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Still A Nighttime Game
by Bill Nolan
It was late October. I awoke at 11pm
and headed down to the surf. I was armed with only my eels and my excitement,
just as I had done all summer. My hunch was that I would be into bass in short
order, considering all the bait I had seen in the daytime along the Southern
Rhode Island shoreline. I was right. After climbing onto one of my favorite
rocky perches, I began to cast and retrieve my eel slowly. It wasn't long before
the first strike. After landing a 25 pound bass, I cast again, only to have
my eel taken by another lineside of comparable size. This process went on for
about two hours, with a total of seven bass landed. All of the bass were of
decent size, ranging from about eighteen to thirty pounds. For the next week,
I fished a later and later tide and tallied 31 bass in all, most of decent size.
There have been many complaints the last several years about the fall striper
action, that it just isn't the same. For the most part this is true. Daytime
fishing as of late can't compare to what it once was. There is another trend
I have also noticed. After mid October, most bass fisherman simply stop fishing
when the sun goes down. This is born out of the notion that somehow because
it is the "fall" you must change your fishing habits 180 degrees.
Well, a secret that I have known for some time now is this: Don't stop your
nighttime fishing. If you want a fish from the surf that will give the drag
washers on your reel a good workout, then fish under the stars, just as you
have done all summer. You won't see breaking fish in the daylight hours that
we all associate with fall fishing but you will tally some nice sized bass.
These hungry creatures prowl the shoreline in search of food under the cover
of darkness. Over the last several years, I've noticed that most of the daytime
action seems to center around school bass and bluefish. The bigger bass appear
to come to boat anglers fishing a mile or so offshore, staying deep on their
southward migration.
Tactics for the fall are no different than summer, but there are some things you can do to up your score. First stay with eels, they are the best bait to be using for a trophy bass. If you prefer plugging, then stick with plugs such as mambo minnows, bombers and the like. Teasers are very effective companions to your plugs also, as the bait tends to run on the smaller side. Gone are the huge schools of ocean herring we once had, and the mullet run of the past few years has been mediocre at best. But eels are still safe, and we all know how effective they can be right up until the very end of the season. Gone are the halfhearted strikes of summer, fall bass hit eels with a vengeance! Hold on!
FALL TECHNIQUES
In the fall I like to center
my night fishing around inlets and breachways. These are the places where the
most bait will gather and where the shore bound striper hound should concentrate
his or her efforts. Most of Rhode Island's breachways are excellent for bass
on a dropping tide, and once the bait starts dumping out, the adjacent shoreline
is just as good. Two spots that I favor are Narragansett's Narrow River inlet
and Charlestown's Quononchataug breachway. Both have great rocky shorelines
adjacent to them which hold bait and are very productive areas to probe on a
crisp fall night for trophy bass. The Galilee channel has some good night fishing
for bass in late September and early October as well. The Cape Cod Canal is
another hotspot in the fall and I like to fish it at night with jigs. In early
and late November don't overlook Charlestown breachway on night tides. Speaking
of jigs, all of the breachways in the Ocean State are worth a try with them
on both tides. There is always something holding in the depths and I probe every
inch! Other late fall spots include Watch Hill Light and Napatree Point. The
rocky coast to the east of Weekapaug breachway also has been very good to me
in the late fall and, in fact, the fishing in Westerly can last into early December.
In the fall, whatever the fishing in the day
is for surfcasters, it will be twice as good at night. Your odds for a big bass
go way up if you stick to night fishing right through November. The other plus
you will notice is all the elbowroom you will have. Most surfcasters that I
know just don't fish the fall surf at night and this is a mistake. Remember
that your only enemy to nighttime fall bass is storms and cold, and you can
combat these if you dress accordingly. Once you start catching fish you will
warm up fast! As for the storms, the good fishing usually returns once the seas
calm down, as long as there is still time left. If your still hooking bluefish
or hear of blues being caught around where you fish in the daytime, you can
be sure there are still bass around ready and willing to pull your rod south!
Try fishing at night this fall. Sling those eels
and your fall will be a memorable one. While every one else is racing down the
beach at daybreak complaining of the lack of big bass, you'll already have yours
in the cooler! Nighttime fall bass, the ticket to a trophy striper! See you
out there!
Copyright Bill Nolan 2000. No part of this article may be used except with written consent by the author.
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