Please, 6’6″ to 7′ spinning rod rated for 14-20lb braid and lure weights up to 1 ounce. Also, try fishing off the bottom with a freshly killed shad. Most anglers unhook porgies by grabbing them from the stomach. Every time I see “pogies” i start to break out the cast net to catch pogies…(aka menhaden or fish bait). Run the point of the hook through the back of the baitfish at an angle between the dorsal fin and the head, back to front, so that when the business end of the hook is facing the head of the pogy. Porgies are very aggressive and will often rip baits off the hook before the angler has a chance to hook them. Pogies off Plum Island This morning the Pogie show opened again. Occasionally a body of fish is located that has some real giants mixed in and these fish can even approach the four pound mark! Click "Ask the Captain" above to ask Capt Andy, Capt Rich, and the rest of their crew your toughest saltwater fishing questions. Yeah, IIRC, there are a few culverts that go under the road where you can try along HWY 1. Purse Line bait is also on the advisory council of the AMSC….. Each Day the Ruth & Pat unloads at the Fish Pier in Portland. The managers managed to do one good thing. product you want, try searching Amazon. One problem may be that your pogie is blending in with the other thousands of pogies in the school. The longest fish in each species will be counted, if you and only if you catch one flounder, redfish, and trout, your total combined length of all fish will determine you standing in the Grand slam prize. For cobia, tarpon, sharks, and crevalle, all one needs do is use an adequately large circle hook. Porgies are quick to respond to the scent of chum in the water. The fish are more likely to hit your bait first before they swim up to the school for an ambush. They survive best in waters ranging in temp from 55 to 75 degrees. Ccopyright © 2003-2020 - Angling Productions, Inc. | Web Design & SEO by, Shimano Teramar Northeast Inshore Spinning. Pogies and cold water are not a good mix as if you capsize, your hands are unprotected. in this episode I targeted a trash fish to see if it was good to eat. People fishing with pogies catch their own, using cast nets in the pods of baitfish on the beach behind the breakers. Live lining pogies when they started hooking up to fish. Fused and braided lines allow for much greater casting distance than mono. This can be tough to master, especially if you’re used to fishing with a … We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can leave if you wish. When a pogie is snagged I will simply hold it there on the snagger. When the fish are big and aggressive, many anglers switch to artificial scented grubs and mullet baits.  These are available in a wide variety of colors and will often out-fish natural bait. Using Menhaden for Bait. These fish tend to prefer sandy or broken bottom in depths from 6-120 feet.  They will move with the tide along sandy beaches in search of food and are accessible from the beach in most sandy harbors and bays. Multiple baits will attract several fish and they become even more aggressive when competing for food. One good measurement is the diversity of wildlife and fish we see in and around the river. Southern black bream are endemic to Australia, inhabiting the southern coast from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Mallacoota, Victoria, as well as Tasmania. Be patient with the hookset. MINIMUM FISH LENGTHS: There is no minimum length on fish.  Once they are located, you can consider anchoring and chumming. At the dock, menhaden catches are unloaded from carrier vessels using pumps that move the fish directly into a steam cooker. Anglers trolling pogies often use commercially prepared “menhaden milk” or menhaden oil, dripped from a container along the side of the boat. There is security in numbers, and security is what these fish need. We strongly recommend Berkley Gulp Chum.  It is incredibly effective. Leaving a bit of bait dangling beyond the hook will certainly entice more fish. Back to Top Pogies, 107 Front Street, Swansboro, NC, 28584, United States 910-325-7876 pogiesfishing@gmail.com It does not have to be changed all day and after fishing it can be put back in the bucket for recharging. A simple dropper loop rig made from 30-50lb Fluorocarbon with a bank sinker on the bottom and 3-inch dropper loops tied 6 inches and 30 inches above the sinker can be very effective. If the boat is moving too fast, the pogy’s mouth will be forced open, causing it to drown, or it can start spinning.  Keep your chum close, but drop your baits further back to target the biggest fish. The option the people wanted would have considered the needs of all the wildlife that eat menhaden when determining how many fish humans could catch. Any ground chum is effective but in most places clam chum is the best. At the same time, you’ll be able to feel light bites that you might not notice with a more rigid rod. Brock uses an 8′ net in shallow water (10-12′ or shallower) and a 12′ net in deeper water (deeper than 12′). The rig is typically held steady but an occasional short lift can get the porgies attention. I also think they last longer in a live well. They are usually fairly close into the shore, sometimes right behind the breaking surf, but can be found as far as a mile or more offshore. At least for the moment... Live pogies make great bait for striped bass and bluefin tuna. Plastic skirts in varying colors, predominantly pink, chartreuse and white, are placed on the nose of the pogy. Pogies are not usually purchased from bait shops because they do not survive well in captivity. Up until 2011, pogies had eluded me for years. If you're trying to catch a bunch, get a larger circular baitwell. As with most fishes that have a large flat body type, they can exert an amazing amount of downward pressure for their size. 15. Often one good cast of the net will catch more pogies than the average boat needs. Pogies are not usually purchased from bait shops because they do not survive well in captivity. It is a deep-bodied fish, occasionally confused with other similar species that occur within its range, but is generally distinguished from these species by a lack of yellow ventral and anal fins.  Drifting can also be effective when trying to find bigger fish. Any corners in a live well of pogies will have the fish nosing into those corners making them get “red nosed” and substantially reducing their shelf life. CLICK HERE FOR FREE PORGY FISHING VIDEO CLIPS! As with most fishes that have a large flat body type, they can exert an amazing amount of downward pressure for their size.  