Fishing Frenzy

3) Spending Too Much Time in an Area with Absolutely Zero Life in it

This particular one seems to be a no-brainer, nevertheless it shows up all too often. Despite the fact you are fishing in a recognized "hot spot" for instance , Scorton Ledge, the Fingers, Race Point, or the Elizabeth Islands, this doesn't indicate that you are in a hot spot for that certain fishing excursion. Fish move all the time. My crew and I consistently find that well known, "hot spots" are all too often devoid of fish. Unbeknownst to many, the bass have simply filtered out of the area, and moved down the coast to a lesser known new "hot spot."

Take a glance around the next instance you find yourself on the water. In Cape Cod Bay in particular, the bass could be nearly any where. There's loads of water all around to investigate! I hardly ever place a line in the drink unless I mark at least one fish on my sonar unit. Locating even just one striped bass, amongst all of this open ocean, is a huge deal. Probabilities are that specific bass under your transducer is but one of countless striped bass within the immediate vicinity. Finding bass is often like finding a needle in a haystack. Once you mark one or two fish, there is a good chance that you have found an area containing a lot of fishy activity.

Next time you head out, try out searching in a planned pattern all over many of the hot spots in your area until you commence marking striped bass or prey items. After that put the tubes within the water and fish around for 20 minutes. If hardly anything else is seen on the sonar, continue digging around. Burning off a couple of additional gallons of gasoline, because you are cruising around looking for fish, is really worth it-have faith in me!

2) Experimenting with various tube colors 1st, as an alternative to depth and tube length

There area more than likely a boat load of people who will differ with me on this (that is definitely A-OK) however I do not see a need to hold tube colors apart from red, black and perhaps orange. I used to fish with orange yet I do not any longer.

If you are not catching any bass, but folks around you are catching striped bass, try paying closer attention to the depth and tube length they are using instead of color. Often times the color of the tube is irrelevant.

This happened to me not too long ago. The action was scorching, but without warning it strangely died. I actually first decided the bite had ended, but I saw that my fishing bud was still reeling them in. I first tried switching the number of colors I'd been trolling followed by changing the color of the tube. I went on hooking nothing at all. It proved quite frustrating.

It took a bit, but I then figured out that my fishing bud was trolling an 18 inch red tube, rather than the 24 inch red tubes we had been trolling all trip. Unluckily I only had 18 inch black tubes on the boat. It didn't make any difference to the stripers, and as quickly as the striped bass found that 18 inch black tube they attacked it and we began catching just as before. I know, crazy! Striped bass can certainly be fickle creatures when they choose to be.

I have also experienced plenty of instances where I had been catching striped bass trolling with 3 1/2 colors all day or night and then, for some reason, we stopped hooking up, but carry on marking fish on the sonar. An easy depth switch to 4 colors proved to be the ticket and we commenced hooking up again. I may very well never fully understand the effect a half of a color can make to the striped bass-having said that I will by no means underrate the importance.

If I find myself not getting bit, but I am still seeing bass on my sonar unit I will usually:

1) First play with the number of colors (depth) 2) Make changes to the tube length 3) Make adjustments with tube color

3) Fishing only 2 tubes instead of 3

A few fishing seasons back I would to troll 4 rods from my 21 foot boat the Miss Loretta, but now when I take customers out on a fishing trip, I've noticed that using 3 tubes, each on lead core fishing line, will work a tad smoother.

Always having that third tube in the water is advantageous for a number of reasons.

1) That line has yet another hook in the water for stripers to hit, which instantly boosts your striper boating ability. All additional parameters held constant, the angler trolling 3 tube and worms will at all times land more bass than the boat fishing only 2.

2) It enables you to fiddle more with tube color. You also have more opportunity to play with tube length an depth. By doing this you'll be able to easily find out what the stripers would like. And you will be able to figure this all out much quicker than if you were only trolling two lines.

3) For some odd reason, most striped bass attack that line trolled down the center of the boat. I believe this has something to do with how striped bass hunt.

Often times once I discover a successful color (depth) and an effective tube color and length, I will fish all three tube and worms in the identical manner. Due to the positioning of rod holders on the Miss Loretta, the 3rd line runs exactly in the middle of the Miss Loretta, and is positioned slightly more towards the back of the Miss Loretta than the other rods.

What this results in the water is a bit of a "trolling spread." The 3 lines are fishing the same depth, however the 1 tube that is being trolled off the 3rd line (which is trolled in the middle of the spread) is positioned slightly behind the other two tubes. This is because that middle rod holder is positioned just a little nearer to the back of the Miss Loretta than my other two rod holders. The 3rd tube and worm rig is trolled just a few feet in back of the other tube rigs. This makes it appear to the bass as if one of the tubes is lagging behind the main school-making it more vulnerable to attack.

The concept is the same principle that is incorporated into umbrella rigs and squid bars. The principle is that you always have one lure that trails at the rear of the school. With three tube and worms at the same time, an angler really is producing a "school of worms" squirming through the water column. Striped bass generally zone in on prey that falls behind its buddies. I suspect this is the reason my center tube normally catches more bass than my port and starboard rod holders.