1 00:00:03,685 --> 00:00:06,785 Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of The Articulate Fly, 2 00:00:06,905 --> 00:00:10,685 Marvin: and we're back with another On the Water with Captain David Blinken. How are you, David? 3 00:00:12,205 --> 00:00:13,465 David: Good, Marvin. How are you? 4 00:00:13,665 --> 00:00:17,745 Marvin: As always, I'm just trying to stay out of trouble, and we were kind of lamenting 5 00:00:17,745 --> 00:00:21,345 Marvin: before we started recording that you had a bad weather day on Long Island, 6 00:00:21,425 --> 00:00:24,205 Marvin: and you canceled your charter, and then it didn't really get bad until about 7 00:00:24,205 --> 00:00:25,285 Marvin: four o'clock in the afternoon. 8 00:00:25,285 --> 00:00:30,705 David: Noon oh god you know it happens to all of us on occasion looked at the weather 9 00:00:30,705 --> 00:00:34,905 David: this morning looked like it was going to be windy and rainy and called up the 10 00:00:34,905 --> 00:00:36,705 David: client and said let's bail, 11 00:00:37,185 --> 00:00:43,385 David: and then of course we could have fished until noon or one so oh well yeah. 12 00:00:43,385 --> 00:00:47,065 Marvin: It happens but you know to just kind of refresh folks you're probably what three 13 00:00:47,065 --> 00:00:48,725 Marvin: weeks into your guide season right now. 14 00:00:50,105 --> 00:00:56,165 David: Yeah. I mean, I pretty much started around May 9th or 10th this year. 15 00:00:57,665 --> 00:01:01,345 David: Climate change has made it really nice in some ways. 16 00:01:01,505 --> 00:01:06,445 David: I mean, it's a horrible thing, but I've been able to start each year over the 17 00:01:06,445 --> 00:01:08,605 David: past seven, eight years, earlier and earlier. 18 00:01:08,805 --> 00:01:13,385 David: And this year I started very early, around May 8th or 9th. So, yeah. 19 00:01:13,385 --> 00:01:17,985 Marvin: Yeah, and so, you know, you've got, I would imagine, Rich, you've got stripers 20 00:01:17,985 --> 00:01:19,005 Marvin: and you've got bluefish, right? 21 00:01:20,845 --> 00:01:25,025 David: Absolutely. You know, we started out looking for stripers and, 22 00:01:25,105 --> 00:01:31,505 David: you know, honestly, not as many as I thought I would see between the forks out here. 23 00:01:31,645 --> 00:01:36,605 David: I know other people have been finding some decent fishing, but for us, 24 00:01:36,645 --> 00:01:40,905 David: it's, unless you're fishing, you know, migrators out in the ocean, 25 00:01:40,985 --> 00:01:42,945 David: it has not been super great. 26 00:01:43,385 --> 00:01:47,345 David: Um, and we've had a pretty good bluefish run there with, uh, 27 00:01:48,125 --> 00:01:55,285 David: it was probably averaging, get this averaging 33 inches, which is a pretty serious bluefish. 28 00:01:55,745 --> 00:01:58,005 Marvin: Yeah. I would imagine that'll put a bend in your rod, right? 29 00:01:58,985 --> 00:02:03,465 David: Oh my gosh. Absolutely. I mean, we're, we're using 10 weights for these guys. 30 00:02:03,525 --> 00:02:07,165 David: I mean, you can probably catch them on a nine that, uh, it's, 31 00:02:07,165 --> 00:02:11,325 David: it's nice to have a little extra stick for sure. Also, sometimes you're throwing 32 00:02:11,325 --> 00:02:12,685 David: bigger stuff than poppers. 33 00:02:12,925 --> 00:02:16,505 David: So it's nice to have a little more stick. 