Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly.
Marvin: We're back with another On the Salt with Captain David Blinken. David, how are you?
David: I'm good, Marvin. How are you doing this week?
Marvin: As always, just trying to stay out of trouble. And it's kind of funny,
Marvin: you were lamenting the north-northeast wind, and I was saying that it made me
Marvin: happy down here in the south because it was dropping the temperature and lowering the humidity.
David: Well you know all the crowds have cleared out
David: from uh the east end of long island now and i
David: want to get some serious fishing in with some clients
David: and of course the first thing that happens is we get a northeast wind so uh
David: you know but we'll we'll uh you know this time of year it occasionally happens
David: and it sort of turns around midday and comes south and then we can fish it just
David: means you know delaying our start that's about it really yeah.
Marvin: I got it and i think the the last time we spoke, you were hopeful that you'd
Marvin: start seeing false albacore. Has that been the case?
David: They've been spotty. They've been up in New England, the Jersey Shore,
David: and in western Long Island.
David: You hear reports of them here and there.
David: I just got a report literally minutes before we got on air of albies over in Long Island,
David: I should say Rhode Island, probably around around watch hill and uh uh they
David: should if they're there they should be uh they should be in montauk and gardener's
David: bay any second so i'm hoping when i get out there tomorrow i'm going to be greeted
David: by a bunch of uh hardtails yeah.
Marvin: There you go and so were you chasing stripers or blues today.
David: So we were sight fishing for stripers today which was
David: a lot of fun uh i'll uh i'll send along a photo later but uh you know we got
David: a couple of nice bass and in the upper 20 inch range and uh then uh when uh
David: that turned off we went and turned our sights on bluefish and had some fun with
David: them as well so you know all in all it was a nice day yeah.
Marvin: Well there you go we got a question for you from brenner and he was interested
Marvin: in getting your thoughts on you know if you're going to fish at night in the
Marvin: salt what can you do to improve your odds.
David: Well, there's a number of things you can do to improve your odds,
David: but I would tell you this.
David: Before you start fishing a night spot, fish it in the day.
David: And the reason why is you want to look at it both at high and low tide,
David: get an idea of which way the water's moving and how it's moving through the
David: area you're going to be fishing at night.
David: The other important thing is, the other important reason why you're going to
David: fish during the day is so that at night, after getting to know during the day,
David: when you're walking around those spots, you don't fall into a hole.
David: I mean, that's, you know, the worst possible thing ever.
David: So, you know, improving your odds is getting to know the place and the tides,
David: getting to know the topography.
David: And then of course we can talk about
David: fly selection and um i mean
David: it's it's such a broad question um if
David: you're using swimming flies um you know you can use uh a lot of people like
David: black flies because it makes a nice profile at night i myself like to use white
David: flies i've had a lot of luck using just straight white flies they really they
David: kind of stand out especially especially if there's a little bit of light.
David: Other things that are fun to use are things like gurglers or sliders or poppers.
David: And, you know, they don't need to make a lot of noise.
David: They just need to make maybe just a very subtle V-wake on the water.
David: You're not really ripping it at night, but it's more of a nuanced kind of fishing.
David: So these are some things to think about.
David: Of course, being very familiar with your equipment. that
David: is another important way to improve your
David: chances understanding what a cast feels like and knowing
David: how far you're throwing so um uh
David: my night fishing line at the
David: 60 foot mark has a little bump in it that i've done just by tying some thread
David: and gluing it so i actually have an idea of how far i'm throwing to my target
David: area so i have my little I have that little wrap of thread on the line at around my 60-foot mark.
David: And, you know, if you're fishing smaller areas, you could have your little tie-it-on
David: piece of thread at, let's say, your 40 or your 50-foot mark.
David: Because at night, the last thing you want to do is turn on a light that can
David: potentially scatter the fish and give them a warning.
David: And if you are going to use a light, the best thing to do is have a red lens over your light.
David: It won't be seen or perceived by the fish as easily as, let's say,
David: a white, blue, or green, or even a yellow light.
