S6, Ep 103: Navigating Northeast Winds and Night Fishing Tips with David Blinken

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.