This week's RI Reports Part1 [Archive] - Fly Fishing Forum

: This week's RI Reports Part1

08-23-2001, 03:45 PM
Tricks of the trade!

Bluefish continue their forays along the ocean coast and bay of Rhode Island. Massive amounts of two inch bunker seem to be present everywhere. In most cases, if bait is located, it's only a matter of time before a blitz will happen. So rather than talk about specific locations where to fish, it's probably more important to understand their tactics.
Understanding them will make fishing easier and prolong your day when the bite starts to slackens.

Like any occasion, remember the event has to get organized before the surface action erupts. With all the bait around, finding where exactly this will happen is the dilemma. Obviously finding working birds is the clue. Nature has given terns great vision, maneuverability, and the ability to communicate with each other over long distances. Finding clouds of birds is by far the single most important clue. Learn how to read their behavior by their flying patterns. This will often tell the angler how deep the bait fish are and if there is anything pushing the schools. Listen to them. Especially important on those days were visibility is limited. Fog is always inherent this time of year with all the moisture in the evening air. During drifts when the motors off, listen carefully. Note direction and intensity of bird sounds.


If you're a boater, you have the fish/deep finder at your disposal. This very import tool can give the boater a bird's eye view of below. First you want to switch off those fish icons. Yes, they are cute to look at, but they tell you little else. Observing the bait behavior is what's going to lead you in the right direction. The ploy here is not only to observe activity, but more importantly what is causing it. Take note. Watch for rises of fish in the depth column, depth of schools, thickness and densities. If they remain at a certain level, it might be wise to change fishing techniques. Changing lures or lines to go deeper might be just the cure.

Bluefish tend to work together compressing schools of bait. Often they will form a perimeter around a school of bait in the shape of the letter "C" and then close ranks. Along the deeper rockier coastlines, bluefish also control the direction of the schools of bait. Believe me, they do have complicated game plans. They sheepishly will control the perimeter and move the massive amounts of bait to areas where there is little or no escape.

Bluefishing becomes problematic during calm days with little wind or waves. The problem as most will guess is noise. Trying to sneak up wind and drift into them might be a short-term cure. Doesn't work to well though when the fleets is around. Remove yourself from this type of situation and venture off by yourself. Noise doesn't scare the blues as much as it scares the bait. Small fish are more fearful of ambient noise. Obviously being quite is the key. Be patient under these conditions and take longer drift. Stop the urge to turn that key. The best advice under calm conditions where you can't get close to feeding situations is to extend your casting range with spinning gear.

Continued as part II