LI Sound Nomad fishing

[DarkSkies]

I try to be up on all the locations where they're catching the bigger fish. Intel from various contacts helps greatly. There's just something about the possibility of catching bigger bass or bluefish that pulls me from more normal summer pursuits like summer fluking.

During the dog days of summer, there are still big bass and blues to be caught if you're willing to travel around a bit and do your fishing deep in the night.

Fellow S&A member JustEd, a hardcore surf guy and skisher, has been catching bigger fish all this month.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7857-We-call-it-quot-Cow-Town-quot

If you live in PA or NJ and love to surf fish, you know the opportunities are limited if you want bigger fish during August:

-You can fish the back bay areas near Cape May where the extreme abundance of bait has the bass and bigger predators active through the night feeding near structure.

-You can hit certain surf areas for brown sharks.

-Or you can pack it in, and stay away from fishing until everyone starts bragging in late Sept and Oct just how great the fishing is, and "follow the herd" to fish the obvious spots.


Intensive studying of Google maps led me to realize that Cape May and certain S Jersey areas are 100-130 miles from where I live.











My experience fishing the LI Sound (from the Bronx to the Montauk/Rhody edges) tells me a few things...
1. The bait is usually more abundant there, and more varied.
2. Every harbor is like the inlets we have here, similar in features, but in sheer numbers,,,not many places come close to the LI sound in terms of harbors, creeks, rips, and drains.
3. Summer water temps are usually a bit cooler than NJ and SS LI back bays, holding bigger fish for longer.
4. Rather than making a 100-130 mi trip to S Jersey to get in on some good August bass action, it would be smart to scout the places in the LIS that are 100 miles or less, and see how those trips would stack up in terms of opportunity.

This thread will document an attempt to explore every fishable cove and drain in that crystal-clear connected chain of ecosystems and biodiversity. :fishing:

I will be fishing either from shore or yak depenging on the weather and what it calls for to reach the fish.

[DarkSkies]

these reports I will be concentrating on some of the drains, coves, and rips in the LIS. For reasons of privacy and to respect the people who fish there, in some reports I will be purposely vague. . And I won't be mentioning what state I'm in at the time, as to keep it more vague. Sorry, but after experiencing the limited access there, that's intentional and necessary

I can still talk to you folks about the trip, what worked/ didn't work along the way, the tides I found to be the best, and any other info to help the nomads out there catch more fish. :learn: :fishing:

Big thanks to some members and friends who have been giving up some intel. Rest assured, as I talked about previously, I'll be doing my own research and developing my own intel as I fish as many areas as I can each trip.

I think this will be fun, hope it's entertaining for you folks out there as well... :HappyWave:





************
Thu PM trip:
Went out there Thur pm to fish the last of the flood and some of the ebb.

I speak several languages, some only a few phrases, and can have decent conversations with people on many levels.
I was disoriented and stopped at a Gujrati food store/gas station to ask about some public beaches I was scouting. The Gujrat worker behind the counter could only tell me that lots of guys were in there in the morning, buying ice, and catching fish.
A local couple followed me out to my car, we had some nice conversations for 10 mins. They told me the beach I was going to was locked up as far as access to non-residents went, but then suggested 3 other places I might be able to access. They were extremely nice to a stranger, and I definitely appreciated it. :cool:

Based on their advice, I parked at an area that was near a creek.

Found some kids crabbing in the back, they were netting some big crabs up to 6" across. We talked about bass fishin. As we were doing this, we saw a bass about 36" come out of the shadow lines to try to eat a crab. For some reason she got spooked and went back into the dark. The kids told me they were catching bass up to that size at night, every few nights. They also clued me on some good kayak launches to check out.

The thing that spurred on the better action was the bait dumping from the creek.
I set up at some rocks at the mouth of the creek and plugged an hour. Threw small swimmers, ledheads with rubber (small), and unweighted sluggos, as there were a lot of eels in the back area. All with a very small teaser.

Not a touch for me. It was a secluded area, that not many fish. Beautiful scenery. I'll try to share some pics that are not too descriptive (or that I may edit) when I get time.

Went to a few other towns on my list.
Scouted some places that were supposed to be open to the public. Some of them were locked up, even to residents. That shows that up-to-the-minute intel is critical, and you should always have a plan B, C, and D. (can anyone reading this tell how OCD I am? :ROFLMAO )

Introduced myself and got friendly with some of the guards at some places that are open partially, in case I end up back there in the future.

Ended up at 3am at a place I've always wanted to fish.
I rolled up to a cop and asked about public access. She (pretty hot, about a 9) :) not only helped me with the access, she drove down the street and found me a parking spot!! :bigeyes: :wheeeee:
At times you hit the jackpot and get an officer who's into fishing, and may develop some golden intel from it. So don't be bashful. It also helps when they know who you are and why you're poking around ritzy neighborhoods at night. Eliminating the criminal intent aspect from the situation makes all involved a lot more friendly. :fishing:




My contact said to fish in a slightly different area, but the new moon tide was almost fully out and there was no water.
Made a decision to wade out as far as I could to try to reach a deep channel, a place I had wanted to fish for years. There was some danger connected with this area because of the tides, and I was well-aware of that.

I was 300' from this lighthouse, pretty far out....:scared:
13816





It was a long walk. In the end I was pretty far from shore, at the side of a "bowl".
View on the way back... of the shore.....
13815



Jumped up on a rock (good thing I wore the korkers) and cast from 3:15-6:15 am. I Made a mental mark on the rock I was on, telling myself that that was the absolute highest I would let it get before I had to head back in. when the tide started rushing in.



Stay off of my rock!!!! :ROFLMAO
13817

All night the threat of rain hung over the area. There were big black storm clouds overhead, hardly any ambient light. Being out as far as I was, it was pretty spooky. :eek:

Hours of casting with no luck. No bait around which was kind of a bummer. Had I seen bait I would have been more optimistic. There were, though, literally hundreds of crabs at my feet. There was a crab every 6" rummaging through the mollusk beds. Mostly spiders, but a few big blue claws, and a good % of small Asian crabs. I bet at high water that place is golden to fish from a boat for bass and tog. :drool:

Around 5am I got slammed on a big unweighted sluggo. I wasn't ready for it as the fish hit less than 10' from me and my attention had wandered due to lack of action. I told myself I wasn't leaving that rock until I stuck some fish. I began to fish with a vengeance at that point, getting a little nervous as the tide had turned.

