the size of the boat. However, the strong current that day also pulled the boat to the different direction. The wave hit directly to the side of the boat and the boat started to roll. The boy got sick after a while. My daughter also got tired of the fishing and went to the cabin.

Fathers kept fishing with mix of seabass. I switched to the light rod and enjoyed for a while. I found a little higher frequency of losing fish. Maybe setting hook was incomplete with the soft rod. Another con of light rod was that I had to grab the leader to pull fish into the boat. I switched again to the cod tackle and caught a seabass. Maybe 8 oz sinker worked better for seabass.

As the tide changed, the rolling got milder. She started fishing again. In the last 1 hour, there was very little space in my cooler box. Smaller keepers were all released. Hook up became a little difficult. She needed to set hook several times to get one. The fishing ended around 11. We all literally ‘filled’ coolers.

I and my daughter kept 52 scup and 3 seabass. Although the bag limit of scup for two was 90, a 50 QT cooler couldn’t hold that many. Fathers did awesome jobs! They kept catching all trip long, stepping on the lid of the cooler box in the end. I was impressed with the tremendous catch of spring run! I enjoyed eating for months, too!

 

May Captain’s Halfday

Captain’s started halfday mackerel trips in the middle of May. As I checked the weather forecast, wind would calm down on Memorial day Monday. I made a reservation for the morning trip. I thought it was in the peak season and expected 50 fish. The only concern was the lower temperature during the last two days. I prepared the 6’8’’ Shimano Sellus and a small Daiwa reel as usual. A bobber stopper was tied on 15 LB PowerPro.

It had been a while since I went to Captain’s for a half day mack trip before. I got some cube ice on the way at Shaws. The boat was Captain George as usual. About a dozen of people were on board. The captain said the last trip was the last weekend and it was pretty good. Although wind blew at the dock, the sea was calm and flat once we sailed out of Merrimeck river. The captain said we would get to the spot in 30 minutes.

I brought several sabiki rigs. At the beginning, I picked up a 2-hook rig of mirror film. The hooks are Chinta, super sharp one. When I started fishing, I found the current was very strong. I had a hard time keeping the right depth range using a 1/2 oz mackerel jig. I switched the jig with a 2 oz sinker soon. It enabled me to have an idea of the depth I was fishing. As I dropped the rig to the bottom, I got herring. In the meantime, people began to catch mack. I got a double of nice size mack in relatively deeper water. Although I thought they were regular size of the day, fish became smaller. Flurries lasted for 30 minutes and I kept catching doubles. After 1 hour from start, the catch became slower and the captain decided to reset. At that time, I kept 18 mack including several 12’’ class.

I thought a jig would work better than a sinker. I switched the sinker with a 2 oz Crippled Herring. It was affected more by the current. As I dropped it to the bottom, a sculpin bit immediately. I released it. I tried 15 feet range but it didn’t work. Others didn’t catch either. This spot was no good and the captain sought for the school again. At 10:30, there were 20 fish in the cooler box. I wanted a little more.

As the current was still strong, I got back to a sinker and switched the rig to a 4-hook mirror sabiki. I tried to make the most of flurries. The new spot was good and we had steady catch. I got full hooks of fish 3 times or so. The captain said fish were in deeper water. However, I got fish at both regular 15 feet range and deeper range around 30 feet. It was a little tricky. Finally the captain reset again and drifted for the last 15 minutes. As the wind became stronger, it was difficult to fish without heavy sinker or jig. I managed to catch one and the time was up at 11:50.

I kept 34 mack and 2 herring. There were only 7 good size mack and the rest were tinkers. They were still good for eating. We had missed super fresh fish for a while. Although there was slower time, I enjoyed the first mack trip of the season.

It was the first time I used the mirror film sabiki. The mirror film was sturdier than the iridescent cero film I used in the season before and I found no tear of the mirror film. Nylon hair was still disturbed after catching some but it became stable overall. I caught full hooks of fish when schools came and lost few. I was happy with the performance. I also found that the Sellus could make a difference. Light weight, superfast taper and perfect power for mack fishing. It was really a good deal!

July Hyline Seabass

Hyline Cruises has two different trips in summer time, bottom fishing and captain’s choice. When I went to the bottom fishing for scup, I heard at the ticket office that they were fishing blackseabass at the other trip and doing well. A fisherman I talked at the dock kept ten. It sounded very good. I planned the next trip for seabass.

