August Fishing can be S-L-O-W

I fish from early spring until late fall. I'm not much of an ice fishermen, but during the winter I will fish for over wintering stripers. From the months from April-late October, it might shock some of you but the slowest month is August. You guys know I will fish for anything. This isn't a complaint about fishing being terrible or anything like that. However, fishing does slow during this month for many species. The unfortunate timing of this is kids ( and fishing teachers) go back to school right after the month ends, screwing up vacations and fishing outings when the water cools a little bit

 I thought I'd spend most of this post writing about fish species that remain more active during the hot water and some tips on how you can improve your chances of catching them. First you have to understand what kind of fishing I do. I fish from shore when saltwater fishing. I can tell you that striper fishing isn't good from shore in Rhode Island, but if you have a boat and fish the North Rip at Block Island, fishing can be world class. As many of you know, when I fish freshwater lakes its in a kayak or canoe. I don't have a bass boat, depth finder nor do I have a down rigger to fish deep for lake trout ( I don't have any lakers near my house anyway except Wachusetts and you can only fish from shore). Lastly, remember  this is about where I fish, I live 5 miles from the Rhode Island border. If I lived in northern New Hampshire where the Connecticut River is a tailwater fishery with water temps very consistent throughout the year, I'd obviously have different opinions about what to fish for in August.

So I'll make a quick list of species I target that are tough to catch in August

Stripers like cooler waters and unless their is a ton of bait, go a little off shore to find cooler water
Smallmouth go deeper to find their comfort zone
Carp- even carp loose their appetite when water temps are uncomfortable.
Fluke can be caught near shore when the water warms but most  bigger ones will be caught via boat.
Largemouth bass and pickerel can be caught just as well in August, but a lot of the better ponds have weeded up making navigation impossible.
Trout fishing in my area has been over for 8 weeks. There are a couple tailwater fisheries in western MA and Connecticut, but if I'm spending $30 for gas, I probably won't chase trout.

So...what did I leave out. Lets start with freshwater. Largemouth bass can be caught. Early and late in the day are the best times. Also overcast days can be awesome. You need to fish a lake that doesn't look like weed soup. Try river channels in weedy lakes. Deep weed lines can be terrific.

As for my friend the carp, the same is true. They become nocturnal. Early and late in the day are the best times. Fishing at night is good.

I think August is a great month to catfish. First most of the mosquitoes are gone making fishing more bearable than May. Also you may have noticed its getting dark a little earlier. You can start your catfishing around 8pm. In June it wasn't dark until after 9. So you can either get in an hour or more extra fishing or do the same amount of catfishing as June but get home at a more reasonable hour. I prefer white catfish over bullheads. They are much bigger. Unfortunately the closest consistant place is 45 minutes from home. I can't make that drive home every night and still expect to get up for work.

I also spend time panfishing in August. Warm water doesn't seem to bother white perch, yellow perch crappie and sunfish. I'd rather spend time fishing for these guys on a hot day than sit at home bored.

As you can see, other than panfish your best time to fish is either overcast days or dawn, dusk, dark. Other than weekends this isn't a big deal if you work 9 to 5 anyway.

Saltwater-
Even when striper fishing was at its peak, I noticed a huge drop off in the number of stripers I caught around mid July until the end of August. It was at the point where I would take August off from striper fishing and fish for other things. Also I always seemed to take my vacations in August, so I was really only around my area for a couple weeks of the month.

So what to fish for... Remember as you read this that the Rhode Island south shore ( Narragansett and Charlestown) and Cape Cod Canal are over an hour drive for me. So I pick my days and spots carefully. If I lived in 'Gansett, I'd spend a lot of time at the water.

Bluefish don't mind warm water. If you can find bait you should find them. Don't overlook snapper blues. Fishing for them on light tackle can be fun. Also I don't specificly look for hickory shad, but I keep a freshwater rod in my truck just in case I come across them. I've spent entire tides fishing for them in Gallilee Channel and by the Great Island Bridge. They are a blast and if I come across them, I fish for them until they move on.

Scup can be caught in rocky areas.  They are easy to catch using bait. I'm not a fan of using heavy surf gear to catch them, but sometimes you need it to cast a big sinker in the waves. I didn't know how delicious they are until this year. I might have to make a drive to catch some, but heavy tackle for small fish is not my thing. The ones we caught before were in shallow water and we were using 7 foot schoolie rods and small jigs. It was so much fun.

The last fish in saltwater I am going to fish for are two I have never caught. False Albacore and Bonito are small tuna that sometimes come close to shore. They are very fast and from what I'm told, put up an amazing fish. I would like to add them to my list of new species. Fishing for them is a crap shoot?
You can sit and wait for them all day and they might not show up. If they do you may only get one cast. Its a little tough to go back for a second attempt after a day like that. Hopefully I will get lucky and get a chance. I've went for them a few times before without even seeing one.

Yes I know the under sides of blue crabs are blue like this big one.
Notice the mud spots on my t-shirt. You should have seen my legs
and feet

After writing all this, I should tell you that for this month I am trying a diversion that is kind of new to me. Blue Crabbing.  I have gone 3 times so far. Although I will no doubt fish for pretty much all of the above fish during the month, I am going to put in a lot of effort catching crabs. I can do it during the day and night. Also I can eat them. I let go most all the fish I catch ( I caught about 20 scup in those 2 days in early July and kept 3) but eating legal sized blue crabs are a nice reward for catching them. I feel crabbing is more productive in August than bass fishing and getting filthy in the mud and wet in the water is FUN!!!