Latest / The Articulate Fly / S6, Ep 95: Martha's Vineyard Magic and Bunker School Tactics with Captain David Blinken

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S6, Ep 95: Martha's Vineyard Magic and Bunker School Tactics with Captain David Blinken · The Articulate Fly

• 0:03
  Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
• 0:06
  Marvin: and we're back with another On the Salt with Captain David Blinken. David, how are you?
• 0:11
  David: I'm great. I'm great. It's been a fun couple weeks, and I got to tell you,
• 0:17
  David: our last podcast was a blast from Mexico.
• 0:20
  Marvin: Yeah, it's kind of an amazing thing. I was kind of thinking about that after
• 0:23
  Marvin: we recorded it, to think about from when I was a kid where you didn't call Mexico.
• 0:29
  Marvin: And like, you know, growing up, you do, you know, person to person phone calls
• 0:32
  Marvin: so that you wouldn't get charged for long distance.
• 0:34
  Marvin: And we literally were, you know, not only hearing each other,
• 0:37
  Marvin: but seeing each other, you know, two or three time zones away.
• 0:41
  David: I know, I know it was a lot of fun and, you know, to have me and Steve,
• 0:45
  David: you know, sitting, you know, opposite each other and the table working off one
• 0:49
  David: another was, was a whole lot of fun.
• 0:51
  Marvin: Yeah. I felt bad for him. I guess he caught COVID on the flight back, right?
• 0:56
  David: Yeah. It's funny. He, he called me up, um, one day and he said,
• 1:00
  David: yeah, I've been a little bit sniffly and, you know, under the weather.
• 1:04
  David: So the next day he calls me up and he's like, I just took a COVID test.
• 1:09
  David: I'm going to know shortly. And in the middle of the phone call,
• 1:11
  David: he's like, Oh, expletive. I've got COVID.
• 1:15
  David: I started laughing. I didn't realize he was doing it right there with me on the phone.
• 1:21
  David: Anyway, that was, that was, uh, but, uh, he's doing fine. Yeah.
• 1:25
  Marvin: And so, you know, the great thing, right, is you were back home for 72 hours
• 1:28
  Marvin: and you basically spent the last week and change up on Martha's Vineyard.
• 1:32
  Marvin: And from the pictures you shot me, it looks like you did a little bit of fishing.
• 1:35
  David: I did a little bit of fishing, you know, just can't help myself.
• 1:40
  David: So I trailered the skiff up there and we're, you know, I took some friends and
• 1:46
  David: their kids fishing off the skiff and we were jigging for black sea bass.
• 1:49
  David: But after I dropped them off, I ran over to one of my favorite flats out there
• 1:55
  David: whose name will remain anonymous. them as soon as somebody books me to fish them up there.
• 2:00
  David: And literally in the middle of the doldrums, everywhere else, I get to this one spot,
• 2:06
  David: I anchor up the battery, I stake it out, and I've got stripers from 25 to 40
• 2:13
  David: inches swimming by the boat for two hours. It was just the best.
• 2:18
  Marvin: That's pretty amazing. That's a pretty good combo after three good days of tarpon fishing.
• 2:24
  David: Oh, yeah. Yeah, the tarpon fishing was awesome. But I tell you,
• 2:29
  David: being able just to stake out and put in a half a water and just watch these
• 2:36
  David: big critters swimming by was so nice.
• 2:39
  David: It's always nice kind of being back in your home waters.
• 2:42
  Marvin: Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of home waters, coming back to Long Island,
• 2:45
  Marvin: what are you seeing out there?
• 2:48
  David: Well, you know, I'll get out there tomorrow, but, um, you know,
• 2:51
  David: we just had a big cold front go come through last night and it looks like we're
• 2:56
  David: going to have a pretty stiff Northwest wind for the next couple of days.
• 2:59
  David: But I can tell you, um, before I left and while I was gone, we had some bluefin
• 3:04
  David: tuna, uh, sliding around the South side.
