As many anglers can attest, the striper fishing has been very slow for the past month in the Boston Harbor area and in many other areas as well. While the numbers are way down, the average size of the stripers caught is much larger than I’ve seen in quite some time, with twenty-to-thirty pounders not uncommon, and a few in the forty-to-fifty pound range. Most of these fish, however are being caught by baitfishermen using live pogies or chunk mackerel; flyfishermen are usually getting skunked.
I don’t know why the smaller fish are not around in their usual numbers. There are lots of theories but nothing definitive. Whatever the reason, it’s certainly not for any lack of baitfish. The harbor and nearby shorelines are simply loaded with baitfish, large pogies mostly, with silversides and herring in the mix as well. I went fishing yesterday (Sept. 11) and cruised all around the harbor looking for fish. I found large (12″-14″) pogies by the tens of thousands off Spectacle Island and also around the Deer Island Flats. Sometimes the water was black with them but on only one occasion did I observe anything feeding on them–two, possibly three stripers, and the two I saw were very large, maybe thirty pounds or so. They crashed into the school once, right in the middle of the pack, but never showed again. Most likely there were other stripers lying well beneath the school but I’m not a big fan of deep-fishing for stripers, especially in a wind and choppy water and with a zillion large and tasty baitfish readily available, so I didn’t bother trying to catch one but turned my attention instead to the pogies themselves, staying with the school just to observe them–fascinating–and even try to catch one on a fly, just for the fun of it.
I realize that pogies are filter feeders, meaning that they feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, and rarely take a fly, but what the heck it doesn’t hurt to try. I had snagged large pogies by accident numerous times and knew that they put up a pretty good fight, especially on a light rod and I was eager to catch one. But, alas, they showed no interest in the tiny tan Wooly Buggers and all-fur nymphs that I tossed into the school. Perhaps the flies weren’t tiny enough; maybe next time I’ll try a #18 Griffith’s Gnat, maybe two or three on droppers. Who knows? If anybody out there has any suggestions for successful pogie flies, please let me know.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but think that the striper fishing will improve drastically within the next few weeks. There’s certainly plenty of food around. I’ll keep you posted.