Pink Beats Amber in the Fog — Poppers on a Squid Bite at Monomoy
Mid-June at the Monomoy rips. Can’t see the rip but you can hear it. Squid in the water, stripers feeding on top, and a simple choice that made all the difference: pink over amber.
Monomoy, mid-June. The fog makes it mysterious — hard to see the rip, but you can hear it. Squid everywhere, stripers up top, pink popper doing the damage.
Middle June at Monomoy is as good as it gets. The stripers are there, the squid are there, and the rips are firing. Today the fog rolled in heavy enough that Mike couldn’t see the rip — but he could hear it. That’s enough. When you know the squid are in and the rips are running, you don’t need visibility. You need the right color popper and the right approach.
The answer was pink. Not amber — which also worked — but pink outfished it clearly, particularly in the fog. The fish were out in front of the rip, not on the edge. Bigger fish cast further uptide. And the approach was the same as it always is at Monomoy: stem the tide, cast uptide, fish the swing, tip-toe back without disturbing the bite.
Mid-June Monomoy — an easy bet
Context that shapes every decision that follows.
Mid-June at Monomoy is one of the most reliable dates on the New England inshore calendar. The squid push is in full swing, the stripers are keyed on them, and the rips are concentrating bait and fish in predictable locations. Every spring this window opens and every spring it fishes the same way: poppers in squid colors, stem the tide, fish the swing. The decision-making before you leave the dock is minimal. Show up, rig up, get on the rip.
- Bigger fish are out in front of the rip, not on the edge. Smaller fish work the shallower rip edge. If you want size, cast further uptide into deeper water in front of the break.
- The fog doesn’t stop the bite — it helps it. Overcast and fog keep light off the surface and fish up top longer. On bright clear days they push deeper faster.
- Pink outfished amber in fog conditions on this session. Translucent plugs brighten in sun, mute in low light — pink held its visual presence in the fog better than amber on this day.
- Tip-toe back up in front of the rip after each fish. Don’t motor through. The fish that didn’t eat your plug are still there, still hungry. Keep the boat quiet.
- Mid-June squid at Monomoy means medium to large sized squid. Size and color the plug to match — the 6″ 1 7/8oz Hogy Macro Chug Popper is the right profile.
Fog, overcast, light wind — ideal topwater conditions
Does the environment support what the historical read predicted?
Foggy, overcast, light wind. Not the nicest weather, but for a topwater squid bite at Monomoy it’s close to ideal. Low light keeps fish feeding on the surface longer. Light wind means a flat enough surface to see the take and pop the lure effectively. The fog is just atmosphere. The rips are still running, the bait is still in the water, and the fish are still hungry.
Strong current at Monomoy is the environmental variable that defines the approach. The current pushes the boat through the strike zone quickly, which means short, efficient drift windows and quiet, careful repositioning after each fish. The approach has to work with the current, not against it.
Reading the rip — fish by position, not just by bait
Four layers. Each one narrows the answer further.
“We noticed that the bigger fish were out in front of the rip. The smaller fish were closer to the edge of the rip. It was just a good morning overall — and the pink plug definitely outfished the amber.”
Squid visible in the water, fleeing and being pushed around by stripers feeding below. No major bird activity required to locate fish — the rip itself concentrates the bait and the fish. Squid were medium to large in size. Confirmed: squid in the water and fish feeding. Popper profile and color should match the squid present — medium-large size, translucent pink or amber. No need to search; the rip is the locator.
Fish of all sizes feeding on top throughout the session. Biggest fish visibly out in front of the rip in deeper water before the break. Multiple fish on consecutively — “it’s like four fish on that plug.” Pink outfishing amber clearly by mid-session. Confirmed: fish out front = cast further uptide. Smaller fish on the rip edge. Pink over amber in fog conditions. When one color consistently produces more, commit to it — don’t rotate for the sake of rotating.
