[Nick]

Met Brian Z this morning for an early run to the Parker Refuge on PI. Grabbed a few schoolies during the early flood tide, lots of bait and birds, but not many fish around. No one was really catching... plugs, bait, or flies. We left and headed to the rocks in Magnolia. Guys chunking herring all had bent rods as we showed up, so we figured it would be good. We each managed one more striper and some pollack, amongst the bait guys slamming'em. Kinda frustruating, but it was a nice morning all together.

Juro, thanks for the call. Glad to hear you had a successful weeked. Sorry to hear about the client...

Nick

 

[juro]

Thanks Nick, I was wondering what was up on the North Shore. What were the bait guys slammin' on in Magnolia? Maybe you need to recruit TerryW for a pollock fly field test.

Per the outing, yeah he never did get a keeper to the shore. He did get to battle some nice fish though. Of course the fat cow Jim got (his first on a fly) didn't make it any easier for him to watch, in fact Jim had the mojo working all day. I guess you can't always get a keeper on the first time out but the chance of it was there despite the unbelievably snotty weather. That was some n-a-s-t-y weather yesterday on the coast.

Were the fish being caught at Magnolia big fish?

 

[Nick]

Magnolia fish were anywhere from 18 to 30 inches, most fell in the 24-26 range I would say. They were drifting herring chunks and picking fish up very regularly. The surf was fairly big, which inhibited fly control, so that could have been the problem. I did get one to slam a deciever right in the wash of the rocks. I love that fishing. It is really rewarding to catch a fish there and amazing that the fish can even see the fly amongst all that comotion.

Nick

 

[Lefty]

That is very typical for that spot. Chunkers on cut bait (herring) raking in large fish. There is a 30 foot shelf there that makes it very diffucult to flycaST beyond. I was there last week and donned a PFD because that surf can pull you off the rocks. The coves and small beaches are the spots to develop. But in season, parking is tight. The thing to do is put in some time and find the one or 2 rock outcrops that allow you to get the fly down to the strike zone. Tough fishing on the fly. Good luck.

TerryW

 

[mojo]

I was out on the North Shore (Beverly) on Sunday morning. I could see the fish leaving wakes and acting more like trout than stripers -- it was like I was waking them up when my line hit the water. I tried top water, deep water, clousers, etc., and couldn't get them to bite. I finally used the ugliest squid fly I have (Thanks John M.) and caught three in the 26" - 28" range.