The right lenses: By Capt. Tim Egenrieder - Originally published July 2013, Coastal Angler of Boston

 

I have several friends that have $100,000+ boats, several $1000 reels and titanium pliers in a custom leather holster - that wear $15 sunglasses.  I don’t know about you, but my eyes are far more important to me than a glorified hook remover. 

 

Whether you are looking to sight-cast to trout in a small stream, stripers on the flats or trying to find a school of pogies in the harbor - The right polarized sunglasses will make the difference between a great day and tired eyes with a lot less fish.

 

What is Polarization?:

Sunlight is both refracted and reflected (polarized) when it hits water.  Refraction is the bending of light into water.  This is why fish both appear smaller and higher in the water column than they actually are.  Reflection of light (glare) is the mirror like effect that makes seeing into water difficult.  Polarized lenses block this reflected light with a special polymer film that has crystals electrically or magnetically aligned to block light waves traveling parallel to the viewed surface.  This is why two polarized lenses rotated perpendicular to each other will block all light. 

 

Polarized sunglasses are an absolute must have tool in any fishing situation.  There are many considerations for choosing the perfect pair for your intended use.

 

Fit Matters:

Sunglass frames should fit snugly on your nose and ears without pinching or rubbing. Make sure that there is rubber on the nose and ears to prevent sliding from sweat.  To prevent light from hitting your eyes from overhead, choose a pair that fits close to your face around the brow area without making contact with your eyelashes. 

 

Lens Colors:

Gray:  Great for bright sun in offshore, clear water situations. 

Brown/Copper: My preferred inshore lens color.  They work equally well in clear and stained water.  Great for sight fishing in most light conditions.

Rose:  Great for trout streams, driving, and low light inshore days

Yellow:  Great for target separation.  Perfect for shooting sports, terrible for your eyes while in bright sun and fishing

 

Mirrored Lenses:

Mirrored lenses have a highly reflective coating on the front, also known as flash coating. These reflective surfaces reduce the amount of light that comes through the lens. Mirrored lenses help reduce eye fatigue on a bright day on the water. These lenses are available in several different colors.  I prefer blue-mirrored lenses offshore and on very bright days.  I wear green-mirrored lenses on 90% of all my fishing trips in Boston Harbor

 

Eye Health:

Just as the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage skin, they can also harm the lens and cornea of the eyes.  Ultraviolet radiation is composed of three classes: Ultraviolet A (UVA) 400 – 315 nm, Ultraviolet B (UVB) 315 – 280 nm, Ultraviolet C (UVC) 280 – 100 nm.  You should look for lenses that are UV400 (to 400nm) certified.  These lenses will block the vast majority of all harmful UV radiation.  Eye fatigue is best prevented with lenses that block yellow light in the 580 nm wavelength.  This is the wavelength of light that makes you squint and generally hurts your eyes. 

 

Maintenance:

The only thing worse than paying $200 for sunglasses is having to do it again from lack of care.  I keep mine in a rigid case with padding inside when they’re not being worn.  I also wear a lanyard around my neck that attaches to the temple pieces.  This is far from a fashion statement, but I have never damaged sunglasses in any way by having them dangling from my neck.  Always start with clean fresh water and a microfiber cloth for cleaning.  If necessary, use a small amount of mild detergent soap (as always, Dawn works great).  Do not use windex or ammonia (high ph) based cleaners

 

And of course cost:

Sunglasses are a lot like rods and reels.  There are cheap versions that work fine and often better than mid priced models.  The best in consistent clarity, preventing eye fatigue and blocking UV light are also the most expensive and around $200. 

 

I am now on my 4 year of wearing Costa Del Mar Fathom 580’s daily.  I have never felt eye fatigue in over 500 days on the water with them.  They are the best lenses that I have ever worn and worth every penny.  See you out there…

June 7th was one of those days in Boston Harbor that was just incredible.  Huge schools of all keeper sized stripers brutally tracking down the massive schools of herring and mackerel in Boston Harbor.  We ended up with well over 30 keeper Striped Bass all on light tackle.  Here is the video that we shot of double doubles.  

38" and 17#'s.  We thought we had the lead but lost to a 40".  Still a nice fish entry in a fly fishing tournament.  Congrats on the 2nd place finish in the Thompson Island / Outward Bound Fly Fishing Tournament

Not the best way to hold a fish but this one was destined for the weigh in and fillet table.  Congrats on the 3rd place fish - 42" and 23# in the annual BOMA Boston Fishing tournament held in early June each year

The first half of the month has had some real peaks and valleys with the weather but the fishing has been excellent.  We have run everything from fly fishing exclusive trips to watching live baits get ambushed by hungry stripers.  3 of our Boston Fishing Charters have boated over 30 stripers each on a 4 hour trip.  The time is now to book your trip!