• 3:07
  David: Um, you know, pretty close to shore.
• 3:10
  David: I know some people are going to only like eight, 10 miles out and jigging bigger ones app.
• 3:14
  David: And they said they were also catchable on stick baits and fly.
• 3:17
  David: And really what everyone's waiting for right now, everyone's kind of holding
• 3:23
  David: their breath, hoping the false albacore come in.
• 3:25
  David: And I got a feeling after the supermoon and then we have this cold front coming
• 3:32
  David: through, I'm willing to bet Friday, Saturday, or sometime next week,
• 3:37
  David: those false albacore are going to be here.
• 3:39
  David: That's usually what happens when we get a front like this.
• 3:42
  Marvin: Yeah, it's funny you say that because, you know, my social media feed kind of
• 3:45
  Marvin: being more kind of Mid-Atlantic oriented, all the guides are talking about like,
• 3:50
  Marvin: you know, clients that canceled and, you know, get your October,
• 3:52
  Marvin: November dates for false albacore off Harker's Island.
• 3:57
  David: Yeah, I mean, they're talking about it.
• 3:59
  David: There was, you know, a public speaking period that ended today for the preservation
• 4:05
  David: of false albacore that the ASGA sent out.
• 4:09
  David: And I'm sure you can still write in and do some other things.
• 4:13
  David: But, you know, we're really working hard now to help preserve the false albacore
• 4:19
  David: and, you know, protect them from not really overfishing, but from overharvesting.
• 4:26
  David: Uh, so hopefully, uh, hopefully, uh,
• 4:28
  David: uh, the, uh, you know, the, uh, the guides with the help of the guides association
• 4:34
  David: and, um, uh, and other people, they can be convincing for the,
• 4:39
  David: uh, for the, uh, mid Atlantic,
• 4:40
  David: uh, commission and, and get them on board with doing the right thing.
• 4:44
  David: They certainly didn't with stripers hopefully they will with false albacore because,
• 4:49
  David: the false albacore is considering the strength because the stripe s numbers
• 4:53
  David: have dropped so much they've really been what has saved us the past few years
• 4:58
  David: in the fall and if they're gone a lot of us are going to be out of business yeah.
• 5:03
  Marvin: Got it and got an interesting question for you too this time i had someone reach
• 5:08
  Marvin: out on instagram and wanted to know how do you fish a bunker pod.
• 5:13
  David: I mean that's such a wonderful question and there's so many different ways to do it,
• 5:18
  David: but let me go with the tried and true first of all
• 5:21
  David: you got to think about your fly selection first and foremost right
• 5:24
  David: and you could tie really big deceivers or
• 5:27
  David: really big you know you know bucktail flies
• 5:30
  David: you know flies that are between you know
• 5:33
  David: five and eight inches long a lot of people are now fishing the
• 5:36
  David: beast fly or the game changers you know really big
• 5:38
  David: ones so so you've got your fly selection um and
• 5:43
  David: then i tend to fish a much heavier leader in bunker pods
• 5:46
  David: um and very often with a shock tip
• 5:49
  David: because you never know if it's going to be bluefish or striper so
• 5:52
  David: i like to fish um a mono
• 5:55
  David: or or fluorocarbon shock tip of about 60 pound
• 5:58
  David: and then i'll have a couple of different rods rigged i'll have a floater an
• 6:03
  David: intermediate and a full sink um because you need to be able to fish different
• 6:10
  David: depths to reach the fish that are going to be eating the bunker or
• 6:18
  David: the artificial you're using so um very often i'll fish a beast fly or i'll tie
• 6:24
  David: one of these huge deceivers out of schlopp and that's you know could be six
• 6:29
  David: eight ten inches long and.
