The Striped Bass Blues

I apologize for the tardy post, but I am glad to have waited for the feeling to come back into my arms after catching a good number of large fish and the technique of enticing them.

Wednesday, 8-17-2011: I had a lot to do at work both in the office and the field before I could get to the boat that I was told would be leaving at 4:01PM whether I was there or not.  My day started in Middletown finishing my office work at 11:00AM, then I sped down to Milford, CT to stakeout as much of a retaining wall as possible before I had to leave to make the boat.  I left at 2:45 from Milford to give myself a little elbow room since I95 is a crap-shoot on any given day, not to mention I had seen CT DOT patching potholes on I91 Northbound locking traffic up for miles.  I made it to Old Saybrook, CT at Between the Bridges marina by 3:40PM and grabbed my fishing pliers and some outerwear in case of rain or wind, but the day grew quite warm at 86F.  

The boat we were going out on was Art Scoville's, who owns a landscaping business in Cromwell, CT.  He fishes the sound often and knows exactly what he is doing and where to go for the best shot at big fish.  His fishing background is strong with first place and top ten finishes for the LIS bluefish derby held every year.  One year he won a boat worth around 25,000 dollars, which he promptly sold to buy the boat he uses now.

  

Phil O'Brien (Left), Art Scoville (right)

As I walked onto the dock there was a tall man maybe 6'6" tall, walking my way with a smile on his face, my boss Phil yelled to me, "Matt that is Marty, Art's friend."  Marty reached his hand out to shake mine and said, "Hi Matt!"  I shook his hand and said, "Marty, pleasure to meet you."  I continued to the boat which was nice, a 26' lobster style boat with a 300 John Deere diesel engine, the same style a lot of guide boat services use.  As I stepped into the boat, Art was prepping his Captain's chair, before sitting down and turning the key.  Art and I exchanged hellos as he moved to the back of the boat to unhook the rear dock lines.  Marty returned, and Art asked him to get the front line, no time wasted sitting around, we were off.  We motored across the CT river just south of I95 and north of the Amtrak or possibly Metro North railroad bridge to fuel up.  After fuel, we motored down river and noticed bait breaking the surface which were schools of peanut bunker, named this because they are adolescent.  By 4:30 we turned the corner at the end of the breakwall lighthouse which marks the end of the CT river and the beginning of LIS. 

Bucktail and Parachute Jigs

On our approach to the first spot, Art asked me if I had fished wire before, reffering to the type of lines on the reel.  I replied, "Not since last year," and Art returned, "Ok I'll let it out for you, or Marty will because it's tricky and once it gets messed up that's it."  I handed him one of the rods, as he powered down the boat to a fast troll, the speed helps get the lure out without it snagging bottom.  Art and Marty let Parachute Jigs with "Uncle Josh red pork rinds" out for the first "drop".  The setups where six and half to seven foot jigging rods, with Penn conventional reels, a staple reel for most saltwater fishermen.  The heavy jigs were attached to 80 to 100 lb test florocarbon leaders, with about six inches of wire just ahead of them in case bluefish are around so the line doesn't get cut.  The leader material was then attached by a Bimini Twist to the wire line which is wound onto the reel at a specific length to troll the lure at a specific depth, in this case we wanted to run around 20' depth.  Marty's line was out first, then Art handed the setup to me and said Marty will show you how to work it.  

Phil hooked into a Bluefish

Marty was holding the rod like a canoe paddle, his left hand placed on the butt of the rod, and using his right hand with an overhand grip of the line and the rod about eight inches ahead of the reel.  I fumbled for a minute because my grips had to be reversed as I was standing on the opposite side of the boat.  Marty said, "Hold the rod just like this," pointing the butt about shoulder height with the tip just above the water, "And jig it, if you feel the bottom, swing the rod tip up above your head so you don't snag."  This is a serious workout, it is exactly like paddling in a canoe race trying to make the jig dance at the end of your line.  Just as I got the technique down, Art yelled "I'm marking a lot of fish below the boat," and within 30 seconds Marty hooked up with the first fish.  As Marty worked the fish in and we watch the line rise to the surface, and Art said, "Bluefish, has to be," and we all watched a good sized blue break the surface.  Art netted and release the fish as fast as possible to get us on the next drop.  

