Life on the Rocks
Ó Ed Mitchell 1995
Jetties. Steep, rocky, slippery as an eel. They have earned a reputation as tough customers, taking a toll on anglers and equipment alike. And anyone who calls them fly rod heaven is pulling your leg; so there you have been properly warned. Yet here in the Northeast, these fingers of stone attract more and more fly fishermen each season. These jetty jockeys have discovered that as hard on anglers as jetties may be, on many a day or night, the fishing they offer is equally hard to beat.
In a nutshell, jetties provide anglers with a long casting platform, one that allows them an opportunity to move off the beach and out toward deeper water. Along any stretch of the Northeast coast, there are numerous jetties to choose from, varying in size from one hundred feet to over one hundred yards. Location, however, is always more important than length in determining a jetty’s fishing potential. And without a doubt the best locations, the one most apt to produce quality fishing, are found at the mouth of estuaries. Off these rocks fly rodders regularly tangle with everything from Atlantic bonito, to bluefish, little tunny and stripers.
The estuaries in question run the gamut from large coastal rivers to a few acres of salt pond tucked quietly behind the dunes. Jetties, in these locations, are built to focus the exiting waters so as to prevent the estuary’s opening from silting closed. As a result these jetties are adjacent to not only deeper water but as well strong currents. But the icing on the cake comes in the steady bonanza of baitfish that call these rich waters home.
In many of these spots you’ll find two jetties, one either side of the inlet. Invariably you can expect each of them to give up fish to the patient angler. Still, it is equally safe to presume that one offers considerably better fishing than the other. On the surface of things that fact can seem a bit odd, given that the two jetties often appear identical in size and shape. But trust me, it is true.
First off, the channel, and the fish it holds, may be closer to one jetty than the other. This is more apt to be the case in a wide inlet than a narrow one. A boating chart of the area or a look at the position of the channel’s navigation markers should clue you in. Second, the water exiting most inlets during a falling tide, does not simply head straight out to sea. Instead, as the flow leaves the confines of the jetty walls it meets the prevailing tidal current in open water. Often these currents bend the flow, forcing it right or left. This creates complex currents on the inside of the bend. In my experience, many more game fish feed here than on the outside. Consequently, the inside jetty wins hands down.
Regardless of which jetty you choose, when you arrive typically the fish are lying deep, well out of sight. It is imperative, therefore, as it is in all fishing, to have a mental image of where these fish are apt to be found before you wet a line. This is a critical first step, one that makes the difference between aimlessly covering the water and specifically targeting productive areas. Even in our day and age, when a thousand dollar rod and reel combo is commonplace, the most valuable piece of fishing equipment you own still rides square atop your shoulders.
Four key areas hold the vast majority of the fish. When the current is strong, some fish are in the depths of the channel, slipstreaming the current behind irregularities in the bottom structure. These are often among the biggest fish in the entire inlet and unfortunately the hardest to reach with a fly. Another key holding area, one easier to cover, is located right at the edge of the channel, where it drops steeply away to deeper water. The exact location of this edge varies from inlet to inlet. Still, on a sunny day, with the aid of your polarized glasses, you can usually see it quite clearly.
A good number of feeding fish are, in essence, right at your feet, and many an angler unknowingly cast over their head. These fish lurk just off the edge of the wall, where the light can no longer penetrate the depths. From here they can attack the schools of baitfish that hug the jetty as they travel back and forth through the inlet. The fourth and final group of fish are sitting in the rip lines found where the moving waters of the estuary meet or leave the confines of the jetty walls.
Naturally there are also times when fish actively chase the bait right on top. These moments, while relatively rare, provide the fastest and most memorable action of all. Furthermore these feeding fish are clearly visible. Swirls, splashes and baitfish spraying over the surface in an attempt to flee make it easy to pin down the best locations. Unlike fish holding in the flow, these guys can conceivably show up anywhere and at anytime along the inlet and even outside the tip of the jetty.