The only other activity was from 5:15-5:30, when I managed 1 small bass and a handful of blues on the smallest yo-zuri I had with me, a 3" sinking spearing profile. Tried many other presentations with no success.

Around 6 the tide was coming in hard and I had to walk back to shore. Along the way I blind casted with no success. The wind was kicking up, to 20mph, and rain was coming down harder. I had to cast into the middle of the bowl, with the wind at my back.




In summary, I had a great time, got some small fish (though not the fish I came for), learned another few areas as to best time, tide, and structure, and made many notes for my log and notebooks at home. That's part of the process for me, and almost as exciting as catching...the challenge of hitting a new area and succeeding at what you set out to do. :thumbsup: :fishing:

And...even when ya don't succeed, to me that's more exciting than fishing an old reliable place, at least you tried.

[BassBuddah]

:clapping:Outstanding report and scouting darkskies. Though I expected to see a note about swans somewhere in there and was disappointed that you left bird life out this time.
Thank you also for keeping the towns out of it and the general descriptions out of it. Access here is as bad as it can get and many of us would be greatly upset to see it get any worse. I think you will find as you do your reports that there are a lot of us out at night, and we don't need to brag like they do on some sites. Let me know if you ever get up my way and want to fish a tide or 2.

Oh, and this time of year, the incoming is best, near the top. The water has warmed up a bit so the colder water sometimes makes for a good bite. And if you do find bunker anywhere, don't leave. Especially with your kayak, you should get some nice fish at night.
Good luck and be safe.

[dogfish]

I rolled up to a cop and asked about public access. She (pretty hot, about a 9) :) not only helped me with the access, she drove down the street and found me a parking spot!! :bigeyes: :wheeeee:


How hot, was she hot enough to have a fantasy about being arrested by her when ya got home?:drool:







:clapping:Outstanding report and scouting darkskies. Though I expected to see a note about swans somewhere in there and was disappointed that you left bird life out this time.:laugh:


:ROFLMAO :clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:
Yep if you are scouting you can't leave the swans out! :HappyWave:

[blitzhunter]

Nice really enjoyed that.

[bababooey]

Hear hear for more swans from Dark!
Seriously, that was a good story, but bring some bird life in next time so we know it's really you!;) :HappyWave:

[JustEd]

Never fail to give the biggest plug you own a shot when the match the hatch aint workin. I believe from experiance, that the competition aspect of large predators kicks in and then eats the competition...........

[DarkSkies]

How hot, was she hot enough to have a fantasy about being arrested by her when ya got home?:drool:
:ROFLMAO :clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:
Yep if you are scouting you can't leave the swans out! :HappyWave:

She was at least a 9, maybe a 9.5. Can't say much more as my sweeheart Pebbles :heart: reads these threads sometimes.


Hear hear for more swans from Dark!
Seriously, that was a good story, but bring some bird life in next time so we know it's really you!;) :HappyWave:

Eff you guys! You want bird stories, I'll bury ya's in bird stories! plenty more where these came from! :laugh: :2flip:


"gull" island :ROFLMAO
13818


Cormorant rock - the stench coming from this place is fowl. :laugh:
13819

And, as an added bonus, the last time out on the yak, I passed a channel marker in the night. 2 of the "laughing gulls" followed me for about 1/4 mile after that, shouting and scolding. It's uncanny how some of their calls sound like human voices. :kooky:









Never fail to give the biggest plug you own a shot when the match the hatch aint workin. I believe from experiance, that the competition aspect of large predators kicks in and then eats the competition...........

:thumbsup: Right on the $$. Ed, thanks.

We've had that happen when they are on rainfish, running through the water with their mouths open.....will try that next time, though I threw a mid-size Danny and they wouldn't touch it this time....

[DarkSkies]

Sat into Sun,
Fished LIS, lots of hours and pedalling.
Total 19 fish...
15 bass to 28", released.
3 giant porgies to 14".
1 bluefish.


Fished from 12am to 12pm. Nothing in the dark, spent hours trolling the T&W wondering what the eff was wrong. :don't know why:
In retrospect, I think the water where I was headed to was a little dirtier than usual. I often do ok in coves where bait is stacked up, and that's where I set out for. However, there was seagull crap and tons of bubbles, debris and all sorts of flotsam on the water.

I really wanted to get some fish on the Danny that Surfstix made for me. It's a sweet purple Danny. I know if I can present it when conditions are right, a bunch of bass and bluefish will slam the crap out of it. He wants pics of his plugs smashed and eaten up, and so far I haven't been able to do that for the guy. I suck, sometimes. :huh: :o

The garbage on the water, coupled with an infestation of phosphorescent jellyfish, made presenting lures on top a poor choice. I tried it anyway, knowing of the likely poor outcome. It was driving me mad because in one cove there were small spearing all over the frikkin place. Even tried jigging small rubber, no action whatsoever.

Then I tried the T&W, hours and hours past prime structure.
It was killing me that I couldn't even pick up one lousy fish!

Any good fisherman looks at the conditions and knows when to modify when things ain't happening, so I did just that. Took a very long paddle to an island that was the furthest of a group, out in the Sound.

Sunrise at the island.
13823

The water was cleaner there, and around 5:15 am I started to catch monster porgies. No bass, but I did get 3 on the T&W. They were stacked up around a point of this island, the point you see in the pic to the right.



Tiring of the porgies, I decided to set out for a lighthouse that was near deep water. Got there after a vigorous 15 minute paddle. There was no wind, and the sound was flat as a lake, rare conditions for such a big body of water.

I jigged a mile of the channel in front of the lighthouse, on the bottom, with a 2 oz jig and heavy shad. I wasn't looking for fluke or anything else, only big bass and blues that I heard were there.

