Quote Originally Posted by DarkSkies View Post
Should I stay or should I go?
"The fish are on the bottom"
If you don't probe the bottom as part of your fishin that night, you will never know if you missed the fish by not being deep enough.

As the current strengthens through the tide, it's an effort for a fish to not get swept in or out. So many bait fish will hold to the sides, and bigger fish hold on the bottom, away from the stronger current.

Another reality is that the bigger fish move with the current. Striped bass love current. You have a higher chance at catching a big bass in strong current than you do on the flats somewhere.

The key is realizing that a bass will move during the tide stages up or down an inlet area to find the combination of water they can comfortably swim in, ambush food, and not get swept away.

Current is less strong on the bottom, so that's where the big predators will sit during strong parts of the tide. Or they'll find a ledge, a seam, or crease in the bottom to sit and pop up once in awhile to nab a juicy enough baitfish.




As we move from summer to fall, there are times when the fish are still near the bottom, inlets, rips, harbors, rivers, feeding on the small bait that may be there, or the squid that come in in the Spring, and late Summer......

(Yes folks we have squid in Jersey, though many are not aware of nor do they seek them out....)

I have spent many a night in the late fall, watching the commercial squid boats, fishing inshore, only about a mile beyond the surfline....and thinking to myself, how lucky we are, to even have fish come in to our shorelines, when there can be such an abundance of bait, at the right time of the year, in zones we would never consider, because we are not looking for it....


Thought this would be a good time to bring this thread up, and see if any of ya's want to talk about your jigging techniques for this late summer transition period......