JULY 11- SUMMER SLUMP

11 Jul JULY 11- SUMMER SLUMP

What a week. Rain, rain, rain, and then some more rain. The air has been thick, the water warm, and the fishing slow from the surf. Don’t get me wrong, there are fish there, lots of them, but just like us in the heat they get sluggish. They slow down on their eating and kind of just laze around.

The hottest action has been from the boats. These guys are mostly targeting the mouth of the river (!!!deeper water!!!).  Mugsy and Tommy from the store went out on Tuesday afternoon. They took some frozen (tinker) mackerel and headed out to the mouth to drift the bait. The party boats were there drifting mackerel and hooking up as well as the boat guys using live mackerel. Mugsy and Tommy landed a few fish and lost a few more in the process. Then they headed out along the oceanfront to try for blues and bass on the outer side of the sand bar. They marked a lot of fish but didn’t get anything to bite. Water temps are high right now. They said the river was registering at 73 degrees and the ocean was 70. Other fisherman from the boats have had a few days of luck followed by slow days. Bluefish have been around but not in any great number. We were told late this morning by one of the guys that he got into some bluefish inside the mouth of the Merrimac River.

So, the plan is………get up before dawn………..go out to Breaking Rock or Hampton Shoal Ledge…………catch some mackerel………..come back to the mouth and DRIFT DRIFT DRIFT (not anchor!!!!). Get into a pattern with all the other boats and drift through live lining the macks ( dead ones work just fine also!) This should all happen around the bottom of the outgoing tide and the start of the incoming. Then, if you have time head out to the oceanfront and troll for bluefish.

Wish I had much more exciting news but we are in the slump of summer. If the weather breaks maybe the fish will get hungry again…………..

P.S. The greenheads have started………………….