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"Thin Water" definition???

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emosupremo

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Does this term mean (A) you wade in a few feet of the level grade of a beach and encounter a sudden, percipitous x0 foot droppoff or does it mean (B) you can walk fifty feet from where the waves touch the sand and if you cast in 360 degrees you would be fishing "thin water'?



One often sees the term used as in "keep stripping up to your feet bec you often get a strike in thin water'. One can see the wisdom IF fish the boundary/rip of "A" above.  I fished the Atlantic beach from Point Lookout down to Deb's inlet almost every dawn for two weeks this Fall and never got a hit. I switched to bait a couple of PMs (you know as  sort of a "scientific control") for comparison and it was better but not much (sand sharks, no schoolies, no keepers). One can see the value of fishing thin water up in RI where the gravel beaches plummet to depth quite quickly but here on Long Island....well I think it's a fool's errand fishing out front with the two hander, a Clouser and the prevailing wind always risking a collision with either rod or right ear.



I think thin water is a waste of time from the standpoint of "B" but great idea for "A". What does the forum think about the use of this important term.

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Does this term mean (A) you wade in a few feet of the level grade of a beach and encounter a sudden, percipitous x0 foot droppoff or does it mean (B) you can walk fifty feet from where the waves touch the sand and if you cast in 360 degrees you would be fishing "thin water'?

One often sees the term used as in "keep stripping up to your feet bec you often get a strike in thin water'. One can see the wisdom IF fish the boundary/rip of "A" above.  I fished the Atlantic beach from Point Lookout down to Deb's inlet almost every dawn for two weeks this Fall and never got a hit. I switched to bait a couple of PMs (you know as  sort of a "scientific control") for comparison and it was better but not much (sand sharks, no schoolies, no keepers). One can see the value of fishing thin water up in RI where the gravel beaches plummet to depth quite quickly but here on Long Island....well I think it's a fool's errand fishing out front with the two hander, a Clouser and the prevailing wind always risking a collision with either rod or right ear.

I think thin water is a waste of time from the standpoint of "B" but great idea for "A". What does the forum think about the use of this important term.

 

emosupremo,

 

Thin water is quite simply very shallow water. To me it starts to qualify for skinny when it is around a foot deep or less.

 

Ok I fish LI in the fall and I catch Stripers in water that you would struggle to measure the depth of in the wash barely a few inches out from the sand.

I guess you must be new to this game if you think that Bass will not venture into skinny water because they do under the right conditions.

 

You must also be new if you think its a fools errand to fish out front with a TH and worry about the wind and getting hit with the fly. If you are remotely competent with a fly rod you can minimize the risk of collision by the application of a bit of skill and dare I say it experience. A TH makes it a whole lot easier than a SH in an awkward wind as you can use either hand up the rod and you can set your line and fly in a safer position before you go into your cast proper.

 

One or two of us on here use TH rods out front and hopefully none of us consider ourselves fools but rather as just Fishers getting the job done and having a whole lot of fun. If you doubt that this can be done you are very welcome to come and join me next fall for a days or night out front fly fishing TH or SH in Montauk if Cape Cod is better for you that works ok for me in early June. Just pop me a PM.

 

Mike

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Thank you for your responses, they help things to gel, especially about the diff between a "drop off' and 'skinny water'.  Maybe he absence of 'drop offs' is not such a bad thing on the stretch of beach I habitually fish.



 



It's crazy you know: a fellow who will skish or jeopardize their life out on a jetty whereas folks with have calf-high boots are dragging them in on the sand. I thougt the "thin water' would be a great place here on LI to fly fish in the dawn or twilight hours. Has not been productive even though the guys with kayaks are (reportedly) into fish further to the west near NYC. When I bought my SH and TH the fellow who sold it to me at the shop suggested to prospect with spinnig gear and once located fish the 'fishy' spots where they hold up on the beach with the fly rods.



I've snorkled and scuba'd to observe the depth contours out front but not after Sandy which I am told by the numerous surfers had leveled out the bottom and made the water thinner(?) for a longer wade out than pre-storm. I was hoping to get a feel whether or not to find a better place to fish/experiment next year.



