Sports

Cape Ann fishing continues to be spectacular

Outdoors
Dave Sartwell
Published: July 7, 2009

The weather has made fishing offshore tough, but the fishing around Cape Ann has been spectacular. Hopefully the rain and high winds will abate this week and we can get back to more comfortable runs.

This past weekend the blues made it into Gloucester Harbor and put on quite a show. The birds were diving, the water was boiling as the big marauders slashed through the baitfish, and the fishermen out there were pounding these aggressive fish. They were not big bruisers, but they sure were fun.

The stripers are around in numbers. I am not sure about the rest of you, but we are either catching small ones or big ones but very few in the 24-32 inch range. It may be just where we are fishing, but I am hearing from other experienced fishermen that there seems to be a class or two missing.¬ 

Mackerel and pollock both make great bait when fishing for either stripers or blues. When targeting big fish, run the bait near big structures. Under normal circumstances these baitfish try to hide around huge boulders to get away from the bigger fish.¬ 

Joe Hunter, who works at the Kittery Trading Post, handed this tip along to me. I gave it a try the other day and it worked well.

"The main difference in fishing with live pollock for striper bait versus fishing with live mackerel, is that the pollock often won't swim down like mackerel almost always do," said Hunter. "Maybe they are smarter. A half-ounce or an ounce of sinker should encourage the pollock to get down to where the stripers are more active. Of course the amount of current where you are drifting the live pollock also has an effect on how much weight to use."

Another way to rig that works well is to use a sliding sinker. This lets the sinker take the bait to the bottom but then lets out line through the sinker so the fish can swim about a bit looking more natural. The distance the bait is from the sinker can be governed by using a swivel beyond the sinker. Try about six feet at first. You will probably get less spit outs if the bait seems more natural. Let the baitfish take out a lot of line through the sliding rig.¬ 

The big stripers seem to like to feed at night. One of the most effective baits for night fishing is the eel. Although there are a number of ways to fish these slippery fellows, one of the most effective is to cast it in among the rocks and slowly retrieve it back to you with a series of little jerks. You want to keep the bait moving as it will try to bury itself into all the crevices it can find, but move it slowly.¬ 

To rig an eel, take a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook and push it up through the bottom and top jaw. I use a wire leader but other fellows will also use a very strong mono leader with good effect.¬ 

This is a "feel" bait. As you retrieve the bait slowly you will feel it move. Once you get a tap or bump, lower your rod and let the fish suck in the bait. Wait a second or two for the bait to be swallowed and then set the hook.

The tuna fishing this year so far has been terrific. The north corner of Stellwagon and other spots have been alive with very active fish. The other day when we were ground fishing, a school came roaring by us just slashing through the bait.¬ 

The hot trolling rig this year seems to be the big Sluggos. Take a squid bar and attach either pink or white Sluggos. Troll this rig at anywhere from 3 to 5 knots some 50 to 75 yards behind the boat and hang on.

A lot of guys are running Sluggos individually as well. Push a big hook down through the head, turn the hook back up and hide the tip in the body. A lot of the round of the hook will be visible below the body of the Sluggo. This acts as a rudder to keep the Sluggo running true.¬ 

The ground fishing is the best it has been around here in 30 years. Every time we go out beyond the 70-degree, 15-minute line, we are filling the bucket with big cod, haddock and cusk fillets. The rig we use is quite simple.¬ 

Depending on the wind and tide, we drop down a double hook combination with a 12-24 ounce lead weight. We are using frozen clams for bait. The bait must be bounced on the bottom. Most of the time we simply drift fish, but if the water is to swift we will anchor up.

Look for spots on the chart where the bottom rises up a bit. or there is structure. Do not be afraid to move from spot to spot until you get some action.¬ 

The flounder fishing continues to be hot as well. All along the shoreline folks are bringing in good catches of these flatsiders. Again, the rig is simple. A small Christmas tree rig with a small weight. Use seaworms as they seem to work best.¬ 

Now, if we could just get some warm weather with no wind.