Fished Newport Fri. night from 8:30 to 1:30am. Started off windy and cold, eventually (around 11:30 the wind backed off). Water was about 63ยบ.
First 1.5hrs I got 5 legal sandies to 3#, and one 2# spottie. Plus, a couple short sandies. It took the rest of the night to get 2 more legals and a short. I think the huge tide swing, and thus huge current killed the bite. When the tide would slow I'd get bites, when it sped up, I didn't.
Best bait was a Tight Line Lures 9" grub in green w/gold hologram and blue flake. Also producing was the TLL 9" grub and the zipper shad in watermelon/ red flake. I also got lot's of bites, but only one to stick, on a Riverside zipper (the really fat one) in red and black. What didn't work (to my great suprise) was the TLL glow-in-the-dark 9" grub and zipper shad.
#10066, "RE: A short Newport Report (6-13-03)" In response to Reply # 0
I dub thee, "The Night Stalker". Quite a late, cold outing I must say. Who knew that too much current would be lame in the bay? I have caught my biggest spots in quite water areas. I think the sandies like the current more.
Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads www.swimbait.com Pro-Cure Scents www.pro-cure.com
#10073, "RE: A short Newport Report (6-13-03)" In response to Reply # 1
Hey, David. I think the fact that it was dark played a factor; perhaps the bait was zipping past the fish before they could see it and react. I avoid little or no current as much as possible. I've found moderation to be best, both in Newport and Shelter.
When I was paddling back from the Pirates cove area, there was big boils in 20' of water where the water was pushing up over a 5' hump. It actually was pushing me around like I was a toy boat. As for cold, I started out the evening in my longjohn wetsiut with a t-shirt under it, a polar fleece jacket, a nylon shell, and a hat. And, I was still cold. It was like winter sand bassing at Shelter. But, by the end of the night I had the shell and hat off and would've taken the polar fleece off too, but I was lazy.