Lighthouse
13821

Well, they were absent on the beginning of the flood, and I decided to leave there before the new moon current got strong. In retrospect, I feel the current would have spurred on the bite. It was too far to paddle back to my original location in that strong current, so I bailed.

Went back to my original island, and started to work structure on the incoming around 8am. I don't use a fishfinder,, I like it that way! I prefer to find fish by my own instincts. :viking:




Different island views
13824


13822

[DarkSkies]

My one "catch".... by the lighthouse.... snagged a lot of lost braid with a starfish. :bucktooth:
13827















I quickly discovered there was a depression in front of this island. Fish were stacked up there, and as the tide came in, they were stacked up even more. Every pass I got a bass from this 60 yd area.


Back at the island, I tried to be discreet, but got attention from a few boaters. They saw me hooking up and came over and mugged me. :2flip:

I kept moving around the rocky parts of the island catching fish on the flood tide where they couldn't go. I had an hour of fantastic action with these small bass, 11 total at the island.

Although small, one was a keeper, and all bass were around the same size, none under 23".

13828

13826
13825






Here's a cool campsite hideout I found on the island when I went there to dig some mussels for later.
13829


That action was the highlight of the trip, it was all downhill from there.

Although I can catch small bass on the T&W in bright sunlight, for some reason it was very slow that day. Only managed 2 more in several hours of trolling, 1 bluefish (btw the only fish all day to hit the black tube.....I'm thinking the murky water quality put the bite off a bit as the red tube was the only one that produced bass) and 2 more as I pedalled back to the original launch.

In all, 19 fish, 15 bass, was a good day. I really wanted to break 20 bass, was not successful in that. No big blues in the channel or bigger bass, so I kind of failed in my objective :beatin:


Still had a blast anyway. :wheeeee: :fishing:

[DarkSkies]

I was tired as hell from the morning.

Checking all the maps and tides I compulsively carry around with me, I realized that instead of going home, if I took a 30 mile run, I could fish a new location. :drool:

Had heard good things about this area, bass up to 27# and monster bluefish, by yakkers at night. So what choice did I have?,,,it was on the road to fish the spot! :fishing:

When I got there I was so burnt I knew I would be in trouble if I went out on the yak. Since it was low tide, I took a quick walk to the shore to check out and make my plan of action. Saw some boulder fields exposed at low tide and made a mental note of where they should be at the full flood. My plan was to work those boulder fields until I located the bigger fish that have been coming in to feed at night.

I took a nap for about 2 hours, started up on the beach by 9:15. Paddled out to the area of the boulders. Within 10 minutes I had my first bass, small though.

Kept at it.
Since this wasn't as rocky as I'm used to, I decided to troll 2 rods with the T&W.

From 9-12 I managed 6 bass total on the T&W. Both black and red tubes worked. There is no real difference in the dark, unless maybe you have a full moon. Also 3 large keeper porgies to 13".

I felt bad about the porgies. On the beach before dark, a lot of people were fishing for them. They told me the porgy fishing had slowed down this week.

What they didn't realize that they were just beyond their reach, about 200' out, all you wanted. The water had gotten warmer and they were no longer in shallow.


It was pretty windy, 15 steady, but I found a corner and tucked away. The problem there was the bugs. Without the wind they became bothersome. I went back to the open, and kept trolling. Rain came and I worked through it, still hoping for a bigger fish, but not successful.

The water quality was excellent. Much cleaner than where I had been earlier in the day. The phosphorescent jelly fish were there, but in minute quantities. Didn't affect the bite at all.

I regret that I didn't catch any big bluefish or larger bass. The bass here were a little smaller than the ones I got at the other location.

I must have been doing something wrong not to have hit at least one bigger bass, but hey, that's fishin. :don't know why:

I need to study that area a bit more, and will be back to try again.

Total, 6 schoolie bass,
4 porgies to 13".

Beautiful, clean water and shoreline.
Met some yakkers coming off the water at dark,, friends of a guy I know. They decided to target porgies and did well with a nice batch up to 15". Nice meetin ya's! :HappyWave:


Sunset
13832



Bass hit tubes of both colors.
13830


Porgies love the T&W
13833

13831


The best part of the night was that when I was done at 1am (bite died anyway at the top of the flood) I made it back to my house in 1 hr 10 minutes. :wheeeee: (no traffic at all)

For the guys who live in North Jersey, that's about the time it takes to get down to Point Pleasant. To fish a body of water, that holds big fish, in the middle of August? :eek:

Priceless. :cool:







:cool: *** Just a note of thanks, all bass so far have been caught on Finchaser's custom tubes with circle hooks, easiest for C&R.
He's not making them for sale, he did it as a favor to me. :thumbsup:

Just wanted to thank that Old Grouchy Basstard :laugh: publically here for all he does to help me out...especially the yelling he does,....my life just wouldn't be complete without it. :kooky: :ROFLMAO :HappyWave:

[bababooey]

:clapping::clapping:Great report dark. Really enjoyed the way you interwove the pictures with the story. Greatly enjoyed the cormorrant and gull island pics as well.:ROFLMAO Keep em coming!

[storminsteve]

Fantastico dude! I wish you had 2 kayaks and I would mug you for a trip.

[wish4fish]

yo i will fight u for it steve there is nothing here now but rays, sharks, baby fluke and the water suxxx, liked it a lot dark

[dogfish]

DS yer legs are lily white, mighty purty!
Did ya shave down for the photo shoot ya landlubber?:laugh:

[Monty]

Great reports Dark!!
Wish I was there when you waded out and fished that bowl area. Sounded like the type of area I like to fish.

[JustEd]

I am truly amused by this thread................ Keep it coming.

