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Fish on: Mystery solved about here today, gone tomorrow

COURTESY PHOTO A 150-pound seal on a rock at Plum Island.
COURTESY PHOTO
A 150-pound seal on a rock at Plum Island.

For the third week in a row, the local fishing scene has been disrupted by strong winds rotating mostly east to northeast with a day of blazing gusts from the northwest.

Suddenly the winds died and reports started to flow in from fishing pals ready to go when the bays slicked over. One wanderer caught some albacore on the east side of Gardiners and more on the north side of Plum, all on the outgoing tide. Others got my attention with reports of a steady bass pick on plugs around the rocks at Plum Island.

I ran out there late one afternoon with an hour left in the ebbing tide to cast a small popper within inches of the shore. I got hits on almost every cast for about 30 minutes, hooked five fish but lost four as I had to keep my boat from bashing the rocks. I couldn’t get those fish out from behind the rocks they took me into. The one landed was 26 inches and fat.

Next I tried an 8 a.m. start time just as the tide started to rise at the Gut and had a very productive day with 14 in the boat and released. So the point of this message is that there are a good number of small bass around, the bluefish have tapered off and the albacore are here today and gone tomorrow. If you can find fish, they are eating like crazy to store up fat for the southward migration but, as always, the operative phrase is “finding them.”

That leads to the next question: Why are the fish at a certain spot one day on a certain tide and gone the next? I am beginning to believe the problem just might be the growing infestation of seals on Plum and Gardiners islands. I reported on August 16 that groups of huge bluefish and some nice bass were on Bostwick Point bar for about a week and yet, a day after my biggest score, they were gone.

I mentioned this to Ken Clark, a leading local commercial fisherman and he concurs that seals may be the culprits. We have both seen large seals hunting around Bostwick Point.They are prolific fish-eaters, consuming 25 to 35 pounds of fish a day. If they decide to go into a good fishing spot to feed, they will kill some fish for food and chase others away.

The first day of the fish disappearing in August, I came across a family of about 10 seals on Gardiners close to Bostwicks and I swear one of them finned his nose at me.

They are not the only seals in the area. I’ve counted 14 along the stretch of rocks and beach on the south side of Plum, ranging from pups to monsters of 250-plus pounds. If you want to see them, head toward the southeast point of Plum, almost to the Sluiceway, then turn and run west along the south beach before you clear the island. Stay 300 or so yards from the shore and use binoculars to look for the seals sunning themselves on the rocks or bobbing in the water nearby. You can slowly motor in on them — watch for the rocks just under the surface — and cut your engine when you get close. They will swim toward and around you trying to figure you out. They will provide plenty of photo ops, but do not feed the seals since it’s illegal.

How do we get rid of the seals? They are a protected species, untouchable by humans, but there is one natural predator that can help us move them on — the Great White Shark. Actually, there is one we know of at 1,400 pounds named Katharine, swimming within 70 miles of Plum Island right now as I write this.

Don’t believe me? Check this out: ocearch.org/#SharkTracker.

Here’s How Corner: I’ve mentioned using Popping Plugs to catch striped bass and have been asked which ones to use and how to retrieve them to attract bites? First, I would suggest using a 7-foot medium heavy spinning rod with 15- to 20-pound braided line on a 400 series reel so you can cast pretty far, accurately, and control fish up to 15 pounds on the outfit. I mostly fish around rocks, which is the main reason for the braid, which can take a licking when getting a fish landed that has taken your plug around a rock. Add a 36-inch section of 40-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon leader to the end of the line and tie the plug on to the leader with a loop knot so it swings freely.

I like to use floating plugs of under an ounce in size since the fish like them and when they hit them there’s no mistaking the fact that something is trying to kill that lure! Pencil Poppers, Smak-it Jrs and Rattlin Chug Bugs are the ones I use most.

One secret to catching bass is to find a retrieve that they are tuned into that day. I like to start with a rhythmic slower retrieve where I simply point my rod tip down and drop it 6 to 8 inches, causing the lure to jump forward about a foot, making a pop and some surface splash.

I make several casts like that and if nothing happens I may speed the retrieve up or switch to popping the plug three times and then letting it sit for a moment. This brings heart- stopping hits from time to time. Experiment until you find a retrieve that works and enjoy the action.