34 00:02:17,065 --> 00:02:20,865 Marvin: Got it. And so as the season progresses, I mean, I assume the stripers will 35 00:02:20,865 --> 00:02:25,005 Marvin: start to move a little bit more into shore because there'll be more bait fish 36 00:02:25,005 --> 00:02:26,145 Marvin: and more activity like that? 37 00:02:27,637 --> 00:02:34,657 David: I mean, surprisingly, we don't have a huge amount of bait that's in the bays right now. 38 00:02:34,957 --> 00:02:38,637 David: Normally, we've got fearing and sand eels and stuff like that. 39 00:02:38,777 --> 00:02:43,237 David: There seems to be quite a bit in the ocean, but they're not in the bays as of yet. 40 00:02:43,417 --> 00:02:49,177 David: And I'm hoping once the bait goes in at the bay, we're going to start seeing more strikeouts. 41 00:02:49,537 --> 00:02:54,297 David: The bluefish will come and go and stuff like that all season long. 42 00:02:54,297 --> 00:03:02,277 David: But as far as strikers go, we really need something to keep them happy and stay close to us. 43 00:03:02,577 --> 00:03:08,517 David: So I'm really looking forward to seeing some sand eels and spearing a few in. 44 00:03:08,977 --> 00:03:13,357 Marvin: Yeah. And in terms of maybe kind of tactics and tackle for the stripers, 45 00:03:13,417 --> 00:03:15,137 Marvin: how are you approaching that right now? 46 00:03:16,637 --> 00:03:21,777 David: Well, it depends. Most of the fishing we've been doing this season, 47 00:03:21,957 --> 00:03:25,297 David: at least I've been doing, I have friends who have been fishing deeper water. 48 00:03:25,437 --> 00:03:29,257 David: I've been fishing, probably the average water depth has been about two feet. 49 00:03:30,557 --> 00:03:38,177 David: So we're using floating lines, primarily eight-weight rods and longish leaders, 50 00:03:38,257 --> 00:03:44,977 David: about anywhere from nine to 11 feet, terminating at 15, 16-pound test. 51 00:03:45,837 --> 00:03:53,757 David: And most of the flies or we just came off a phenomenal cinderworm hatch so that's 52 00:03:53,757 --> 00:03:57,317 David: a whole different kind of fishing but most of the flies we've been using are 53 00:03:57,317 --> 00:04:00,377 David: like small mantis shrimp patterns, 54 00:04:01,377 --> 00:04:03,497 David: deceivers that match, 55 00:04:04,577 --> 00:04:10,037 David: the normal quarry they're going on in the first couple of weeks we were basically 56 00:04:10,037 --> 00:04:15,617 David: using pink deceivers, kind of a washed out pink topped with a little peacock roll. 57 00:04:15,737 --> 00:04:19,897 David: And that was kind of the flight of the year for the striped bass the first two 58 00:04:19,897 --> 00:04:22,537 David: weeks of the season. And that was a lot of fun. 59 00:04:23,697 --> 00:04:27,017 Marvin: Got it. And got a question for you from Brenner. And this is kind of a great 60 00:04:27,017 --> 00:04:29,257 Marvin: as we're kind of kicking off at the beginning of your season. 61 00:04:29,617 --> 00:04:36,757 Marvin: He wanted to kind of get your preferred line and rod combos for inshore fishing for stripers and blues. 62 00:04:39,458 --> 00:04:44,298 David: Ensure if you're fishing them on a flat we kind of talked about it a bit um 63 00:04:44,298 --> 00:04:51,958 David: certainly for stroke bass um uh my my primary rod uh is an eight weight certainly 64 00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:54,358 David: a nine weight is is very good too, 65 00:04:54,978 --> 00:04:58,838 David: with floating line leaders terminating between 15 and 20. 