Hedge Fence #423
Hedge Fence, located JUST south of, L’Hommedieu Shoal is another known early season striper and sea bass spot. If stripers move off L’Hommedieu Shoal they very likely could be at Hedge Fence.
From mid-summer into the fall Hedge Fence is a popular area for those seeking blues, bonito and false albacore. Hedge Fence is often the first spot in the sounds to produce bonito. Diving birds may indicate presence of bones but be warned, there’s always blues here perfectly happy to fool you and steal your lures! You can cast or troll here. Unlike many nearby rips, Hedge Fence is a little too shallow for vertical jigging.
As far as casting goes, you have two options. One is your standard rip position stemming the tide in front of the rip. The other is long drifts through the rip blind casting for bones. As far as trolling goes here, you have two options as well. If striper fishing, your standard issue S-Pattern is the play. BUT, if you’re trolling bones you want to troll along the rip on the “down side” of the rip in 12 – 20 feet of water. Small plugs are popular for trolling here. Water can get weedy here, so check your baits often for weeds.
Lastly, Hedge Fence is a popular area to fish the bottom for large fluke and sea bass. Drift on the down-tide side of the rip in 20 – 40 feet of water. (1) Excellent Sea bass fishing in this region. Near the western end of the shoal is the remains of the ship Port Hunter in about 20 feet of water. If you look at the chart, you’ll see a wreck in Hedge Fence’s Western tip (near buoy “RG” ) “The Port Hunter” and serves as a fantastic sea bass spot in high season, from Mid-May through June. Be careful though, the wreck eats gear!
Videos Filmed Here
- Lat & Long: 41°29.4’ x 70°32’
- Best Tide: Incoming. Action slows at slack.
- Hazards: Few. A fair amount of boat traffic on summer weekends. Wind against a strong tide can produce short, high chop.