David: So I would say if you're going to have a headlamp or something, have a red lens over it.
David: And, of course, try not to shine it on the water.
David: And, of course, going back to the topography, you know...
David: If you really know your topography well, let's say you're fishing the deeper
David: spot in the nighttime, you might want an intermediate line.
David: I tend to fish more floating lines because I feel like in the evenings,
David: the fish are looking up at bait.
David: Unless it's sand eels, which bury in the sand every night, right at dusk.
David: And then when they're doing it, they tend to do it close to the low tide mark,
David: close to shore at the low tide mark. If you're fishing in a Bay or an estuary,
David: um, and in those situations, I'm definitely using a floating line, very slender flies.
David: And I tend to fish, uh, you know, that particular situation is really great
David: at twilight, like an hour before sunset to,
David: you know, an hour after sunset, and then kind of have a dead period very often
David: once it gets perfectly black.
David: And then all of a sudden you'll notice an hour into the darkness,
David: things start to pick up again.
David: So, you know, just being aware of all these situations, being aware of the area
David: you're fishing by scoping it out during the day, both at high and low tide and
David: getting to know the currents.
David: And then, you know, your fly selection and line selection,
David: all these things, you know, culminate together to really
David: give you a successful outing and one
David: last thing especially if you're fishing the northeast is every
David: fish you reel in is a bluefish um and
David: i'm saying that more metaphorically because if you're
David: going to lip a fish at night and uh you think
David: you're just catching stripers um you could
David: be in for a really um unfortunate surprise so
David: really carefully look at each fish you bring in
David: on the fly even if it's with 15 pound test you can land a bluefish um so really
David: make sure you know what animal that is on the end of your line so you don't
David: you know hurt yourself uh really badly um and that really kind of covers it
David: in our short little form here yeah.
Marvin: Any thoughts by the way on kind of moon phase or anything like that in your neck of the woods.
David: Um you know moon
David: phase is really interesting um i personally
David: don't like fishing the full moon during the day
David: i find it a day before the full to a day after
David: the full is really bad but that being said when i'm night fishing under a full
David: moon that very often is proven to be very good and uh just a really quick story
David: um the summer my daughter was born i was in martha's Vineyard fishing under
David: a full moon at Lobsterville Beach.
David: And I was just out there flipping a seven weight, getting little schoolie stripers.
David: And lo and behold, I caught the biggest striped bass of my life on a fly rod
David: that evening under the full moon.
David: It was about 47 inches long.
David: And that was a pretty neat moment for me.
David: So that's my full moon story.
David: But during the day, full moons tend to be my least productive.
David: But at night, full moons have been very generous.
David: And new moons can be great as well. But I think the full moon will also allow
David: you to see fish swirling and eating bait that hasn't buried into the sand for the evening,
David: as long as you can get at the right angle and there's no clouds.
Marvin: Yeah, got it. And you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly.
Marvin: You can email them to us or DM us on social media, whatever is easiest for you.
Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag,
Marvin: you know, a drawing for the Royal Wolf line of your choice.
Marvin: And I guess, David, before I let you give everyone housekeeping details,
Marvin: we should give a shout out to our friend Steve Ramirez because his last book
Marvin: in the casting series, Casting Homeward, got released over Labor Day weekend.
David: Yeah, it did. And I really strongly suggest everyone buy it because Steve doesn't
David: just write about fishing.
David: Steve writes really about the experience in his life and how things relate.
David: It's such a fun way to read a book that isn't so hyper-focused on one particular thing.
David: It's really, when you read Steve's books, you're actually seeing what Steve
David: is saying instead of reading it. It's really, he writes beautifully.
Marvin: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, David, if someone wants to get on the bow of
Marvin: your boat, what should they do?
David: They can go to my website, davidblinken.com or northgladsguiding.com.
David: And they can also email me at davidblinken at gmail.
Marvin: Well, there you go. Well, folks, as I always say, you owe it to yourself to
Marvin: get out there and catch a few. Tight lines, everybody. tight lines David tight lines Marvin.