Congrats to Nelson on his 2nd place finish in the 2013 Annual Zobo Flounder Fishing Tournament hosted by Pete Santini of Fishing Finatics in Everett, MA.  Thanks Nelson for choosing us to guide you for the tournament and congrats on the cash prize.

Hello All,  Boston Harbor was, as usual, excellent for flounder fishing throughout May.  We would like to thank all of you that chartered the boat throughout the month for the delicious blackbacks.  We hope you enjoyed the meany meals your catch provided.  Here are a few pics:

Originally Published in Coastal Angler Boston June 2013:  Boston Harbor Blackbacks – Capt. Tim Egenrieder, AnglerFish Guides

 

One of my earliest memories and definitely my earliest saltwater fishing memory is being barely able to hold a rod and feeling the tap, tap, tap and surprisingly strong fight of a flounder.  With my Dad’s help, I was able to reel it in and remember staring in awe at this peculiar creature.

 

The winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus of the family Pleuronectidae, is a flatfish that almost always has its eyes on the right side of its body. They are also known as Blackbacks and lemon sole.  Winter flounder range from Labrador, Canada to Georgia.  Unlike most species, winter flounder move into shallower water to breed in the winter and then retreat to the deep in summer.  The majority of the spawn occurs from late February through early May in our waters.  Each female produces 500,000 to 1.5 Million eggs annually.  These fish live to be up to 20 years old and grow up to 28” and 8 pounds.

 

Flounder Capital of the World:

As I worked the fishing and boating show circuit this winter, I was consistently asked various forms of the same question – “How is the flounder fishing in Boston Harbor?  I remember coming up there as a kid and renting a boat in Quincy and catching them by the trash barrel.”  Quincy and Hough’s Neck were once widely marketed and known as “The Flounder Capital of the World.”  The days of small boat rentals and filling a trashcan with fish may be gone, but the flounder fishery is excellent and getting better every year.

 

The common shallow water shoals with easy access to deep-water retreats make Boston Harbor perfect habitat for the Winter Flounder.  They prefer mud/sand bottoms and love the eel grass habitats that are found throughout the harbor.  May and June are best months to get out and fish for them.

 

What to use:

On my flounder charters, I typically use a light tackle spinning rod and the Santini 2 hook Zobo rig from Fishing Finatics in Everett.  I adjust the weight so that it will stay just off of vertical to the bottom with weight ranging from ¾ to 3oz depending on current, drift etc.  Flounder will eat nearly anything.  Sea worms and clams are always effective and widely available throughout the region.  Buying bait is a lot like buying meat from a grocer.  Look for a shop that moves large quantities for the liveliest and freshest bait.

 

Anyone can catch a flounder.  They are aggressive and opportunistic feeders and are not shy about tugging on the end of a line.  There may not be a better fish to introduce young children to the sport of saltwater fishing than flounder.  I will never forget those days of my youth spent fishing with my family.

 

Lastly, they are delicious.  Fresh crab stuffed flounder with Old Bay hollandaise sauce may very well be the most delicious thing you ever eat.

 

I run flounder charters from late April through early July and begin flounder / bass combo trips mid May.  I hope to see you aboard this season.

Originally Published in Coastal Angler Boston August 2012:  Atlantic Menhaden – The most important fish in the Atlantic. By: Capt. Tim Egenrieder

 

Most of us have been lucky enough to experience it – Whether in search of it or stumbled upon the telltale “flip” on a nice calm summer’s day.  A noticeable school of pogies has made their presence known.  They may just be actively feeding or they’re could be giant bluefish and huge striped bass hounding them.

 

The Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) is a member of the Family Clupeidae that consists of all the herrings, shads, sardines and other menhaden.  Their range is from the southeastern coast of Florida to Nova Scotia.  It is one of the few of its family members to breed in near coastal waters.  Adult females produce huge numbers of eggs from 30,000 to over 1/3 of a million per spawn.  The eggs hatch within a few days and drift into fertile estuaries where they will spend the first year of their life.  Juvenile (peanut bunker) and adult menhaden are omnivorous filter feeders that swim open-mouthed often in tightly packed schools where they feed on phytoplankton, plankton and zooplankton. 

 

Atlantic Menhaden are easily distinguished with a large Humerel spot just back of the gill plate and several smaller spots behind.  They have large scales over a bright silverfish white belly with a yellow tinted back and fins. 

