Saw some birds working of Ft. Smallwood, went upwind, cut the motor and drifted within casting distance. Was bailing 10"-14" Rock for the next 45 minutes(6:15pm to 7:00pm). Never could bring up a keeper. Was casting a 4" Chartuse BA on 1/2oz Jig head and left them biting.
Now a lot would say that's not a great day, but as a relative newbie, I was more than satisfied. I just bought my first boat in April, and have only fished off of it 3 or 4 times with nothing to show except for a few lost lures to the skates. Bought the boat mainly for family boat rides/cruising with hope of some fishing time(I have two daughters 3 yrs old and 2 yrs old so I squeeze fishing in where I can!) My wife and kids were with me tonight also, and had a blast helping me bring them in.
Question: Would I have had a better chance at larger fish by switching to a heavier jig head and longer BA?
Appreciate all the informative posts. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute eventually.
Yes try a heaver jig head and even maybe a trout bomb w/ a dropper off of it . usually the bigger fish are down deeper. sounds great good luck.[excited]
Nice job finding and staying on the fish. Bailing them on light tackle is too much fun.
Read some of the other posts.... Sometimes if a B/A is vertically jigged or even "deadsticked" you will get a bonus of a bigger fish who are cleaning up the scraps left by the army of dinks.
It is always worthwhile to try a few different size B/A's under the breaking fish. The season is early... Keep up the great work. Mike
I would definately go bigger! 3/4 oz to 1 oz and 7". I often switch to 2 oz SS just to get to the bottom quickly. still lots of fun bailing[wink] Just listen to these guys and you will be on fish more times than not.
Thanks for the report and that’s a good day for anyone. Like other said go to a bigger jig that might of help. Also how was the water I would of thought the water would of been muddy???
At the risk of sounding like everybody else, yes, go heavier or go metallic. The faster your bait falls through the column of smaller fish, the better the chance for the more opportunistic large fish to get it. Dropper rigs are great, increase your jig head or a larger bucktail (Brandon has some really really effective bucktails that are working well for me this summer that have a narrow profile head and more heft). I've been getting tailbit when fishing large groups of breaking fish, so, bucktails and as Jason and others have stated, SS and straight down jig with a Hopkins or diamond...and the drop fly.
All- Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be a little more prepared next time and have another rod rigged and ready to go.
Steve F. - The water did not look bad at all. Looked just about normal for this time of year. I could see the chartuse BA about 1 to 1-1/2 ft down. Not sure its going to stay that way, we'll see what the Susky brings us this weekend
MDHokie93, thanks for the report.
good luck with the new boat
your girls will be outfishing you before you know it!
Steve trying to get out this weekend, i'll give you a call if i do
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