• 6:32
  David: If i'm fishing a 350 i'll usually cast it
• 6:34
  David: out or 450 i'll usually cast it out and try to get it under
• 6:37
  David: the bunker school and i'll strip it because
• 6:40
  David: very often the bluefish and the striped bass are under
• 6:43
  David: the bunker schools you know kind of hurting them and bullying
• 6:46
  David: them up and then they'll run up through them so if
• 6:49
  David: i can get under the bunker school it'll make it
• 6:51
  David: look like the you know one bunker's peeled away
• 6:54
  David: and that's usually a really great thing for the uh
• 6:57
  David: for the striped bass or the bluefish to whack before they
• 7:00
  David: you know push into the surface um with
• 7:04
  David: a floating line if they're up on top
• 7:07
  David: and they're just busting them and you'll sometimes see
• 7:10
  David: an opening in the bunker school where they'll clear
• 7:13
  David: out and you'll see those bigger fish in that opening you know kind of going
• 7:18
  David: around a circle chasing down things that that that floating line is really helpful
• 7:23
  David: because it'll make it look like an injured you know bunker that's flopping on
• 7:26
  David: top and you can just throw that there very often and they'll come up and whack it.
• 7:32
  David: And then with an intermediate line, you're just kind of trying to...
• 7:40
  David: You know get the medium you know the best of
• 7:43
  David: both worlds sometimes they'll be up on top sometimes those
• 7:47
  David: those fish will be kind of in the mid-depth uh so
• 7:51
  David: so you know your approach is important but a lot of fishing these bunker schools
• 8:00
  David: is also observation like if i see a bunker school get sprayed i'm not driving
• 8:05
  David: in on it right away i'm i'm gonna sort of hang back and
• 8:09
  David: watch and see the pattern of how the fish are feeding on, on the bunker,
• 8:15
  David: whether it's bluefish or stripers or tuna or whatever it is.
• 8:18
  David: So I can get an idea of how I want to fish it before I go in,
• 8:21
  David: because if I grab a floating line and they're up on, sorry, if I grab a sinking
• 8:27
  David: line and most of the feed is on top, I'm kind of like hurting myself and vice versa.
• 8:33
  David: So, um, you know, a big part of fishing is we all know is observation.
• 8:36
  David: Observation so you know have have those rods
• 8:39
  David: ready to go if if you know it's going to happen or you know or be rigging while
• 8:44
  David: you're watching if if it comes to that and and take a couple minutes to see
• 8:49
  David: what's going on and uh you know that should lead to a pretty successful uh um outcome hopefully yeah.
• 8:57
  Marvin: It's just like uh watching a big brown trout eat a dry fly.
• 9:00
  David: Yeah absolutely oh yeah and the other thing you're fishing these big fries and
• 9:05
  David: it's a bunker school I definitely would be using a 10 weight for sure.
• 9:09
  David: Just easier to throw the bigger stuff. I mean, you could use a 9,
• 9:12
  David: but if you're throwing a really big schloppenfly or a really big beastfly,
• 9:16
  David: it's always nicer to have a little extra oomph with the 10 weight.
• 9:20
  David: It just makes life a lot more enjoyable.
• 9:22
  Marvin: Yeah, that's giving me musky PTSD where I actually fish two-handed switch rods
• 9:28
  Marvin: because it just makes life so much easier.
• 9:30
  David: Year yeah i don't think i i go
• 9:33
  David: two-handed with bluefish out in the ocean or stripers but uh i can see how that
• 9:37
  David: would be nice but you know uh you know i guess with musky you guys are using
• 9:42
  David: beast flies or game changers too and and those are you know some of them are
• 9:46
  David: close to a foot long so it's it's nice to have that kind of leverage yeah.
• 9:50
  Marvin: I'll tell you actually the uh the longer butt where it really helps is actually the figure eight um.
• 9:56
  David: Oh yeah i.
• 9:58
  Marvin: Find that actually more fatiguing than the casting.
• 10:02
  David: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I try, anytime I'm using a 10 or above, I try to minimize
• 10:07
  David: the casting I'm doing anyway,
• 10:09
  David: whether it's, it's bluefish striped bass in a bunker school or whether it's
• 10:14
  David: tarpon feeding on mullet, you know, you really, you really want to be keyed
• 10:18
  David: in on your target and, and not just casting wildly, whatever you see,
• 10:23
  David: because the more you cast, the more fatigue you can get.