Cut 5-6 long slices in a frozen chum log in a plastic bag and it will be more effective and last longer. Menhaden are at the bottom of the food chain for a number of Atlantic fish. If you are going to use it stricly for pogies 5/8 or even 3/4 with 1 1/2 lbs of lead per foot will work pretty well. Porgies will take a wide variety of baits. To avoid bruising your baits, drop them into a laundry basket or a plastic bin filled with seawater. The dead pogies are cut up and tossed overboard into the current in a never-ending chum line of pogy pieces and smelly pogy oil. In the spring, following the bait pods will be cobia and large redfish. From my experience at surf fishing, I always fish menhaden in a different way, and I have used this approach on the boat. The fish were flipping about in quite a large school off the beachfront. When the bite is on, switch to progressively smaller pieces of bait and take advantage of the porgies increased aggressiveness. Menhaden, also called pogies, alewives, mossbunkers and a host of other names, are small fish that swim in huge schools. Fishing with pogies can be done in a variety of ways. They're schooling fish, typically swimming in big schools. Captain Joe's Cruises is always keeping an eye on the health of the Saco River. When the water is very cold and the fish are sluggish this can make all the difference. retailer logo to see prices or purchase.  If you can't find the Huge schools can be seen flipping their tails at the surface, moving along with the tidal currents. Just make sure that if you do find them on bottom with your fish finder that you have a net that will sink fast enough to catch them before they can swim out from under it. Well I am happy to report that I am no longer puzzled by this mysterious bait fish! Most live wells in today’s boats have at least rounded corners on their box-shaped wells. Today we have the first video tutorial of a 3-part series about how to fish live pogies on Cape Cod for striped bass. Soft baits such as clams and worms should be cut into narrow strips no more than 2 inches in length. This way when the bass swallows the pogy headfirst, the point rides up and seldom buries in the body of the bait. 16. Soft baits such as clams and worms are often torn off before the porgies ever inhale the hook. In one cast an angler can get 15 to 20 dozen or more, he said. The southern black bream (also known as the black bream, southern bream and blue-nosed bream) is a species of marine and freshwater fish of the porgy family, Sparidae. Using odor as a tool, the hot summer months along the southeast Atlantic coast will find anglers anchored along cuts and sandbars within a mile of the beach. Click on any of the images or names to mesh and it works good in shallower water up to 20 ft deep if the bait isn't spooked easily. Our recommended porgy outfit includes a spinning rod and reel combo suitable for 14-20lb fused line. If weight is felt, strike sharply and hang on. 50 years ago the the river was recovering from years of pollution coming from upstream mills and manufacturing. The pot should be dropped to the bottom and tied off at the bow. Tarpon catch the scent of pogies and follow their noses up to the live baits. Menhaden is a blend of poghaden (pogy for short) and an Algonquian word akin to Narragansett munnawhatteaûg, derived from munnohquohteau ("he fertilizes"), referring to their use of the fish as fertilizer. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We recommend loading the reel with 14-20lb fused line as opposed to braided line or mono. This way it is impossible to accidentally snag the chum pot and the baits are always presented down-tide of the chum slick. Pogies—up and down the Atlantic coast schools of these popular baitfish hug the shoreline and the beaches, making semi-annual migrations north and south with the weather. However, adding more hooks increases the chance of the rig tangling and adds a new level of difficulty when unhooking multiple fish. Fishing with pogies requires a bit of specialization, but no more than the average angler can handle. Today we see a thriving ecosystem: They are a favorite food for many saltwater species up and down the coast. They sell a majority of their bait to Purse Line Bait . Some very big tarpon are caught using this method. In this "mini" video tutorial you will learn the best way to hook a live pogie when fishing for stripers, according to local charter captain Cullen Lundholm of Cape Star Charters. Dropper loops are tied at 12 and 36 inches above the bank sinker.  The dropper loops get threaded through 4/0 beak bait hooks. Porgy Fishing Techniques and Tips. If you want evidence look into the catch Records of the Ruth & Pat. This is because is the much smaller line diameter of fused and braided lines. Rookie. The small profile of the swivel virtually eliminates any chance of picking up debris and provides an easy connection point between the line and the leader. A few hard tugs on the chum pot line every few minutes will ensure that the chum keeps flowing. Those 3 mm neo mitts look interesting. Position up-current of the boat, toss out a serving of live or cut peanuts, and set your spread.  Always being enough chum and do your best to fish where there is at least some current (to spread the chum). Porgies are a blast on light tackle. Porgies may not be the biggest fish around, but they put up a tough fight. Try fishing considerably deeper when this is the case. Early in the tuna season, you may pay up to $60 for a dozen live pogies-granted of … Live pogies are freelined behind the boat and put down at varying depths on downriggers. That means tarpon time!   However, many anglers simply opt for ground clam chum. And speaking of nets, Capt. Pogies may not be the universal bait, but for all the fish that they catch, they are a pretty good substitute until one comes along. The live well needs to be large and preferably round. A somewhat arduous task, tarpon fishing with pogies is becoming very popular. They told us that the school of pogies ran along the whole beach right out from the jetties and south of the jetties and out from the jetties about 200 feet. Most porgy fisherman use at least two hooks and some use even more. Porgies may not be the biggest fish around, but they put up a tough fight. With larger sinkers in deeper water and stronger currents more fish many anglers now exclusively use Berkley chum... 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