Pictured Above: This bass fell for a sand-eel sample tied with SF Flashblend to mimic the iridescent colours of a reside sand eels.
Sand eels are the king of the Northeast,” says Capt. Craig Cantelmo of Fin-Addict Fishing and Van Staal Reels, “and every thing that swims will key in on them.” This bait is vital for a number of causes. First, they’re liked by striped bass, bluefish, bonito, false albacore, bluefin tuna, and even sea robins. Second, they’re extra resilient to temperature adjustments, which means they’re round from late summer season via fall and into early winter. When they’re dense alongside the seashores, it retains gamefish from heading south too quick.
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Sand eels, additionally referred to as sand launce, are discovered alongside the Atlantic Coast from Labrador to Cape Hatteras. In near-coastal waters, they congregate in enormous lots at lumps and ridges; within the fall, they typically mass on the fringe of the surf in huge abundance. A lot of the surf motion occurs from Massachusetts to South Jersey, however from Delaware and south, their surf appearances skinny out. Veteran saltwater flyrodder Don Avondolio confirms, “Sand eels are an necessary bait from Martha’s Winery via Lengthy Island and the New Jersey coast, however they don’t actually present up beneath Delaware, though pods could also be seen within the outer waters off the seashores.”
About 3 to six inches in size, I as soon as noticed sand eels a few years in the past at Jersey’s Island Seashore State Park that had been practically a foot lengthy. The striped bass had been rooting their noses into the sand after every receding wave on the surf’s edge within the north jetty pocket, pushing the baits out of the sand. Because the eels slithered out of the sand, bass chased them with their backs completely out of the water, at occasions flopping on the seaside till the subsequent incoming wave floated them free. What a sight! The spin-fishing guys had been throwing 10-inch Alou Eel lures and catching fish on what appeared like each forged. The few fly guys on the seaside again then had been fishing lengthy, skinny Deceivers in all-white or white and yellow.
Stormy climate and water temperatures affect the relative abundance of sand eels alongside the seashores, pushing the pods onto or away from the shore.
The Enticer
An abundance of sand eels has been one of many the explanation why Martha’s Winery and Lengthy Island waters are so productive within the fall for albies, bonito, striped bass and bluefish. Avondolio fished each areas for about 40 years and developed a novel fly he calls the Enticer, a fly sample that gained third place within the saltwater fly class within the 1999 Better of the Bench fly-tying contest. Don’s sample has been catching bass within the surf for over 20 years and he notes, “The Enticer is a good looking sample that persistently attracts fish from a distance when waters are nonetheless.” Fished on a floating line, the Enticer runs at or close to the floor due to its small head, and the strikes are sudden and thrilling. Tied on a long-shank 2 to 2/0 Tiemco 811 hook with a chenille physique and pearl Krystal Flash for a rib, it encompasses a popper head to offer it a novel motion. Don’s favourite colours embody all-black, chartreuse-and-pearl and olive-and-pearl. He normally ties them with marabou tails.
E-Z Physique Sand Eel Fly
“The EZ-Physique Sand Eel Fly is my go-to sand-eel sample, says professional fly-tyer Brad Buzzi of BuzFly Merchandise. “I tie them on 2/0 to five/0 J-hooks or 60-degree jig hooks in weighted and unweighted variations. Relying on the client’s wants, I tie them from 4 to 12 inches and in the preferred colour schemes of olive-and-white, black-and-purple, and yellow-and-white. The tails are normally bucktail, however I generally use an artificial. I additionally sometimes add flash and peacock herl for a high wing. For sturdiness, I take advantage of Salarez light-cured acrylic for the top.”
Capt. Isdanavage can be a believer within the EZ-Physique Sand Eel and he ties his in a wide range of lengths from 2 to six inches on 1/0 and three/0 hooks; different occasions, they’re for much longer and should be prepped with a wide range of lengths. “My favourite colours are yellow-over-white and black-over-purple for early morning or evening fishing. I additionally wish to fish them on tandem rigs with 5- to 6-foot leaders and both intermediate or sink-tip strains, relying on situations.”
