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Yeah, I've had a few beers so you're going to get an even longer then normal post tonight...
Last year was one of my best seasons in the surf, and it was probably no coincidence that it occured in a year I moved closer to the water. I used to have to drive 45 minutes to get to good striper water. I moved both to get closer to work and have a shorter commute and of course, to fish.
I have fished Newport for a while now and have found more then a few spots that have a fairly brief window of productivity. Being nearby allows me to fish that productive hour or two and then go to bed or shift to another spot as it approaches its window of productivity.
I think efficiency is very important on the water. Fishing non-stop or just simply all the time is pointless if you're not fishing when the fish are there. Sounds obvious but I think we are all guilty of it too often. I also think we spread ourselves too thin and maybe we should work harder at mastering fewer places rather then just learning a little bit about a lot of places so that we can learn those producitvity windows. I spent a lot of time in the past covering the RI coast trying new spots hoping to intercept some good action. I never really learned anything important other then how to get to all the spots until I slowed down and fished fewer spots more often.
Stats which were revealing for me this past year for 30#+ fish I caught from shore:
*3 out of 5 30#+ fish were on surface swimmers. Dannys and AJ's. Good sized plugs. The 2 others were on needles. I'm sure this is mostly because those are the plug I like to fish. I didn't fish eels much last year, not sure why though.
*3 out of 5 came from the same place, same tide, and they were probably sitting on the same rock, in different months. This might be the most important stat, I'm not sure. Same 20x20 area, 3 fish over 30, different months. We'll see if there's a repeat this year.
*3 of the fish came on nights I only fished for about 2 hours and then went to bed.
Eben mentioned Goosefish. Goosefish is one of my favorite people to talk about stripers with because when you hear him talk about fishing and spots you can tell he's a real student of striper fishing. He knows the cuts, depths, and rocks intimately at his spots. I've never asked, but I bet he knows particular rocks that he catches quality bass off of.
Going further back as a kid I was a freshwater bass fisherman since I grew up on a bass pond and I fished almost ebvery day there wasn't ice on the pond. Largemouth are very spot sensitive. 3 of my biggest largemouths all came from the same spot in one pond, at one time of the year. When I fished that pond I ALWAYS watched the depthfinder as I drove around in a small boat. It's been almost 15 years since I fished that pond but I can still picture EVERY square foot of the bottom of that pond in my mind and recall where and when for all my big fish.
There is much more to spots then just the spot. Time, and much more importantly efficient time, on the water is all important. The gear you use and lures you throw take a back seat to knowing where the fish are and when. Sometimes specifically where the fish are.
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