Daylight Delight

One of the best things about surfcasting the 'fall run' is that it's actually worth fishing during the daytime again.  Even just a couple weeks ago, I wouldn't have bothered testing the waters while the sun was out.  Inshore water temperatures on summer days are usually too warm for striped bass to wander within casting range of surf fishermen.  That's why we forgo sleep on weeknights and look disheveled at the office the following day.  Now that fall is here and water temperatures are beginning to drop, stripers are putting on the feedbag and dining in shallow water.

This week a friend and I pricked several nice fish under bright skies in Long Island Sound, on live eels no less.  One of the fish that was hooked was in a class above all the rest.  My fishing partner Kurt fought it for what felt like an eternity before the fish cut his 60-pound monofilament leader on a boulder in front of us.  The bulldog of a bass never showed itself, but we both knew it was something special.  Fish like that will keep us going back until there's ice in our guides.  Thinking the night bite would be just as good if not better, we returned to the scene of the crime and were shut out two nights in a row.  Then on the following day the action picked right up again...go figure.

It's time to change up those summer time patterns and to put your fall thinking caps on.  Fish have one thing on their minds and that's fattening up before they head to wherever they spend the winter months.  That means that stripers will act and feed differently now than they did in July or August.  That also means surfcasters must start fishing for them differently too.   

Photo credit: Kurt Daniello