The most common way to cover the water from an inlet jetty is to present a fly down and across current. Poppers and sliders can be used in this manner with good results, but the most popular offering is a streamer. And in general, a streamer running well under the surface is more consistently successful than one on top. In order to get this fly down, particularly in strong current, sinking lines are essential. The fish hanging in the depths of the channel may even require a high density line and a weighted fly. The fish along the edge of the channel and those along the wall can be covered with a moderately fast sinking line or an intermediate.
As common as this down and across approach is, it is important to realize that other presentations work too. Casting a fly upcurrent and retrieving the fly back just faster than the speed of the moving water can be deadly. Not only does it make for a very natural looking presentation, it also reduces fly speed enough to encourage a deep sitting fish to rise through the current. The first bonito I ever hooked off a jetty took a streamer fly presented in this manner.
Another effective method of presentation is to cast and retrieve a fly as parallel to the jetty as possible. This can be done either in an upcurrent or a down current presentation. The idea is to mimic the schools of baitfish traveling tight to the wall. Another way to entice these fish is to simply let the fly hang in the current along the wall. Try occasionally jigging the fly, followed by a slow, stop and go retrieve. And above all be patience, particularly at night.
In order for any of these presentations to work you need to maintain good
line control. Otherwise you will fail to feel the strike or set the hook.
Unfortunately the higher you stand on the jetty the harder it becomes to stay in
touch with the fly. And the taller the jetty, the more it is a factor.
Experienced fly rodders, for this reason, work as low to the water as practical,
picking a nice flat rock to use as a casting platform. Furthermore they keep
their rod tip down during the retrieve. Be warned, however, the closer you get
to the surf the more slippery the rocks become and the more you run the risk of
getting hit by a rogue wave. Stay alert and take care, always.
Picking a Place along the Wall
The more you fish any jetty, the more you realize that some spots along
the wall are more productive than others. For the sake of discussion, let me
divide the wall up into three loosely defined areas. The seaward end, we will
call the “tip”. The center length, we will refer to as the “mid
section”, and the beginning stretch, where the jetty originates, we will call
the “shore end”.
Day in and day out, the tip of most jetties supplies the best action for several reasons. During an ebbing tide, it is common for feeding fish to hang in the rip currents just outside the inlet. And the tip of the jetty is the only place from which you can hope to reach these fish. Another thing you’ll notice is that when the current is cranking, fish outside the tip of the jetty are more apt to be near the surface than fish found inside. This is because as the current fans out, it also slows, making it easier for them to feed near the top. Naturally fish near on top are easier to present a fly to than fish deep. Remember, some fish are sitting tight to the wall, especially where the current rounds the corner to head either in or out of the inlet. These are often big guys but invariably they sit deep and it is difficult to get a good presentation to them.
The mid section of the wall supplies the majority of fishing space on the jetty. And since the tip fills first, this is where many anglers end up doing most of their fishing. It offers good opportunities to cover the depths of the channel and its edges. It is also an excellent place to work a fly tight to the wall. If room and conditions allow, you can even walk the fly along, quickly covering a good deal of water.
The “shore end” of the jetty is a real sleeper. It receives the lightest angling pressure of the three, probably because most anglers deem it too close to the beach to be of any interest. What they fail to recognize is that this location is much like the tip in reverse, especially on an incoming current. For that reason it offers good numbers of fish and relatively uncrowded conditions. Keep it in mind, particularly after dark on a flooding current.
In closing let’s briefly look at the opposite side of the wall, the one facing away from the current. This side does not produce with the same regularity as inlet side. Nevertheless, it is well worth trying. In my experience it holds the most promise under two conditions. One is during times of low light. The other is on days when the wind and waves are pushing directly into that side of the wall.
Since there is no strong current here, except possibly at the very tip, the down and across presentation is not really possible. Instead you simply cast out in a fan-like pattern covering as much water as you can. Be sure to use a count-down system, allowing the fly a chance to sink so fish sitting at various depths see it. This technique is very often essential to success.
Like the inlet side of the jetty, expect some fish to be holding along the edges of the wall. For that reason, the same technique of casting and working your fly parallel to the jetty is effective here too. Another place to find fish is in the bowl formed where the beach joins the jetty wall. This is a collection point for plankton and baitfish. You can work it either from the wall or directly from the beach. Good luck!
The End