How-To — Charter Grade Dog Walker

How-To: Walk the Dog Stripers with Capt. Jamie Simmons

Posted by Jamie Costa on

The Salty Cape Crew head out in early June with Capt. Jamie Simmons of Buzzard's Bay Outfitters to chase topwater stripers in the upper Buzzard's Bay region with the Hogy XL Charter Grade Dog Walkers.  Most often, when implementing a walk-the-dog technique, you want to practice a slow retrieve but today, the fish wanted something a little more fast paced. They were really finicky and a faster retrieve produced a reaction strike.  "There are not a lot of small fish our here this morning," said Capt. Jamie. "The bass and bluefish are mixed in in this area but if you...

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How-To: Striped Bass Fishing in Canals and Channels from Shore #161

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

APPROACH Canals are great when you know fish are likely to be in the area. With such high volumes of water running by your feet each minute, there is endless potential for bait and fish to blow by. The challenge here is how to deal with such fast moving water. If fish are holding deep, which they are in canals 85% of the time, you’ll be require to fish the swing. "If I Had Just One" with Capt. Mike HoganLOCATION: Cape CodTARGETED SPECIES: Striped BassLURE:Hogy Pro Tail PaddleCOLORS: BONE, GREEN MACK, BLUE HERRING "I would grab the Hogy Pro Tail...

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How-To: Fishing Estuaries for Striped Bass from Shore #160

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Estuaries are great for a lot of reasons.  Approach: First step is to identify the direction of the tide. You want to fish on the side the tide is moving toward. Although this is a light tackle fishery, big fish do move up into protected water, particularly in the spring and fall.  "If I Had Just One" with Capt. Mike HoganLOCATION: Cape CodTARGETED SPECIES: Striped BassLURE: 7/8oz Hogy Epoxy Jig LureCOLOR: Olive, Silverside, Pink "I would grab the 7/8oz Hogy Epoxy Jig® Lure. I regularly carry Olive, Silver Side and Pink." PROFILE: The 7/8oz Hogy Epoxy Jig® Lure is 3.5” so...

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How-To: Reading Shore Conditions for Striped Bass #156

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

Anglers are much more tightly lipped about their shore fishing than boat fishing and consequently, getting good shore fishing reports is difficult. I don’t even bother asking around when shore fishing; rather, I just run the playbook based on the conditions and season. WIND In a perfect world, an onshore wind is best for bringing fish close to the beach or shore. The only problem with an onshore wind is that it impedes your ability to cast lighter lures. As a rule of thumb, I especially appreciate an onshore wind in the night or very early morning when targeting big...

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How-To: Plug Retrieves for Striped Bass #143

Posted by Capt. Michael Hogan on

The Hogy Charter Grade Popper A popper is an excellent “search bait” in that it makes a loud “popping” noise, getting a fish’s attention through sight and sound; our Hogy Popper also features internal rattles, increasing its sound impact. It is typically retrieved slowly in the water, which gives fish in the surrounding area time to respond. A popper is ideal in calm, quiet water where it will have the most auditory impact. A common tactic is to use a popper to determine whether or not fish are in the area; even if the fish are only slapping at the...

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