Fishing report, 8/08/07
Hi everyone,

Last night we fished Charlestown Breachway. We arrived at 6:00pm and fished until 10:15pm. The bait was extremely prolific, so much so that the silversides formed large patches, blankets, (schools) of dark black to olive green in color throughout the shoreline. The tide was pulling these copious schools over good numbers of fish. I was happy to see so much bait which has been there for the last week or so but, a little disappointed knowing that this would not be an easy task in hooking up. The tide was incoming when we first arrived and the fish where coming up from the boat launch all the way into the first side channel to the right. We had also seen birds working inside the cove as it nears Green Hill Pond. We first started fishing halfway between the boat launch and the corner pool. With no results we moved down to the corner. A good number of fish where coming up all around us and we could see these dark blankets of bait passing by. Keeping an eye on these blankets of bait revealed my worst nightmare, yes the stripers where feeding on bait balls. This is when a striper will rise right through the center of the blanket of bait, taking more than just one piece of bait. Even thought we where fishing two flies it is no match for so large numbers of bait, the competition is overwhelming. 

This is what I have learned over the years to help level the playing field.

1. I use a floating fly line so to keep the fly at a level close to the surface of the water where the fish are feeding. I want my fly to approach the window of the rising fish just under the surface.

2. Because these fish are so happy, with so much bait coming directly to them they do not have to move far from there feeding lane. For you trout fisherman; very much like rising trout feeding on a prolific mayfly hatch. This is one technique I like using:
I will pick out a rising fish below me and cast my fly directly down current into the fish. Once the fly reaches the fish I just let the current do the work for me. I will let the flies’ wave in the current just in front of the fish and will only retrieve line toward me inches at a time, with an occasional twitch. My line is straight downstream from me. This will make the flies look very much like the naturals struggling and facing into the current, which makes them very vulnerable to the fish, helpless, if you will, trapped in heavy current. 

3. I try to fish water where the bait may be fewer in munber. This would be away from the shoreline. Heavy concentrations of bait as you know will almost always be close to shore. Even in these copious conditions. I pick out fish rising further out. 

4. If I’m fishing to fish further away and in the three o’clock quadrant and not straight downstream from me, the (six o’clock) quadrant, then I can not fish the same way as above.
In this case I again pick out a rising fish and cast my line across and downstream to that targeted fish. I cast approximately 8 to 10 feet above the fish and just beyond to the right for a good 3 to 4 feet. This will swing dead drift my fly directly into the fishes feeding lane. This dead drift technique is call The Grease Line Retrieve method. As my fly is drifting toward the feeding fish at the same I keep my rod moving to the right following the fly and fly line. While this is happening I’m retrieving line with a long slow pull. This will keep tension and slack out of the system (fly line) allowing direct contact to the fish if a strike should occur.
 

5. I also like trying to fish a fly that is larger and completely different from the naturals. Last night for a while I used a large pink squid imitation, oh, about 7” to 8” in length. I fish this on either a full floating or intermediate fly line. Last night the weeds got very bad toward the end of the night and we where picking up weeds on every cast. This was at 10:00pm or so. 

Best always, Ed

Please call me @ 401-949-2266 or return questions on my blog. 
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