Spots should be different from scup fishing, likely deeper water. Probably the boat fishes rocky bottom with drifting. I thought I needed 8 oz sinker and a rod which could handle the weight. I picked up the 9’ Shimano surf rod. The reel was Okuma spinning with 50 LB PowerPro and mono leader. I also carried a light tackle. As for rigs, I made a few high-low rigs.

When I got to the dock, I looked at a rental tackle. It was a bottom fishing gear similar to scup one but used a Shimano rod and a 12 oz sinker with a triangle swivel. What surprised me was the boat let fishermen/women fish only on starboard side. The boat would drift as I expected and limited the number of people to fill only one side of the boat. Excellent!

It took an hour from the dock to the spot. Fishing time was only two hours. Squid strips were the bait. I started with a high-low rig with an 8 oz sinker. Although regulars fishing at stern caught nice seabass steadily, I couldn’t get any. After a while, I got a small one. Soon after that, I got a better one, too. At that time, I found I always got hits during I felt the sinker bumping the bottom. I talked with a father of a family that it seemed like keeping the bottom was the key. After a few resets, I gave up a high-low rig and switched to a single hook rig with a triangle swivel. I also increased the hook size to 3/0.

I asked a regular catching many about tips to catch. He said that you had to keep the bottom. He used a 16 oz sinker but he lost it. Got it. Keeping the bottom was the key and the 8 oz sinker was too light for the drift speed of the day. The heaviest sinkers I had were 8 oz ones that day. I asked him if it was a good idea to put two 8 oz sinkers. He replied that I could borrow one the boat had for rental tackles. I asked a mate to allow me to use a sinker and set the 12 oz sinker to my rig.

Until this stage, I kept the rig ‘around’ the bottom once I felt the bottom. Considering the drifting situation, depth should change continuously. I should have released the line as I missed the feeling of bumping the bottom. I hadn’t done that diligently worrying about the tangle with others. I changed the handling of the rig to keep the sinker always bumping the bottom. After that, I began to outfish next fishermen significantly! 

I brought some small squid I got at a local pier. This bait worked deadly as well. I had non-stop action with a few nice ones. Meanwhile, I tried the light tackle with an 8 oz sinker. It worked well as long as I could keep the bottom. However, the rod was too soft to reel in a big seabass against the drift. After getting back to the Shimano rod, I kept 2 more. The captain called the end of fishing at 11 o'clock. I kept 11 fish. Regulars kept 20, limited out.

The biggest fish was 18’, weighed 2.6 LB. As I cleaned fish, I found they ate mostly small crabs. They preyed on crabs swimming around rocks. It makes sense. If you pull out the sinker a few feet from the bottom, you have no chance.

 

Jigs for Shore Mack Fishing

I have several types of jigs in the tackle box for shore mackerel fishing. Kastmaster is usually the primary choice. I use 1/4 to 3/4 oz chrome or chrome/blue depending on the wind, distance and depth. Alternates from South Bend or Cabela’s also work although the quality of the hook is not very good. Fluttering action at the falling is outstanding. The method I often use is jigging and falling near the bottom after casting. When I need the casting distance, I use 3/4 to 1 oz Crippled Herring. It also sinks slowly. Zingama jig is popular at Willows. I use 1-1/4 to 2 oz one when the strong wind blows. It is a fast sinking and fast semi-horizontal jigging to have mack chase is the way to go.

For the fishing from the pier, I tie the hook with 15 lb mono line instead of a split ring. I like to jig near the bottom. Fishing bottom is sometimes very productive especially in the middle of day. If you fish in such a way, snags are inevitable. I use 15 to 20 lb PowerPro for main line and 20 lb mono for sabiki main line. In most case, I can recover the jig at a snag, losing only a treble hook. I have tried a single hook as well but it didn’t work as I expected. It also snagged frequently at the spots I fished. I usually switch the jig when I lose the hook. In addition to the substitute jigs, I carry a few bulk hooks of #6 and #8.

May Pavilion Beach Flounder

Google satellite is an excellent tool to search for sandy spots. In early spring, I picked up several spots for the flounder fishing. Pavilion Beach was the one I wanted to try. I went there in the middle of May.

High tide was 16:30. After getting a dozen of sea worms at Three Lantern, I started fishing around 5 pm. I set a 12’ telescope rod, an 8’ surf rod and a 6.5’ freshwater medium rod. Spreader rigs with 1/2 to 2 oz sinkers were used. Single Aberdeen #4 hook was tied with 20’’ of 17 lb fluorocarbon leader. I put a whole sea worm to the hook.