66 00:04:59,098 --> 00:05:05,878 David: Uh and for bluefish uh especially you know the ones that are kind of daisy chaining 67 00:05:05,878 --> 00:05:08,518 David: and up on the flats and shallow water i'm i'm a 68 00:05:08,538 --> 00:05:11,658 David: big fan of uh all of 10 weights and 69 00:05:11,658 --> 00:05:15,078 David: even though nine weights are are very usable to 70 00:05:15,078 --> 00:05:18,218 David: them uh occasionally you'll get a bluefish over 71 00:05:18,218 --> 00:05:24,258 David: 34 35 inches and you're really happy to have a rod that's got a little extra 72 00:05:24,258 --> 00:05:30,498 David: pulling power and as far as the bluefish rods go um i usually have my My leader's 73 00:05:30,498 --> 00:05:36,018 David: tapering from either 40 or 50 pound down to about 25. 74 00:05:36,558 --> 00:05:44,898 David: And when I tie on about a foot and a half section of 60, just using a simple 75 00:05:44,898 --> 00:05:48,158 David: Albright special or an Albright knot. 76 00:05:49,098 --> 00:05:54,298 David: And the reason why I'm tying on 60 pound, either 4,000 or mono, 77 00:05:55,158 --> 00:05:59,518 David: is one, if there's a striped bass in the neighborhood, you have a better chance of catching them. 78 00:05:59,978 --> 00:06:06,258 David: Uh, and, uh, and the clearness of it, I just think makes you a little more invisible 79 00:06:06,258 --> 00:06:11,458 David: and, and people think bluefish will strike at anything, but bluefish can be rather picky. 80 00:06:11,638 --> 00:06:15,278 David: They, they, especially in shallow water, they can, they can get very picky. 81 00:06:15,458 --> 00:06:22,338 David: So I like to have my leader, uh, as invisible as possible. 82 00:06:23,478 --> 00:06:28,838 David: So that's kind of my, uh, my philosophy. if I was fishing bluefish in deeper 83 00:06:28,838 --> 00:06:31,258 David: water that are kind of whack in anything, 84 00:06:32,638 --> 00:06:38,698 David: maybe some piano wire and tie that on to the end and that would work got it. 85 00:06:38,698 --> 00:06:42,398 Marvin: And so if you use 60 do you not need to use any kind of like bite tippet. 86 00:06:43,965 --> 00:06:46,085 David: Well, the 60 pound test is the bite ticket. 87 00:06:46,265 --> 00:06:47,965 Marvin: Yeah, that was what I thought. I just wanted to make sure. 88 00:06:49,305 --> 00:06:53,205 David: Yes. And I'll usually retie after each fish. 89 00:06:53,285 --> 00:06:57,845 David: So that's why I said like the foot and a half or so long so that I'll get to 90 00:06:57,845 --> 00:07:03,765 David: retie, you know, four or five, six times before I have to, you know, tie in a new hunk of 60. 91 00:07:04,865 --> 00:07:07,905 David: So that, you know, just makes it a little more manageable. 92 00:07:08,125 --> 00:07:12,905 David: And, you know, I'm not going for any IGFA records with my clients or anything. 93 00:07:12,905 --> 00:07:18,565 David: If I was, I think the required length is about 12 inches for a shotgun. 94 00:07:18,965 --> 00:07:24,625 David: So, but, you know, and it's got to be 20 pounds or less, which we're not doing any of that stuff. 95 00:07:26,185 --> 00:07:29,625 Marvin: Fair enough. And, you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly. 96 00:07:29,785 --> 00:07:33,365 Marvin: You can email them to us or DM us on social media. DM me. We're going to continue 97 00:07:33,365 --> 00:07:35,265 Marvin: like we did before to make David's life easier. 98 00:07:36,045 --> 00:07:39,425 Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag. 99 00:07:39,885 --> 00:07:45,045 Marvin: And David and I are still kind of working out what the drawing is going to be for this series. 