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Fishing Forecast - August Full Moon

Fishing Forecast - August Full Moon

Now that we're approaching the second half of August, hardtail season is here in full swing. Make sure you're ready for the marathon by loading up on epoxy jigs, albie snax, flies, and whatever else you like to throw at the funny fish over the next couple months. I'll discuss and link the most popular products later on. We've had an incredible early run of bonito for the last 3-4 weeks or so. What began as a trickle turned into relatively widespread, great numbers of bonito from Nantucket to Rhode Island. We'll have to see what Debby is going to do to the bite this weekend - August storms generally aren't as detrimental as September or October. Even if it shuts down for a few days, we can be hopeful things will turn right back on. 

Bonito & Albies

The past couple of weeks, the bonito bite really has been exceptional. Shore, kayak, and boat anglers have all been able to get a piece of the pie. Up until about a week ago, the prevalent bait seemed to be sea herring (or sardines) in the 4-6" range. This made for "easy" fishing where the bonito would hit just about anything that looked remotely like a baitfish. That said, the hottest bait has definitely been the Yo-Zuri Mag Minnow so far. Bone, double-white, and the sardine colors are all ideal options right now. Other minnow plugs like the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow, Daiwa SP Minnow, Nomad Shikari will all get the job done, too. The past week or so, the bait has definitely changed. There seems to be some herring still on their diet, but it's much more of a smorgasburg now including small bait dumping out of the ponds like tiny peanut bunker, silversides, and snot bait. No matter what bait they're on, Albie Snax always seem to be effective. Small Metals and Epoxies are great too, especially for casting distance. The colors haven't seemed to matter much during this early-season push, but you can't go wrong with white or pink. Although they haven't been picky so far, the recent influx of small bait will likely change that. This is where the fly fishermen shine. Check out our selection of Bonito & Albie FliesIf you're a spin fishermen but you want to get a fly into some feeds, make sure to grab a Larry Lurz Casting EggWhen the fish are on tiny bait and refusing other presentations, the "Float n' Fly" method shines. Just remember the egg is not only for casting distance and you don't need to retrieve it at mach 10 like many other bonito/albie presentations. If you keep your rod tip low and "sweep" the egg, it will pop the surface of the water. I always try to make the splash as similar to a bonito or albie splash as possible. The idea is the egg acts as an attractant to get their attention as they zoom by or underneath. When they sense the egg making commotion on the surface, thinking it's one of their buddies feeding, they go to check it out. That's when they see and (hopefully) eat your fly. It's also worth noting that there have been whispers of Albies showing up along the Cape and creeping into Rhode Island waters. Again, we'll have to see what Debby brings, but things could light up very soon locally.
The one and only Peter Jenkins with a beautiful fly-caught bonito last week.
 

Black Sea Bass, Fluke, Tautog

If you fish for bonito and albies enough, you know that the black sea bass start to get pretty bold and adventurous this time of year. Whether you're trolling at high speeds, ripping an epoxy across the surface, or even throwing weightless albie snax - you're never safe from black sea bass once mid-August rolls around. Just about every rock pile or hump is covered by them at this point in the summer. The majority are undersized, but when you find a piece of structure loaded with keepers, it can be a very quick limit. The best method is to keep hopping around until you find the average size you're looking for. You can also stay loyal to one spot, and upsize your baits if you're looking to cull a bigger fish. Paddle tails like the 4" and 5" JygPro Swym and 4" and 5" NLBN are great options for bigger sea bass. If you drop down and aggressively/quickly retrieve it back, that generally helps weed out some of the smaller ones, too.
A fired up stack of black sea bass from earlier this week.
The fluke bite is still a grind, but seems to be picking up a bit. Drag rigs like the Flippin Out Fluke Rigs seem to be the ticket out deep. Although Gulp! is great, and is always good for some bites, bait seems to be the move right now for the keepers. Squid, bluefish, or mackerel strips - pretty much whatever you can get your hands on should help get some better bites.
Don't forget that tautog season reopened on the first of the month! August isn't necessarily the best time to be fishing for them, but it can be surprisingly good. It's a great opportunity to catch them on Metals/Epoxy jigs as they get keyed in on the small baitfish that becomes plentiful this time of year. It's not uncommon to run into them while targeting black sea bass or scup.  I tend to do best with theHogy Epoxy Jigin the shrimp or pink color. Particularly if there are lots of peanut bunker around, it can be pretty easy to catch tog on peanut jigs. The best options are the Hogy Peanut Bunker Jig and the Joe Baggs Peanut Resin.
A nice August tog landed on light tackle with a small metal jig.

Bass, Blues, and Bluefin

As small bait begins to dump out of the salt ponds and rivers, light tackle and fly fishermen get some great opportunities to land big bass and bluefish on small presentations. Small spooks like the Rebel Jumpin Minnow and Game On! X-Walk 6" are both perfect topwater options. Small soft plastics like Albie Snax, Lunker City Sluggosand RonZ Straight Tails also do a great job imitating the small, darting bait this time of year. You can usually get bit on a relatively quick retrieve, almost skipping the plastic across the surface like a topwater. Bonito & Albie Flies will work well for bass and blues this time of year. If you're fly fishing for bluefish using small baitfish imitations, be sure to check out Cortland Tie-able Steel Leader so you aren't constantly losing flies to them. The "Float n' Fly" method is also really effective for finicky fish as we approach the fall run. 
It's impossible not to mention the bluefin fishing right now. Although the windows to get out have been pretty few and far between for most boats, the fish are there and generally cooperative. So far it seems to be mostly a jig bite, with Shimano Shimmerfall Jigs and Point Jude Deep Force Jigs taking lots of fish. The pink or white RonZ 8" Straight Tail has also been producing lots of fish. Just dead stick it near bottom or in the water column and let the plastic do the work. Once again, we'll have to see what Debby does to things offshore. If the bite stays hot we could see some pretty incredible fishing in the next couple of weeks. 

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