I casted rigs in various directions. Some spots had eelgrass. When I reeled in the rig, I occasionally felt like a snag. As I understood the situation of the bottom, I found a hot spot. When I checked the telescope rod, I found a fish on. I reeled in carefully and found a nice flounder. I grabbed the main line and pulled it. I picked up a scale from a backpack and measured. It was 16’’.

Soon after that, I found another hit on the surf rod. I counted 10 seconds and set hook. I felt it swam differently. I wondered it might be a schoolie but what showed up was another nice flounder. It was even bigger, 17’’! I casted rigs to the spot I caught. I got another but it was a little shorter than 12’’ and was released. Although I fished until a little before 7 pm, the under size was the last one.

I fished there for the first time and had never seen anyone catching flounder there. Spotting fish is the most important for the catch. I think the spot determine 70% of the catch of the day. Finding new spots is the key to expand the options. And so much fun when it is successful!

October Willows Mack

We planned on a field trip for Sunday but rainy weather pushed it back by weeks. I knew the high tide were around noon. As l checked the radar, the rain would stop late in the morning. I decided to go to Willows pier for fishing mack. I thought this rainy condition would definitely reduce the crowd and most likely mack would school near shore this time of year.

When I got to the pier around 9:45, it still rained. I saw a fisherman leaving and asked him about the fishing. He said he started early morning and kept 5 mack. He also said another fisherman got an under size striper too. I carried 2 rods. There was a fisherman casting jig&sabiki at the end of the pier. I heard he started at 8 and had kept 3. Wind was against although it was not so strong. I set up Daiwa Acculite AL SS902MFS 9’ salmon rod with a medium Shimano spinning reel. The rod was the one I bought for casting a long sabiki rig easily especially at Willows. The reel was a wide spool one, which was designed for the surf casting. I spooled 15 lb PowerPro to it. The rig was a 4-hook mirror film sabiki made of O’Shaughnessy #2 with 1/2 oz Kastmaster.

I began with the center spots. The fisherman got one soon near the pier. I dropped the rig and jigged for a while but no action. I started casting again and fished different depth ranges. You need to catch fish when schools come. Keeping casting is the key. That is what the shore mackerel fishing is all about. The 9’ rod was a little tough to handle because I got used to use a 5’ UL rod. Due to the wind, I felt like the casting distance was shorter than usual. After 30 minutes, I changed the jig to a LaFesta 24 g. This jig worked better. Jig reached farther at a light swing. I also increased the Jigging speed to fit this fast-sinking jig. As I reeled, feeling the bottom, the jig occasionally hooked a piece of seaweed or shell. The rig stayed near the bottom as I tried to keep.

Although I thought the rain would stop soon, it became heavier. I wore a rain gear but was a little upset. When I started to think about leaving around 11, I felt something as soon as the jig reached the bottom. After a jig and a fall, fish hit. As I reeled in at a steady speed, more fish bit and the rod bent more. The fisherman asked me if I got and I replied I thought I got at least a few. Soon I found full hook of 5 mack! I couldn’t pull out the entire rig with the rod so grabbed the line and took them on the pier. Yes! I didn’t lose any! I took a photo, bled them and put them into the cooler. All fish were 12-13’’size.

As I kept jigging, I got snag. I thought I could recover the jig because I tied the hook with mono line instead of a split ring. However, the main line broke when I pulled it. I lost one of 2 LaFestas, which were out of stock years ago. I thought the casting distance was important that day. I put Zingama 1-1/4 oz under the 4-hook sabiki. I got a decent mack soon. After pulling five fish at the same time, it felt very light.  

It stopped raining around 11:30. I found the fisherman got some. As I asked him “Got it?”, I saw a surface blitz! I quickly reeled in the rig and casted beyond the blitz. Pulling the rig at 5-6 ‘ range, I got hits. Full hook again! I tried pulling with the rod this time. After reeling to 5’’ above the swivel, I pulled out the fish. All the mack jumped into the pier. When I put fish in the cooler and got back to the fishing, the blitz was gone. No action around the area any more. After that I got a double but lost one. I wrapped up at noon. I got plenty. All of 12 fish were nice 12-13’’ ones and tasted delicious! Fabulous!

I thought I could get some if I had a spot in the pier. Actually it was much better than I expected. Willows tackles; a 9’ rod, 1 oz jigs and hand-tied sabiki rigs worked perfectly to catch schools. In addition to Zingama, I would like to test some 1 oz size jigs. Seems like fast sinking small 1 oz ones are easy to handle.