captmike28
Well-Known Angler
With a bunch of local charters coming up this month I spent yesterday doing some prospecting to make sure I have the necessary patterns dialed in. The Porgy bite in the Sound is solid almost everywhere and the Blues are now stacked up on both tides in the Gut. Stripers are a little tougher to catch by Plum in the summer heat, but there are some Bass out in the Race if you work the correct tide and time of day. The Sea Bass bite is also quite steady although the 16.5” minimum makes finding several keepers challenging at times.
So, I decided to make a couple of changes for yesterday’s plan. First, I hit some of my preferred and slightly deeper drops on the CT side of the Sound. Then I also put some serious effort into working jigs in addition to my standard rigs with special baits that usually help me score more large biscuits.
Over the years I have used diamond jigs with some level of success in culling out a few larger fish. Last year I invested in a few Butterfly jigs as they were getting a lot of hype. Unfortunately, my experience with them was rather disappointing unless I tipped a hook with some squid. Sadly, this just turned the Butterfly jig into a fancy and expensive bait rig as I continued to catch far too many juvenile fish.
So, this year I bought a few different weight and style slow pitch jigs. What a difference! Even though this is the first time I tried them I had action immediately and with some very nice quality fish. Aside from the first keeper taken on bait with a standard hi/lo rig, I managed to catch 6 more keepers (ORL) up to 20” on the 200 gram slow pitch jig seen in the photo. So, I am now a big believer in this style jig. To be sure, more research is needed but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at yesterday’s results.
With the current tropical storm approaching FL, I suspect that after this Monday’s ½ day Porgy/Sea Bass trip there will be a bunch more postponements happening next week. Getting a day to fish Fluke at Montauk seems to be getting harder and harder. Hopefully that pattern will change with the passage of this next storm.
Capt. Mike
So, I decided to make a couple of changes for yesterday’s plan. First, I hit some of my preferred and slightly deeper drops on the CT side of the Sound. Then I also put some serious effort into working jigs in addition to my standard rigs with special baits that usually help me score more large biscuits.
Over the years I have used diamond jigs with some level of success in culling out a few larger fish. Last year I invested in a few Butterfly jigs as they were getting a lot of hype. Unfortunately, my experience with them was rather disappointing unless I tipped a hook with some squid. Sadly, this just turned the Butterfly jig into a fancy and expensive bait rig as I continued to catch far too many juvenile fish.
So, this year I bought a few different weight and style slow pitch jigs. What a difference! Even though this is the first time I tried them I had action immediately and with some very nice quality fish. Aside from the first keeper taken on bait with a standard hi/lo rig, I managed to catch 6 more keepers (ORL) up to 20” on the 200 gram slow pitch jig seen in the photo. So, I am now a big believer in this style jig. To be sure, more research is needed but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at yesterday’s results.
With the current tropical storm approaching FL, I suspect that after this Monday’s ½ day Porgy/Sea Bass trip there will be a bunch more postponements happening next week. Getting a day to fish Fluke at Montauk seems to be getting harder and harder. Hopefully that pattern will change with the passage of this next storm.
Capt. Mike