Marty nets one for Phil

My boss Phil stepped up to the rod for the next drop, and as soon as the lines were out he hooked up with the next fish.  We boated a Striper just short of 28", the legal size for keepers.  As the fish flopped on the deck, Phil hooted, "Matt! When are you going to catch one!"  I laughed, and said, "I'm next."  The striper got a head first toss back into the drink and Art yelled, "OK drop 'em."  This time he did a circle in the opposite direction towards my side of the boat, and I changed my technique to short jigs and as soon as I did I got a solid hit.  "Fish On!" I yelled to Art, and he slowed up.  The fish took out about 80' of line and stayed deep, Art was getting excited and said, "Looks like a good striper," adding, "Matt, don't worry about how the line wraps onto the reel, just reel it in."  The fish stayed deep, with big head shakes, we were all expecting a good sized striper, but as the fish came into view it was another bluefish.  As I had the leader back onto the rod, I backed up and Phil put the net on a 15lb bluefish.  With the fish in the boat, Art came back and said, "Now, that is a beautiful blue fish, but that's not what we want."  I agreed, we were after stripers, and were stuck in a vortex of bluefish.  Three more drops produced three more fish, all blues.  Art said OK we know what's here, let's try a different spot.

We motored for a little while and Art brought up something I was expecting to hear at some point during the trip, "This is right around where that guy caught that 82lb bass."  Only a few weeks back, a local angler Greg Myerson hooked and landed an 81.88lb striped bass which if accepted by the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) will become the new world record striped bass.  "What would you do if you caught a fish that big?" Art asked as he looked across the horizon searching for signs of bait or bass welling near the surface.  Art continued before anyone could answer, "I mean that is a beautiful fish, and all these other fishermen just make up stories about it."  I said, "I can't stand that," Art interjected, "They're jealous," I continued, "That is one awesome fish, I'm happy for Greg, and best part is he's from Connecticut and a Sox fan!"  We all laughed, then Art powered down and said, "Get ready."  First drop, second spot.  Marty brought the first blue aboard, then I had the next two, then Phil brought one up, and I said to Art,  "We've got the Striper Blues."  "You are damn right we do!" Art replied.  OK, next spot.

First drop, third spot.  Long troll. Nothing. 

Back to the first spot, because there was one Striper in the mix, Art said we are approaching the "magic hour" referring to the best time of day to catch a striper.  Slack tide, sun setting on the horizon.  Phil asked if the bass were smarter than the blues.  Marty tilted his head disagreeably, "They are both opportunistic feeders, Bass, especially the big ones are lazy."  Art shouted from the front, "Gotta catch 'em in the mouth."  Marty agreed, "Yah the bait's got to be," and he dangled his hand in front of his face, "Right, Here."  Phil and I laughed, and I said, "Yep, lazy fish, and extra lazy today."  First drop, first spot on the second approach.  Bluefish.  Bluefish.  Bluefish.  Marty found another short bass.  Bluefish, and some more bluefish.  Harry Houdini must have turned off the magic for this hour.  Discouraged by all the blue fish, fifteen in all but good sized around 10-15lbs each, and just two stripers, Art asked if we should call it.  Phil agreed, I agreed for Phil's sake (he needs his sleep), Marty reluctantly agreed because we agreed, and Art said, "As long as we agree."

Twilight on Long Island Sound

On the way back in, Marty and Art talked in the cabin, and Phil and I sat in chairs watching the twilight sky and talked about how special it is to be able to do something like this.  Phil said, "It's all right here, in Connecticut, when you think of the ocean you think of Florida or the Caribbean, but it's all here."  I said, "When you have a chance to do something cool like this, always take it," Phil nodded, as I continued, "And tomorrow, we will have that burn in our arms ... a little reminder that we fought fish."