100 00:07:45,165 --> 00:07:48,205 Marvin: But David, before I let you go, I guess a couple of things. I know you've got 101 00:07:48,205 --> 00:07:51,525 Marvin: some trips coming up kind of towards the end of the summer and end of the fall. 102 00:07:51,685 --> 00:07:55,085 Marvin: And then also, you know, if you can kind of share folks, you know, 103 00:07:55,085 --> 00:07:57,665 Marvin: your contact info. So if they want to go to the boat with you, they can do that too. 104 00:07:59,295 --> 00:08:04,095 David: Yeah, if they want to, they can contact me at davidblinken at gmail.com. 105 00:08:05,735 --> 00:08:13,395 David: That'll be the easiest way to get me. And my last name is spelled B-L-I-N-K-E-N, 106 00:08:13,655 --> 00:08:16,615 David: first name David. No dot, no underscore. 107 00:08:17,915 --> 00:08:23,215 David: And they can certainly get me that way. And yeah, I'll just tell you about a couple of trips we have. 108 00:08:23,355 --> 00:08:26,935 David: We've got an August trip to Tarpon down in Campeche, Mexico, 109 00:08:27,075 --> 00:08:28,975 David: which is always very exciting. 110 00:08:29,295 --> 00:08:32,515 David: August is one of the prime months for tarpon in Mexico. 111 00:08:33,275 --> 00:08:38,815 David: And we're fishing for juvenile tarpon. And they go anywhere from five pounds 112 00:08:38,815 --> 00:08:41,755 David: to 50 pounds, depending on how lucky you are that day. 113 00:08:42,095 --> 00:08:45,975 David: And that's an awful lot of fun. So, you know, if anyone out there wants to join 114 00:08:45,975 --> 00:08:48,595 David: us, we might have a rod or two available. 115 00:08:48,975 --> 00:08:52,755 David: And then we go back two more times in November and December. 116 00:08:53,115 --> 00:08:56,035 David: And that's what we have planned. planned 117 00:08:56,035 --> 00:09:04,175 David: and i'll also be a guest guide martha's vineyard uh starting around uh the 15th 118 00:09:04,175 --> 00:09:09,675 David: of august so if no one's ever fished the vineyard uh you know it's a it's a 119 00:09:09,675 --> 00:09:13,735 David: really interesting time and there's still plenty of stripers around and all 120 00:09:13,735 --> 00:09:15,635 David: this on the vineyard very. 121 00:09:15,635 --> 00:09:19,615 Marvin: Very neat yeah and your august trip you've even uh you know an interesting thing 122 00:09:19,615 --> 00:09:22,935 Marvin: too is your buddy steve ramirez or actually i should say our buddy steve ramirez 123 00:09:22,935 --> 00:09:23,895 Marvin: is going to be on that trip. 124 00:09:24,835 --> 00:09:29,035 David: Yeah, Steve is going to be on that trip and hoping somebody else I'm speaking 125 00:09:29,035 --> 00:09:32,455 David: to right now might be able to join us. And that would be an awful lot of fun. 126 00:09:32,535 --> 00:09:33,555 Marvin: It would be a lot of fun. 127 00:09:33,555 --> 00:09:36,295 David: I'm working on it. Yeah, yeah. 128 00:09:36,455 --> 00:09:41,795 David: And all I can say is eight waits at dawn, Morgan. 129 00:09:42,595 --> 00:09:46,975 Marvin: Yeah, I looked at the website and they said they serve breakfast promptly at 5 a.m. 130 00:09:48,275 --> 00:09:53,455 David: Oh yeah and if you're not out of bed at 5 a.m believe me you're gonna have uh 131 00:09:53,455 --> 00:10:00,195 David: captain david blinken shaking you out saying it's it's too late for breakfast we're going to the boat. 132 00:10:00,195 --> 00:10:03,575 Marvin: Hey so you better better put some neutrograin bars in your luggage then right 133 00:10:03,575 --> 00:10:09,075 Marvin: always there you go well listen folks show it to yourself to get out there and 134 00:10:09,075 --> 00:10:13,695 Marvin: catch a few tight lines everybody tight lines david take. 135 00:10:13,695 --> 00:10:14,535 David: Care marvin bye.