 

The Atlantic Menhaden has developed many nicknames over time, several of which allude to their historical and regional significance. The word Menhaden’s most common believed derivation is from the Native American word Munnawhatteaug that roughly translates into “that which enriches,” a reference to their broad use as fertilizer.  The common northern New England use of “Pogy” comes from Native Americans in Maine that referred to them as Pauhagen or Pookagan.  New Yorker’s and surrounding areas common use of “Bunker” or “Mossbunker” dates back to the days of New Amsterdam.  The Dutch name of marsbunker is used for horse mackerel, a similar looking fish native to their home waters.  “Bug Fish” or “Bug Head” is a reference to the parasitic isopod (Cymothoa pregustator) that resides in the mouth of many pogies.

 

There has been considerable political and environmental pressure placed on the Omega Protein Corporation.  This one company is believed to harvest several hundred million individuals of the species each year.  They are then baked and ground to make Omega 3 oils, additives for things such as lipstick and fishmeal.  The only state on the East Coast that they are permitted to operate is Virginia.  The problem is that the vast majority of the breeding stock uses the Chesapeake as its nursery waters.

 

The ecological importance of this species cannot be overstated. Their abundance, range, feeding methods and forage provided make the Atlantic Menhaden arguably the most important fish of the Atlantic coast.  It is estimated that each pogy can filter 4-6 gallons of water each minute.  That math becomes daunting when you consider the size of schools they swim in over the range they inhabit.  Almost every fish in the Atlantic feeds on menhaden at some point of their lifecycle.  They can clean entire water systems while serving as one of the principal forage for nearly every fish of the Atlantic seaboard – (they’re pretty good to use as bait too).  It certainly seems like a fish worth protecting?

 

June is here!  The long processes of prepping the gear and boat, the anticipation through the long winter all culminate in June with some of the best fishing of the year.  It doesn’t matter if you fish from shore or boat, June is prime time for the light tackle angler.

 

The striped bass long migration has brought them to Boston, and they’re hungry!  June is also the month that the main herring swims - alewife, bluebacks and menhaden (pogies) have either completed their journeys and are falling back into the harbor or are just arriving.  These factors combined with 60+ degree water temperatures and all of the increased activity of other baitfish leads to some of the most spectacular visible feeds of the season – perfect conditions!

 

The worst kept secret in coastal fishing is that diving birds = actively feeding fish.  If they’re going to make it easy for me to find large schools of bass, I always say, why fight it.  These feeds, when paired with appropriate sized light tackle, can be the most exciting moments ever spent on the water, at least until someone trolls through it…

 

There are over 20 different species of gulls, 14 species of terns, 6 species of shearwaters, 4 species of storm petrels, 2 species of cormorants and then the gannets around our waters.  All of these birds have better eyesight than you, a better vantage point for viewing and have a more pressing need to catch fish than even the most crazed angler.  If they’re not very good at it, they don’t last very long.

 

Observing and understanding the differences between the above bird species can tell you everything from the size and species of bait the bass are on, the direction the school of fish is moving and even where the fish were half an hour ago. 

 

There is no set answer to this question.  There are structures that coincide with strong currents at stages of particular tides that hold fish more frequently, but it is far from every tide in every weather pattern.  You need to trust your sounder and make note of both schools of fish that you mark and active feeds.  If you go to the same place at the same tide a day or two later, you will often find them.  One of the best things that can happen in a day of fishing is finding a big school of active fish without any birds or other boats on them.

 

I have long used DAIWA Coastal Series rods and reels for my light spin tackle. They are the perfect balance of finesse and power for fishing the harbor for striped bass.  The feel of these rods makes fighting barely year and a half old schoolie bass enjoyable and I’ve landed 40#+ cows on the very same setup.

 

My standard rigging is comprised of 30# FINS braid tied via a 12 wrap Yucatan knot to 30# fluorocarbon which is then tied directly to a 50# Tactical Anglers fishing clip.  30# test is more than necessary but loops can be easily picked out of a reel and the line holds up to the punishment that charter after charter can bring.  The Tactical Anglers clips give each lure more action and make quick changes of lures a breeze.

 

I always start each charter with the 2 lures that worked best yesterday and 2 rods rigged with a surface popper and a lure that can get down deep.  One of the 2 lures that worked best yesterday almost always includes a RonZ or Hogy soft plastic, usually white.

 

It is not at all uncommon to have every cast from every angler on the boat hook into a striper in the month of June.  If you’ve been longing to get on the water but work, life etc. have been stopping you – this is the time to blow them off and get out there.  I absolutely love June in Boston Harbor!