Fish in deep, dark waters to avoid critters

• When isopod and other organisms come out in abundance, swarming near the surface and the bass become hard to catch as they slurp them down, anglers are better off finding other areas with few bugs.
• Try fishing in strong currents, deeper waters (such as the Race) or after dark. Persistence will usually catch a few fish, but the numbers caught will not be what they should be, could be or will be after the no-see-um's disappear. That's what happened last Wednesday during my trip with the Guyots.
• We quickly left those first few schools of filter-feeding stripers for more fertile fishing grounds, but encountered similar problems along the entire island and only managed to catch a small bluefish and a half dozen stripers. Two of those fish, one a 29 incher, were caught on top of a reef using Salt Shaker's.
• At sunset, we pulled into the shoreline for one final pass. Mark Guyot had yet to land a fish, so this stop was a last effort before heading home. The first troll through this new spot produced a hard strike on Mark's rod, while Luke Guyot landed another schoolie bass and his dad a footlong porgy. We decided to make one run before giving up.
• Seconds after the lines were set and the boat was pointed in the opposite direction, the three Guyots all hooked up at the same time. Everyone took their time and calmly figured out what needed to be done. The end result was an 8- or 9-pound bluefish for Luke, a 33-inch striper for Mark and a 39-inch, 25-pounder for Bruce. (by Bob Sampson, Jr.)