 



As an aside, I live only four blocks from the ocean so fishing 'skinny water' and understanding what it means was important to me (bec it doesn't involve a trip in the car, loading the kayak etc etc.).  So Yes, as my post-number suggests I'm new (about two years) into this game and now that I've learned to cast cack-handed and struggle less in the wind I'm wondering whether to keep on keeping on here locally or drive to Jone's Beach etc. where you can cast a fly without hooking the millions of New Yorkers who position themselves behind you to watch what you are doing. The motivation for this thread is simply this, "If i'm fishing more mornings than not predawn to one hour after at a +1 mile stretch of beach and I'm not getting hits, I'm trying clam and bunker in the same stretch and I'm not getting hits...what do I try next?"


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emo,

 

Thanks for been straight with us as that makes it easier to help you. My guess the reason you are not catching fish is that the place you fish is not populated with Bass very often. I have beaches back in the Uk that just hardly ever see a bass.

 

Ok I do not know where you are fishing on LI but seek out this kind of structure which bass like. Steep sandy beaches with cuts and bars and fast sloughs. Fast current where ever you can find it. Bass love current. look for points as they normally have current. Fish shallow rocky reefs and boulder fields. Inlets and breechways are great spots. Get your self to RI and fish the rocky shore there. Jetties I personally don't like much but they can be great places to fish from. Then you have back bays and sod banks to try out. You have to move around this is a hunting game the bass will not come to you. Montauk in the early fall can be fantastic with a fly rod thats only down the road for you for me it is 3000 miles so don't tell me its too far.:)

 

The Guy in the Fly shop needs his derriere kicking giving advice like he did. So Fly fishing is second division over Spinning? We and you do not need a spin rod to locate fish. Spin Guys have the same issues finding fish that we do. The type of rod you use has no bearing on how to find Bass. The last thing you want is to be carting around two rods and two sets of gear. A Fly Rodder will some days catch and a Spin Guy can not but another day and the situation can change and you are just watching him bail fish. It happens , its fishing.

As to Skishing and such like stuff, for some of us we do it because we love it and it is a ton of fun. I practically skish with my TH because its fun and I can catch fish I might not catch standing on hard land. Some of us like to engage and be embraced by the ocean rather than be divorced from her. If you are really going to get into fly fishing then I can tell you if you don't at least get damp you are not really trying.

 

Rather than put down what others do why not ask yourself why they do it and it maybe something you are drawn to as you gain more experience.

 

If you are still struggling by the time June comes around send me that PM and you can come and have a day or night fishing or like Oakman 27 straight hours of fishing with me. Can't guarantee you fish but we can work our butts of trying. I don't do car park fishing or in bars.

 

Read Lou Tabory's books on fly fishing for Stripers. Just google him up Amazon have his books. That book alone will help you way more than any internet forum can.

 

Mike

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emo - Along with Taboury's book get yourself a copy of Ed Mitchell's "Flyrodding the Estuaries" - When you do go to Amazon click the used book part of the ordering process. I just ordered two copie of the Mitchell Book for $9.76 + shipping. The new book will cost $19.99 + shipping. Shipping is $3.99 so you save $6.29 for the book . I hope you haven't ordered the Taboury Book at full price.

 

The Mitchell book is the best saltwater fly fishing primmer for skinny water I've come across in the past 18 years. I gift them to new friends who are getting started into the serious side of salt water fly fishing. I personally use my beat up copy for winter reading to bring me back to the basics. Ed Mitchell's book is the best "How to Book" on reading the water and how to fish the back bays and the inlets as well as out front.

 

If you can, try to make it to the Fly Fishing Show at Somerset, NJ 1/25, 26 & 27. I recommend Friday or Sat.. I do both days. Check it out on line. It has seminars, demonstrations and you can meet and greet most of the top names in the saltwater fly business. Freshwater too.

 

Welcome aboard! This SOL site is the show that never ends. "Come inside, Come inside.";)

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