Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
A few nights ago I stepped out into the back yard and was absolutely astounded by the amount of baitfish swimming about the canal behind the house. It was a calm and beautiful evening but you’d almost think it was raining by the constant patter and churning of the water’s surface. There had been a lot of little menhaden (bunker) back there, but the fast and erratic swimming action of some of the schools that night told me that there were some new players in the arena. To confirm my suspicions I grabbed a cast net and pitched it out among the mayhem. I needed only to bring the net partway in to verify that bunker weren’t the only critters in the canal as 8-10 mullet darted about the mesh.
Besides mullet and menhaden, the inshore waters are currently home to plenty of shiners, minnows, grass shrimp, small spot, pinfish and little perch, and from now on and right into the fall, our coastal waters should remain chock-full of these and all kinds of other natural bait. And to many fishermen the thought of such a huge abundance might seem like a recipe for easy success. After all, lots of little fish should bring in lots of big fish – right? Well, that’s not necessarily so.
Sometimes the problem with lots of natural bait in the area is that of trying to get the predator fish off the “real-thing” and onto your own “hooked” bait or lure. After all, you can have all the fish in the sea feeding furiously around your boat, but if they won’t touch a thing you throw at them then the whole event may be nothing but a lesson in frustration! Some of the most difficult times I’ve had catching fish have been when they were feeding heavily and clearly visible at or near the surface.
For example; while fishing the inlet one afternoon I encountered a school of shiners that had been pushed up against the north jetty by some rockfish. At first I thought these fish would be easy targets. I pitched a fly that resembled a shiner into the mayhem expecting an immediate response but got nothing. For the next hour I worked these fish trying every shiner imitation in my fly box, and every type of retrieve I could think of without so much as a bump. I couldn’t believe how the fish were so obviously feeding, but I couldn’t get one to bite.
Finally in frustration I moved my boat right up to the jetty within five feet of the frenzy. When I saw what was happening I realized why I wasn’t getting any bites. The shiners were crowded in a tight ball among the stones and it appeared that each striper would wait its turn and then simply move in among the baitfish and literally suck-in a mouthful and then move out. With little effort the fish were slurping down a dozen or more shiners in one gulp, why would they worry about chasing down an individual bait or lure that I might throw at them?
I eventually gave up and left those fish to enjoy their carnage in peace. But thinking back, what I should have done was forget about the fish that were feeding directly on the shiners and focused on the stripers back in the pack that were waiting their turn. Since then under similar situations I’ve managed to get bites not by trying to match what the fish are feeding on, but by throwing something entirely different into the mix. For instance, that day instead of a single shiner I should have tried something that resembled a spot, bunker, or even a crab.
Offshore anglers often experience similar problems while chunking for tuna. Often the fish get so finicky that they readily eat the free chunks the fishermen put out and avoid anything with a hook in it. But here anglers will usually find success by doing their best match exactly what the fish are feeding on. If the tuna are eating medium size chunks cut from whole butterfish, then that’s what should go on the hook – nothing larger or smaller. If the chunks are sinking away from the boat at certain pattern and rate of descent, then the hooked baits should match this exactly. In other words, even to the sharp eyes of a tuna the baits must precisely resemble the chunks they are feeding on.
Sometimes matching what the fish are feeding on requires catching one fish before you can catch another. If stripers want live mullet you might have to spend some time throwing a cast net. If they’re feasting on spot you better know where you can catch (or buy) some of them. Sometimes bait can be taken right where the action is and it pays to always have the tools needed to do so. More than once I’ve used a snag hook or cast net to gather baitfish like mullet or bunker which are then sent right back out on a hook.
When natural bait is scarce many fish must become “opportunistic feeders” and are more vulnerable to being taken by anglers on a wide assortment of baits or lures. But when food comes easy, fish have the luxury of being finicky about what, and when, they eat, which can create frustrations for fishermen. But even during times when there seems to be an explosion of natural bait, by either matching the bait exactly or varying from it dramatically, persistent and resourceful anglers can often find techniques that will eventually lead to success.