[DarkSkies]

DS yer legs are lily white, mighty purty!
Did ya shave down for the photo shoot ya landlubber?:laugh:




-They're not white any more...I fell asleep on the yak for an hour in the sun and now have 2nd degree burns, what a frikkin googan I am. :bucktooth:
- I've never had much hair on my upper legs, and didn't grow a beard and mustache until I was 30. But hey, thanks for noticing. :2flip: :)
- What the hell were you doing looking at my legs anyway? :eek: :kooky: the focus was supposed to be on FISHING, bro! Maybe you need to get out more. In any event, you looking at my legs...kinda creepy, no? :rolleyes: :scared: :laugh:





**********
To the rest of ya's, thanks for the responses, glad ya's enjoyed the reports.

[nitestrikes]

I jigged a mile of the channel in front of the lighthouse, on the bottom, with a 2 oz jig and heavy shad. I wasn't looking for fluke or anything else, only big bass and blues that I heard were there.

Lighthouse


I have a rough idea of where you might have been. Next time bring some meat with you, fresh bunker. Put a chunk on the bottom and fish the channel. You should hook up. And the bite is usually better as the tide gets stronger, though I don't know how you would deal with that in a kayak. You can't anchor in the channel you will get swamped.

[DarkSkies]

Fished Tue night.
Last 3 hours of the flood, LI Sound. Fishing was tough, the wind was a steady 15mph, which kicked up a swell, steady 1', some bigger.
I think this created a problem with the T&W presentation, or it could have been the fish were not there that night. I was fishing an area of boulder fields, had been there 2 nights before and done ok, nothing big, but decent numbers of fish.

On Mon night there was scant evidence the fish were there. Within 5 minutes I did get a massive strike, pulled drag for a few secs and got me pumped. However, the fish broke me off as she rounded a rock near a few that were close together. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png

Based on that missed fish, I trolled that area for the next hour with not a tap, and only one pesky hit from a porgy. This was puzzling because the porgies are usually all over that spot.

Decided to move along some rocky shoreline. Managed one short bass there, embarassingly small. This bass hit as the swells died a bit, so again I'm wondering if it was the presentation or the fish weren't there in numbers for some reason that night. There were phosphorescent jellyfish in the water, but when the water was rough the effect didn't seem that bad. As the tide approached slack and the water got calmer, it seems they became more of a problem.

I did try trolling a deeper swimmer for awhile, 5-7' no success.


Managed one bluefish on the T&W at dead slack, and that was all the action I had.
Since I had some worms left over, I decided to put them on a porgy rig and drift that area bouncing bottom. If the porgies are thick that usually produces some nice fish, even a stray bass or 2. I drifted for 1/2 hour at the beginning of the ebb, not even one touch or miss. I had to conclude that it was just an off night. Hey, that's fishin. :don't know why: :fishing:




*******
Thanks for the advice Nitestrikes. I know plenty of guys are catching bass with chunks in 30-55' of water. I'm trying to focus on artificials, though if I don't get any action that way I'll start drifting eels soon. (And the T&W isn't really all artificial, with the worm on the end you are still fishing bait, just to clarify...:rolleyes:).





A good friend Cheech was fishing the same day Tues, across the "pond". Same water and a lot more rocks, porgy,, bass and tog heaven. :drool:

He trolled the T&W inshore for hours, and all he managed was one bluefish. This is a guy who usually lands 20 bass or more every time he's out. He's a role model for other fishermen and one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. And he fishes hard, doesn't want to give up.

We can usually catch bass in the Sound in the daytime even when other guys have trouble. The T&W is money, but on Tues it wasn't. :huh:

[cowherder]

Thanks for these trip reports darkskies they are one of the things that give me hope.

[storminsteve]

Yeah DS you can't crush them all the time. At least you are hitting bass and getting them in numbers. I would love to catch just one bass right about now, been so long I almost forgot what it feels like.:drool: good report keep em coming!

[DarkSkies]

48 hour trip to the Sound -
Got back last night, marathon trip, low budget. :cool: Slept in the car and lived like a nomad. Fished hard but it took time to learn the area. Fishing was honestly slow, but I still managed to eke out about a dozen fish. Nothing notable except for the 14" scupzillas I got in the morning yesterday. :headbang:Otherwise, a total of 4 short bass and 9 porgies up to 14". All on the T&W.

I did a lot of scouting (and some sleeping) when I wasn't fishin hard. Mapped out some future access areas and places that I have to hit again and again, because they will be worth it. All for about the same fuel/ toll cost as me driving down to Cape May. And all on a low-budget, nomad style!

Yet I was in a whole different world up there, a place where people leave kayaks tethered to buoys in the bay and no one steals them, where people come skinny dipping at the end of the day at some secluded beaches ( believe me there are no good stories or pics, and it sounds better than it was... :scared:)...a place where complete strangers are willing to help ya with advice and intel.... and a place where life is idyllic and laid back...

Oh, and the fishing, although the pickings were slim despite how hard I tried, the effort did pay off...because when I wasn't fishing, I was BSing with people (one of my well-known traits), scouting, and developing current intel.

After being delayed from launching the yak because of the rain and lighting the other night, I started talking to a guy who was fishing some rocks. The extended conversation led to him giving me the outline of why people fish that area, and some good strategies.

Just by chance, I met a relative of his the next day, a guy kind of well-known in the fishin world. I'm trying to be purposely vague on this as not to blow the location. Anyone who fishes a lot can read between the lines anyway, no problem. :cool:

The guy who turned out to be my guide, and had me follow him to another location to try, is pure class and character. The most interesting things about the conversation were not the fishing intel, but the words about how things used be for some of us as they fished decades ago, and the comparison to now. :fishing:









Wherever you go, if you're out there at 3am fishing hard, you'll eventually run into the most hard-core, dedicated guys who fish that area.

My conversation that night caused me to learn that first guy I was talking to drives 60 miles each way to get to the area, and does it once a week.

I asked him..."If you have fish where you live, why the heck would you drive 60 miles to come here to fish?" :don't know why:

His answer...
Opportunity! :drool:

After being there for 48 hours and seeing and hearing the stories from a few, I understood..... and that opportunity is what will pull me to make the drive back there and take my shot at the big bass lottery.

I also did something that I had been procrastinating about for a long time, fish difficult and dangerous waters from the yak at night with few people around. I got blanked there, but got fish at other areas. The achievement was in managing the danger, and realizing now with a little more preparation, I can do it again and get into some decent fish.