Weighted, Sparsely Tied Baitfish Patterns
Capt. Robby Barradale does the sink-tip factor too, as do different members of the Bayshore Saltwater Flyrodders. Robby tweaks his flies in order that they reliably experience with the hook level up and explains, “There are tons of sand-eel patterns: epoxy heads, Clousers, Jiggies, EZ Bodys and plenty of extra, they usually all work nice if tied sparsely. My favourite is tied with a slight bend-back to the hook and with two to 5 turns of lead wire just under the hook bend. I do that as a result of it creates a pleasant keel to maintain the fly monitoring true. Different flies, when stripped quickly, are likely to their sides.” In keeping with Robby, this causes quite a lot of missed strikes. The slight bend-back of the hook shank and the lead wraps practically remove the issue.
Surf Sweet
Though blues are scaling down by late November, you by no means know when ol’ yellow eyes will unexpectedly present up, so it pays to have just a few flies pre-rigged with quick items of single-strand or knottable wire. Rick Ferrin of Lengthy Island recollects a morning on the south shore close to Montauk when he received bitten off a number of occasions in fast succession till his small provide of Surf Candies was gone. “The pod of 10 pounders I bumped into that morning bit off every thing I had in my surf bag. I needed to hike again the truck, get extra Candies, and tie quick wire to them.”
I additionally like Surf Candies for the autumn and tie them extra-long to resemble sand eels as an alternative of anchovies, and I typically tie them with the physique positioned far again on the hook (near the bend) so the shank serves as a brief chief. And, I’ve a half-dozen pre-wired flies in a zip-close bag prepared for obligation. It’s good safety in opposition to bluefish cut-offs, and the bass don’t appear to be bothered by just a few inches of American Fishing Wire’s camouflage colour knottable wire.
Fly Rods, Strains, and Leaders for the Sand Eel Run
A 9-foot rod is the weapon of selection for many fly of us, though some coastal areas in New England and New Jersey have hard-core teams preferring a 10-foot (or longer) fly rod constructed both as one- or two-hand designs. In quiet water, a floating line is an efficient selection and tracks effectively although small surf; nonetheless, the grubbing-in-the-sand way of life of sand eels makes a sinking line a extra helpful selection. It’s additionally a clever selection when the wave motion is greater than three ft or extra. Lots of the most skilled surf flyrodders choose a rod with a barely softer, reasonable motion when launching sink-tip strains. A barely extra open casting loop is far simpler to manage.
Having the ability to get down a bit beneath the floor may be important. Avondolio associated a story a couple of night-fishing session with a good friend of his at a river on Lengthy Island’s North Shore, the place they caught quite a lot of 20-inch bass. “On the finish of the evening, we tallied our catch, stated Don, “and my buddy out-fished me by a 5-to-1 ratio utilizing a medium sinking line. I used a floater.”
Utilizing full-sink or heavy sink-tip strains within the surf is the last word option to go deep for boating fly fishers heading out past the seashores, however heavy strains are additionally very efficient within the surf. Nicely-known fly-tier Steve Farrar received my head screwed on good with some ideas for heavy sink-tip strains within the surf that I’ve used alongside the central Jersey seashores between Manasquan and Barnegat inlets. By casting a 350- to 450-sink-tip or full-sink line, I may pull a sand eel via the sand to mimic the burrowing hide-and-seek motion of reside eels. At low tide, the trick is to make the forged to the skin fringe of the bar after which retrieve the fly over the bar. I used to be nearly sporting out the shock tippet, and flies too, because the nostril of the fly dredged proper via the sand. The striped bass certain appeared to love that retrieve.
Barradale likes to maintain line and chief rigging easy. “My go-to seaside and boat outfit to throw sand-eel patterns is a 9-foot Orvis that I fish with an intermediate Royal Wulff, besides once I want to essentially get deep. For that, I take advantage of a 250- to 350-grain sink-tip. My chief and tippet are easy—3 ft of 30-pound blood knotted to three ft of 12- or 15-pound check. It turns over effectively and wind knots are scarce.”
Striped bass will eat sand eels all day lengthy if situations are proper, but the daybreak and nightfall time frames are particularly productive. Flyrodders who reside close to the seaside have two good photographs each day. For those who reside inland, nightfall gives extra fishing time as a result of you may carry on casting, and catching, effectively after the solar goes down.
If Mom Nature graces us with fishable climate and reasonable temperatures so our fingers don’t freeze up, there may be wonderful sand-eel motion effectively into December, a good way to finish the fly season on a excessive notice.
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