Fishing Forecast - July New Moon

The summer doldrums. As mid-July approaches and Independence Day gets further in the rearview mirror, summer really begins to feel short. Every year, there is about a one month window that I consider the summer doldrums. There is still plenty to do as far as fishing goes. It's just hot, windy, and many of us are beginning to feel the drunken effects of not getting enough sleep over the past three or so months. Again, though, if you can motivate yourself, there are some excellent fishing opportunities between now and early August when the fall run begins to pick up and all hell breaks loose again. The striped bass fishing does lull around this time, but if you know where to look, they can be pretty predictable. Brown sharks are beginning to show in decent numbers and are a relatively easy fish to target if you have the right gear and want a good fight. Their numbers will only grow over the next couple of weeks and more. Bottom fishing is decent and should stay that way through the month of July, and then it really tends to get good come August. The mid-shore recreational bluefin bite was just starting to ramp up before we got hit with some weather systems that seem to have pushed them back out to the west. That will pick up again in the next week or two as clean water pushes back in. 

Striped Bass

This time of year, the bass fishing can get pretty difficult in a lot of ways. At the same time, they are looking for a specific set of conditions where they can thrive all summer long. If you also seek those conditions, you're sure to run into some good fishing. You want to find deep, cool, oxygenated water with structure. Bass will find an area that is suitable and settle in for the heat of the summer. They feed in tighter windows than you'll see in the spring or fall, so timing can be key as well as the location.The unique thing about this season is the huge abundance of sandeels inshore early on. There are still heaps of them out there, and now that the bass have been keyed in on them for weeks (at least), they are become very wary of anything that isn't a sandeel. We're hearing tons of reports from boat fishermen, and seeing for ourselves, that there are stacks and stacks of bass that will just refuse to touch anything you put in front of them. The bottom line is, just like albies or bluefin, when fish hold in a certain area for several weeks and become familiar with a particular bait, they can become incredibly difficult to fool. It's just part of the game. My best advice is to change the how before you change the what. Dropping Diamond Jigs or Metal/Epoxy Jigs are about as close as you can get for sandeel presentations, but there are several ways to fish them. Try dredging the bottom with a heavy jig, try lightly bouncing a lighter jig or retrieving it back to the boat. You can also try to ever so lightly pound bottom in a way that your jig is just barely raising off bottom and creating a small puff of sand. Small plastics on jigheads like RonZ with the same tactics is a good idea to try. Adding a teaser above your jig such as a Striper Fly or Redgill can also be a ticket to success when fish are being extremely picky like they are now.With all of that said, some of the usual summer tactics like throwing The Doc at low light hours, trolling a Butchie Built Tube, or dropping live eels should all produce and have their moments. For the surf guys, Needlefish, Slug-Go,Minnow Plugs,and Bucktails at night and Pencil Poppers during low light are putting some nice fish on the rocks. Again, a teaser above your plug or jig will likely lead to more bites. It's officially that sharky time of year again as well, so please be mindful that they are around. If you get sharked, try moving locations. Losing bass to sharks is not only bad news for the bass fishery, but teaching these sharks that fishermen equate to a meal is exactly what we don't want. They are smart animals and absolutely learn where the easy meals are coming from. Instead, go back on another night with a heavy rod and some big baits and settle in for a fun fight. Just make sure you're prepared with the proper gear to safely release it without injuring the shark or yourself. Long dehookers/pliers, heavy wire leader, etc will all help make it safer for both you and the shark.

XL bass on a Berkley Chop Block about 20 minutes after sunrise.

Bottom Fishing

The bottom fishing has been going solid so far this year as long as you don't mind catching a whole lot of short fluke. Don't worry, it isn't you. Keeper-sized flatties have not been easy to come by in general. On the bright side, the black sea bass fishing has been picking up nicely, and there's hardly ever a shortage of scup to be caught. If you're looking to fill a cooler, scup are probably your best bet. You should be able to find them just about everywhere right now. A Porgy Rig tipped with squid, clam, or FishBites should do the trick. I also like to use either a bare Epoxy Jig or tip it with a little bit of FishBites. Black sea bass should be relatively easy to find on any sort of structure out front like rock piles and humps. Finding keepers can be difficult depending on the day. If you find a bunch of smaller ones, try using a larger Metal/Epoxy Jig or a 5+ inch soft plastic like a Hogy Original, Slug-Go, NLBN Paddletail, or JygPro Swym. Sometimes there are bigger fish mixed in with schools of shorts, and it just takes a bigger presentation to cull them out. If that doesn't work, move around and try hitting different pieces of structure until you find something that is holding bigger sea bass.

Jon with a keeper-sized fluke last week.

Offshore

Just as things were beginning to look positive for our mid-shore bluefin bite, the weather shut the window for us. I'm sure there are fish to be caught out there right now, but it hasn't fully blown open yet. I would expect that to happen in the next couple weeks as we get some cleaner water after several days of rain and storms dirtied things for the last week or so. Trolling Spreader Bars is generally the ticket for some of those earlier tuna, however there were some pretty intense and long-lasting surface feeds before the weather turned on us, so don't go out there without your topwater and stickbaits. Try the JoeBaggs Skipper, Yo-Zuri Mag Pencil, Yo-Zuri Mag Popper,and Hogy Charter Grade Slider. Sandeels are the primary forage offshore as well as inshore, so it's only a matter of time before the jig bite picks up. RonZ and vertical jigs like the UVT, Hogy Sandeel Jig, Shimano Shimmerfall Jig, and Point Jude Deep Force Jig. There is no shortage of bait and life out there, and it's only a matter of time before the water cleans up and the tuna fishing rages on. It's the right time to get out there when the weather allows it and find some fish before the fleets get crazy!