I'll try to continue this later after work, stay tuned....
:fishing: :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

48 hour trip to the Sound -
Got back last night, marathon trip, low budget. :cool: Slept in the car and lived like a nomad. Fished hard but it took time to learn the area. Fishing was honestly slow, but I still managed to eke out about a dozen fish. Nothing notable except for the 14" scupzillas I got in the morning yesterday. :headbang:Otherwise, a total of 4 short bass and 9 porgies up to 14". All on the T&W.

I did a lot of scouting (and some sleeping) when I wasn't fishin hard. Mapped out some future access areas and places that I have to hit again and again, because they will be worth it. All for about the same fuel/ toll cost as me driving down to Cape May. And all on a low-budget, nomad style!

Yet I was in a whole different world up there, a place where people leave kayaks tethered to buoys in the bay and no one steals them, where people come skinny dipping at the end of the day at some secluded beaches ( believe me there are no good stories or pics, and it sounds better than it was... :scared:)...a place where complete strangers are willing to help ya with advice and intel.... and a place where life is idyllic and laid back...

Oh, and the fishing, although the pickings were slim despite how hard I tried, the effort did pay off...because when I wasn't fishing, I was BSing with people (one of my well-known traits), scouting, and developing current intel.

After being delayed from launching the yak because of the rain and lighting the other night, I started talking to a guy who was fishing some rocks. The extended conversation led to him giving me the outline of why people fish that area, and some good strategies.

Just by chance, I met a relative of his the next day, a guy kind of well-known in the fishin world. I'm trying to be purposely vague on this as not to blow the location. Anyone who fishes a lot can read between the lines anyway, no problem. :cool:

The guy who turned out to be my guide, and had me follow him to another location to try, is pure class and character. The most interesting things about the conversation were not the fishing intel, but the words about how things used be for some of us as they fished decades ago, and the comparison to now. :fishing:









Wherever you go, if you're out there at 3am fishing hard, you'll eventually run into the most hard-core, dedicated guys who fish that area.

My conversation that night caused me to learn that first guy I was talking to drives 60 miles each way to get to the area, and does it once a week.

I asked him..."If you have fish where you live, why the heck would you drive 60 miles to come here to fish?" :don't know why:

His answer...
Opportunity! :drool:

After being there for 48 hours and seeing and hearing the stories from a few, I understood..... and that opportunity is what will pull me to make the drive back there and take my shot at the big bass lottery.

I also did something that I had been procrastinating about for a long time, fish difficult and dangerous waters from the yak at night with few people around. I got blanked there, but got fish at other areas. The achievement was in managing the danger, and realizing now with a little more preparation, I can do it again and get into some decent fish.


I'll try to continue this later after work, stay tuned....
:fishing: :HappyWave:

I assume they stood and fished up wind of you

[surfstix1963]

The new waders are killing people already lmao.

[surferman]

I assume they stood and fished up wind of you
:scared: :laugh: looks like they have your number. dark skies.:HappyWave:

[bababooey]

...I did a lot of scouting
Hopefully you found some more bird life, do you add that to all those notes you take?;)

[baitstealer]

Please excuse my ignorance but I don't understand why you would need to be vague about these places. I mean, if you are fishing Montauk or the Montauk area why not just say it. Tons of guys fish there anyway, it's not like it's a big secret or something. I guess I just don't understand not even mentioning the general area, don't you think that is taking secrecy too far?

[storminsteve]

X2 -Yes, more birds please.:ROFLMAO
Baitstealer, I don't know what the long island fishing is like but in NJ it is crowded as hell for us. Say ONE thing about a guy catching a 20 lb bass or even a bunch of small stripers and people are on it like flies on ****. I can't speak for dark but it could have something to do with the restricted access that he is always alluding to over there.

[nitestrikes]

There is no access in LI except for the state parks. There are no fish in LI either. Right now they are all off the coast of Massachusetts. No fish to see here fellas, move along.

[DarkSkies]

X2 -Yes, more birds please.:ROFLMAO
Baitstealer, I don't know what the long island fishing is like but in NJ it is crowded as hell for us. Say ONE thing about a guy catching a 20 lb bass or even a bunch of small stripers and people are on it like flies on ****. I can't speak for dark but it could have something to do with the restricted access that he is always alluding to over there.

You mooks wanted birds, here ya go. :moon: Remember I take pics all the time unless the battery craps out. I can bury you mofo's in bird pics, so keep up your ball busting, I won't run out of pics to respond with...:)

13907


And baitstealer, Steve and some points the others made were right on the money. It's kind of hard to explain unless you have been to the states of CT, the N Shore of LI, or Rhody, and have seen the extremely limited access they have "generously" provided for the thousands of folks who want to fish the shores in those areas. I was at one beach town last week where the cost of a ONE Day beach pass for an out of state person was $40. $40, are you frikking kidding me? (by comparison, the season pass for a resident at that beach was $20.) And a night fishing pass for just ONE town area was $150 for people who don't live in that area.

That tells me they don't want out-of-towners coming up there and poking around. A lot of towns in the Sound are very insular and don't depend on tourist dollars, unless those tourists rent or own houses near the water.

When I meet the guys who fish there regularly, most are very cautious about the intel they're willing to dole out and inviting others to fish there. They know that certain rockpiles and points can only hold 3-4 fishermen at most. Why would you want to share that with someone who may come up there and **** up the place? :kooky:

I understand completely, and appreciate the intel that has been fed to me, a little at a time. I build on that by obsessively mapping out areas on Google, writing a fishing schedule to take advantage of optimum tides, and doing much of my own scouting for every piece of intel that is given to me.

In essence, I'm working to find those spots, and working hard. It's like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, blindfolded. . It's a lot of searching and dead ends. Not all leads on Google pan out. As I do this, I come to understand the work that others have done before me to get to those areas. I appreciate the stealth tactics some of them use to sneak into the areas on the edges where there is limited access.

As I said, it may be difficult to understand, unless you have been doing the scouting yourself. I'm going to do my best to respect the privacy of those who fish the Sound in the dark of night and find fish because they have done their homework.