• 10:27
  David: And of course, adrenaline helps not, you know, keep you from fatigue,
• 10:32
  David: but, you know, you want to be ready for that one shot that's really going to
• 10:36
  David: help you capitalize and land a nice fish.
• 10:39
  David: So, again, you know, watching the water, watching the feeding pattern,
• 10:44
  David: so you don't have to be casting 40, 50 times in a certain time period with these
• 10:48
  David: bigger rods, you know, 10s or 11s or 12s. It's just, you know, it's not so fun.
• 10:54
  Marvin: Yeah, it's also a bummer to come back to the marina and ask for an orthopedic
• 10:57
  Marvin: surgeon referral, right?
• 11:00
  David: Yeah, shoulder surgeons, elbow surgeons. You know, you hear people talk about tennis elbow.
• 11:04
  David: I know so many anglers who their casting's a little adjustment and they've got casting at elbow.
• 11:11
  David: And I'm like, yeah, you got to maybe put the trunk of your body and your shoulder
• 11:17
  David: into it so you're not torquing your elbow so much.
• 11:19
  David: That's a whole different set of questions.
• 11:21
  Marvin: Yeah, that'll be next time. And you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly.
• 11:27
  Marvin: You can email me or DM me. As I always say, we want to make David's life easier.
• 11:31
  Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag.
• 11:35
  Marvin: And then we're going to enter a drawing for a Royal Wolf line of your choice.
• 11:38
  Marvin: And I know you've heard David and I talk about how much we love Royal Wolf lines.
• 11:46
  Marvin: I don't fish the salt stuff, but I do love the Triangle Taper for trout.
• 11:50
  David: Yeah, I like it for saltwater. And what's really interesting,
• 11:54
  David: and people are learning this from fishing with me and when I talk to them,
• 11:58
  David: is the Royal Wolf Bermuda tapers that I use in saltwater have an incredible temperature range.
• 12:05
  David: I use them both tropical and I use them here in the temperate waters of the Northeast.
• 12:10
  David: Even into some of the coldest days, they just don't have that memory that other
• 12:16
  David: lines very often have where you have to deal with line getting really kinky or stiff,
• 12:22
  David: and it just doesn't go through the guides. The Royal Wolves are really forgiving that way.
• 12:26
  David: So, I mean, that's one of the primary reasons I love them.
• 12:29
  Marvin: Yeah, it's funny you say that because that's a big deal kind of down here for
• 12:32
  Marvin: smallmouth in the summertime because, I mean, you really do need a tropical line.
• 12:38
  David: Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:39
  Marvin: Yeah. Well, you know, David, before I let you hop and get back to the Yankees
• 12:43
  Marvin: game or watch a little bit more of the DNC, you want to let folks know kind
• 12:46
  Marvin: of, you know, where they can find you so they can book in fish with you?
• 12:50
  David: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, certainly, uh, you can go to my website to davidblanket.com,
• 12:56
  David: uh, or North flats guiding or, uh, and you can get my phone number right off
• 13:01
  David: there and feel free to give me a buzz.
• 13:03
  David: They can also find me on Instagram at David Blanket, uh, and Facebook.
• 13:08
  David: Um, and I'm, I'm all over there and, and I can also find me on, uh, on X.
• 13:14
  David: So, uh, uh, formerly known as Twitter. So, uh, and all under my own name.
• 13:19
  David: So that should make it easy.
• 13:21
  David: No, no, uh, no funny acronyms or phishing names. Uh, I try to keep it simple.
• 13:26
  Marvin: There you go. Well, listen, folks, as I always say, you owe it to yourself to
• 13:29
  Marvin: get out there and catch a few tight lines, everybody tight lines, David tight.
• 13:33
  David: Lines by Marvin.