As cold moves in, fishing action gets hot

"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.”  — Vincent Van Gogh

You’re welcome.

The die had been cast, the forecast read. Cold air, real cold air, was supposed to be flooding into the area from the northwest and some real frigid air was in the air. Outside, the predicted sunshine was overwhelmed with a gun metal gray blanket from horizon to horizon.

It didn’t take much to imagine snow spitting from the scudding clouds but there wasn’t …not yet anyway.  It was time to pull the boat for the year.

Halfway to the ramp, my archaic cellphone blinked with a message (listen, it’s one step removed from one of the old bag phones) which said “They caught the stripers pretty good yesterday.”

Instantly I looked around, thinking that the sender was hiding behind some boat up on blocks, just waiting to gauge my reaction as I steamed down toward the end of the season. Nope, nobody hiding under a hull chortling as they saw me, slack-jawed, reading the text.

Out she came.

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz on the all-day headboat out of Fisherman’s Wharf in Lewes confirmed that stripers had been caught all along the mouth of the Delaware Bay during last week. 

The usual line up of striper slayers have been catching the fish, such as Stretch 25s, Bombers and big parachute rigs. 

Trolling these offerings either through the rips or the deeper water has produced some keeper stripers this week for those anglers braving the elements. 

Striper action hasn’t been the only game in town. Sea bass fishing remains good for those boats going the distance to the grounds. There have been plenty of limit catches of these fish. 

Some sharpies have upped the number of keepers caught by using a diamond jig instead of just bait. Tipping the jig with some surge tubing or maybe a clam piece can also up the odds though the latter may increase the chances of tangling (literally) with a spiny dog. This is particularly true if away from the structure.

Speaking of structure, Capt. Rick passed along that they have seen the best, and biggest, tog action of the season. Baiting with green crab, sand fleas or clam has lured some of these wily wrasse into making the ride home for dinner.

Both the beginning and the end of the tides have been the best of late due to the influence of the full moon. 

If you venture out tog fishing, remember there is no fish for which the simple “goes without saying” adage “they bite when they bite” apply more so than tog. They can be devilishly finicky and fickle but when you do connect with a mess of them there is no finer eating fish that swims.

Trust me — the striper will bite this week. As you are trolling down in the mouth of the bay, the rods bouncing and vibrating from the pulse of the plug below, later to bend and thrash as a striper engulfs your bait, smile and think of my boat out of the water and winterized.

You’re welcome.

Comments, questions or reports to captjackrodgers@comcast.net