Hope that puts things in a better perspective. :HappyWave:









I assume they stood and fished up wind of you :moon: :kiss: :laugh: :clapping:

[DarkSkies]

The first night I punked out, didn't hit my original destination. Hit some rocky areas, ended with 1 bass, one porgy around 5am, T&W. Such a small # of fish doesn't really tell you whether they are in the area or not.

Slept a few hours, scouted many many possibilities. Wrote some notes about specific locations.
13912
13911
13910
13909

Ended up on a beach where you can walk on after 6pm, no permit needed. Some people were fishing for porgies with little success. That's when I met the first guy, the one who drives 60 miles each time to fish the area.

He wisely left the area he was fishing because of lightning, fishing rods are great lightning conductors.

We ended up talking for a long time, as he first kind of assumed I knew that area. When I told him how far I drove to get there, and my obsession for searching Google, we got into some good conversations about our Google and fishing obsessions. :kooky:

He suggested the area I was in, was good during certain tides, and gave me some pointers. I knew I was procrastinating by not hitting my intended destination, so I thanked him and set off for the current.

[DarkSkies]

Got to where the current was.
I missed the optimum time because of BSing with the fisherman, but the intel I gained was invaluable.:learn: I set out to figure out how to best fish the current at that time.

When I got to the water, I used my spotlight to check for bait. I was overwhelmed by the amount of large spearing. Hundreds of thousands, 4-6", stretching for a mile at least, in the shoreline eddies close to the current. When you shone the light on them, they jumped out of the water like the invasive Asian carp of the Mississippi.

It was an awesome sight. Wished I could have shot a video for you folks to see. I was the only one there, not a soul around. The other creatures were stinging jellyfish, hundreds of them, spaced out evenly, very close to shore.

I turned the light off. and before I launched walked the shoreline, looking for one predator that might be into the spearing. I was throwing a redfin, slow retrieve, and couldn't hear any telltale sounds of bass or fluke feeding on them. 1/2 hour of this along the mile with no hits, I had to assume the fish were only furtively feeding on the spearing, or they weren't there in numbers.

Pic of jellyfish with spearing swimming around.
13916
Pic of the tentacles that got separated from a jellyfish. There were thousands of pieces of these interspersed in the wash.
13918


Launched the yak, and figured my best chance for big fish was in the current, so into the current I went. :viking:

It was strong as hell, mid-tide, and I knew I couldn't get in the middle of it, so I fished the side currents, back and forth,, up and down, for an hour.
It was a little spooky because when I launched the moon disappeared and there were few lights other than the lighthouse. I was about 1/4 mile out there, and the darkness was eerily beautiful. :drool:

The current wasn't. I couldn't see it without the spotlight, but I could hear it, the sound of constantly rushing water, wind against tide, made for some swells. I tried to stay away from the worst swells and drifted back and forth near some bottom structure with a 9" rubber shad at first, and then some 3-way bucktails I had rigged up.

Because of where I was on the side, I was able to touch bottom and work them effectively. Later on when talking to a friend who kayaks there at night., I realized I would need to be in deeper water with stronger current and heavier lead. With that level of danger, you only have a 2 hour window at most to fish it safely. Learned more for next time.

I did get some action on the bucktail/pork rind, but very sporadic, and then only small porgies or fluke nipping at it. No hookups.

Pics of some kelp that was growing on the bottom.
13914


Realizing that at least I had achieved the goal of being in that water, I set out to find some fish with the T&W or trolling medium depth swimmers.

A cool thing was when I used the spotlight to get my bearings (no moon visible), a few curious squid came up around me. It was awesome to see these creatures.

Managed a few fish, bass and big porgies, in the window between 5-7am when I came upon some boulder fields.
1391713915



Amazing rocks in the Sound.
13913
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/misc/pencil.png

[DarkSkies]

The next day...
After finding a place to hide out and sleep in the car for a few hours. I went to look at the water to scout the low tide view. As mentioned, I came upon a guy who I thought looked familiar. It turns out he was related to the guy I talked to the night before, both hardcore NS surf guys.

He asked me how I came to find the spot we were at. I said I had scouted it years ago and never got a chance to fish it. He gave me some intel on the water in front of us, and the general area.

He also suggested a back bay spot where the bait would be dumping out soon as we were close to the top of the flood. He gave me directions, and then simply said "I'm going there now to get some snappers, ya can follow me if ya want".

So I did.
It was a beautiful drain, allegedly a hotspot for early spring and fall. As I walked into the water, I had my doubts about the fish being there. However, since he was so gracious, I decided to fish it out and learn it for the fall.

13920



Imagine if you lived here, and this was your place to take in a sunset view...:cool:
13919


It ended up being too warm (80's) and not much bait except for the snappers.
By comparison, the water in the Sound was 65-69, perfect. :drool:


I fished it hard anyway. and ended up with a few small porgies on the T&W.

13921

Leaving the water, I just missed the rain and lightning. awesome night.

[jigfreak]

Great story, felt like I was there.

[jonthepain]

u r nuts

[DarkSkies]

^^This thread will get more nuts as the month goes on, Jon. :kooky:

I try to push it a little more each time, within the safety parameters I have for myself. ;) Don't want to become a rescue statistic, though. Other than that it's an adventure, and I want to bring the sense of that to all the folks here suffering through the August Doldrums...

[DarkSkies]

I set out for the latest trip with higher expectations. Armed with a better understanding of the tides and cautions of the strength of them during this full moon cycle, I set out with an ambitious plan to fish several areas. That didn't really work out, but at least they were written down, with Pebbles having the float plan I left with her. You really need a float plan to be left with someone you trust if you're going to be lurking around all these intense water locations in the dead of night. I was told where a hardcore surfcaster recently died at Cuttyhunk. I think it happened this year. IMO you can't be too careful or over-prepared, as it's your life that will be on the line if things turn around for the worse.

And, in some of these environments I'll be fishing in, conditions can turn on you in an instant. You may hear me saying this over and over again, but I have a healthy fear of some of these environments. You would be foolish not to. :learn:

After the death of the kayaker in the Nissy on Fri, you will be hearing me preaching about safety more and more. If some of ya's get sick of it, too bad. I feel it's something that we need to talk about often and at length, and now after that father drowned in the inflatable I have a renewed committment to promote these discussions.