S100 Rip Line — the Monomoy rip with strong current pushing over the shoal. Smooth water up front, breaking rip water, turbulence behind. Fish stacked in two zones: big fish in smooth water out front, smaller fish in the rip edge itself. Two zones, two size classes. Cast into the smooth water out front for size. Work the rip edge for numbers. Don’t burn all your casts on the boiling rip edge if you want the bigger fish.
Fish marking in 20–25 feet of water under the rip throughout the session. The sonar confirmed fish present even during lulls in the surface activity. When fish “laid down” briefly, the sonar showed they were still there — they needed the commotion of the popper to come back up. Sonar marks during lulls = fish still there, not gone. When surface activity dies, the popper’s noise and disturbance calls them back up. Don’t leave a lull — keep fishing.
Stem the tide — cast uptide, fish the swing, tip-toe back
B1100 — the Monomoy rip approach. The current does the work.
Stem the Tide is the foundational rip approach at Monomoy. Hold the boat in front of the rip in the smooth water — just enough RPMs to hold position against the current without charging around. Cast uptide into the smooth water in front of the break. Fish the popper as it swings across the shoal with the current. When a big fish is on, take the boat out of gear and drift back on it — trying to horse a strong striper out of a Monomoy rip on your terms isn’t the play.
“I don’t want to go charging back — I don’t want to disturb the ecosystem. I want to keep the fish happy and hungry. Just tiptoe right back up to where we were.”
Approach — step by step
B1100 Stem the Tide — hold position in smooth water, cast uptide, fish the swing across the shoal. Drift back on big fish. Tip-toe the reset.
The Hogy Macro Chug Popper — three retrieves, one color decision
R150 Cast Back and Pop is the primary. Change speed to trigger followers.
The Hogy Charter Grade Classic Popper is a 6″ Macro Chug through-wired surface plug with a cupped face and rear-weighted rattle design that helps the lure turn over on the cast for distance. Mike fishes it with the rear hook removed — Hogy plugs are weighted and balanced to fish with just the front hook, and on a squid bite with big fish, a single front treble makes releasing fish cleaner and faster.
The translucent pink and amber colors are the squid match at Monomoy in June. On this session in fog, pink clearly outperformed amber. The translucent body lets light pass through differently in different conditions: bright day = vivid, dark day = muted. Pink held its visual presence in the fog better than the amber on this particular morning.
- Remove rear hook — single front treble. Hogy plugs are weighted to fish with the front hook only, no action loss.
- Split ring pliers to remove the rear hook cleanly. Keep the split ring — reinstall at season end if desired.
- Tie direct to fluorocarbon leader — no snaps. Snaps can affect the plug’s swimming balance and cup-face action.
- 40lb braid, 30lb fluorocarbon leader. 5000-class spinning reel.
The three retrieves
R150 Cast Back and Pop — primary retrieve for the rip swing. Cast uptide, pop as the current swings the plug across the strike zone. Rod tip tracks the lure angle down as it approaches.
R100 Twitch-Pause — secondary retrieve for fish following but not committing. Short twitches, deliberate pauses. Vary the pause length to find the trigger.
Outfit
The decision at a glance
Step 1 set the date: mid-June Monomoy is an easy bet — squid in, stripers on top, rips running. Step 2 confirmed ideal topwater conditions: fog and overcast extend the surface bite window, light wind keeps the presentation clean. Step 3 delivered the unlock: big fish out front in smooth water, smaller fish on the rip edge, and pink clearly outfishing amber in fog. Cast further uptide to find the bigger fish. Step 4 built the approach: stem the tide, cast uptide, fish the swing, drift back on big fish, tip-toe the reset. Step 5 closed it out: Hogy Charter Grade Popper pink, single front treble, R150 Cast Back and Pop as the primary retrieve with slow-fast-slow speed variation as the reaction trigger. Half a dozen fish before the fog lifted. A great day to play hooky.
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