Fishing Around: Answering a Boatload of Questions
Ross Choate, Randy Lott, and Dave Steinbech joined Capt. Steve Cairone
What a great summer it’s been! We enjoyed great back-bay flounder fishing and terrific tuna fishing in the offshore canyons in June and early July. When this summer’s monsoons arrived, I heard from old friends looking to plan their next fishing trip, loyal readers (like you) sent me fishing photos via email and Instagram, and I ran into many of you around town. This year, you’ve asked me dozens of great questions and I want to share some answers as we wrap summer 2018.
Q: Do you live in Avalon full-time?
A: No. I live and work in Center City Philadelphia. We have a family home in Avalon, where I work a lot in its library between fishing trips.
Q: Are you a professional captain?
A: I am not a Coast Guard-licensed captain, but am fortunate to have fished with some of the best.
Q: What do you do professionally?
A: My business-development consulting firm helps lawyers, doctors and small businesses to find clients.
Q: Where did you develop your unique writing style?
A: I read a lot (past and present tense), bolstered by a liberal-arts education at Duke University, where mentors and classmates generously critiqued and improved my written work-product.
Q: Are you married?
A: No, I’m a 39-year-old childless bachelor. Yes, I’d love to meet her.
Q: Why are you always hating cancer?
A: My brother Michael and I founded Team I Hate Cancer to fund causes that support families facing a cancer diagnosis. Since 2006, we’ve raised more than $360,000 for the LIVESTRONG, Movember and Flatwater foundations from loyal supporters who proudly wear our T-shirts, hats, and cycling kits.
Q: How did you start fishing?
A: As a young person, I stocked shelves at Moran’s Dockside in Avalon, the first of 10 summers selling fishing tackle and making great friends and mentors.
I am lucky that my dad and I caught the fishing bug together and that we still fish 30-plus days together each year.
Q: Do you fish all year?
A: I regularly fish in New Jersey from early April to late December.
Q: How many fishing rods do you have?
A: We routinely use 10 different fishing rods throughout our local fishing season.
Q: Do you have a favorite fishing rod?
A: Advanced Fishing USA wrapped a 7-foot medium-heavy spinning rod for me more than a decade ago. Paired with a 3000 size spinning reel, I’ve caught speckled trout and puppy drum on the Outer Banks, striped bass and flounder locally, and false albacore and bluefish at Montauk.
Q: What fishing trip would you recommend for local anglers?
A: Catch the biggest fish of your life – a giant bluefin tuna – on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in March and/or April. The 2018 season saw fish in excess of 800 pounds! There are plenty of excellent charter boats and affordable lodging options, but book multiple days to find a weather window!
Q: Why don’t I catch any fish?
A: This is the No. 1 question that I’m asked. You’re not alone in not catching fish. Let’s break it down.
Stop trying to catch everything. Or anything at once. Pick a target species for each fishing trip.
Homework: Focus on learning one local fishery. I’ve invested a few seasons learning how to catch more flounder and striped bass in local bays and my efforts are paying off!
Commit to learning. I’m incessantly curious, and fortunately my fishing habit and curiosity feed each other. In the 17th century, Izaak Walton explained that “Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learned,” a quote also found on my 1998 Episcopal Academy yearbook page.
Read. You can only learn so much from YouTube videos. You should read On The Water, the region’s best fishing periodical, and, if you enjoy my writing style, read Anglers Journal, too. I run hot and cold on Saltwater Sportsman and The Fisherman, the nation’s and region’s oldest saltwater-fishing magazines, respectively. If you dream of tuna and marlin, read Marlin Magazine and potentially The Big Game Fishing Journal for offshore-fishing coverage worldwide. Subscriptions for all of these magazines are affordable and make great gifts!
Homework: Read a new magazine this fall.
Watch TV. Although Comcast no longer carries the World Fishing Network, you can still watch your favorite shows via the WaypointTV app. My personal favorite is “Into the Blue,” in which Capt. Scott Walker prepares for every trip like it’s a tournament. His streamlined approach to fishing tackle has resulted in me, among other things, spooling each spinning reel with the same 20-pound yellow Power Pro braided fishing line and using the same 30-pound monofilament leader on each rod. Such simple changes allow Dad and me to fish through tangles, wind knots, and snags by having duplicative rods and reels available in T-top’s rod holders.
Homework: Convert your DVR and/or tablet into an educational tool this fall and winter.
Great day offshore on the Buzzkill with Russell, Spencer, Trent, Rudy, Ray, and your correspondent.
Start fishing the tide. Stop fishing the clock and start fishing the best parts of the tide, typically two hours before and after high tide. Sometimes, the right tide is sometimes earlier than you’d like to be awake or during prime beach time with the family. Rather than drifting fruitlessly at low tide, get your family out of bed or off the beach to catch a few fish next summer.
Homework: Download the TideGraphPro app ($3) to your smartphone. Use “Find Nearby Locations” and “Use Map” feature to find a detailed tide chart for your dock or favorite spot.
Learn Better Spots. Look for narrow channels that drain shallow mud flats, deeper holes in otherwise shallow creeks, and deep water (10-20 feet) immediately against a sod bank. Additionally, I always explore spots where I see anglers in a small skiff quietly catching fish!
Homework: Download the Navionics Boating app ($10). Virtually explore new spots with its powerful GPS and chartplotter features. In the app, drop pins on likely spots and invest a few hours on the water this fall exploring them so you’re ready to catch fish next spring!
Slow down! You’re drifting too fast if you need more than 2 ounces in the bay. I prefer to fish the two hours before and after high tide because of the slower current and because the fishing is typically better then.
Homework: Learn to control the speed of your boat’s drift. I regularly bump the Chuckwagon’s engine in reverse to keep the drift speed between 0.5 and 1.3 knots, as seen on your GPS or in the Navionics app. Alternatively, invest in a sea anchor or drift sock.
Fish with what works. Focus on what top anglers are using to catch fish; don’t waste your time “experimenting” with the latest Banjo Minnow. I used the same chewed-up, 1-ounce chartreuse bucktail 10 inches below a three-way swivel all summer. To the other eye, I snell a 2/0 Kahle hook perfect for a live minnow to 18-24 inches of 30-pound leader. You can duplicate my results with a high-low rig with a 4-inch chartreuse Gulp! on one hook and a live minnow on the other.
Homework: Rid your tackle box of rusty experiments and invest in sufficient tackle that works so you can replicate your new fishing success with each angler in your crew. An investment of $100 in your local tackle shop will pay off in a summer’s worth of tips! Also, use a piece of pool noodle to safely discard old hooks.
Finally, invest in a teacher. My dad and I recently fished Maine’s Damariscotta River with Capt. Joe Rego. We learned more about the estuary’s unique striped bass fishing in 3 hours with this local legend than we had in 5 years on our own. For a few hundred dollars, we came away with a new friend, an understanding of the river’s 9-foot tides, and confidence that we could catch striped bass casting 4-to-5-inch paddletails around submerged boulders. Similarly, there are plenty of great local captains and guides in our area who can help you catch more fish this fall, next year, and beyond. A fishing trip with a top captain is the ideal holiday gift and I would welcome the opportunity to introduce you to one or more of them, as would your favorite tackle shop.
While South Jersey’s Indian Summer isn’t the incredible fishing opportunity that it was a generation ago, I hope that today’s thoughts help you catch more fish this fall and next season. Keep those questions coming!