I don't want to encourage anyone to do anything foolish or unsafe here. That's why you will be seeing these safety discussions, and also be hearing anecdotes of what happens as I meet people out there who are putting themselves at risk.

I will speak up every time I see this, and try to get people to see the danger. I don't really care if they want to hear what I have to say or not. I have seen the danger and been there on site when someone drowned on Fri. I will do the best I can to help people understand what is dangerous, and try my best to be diplomatic as I do it, and not my usual surly self. :laugh:

[DarkSkies]

I think it will take longer to post the stories than the pics, so I'll do that first and fill in the narrative when I get a chance.

The brief outline...:laugh:
Went back to the place of current with a better plan to fish different areas at different parts of the tide.

The wind and weather made me re-evaluate my plan.
Some funny stories about that.
Fished hard all night in swells that were mostly 1', but at times up to 3' and causing me concern. Therefore, I stuck to shore even though I was in open water, and believe me, in the dark of night with those swells, it was big water. Even beached the yak for a 15 minute period as I re-evaluated how to deal with the raging current.

Went back out and fished hard, not much to show for it.

Total 2 big porgies on the T&W & one small bluefish on a NB Bottle darter I was trolling.
Not one indication of any bass, big or small.

Pretty disappointed in myself and at those results, I drove a long distance to another location to fish the flood tide, almost all of it. Met up with another yakker from KFS-NY, and we talked about the Nissy incident and safety issues. Good talks.

We were both out there fishin hard, but the weeds were all over and a problem for presentation. I managed 2 monster porgies right before sunset and one small bass on Finchaser's T&W with the circle hook. The circle hook was key here because the other guy, definitely an experienced angler and good yak fisherman, was having trouble with the porgies stealing his bait. Together with the weeds and warm water, he took his leave and said good-bye before the top of the tide.

I continued to fish that warm and weedy water, just looking for that one quality fish. Tried all sorts of different presentations to deal with the weeds, some worked.

Didn't want to leave without getting a nice fish, so kept at it.
Managed some more giant porgies, no small ones (but many small ones acting as a nuisance stealing the worm).

Finally got into some feeding bass 1 hour after the tide turned, into the ebb. They were turned on at that time, and I believed I could have got more if I didn't have to make it home in time for a trip with Pebbles. :kiss:



Total for the entire trip:
9 porgies to 14", T&W
1 small bluefish, NB Darter
3 bass--- one short, one 28", and the one that made me smile, 37" and about 15#. :)
All released.

The first time in a long time that I "left the fish biting". :fishing:

[DarkSkies]

Pics, narrative later...

13926




1392513923

13924

[DarkSkies]

Aggressive porgies





13928




13927

[DarkSkies]

*







13931

28" bass hittin the T&W in the middle of the night
13929



37" yak bass on a full moon, mid-teen fish

13930


13932
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/misc/pencil.png

[Monty]

Hey Dark, great to see you were rewarded with a nice bass. Your reports are great, pics great to. Thanks for posting all this. Since I still can't get out and fish, reports and pics are all much more entertaining/enjoyable.

[jonthepain]

dang, the yak looks kinda topheavy

been using circle hooks for, i dunno, 20 years? can't beat em.

[jonthepain]

ps black sneaks, white socks. that's the look i'm talkin bout.

[seamonkey]

ps black sneaks, white socks. that's the look i'm talkin bout.

What he said, a little nerdy, dude! Unless you like the nerdy look.:laugh:

[hookset]

Nice report, keep up the good work!

[nitestrikes]

Safety first, ds, that says it all. I enjoy the reports and the stories around them. Please be careful out there.

[DarkSkies]

ps black sneaks, white socks. that's the look i'm talkin bout.

I was wondering when someone would give me grief about that, dude, and you didn't disappoint. :p :laugh:

Yeah I look like a dork-wad wearing em.
Here's the reason why, now that ya put me on the spot... :moon:
In some areas of the LI Sound, it's not sand, more so a beach of boulders, rocks of all sizes, and the tiniest most irritating rocks you will find anywhere (all beautiful though, and close to gem-stone quality) :cool:

The thing is, I'm out there for hours at a time, sometimes all night. Beaching and launching the yak at different places to take advantage of the moving tides for each area. You tend to get a lot of grit and minute stones in your wading shoes, at least I do. When I was pedalling a lot, the next day I would have blisters on the tops of many of my toes. Push that into another round of pedalling the next day, and things get a little bloody.

Of course, I keep fishing, bloody toes ain't that bad unless you're dangling them in the water for shark bait....:laugh:

But I did want to try to avoid that long-term, and thick white socks were my solution.
They work pretty well, and no more bloody toes! :wheeeee:

Thanks for noticing, as usual feel free to make fun of the King of the Googans. :bucktooth: :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

8-22 quick trip

Took a quick trip of only 6 1/2 hours last night. :laugh:
The wundeground predictions I looked at for the Sound showed a window for that time of W 5-10. That's do-able, and at times pushes the bait where you want it to be, so I hit the road.

Small problem, called John at Big Jack's, City Island to let him know I was coming in for some worms, there is a sandworm shortage up there. Totally out, none till Tues. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png

I needed to be out there, just needed to.
I was crabbier than Finchaser, and at LEAST as crabby as that COB Surfstix! :scared: ;) :HappyWave:

Went in my garden, dug about 6 dozen snake worms, the ones that fall apart, that's the best I could do.

Had spent hours researching a new launch spot, very rocky structure and bass throughout most of the season at night....but I discovered the launch point was shut down last year after complaints about fisherman garbage. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon8.png

The only other "legitimate" launch point/put-in would be about 3 miles away, too far to pedal in uncertain weather and in an area I would be yakking for the first time.





So, I went to another area I knew.

At first, things were perfect. Rain storms had just ended, and a slight W was in the air, forecast to hold through the night at 5-10, sweet.

By the time I was ready to launch, it was building, first 10, then steady 15. I decided with the direction it was heading in, I could cancel my original plan and fish further into the area, inside a harbor that would give me a lee.

Smooth sailing to the harbor, after first compulsively circling some big rocks about 300' offshore in hopes some bass were home. No dice, as the building heave made it extremely difficult to present, too much up and down on the T&W.

Again, I changed plans.
(This is what I mean about having a plan B, C and D) :learn:

Started trolling a rigged eel for awhile, nada.
I pulled out a Northbar bottle darter, a perfect presentation for rough water, and started trolling it. It just wasn't right for that water at that time (halfway into the flood) and the rocks that were there.

I picked out a smaller swimmer, lighter.
Soon after I got into some medium sized bluefish as I rounded a point and came into a juicy boulder field that extended about 250' offshore.

The water was getting rougher there with the building winds, and I didn't feel comfortable. I knew moving inside the harbor would be safer, so I did it. :learn:

I paddled lots of shoreline, about 2 miles, on the flood tide into the harbor.

They write in surfcasting books that 90% of the water doesn't hold fish.

That rings true in your experience every time you get into a yak and try to find fish at night. If you find fish in one area, chances are that will be the golden area for that night, unless you can find concentrations of bait somewhere else.

Last night, with the wind and the waves, the bait was hiding, tucked away, and I failed at finding any appreciable amounts of it.

Trolled the small swimmer for a long time. covered lots of new ground. It was a lot calmer in the harbor so I went back to the T&W.

I didn't have confidence in my worms, (garden worms wash out real quick in salt water) so I was using 2 or 3 at a time to compensate for that.









After a long period of no activity, I started catching fish again at 4:30 am, some big porgies. I was finally in a good area, I thought, because they were aggressive. :wheeeee:

I tried to leave the harbor 2x, but had to return because of the swells and wind. Decided to make the best of it and play with the porgies. Hoped the wind would minimize at dawn. Managed 5 legal size to 13".

Lots of lost worms to smaller fish, either small porgies or snappers. I thought about targeting snappers for bait but with the building swells outside the harbor I decided to keep it simple.



The water was clean despite the previous rainfall, no weeds on top, cool in the very low 70's, perfect night bass water. 2 things that probably weighed against me were the swells and wind, which affected my presentation and scattered the bait. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png

At dawn, I felt like I had failed in my mission, not a single bass, even a frikkin schoolie! :beatin:

Made my way back once it got light out.

It took 45 minutes of hard pedalling through the swells, which were now steady and showed no signs of letting up. At least with it being light out I was able to manage them better.




Lessons learned:
-When you are on the road travelling to fish, Wunderground is one of the best resources you can use. It's not perfect, and you need to have alternate plans in case your Plan A doesn't work out.

-A swell of 2' or more makes it difficult to present to the fish from a yak if they're suspended, unless you're fishing bucktails or bait on the bottom.

[strikezone31]

Be careful out there,dark. the CG rescued 2 from Crab Meadow Sun afternoon.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7931-2-rescued-from-crab-meadow

[DarkSkies]

Thanks for the thoughts and warnings, guys. As I'm all by myself at night, I don't push it past my comfort level. Things can turn around in an instant on the N Shore. I read that Crab Meadow story. Those people probably had no idea how strong that current can be. It looks like a simple shoreline, yet people find it hard to fathom that millions of gallons coming in and out could affect a beach 40 miles from the mouth of the Sound.

I have a friend who lives up there, crazy skishing dude, but still always stresses safety and preparation.

He rescued a Dad from the current 2 weeks ago. My friend was out in a skiff fishing. The Dad went in to get some flip flops that inadvertently got taken by the tide. He ended up 20' from shore and was getting dragged away fast in a panic. My friend got to him in time and brought him back.

As I know, things can turn around in a split second. It's that serious, with that current.
Your life and everything you ever worked for can turn around as quick as it takes someone to snap their fingers. :learn:

Thanks all. :HappyWave:







*****
Here are some pics I haven't yet posted from the 8-22 trip.
You can't see the roughness of the water because the yak was bobbing up and down in 2-3' swells, so I got out of that water into a protected harbor. The harbor looks nice and calm, giving no indication of what lay just outside. :scared:

14061


Like I said, it can turn around in an instant. I will keep repeating that phrase until people get sick of hearing it...and then repeat it some more... :cool:


14060 14062

[DarkSkies]

Don't park where it says:
"If you park here and are not using our lot, you are subject to tow"


14063


The last trip, it was early and I was making my way back along the GWB track.
My eyes started fluttering, the AC and radio wasn't cutting it, knew I had to get 1 hour sleep before I crashed the car...:scared:


I pulled into a McD's lot, saw the sign, and figured I would sleep for an hr, grab a McMuffin, and be on my way.

After I woke up, and I was leaving, I saw this Gypsy tow truck hook up and take this car with PA plates. I shot the action and curiosity compelled me to roll up to the driver and ask how long the car was in the lot before he was allowed to tow it?


Him:

"5 minutes, thass all they have to be there for me to tow them if they aint goin into McDees...Yo, cuz, I was goin to tow u too, jus gettin ready to, today was your lucky day!"



Nappers, beware... :laugh: :kooky:

[jigfreak]

Dont mess with the gypsy ghetto guys. They will rob you blind, I think a tow in one of those situations will clip you a minimum of $250 large.

[jonthepain]

hangin's too good fer em

[williehookem]

:2flip:I hate those hit and run tow drivers. $250 is cheap the way they run things sometimes. A friend from out of state came here, got his car towed, and had to pay $310 to get it back. And the guy in charge only wanted cash or money order, no credit cards!
Nice reports dark skies keep em coming.

[Monty]

Great thread Dark!!!:thumbsup:
Fished the Sound for the first time today.
Poking around and found this thread.
Here is a pic of my skunking trip this AM.

http://i1.wp.com/rocksimpson.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2015_4_26_LI_SOund.jpg

[seamonkey]

I have to say you do take some awesome sunrise shots thanks for sharing.

[albiealert]

Great pics and stories. I was bored at work today and read through them. Thanks for sharing guys, and tight lines.