Jimmy Fee

Massachusetts

Managing Editor at On The Water

On The Water: The Angler's Guide to Fishing the Northeast

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Articles

Featured Lure: Squid Jigs

1 week ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

Squid jigging is an art form. If you doubt it, put yourself in the lineup at one of docks where calamari-crazed fishermen huddle in the droning hum of their generators and the alien-green gleam of their HydroGlow lights. Watch the regulars. They’ll be the ones intently staring at their rods, making precise upward sweeps, filling their buckets at a much faster pace than you.
Best Squid Run in Years in Southern New England

1 week ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

Anthony DeiCicchi and I were marveling at the number and variety of baitfish attracted to our light as we shone it over a mid-Cape dock. An hour before, we’d fired up the generator and aimed the light at the water and watched as more baitfish schooled beneath us with each passing minute. And then the squid showed. Dozens of them ghosted up from the bottom, and began darting into the light to snatch baitfish with their tentacles.
Striper Migration Map - April 18, 2025

3 weeks ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

The big news this week was the arrival of migratory schoolies in Rhode Island. The full moon tides brought big bass into the Raritan, and bunker are drawing stripers out along the South Shore of Long Island. The Striper Cup starts in two weeks! Sign up today, and you’ll receive a Striper Cup box loaded with stickers, discount codes, a Rapala lure, VMC Hooks, and a fresh, new Columbia PFG shirt featuring an awesome original striper design.
NOAA Cracks Down on Pier-Based Tuna Fishing - Pier Anglers Fight for Access

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

Last week’s wild bluefin blitz close to the beach in Nag’s Head, North Carolina, during which multiple tuna were hooked from the end of Jenette’s Pier, has attracted the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which manages the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna fishery through the Highly Migratory Species Management Division.
Bluefin Tuna Caught from Pier and Kayaks in North Carolina

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

Aku Min and his kayak-caught bluefin from Nag’s Head, North Carolina, shared by Ocean’s East OBX on Instagram. Something wild was happening in the Outer Banks over the last week. Schools of bluefin tuna moved close enough to the beach to allow kayak anglers and pier anglers to present baits to them. One angler on Jenette’s Pier in Nag’s Head caught and released a bluefin while casting from the end of the pier.
Try Seaworms for Spring Tautog Fishing

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

While pushing the lawnmower through its second tour of the yard for the spring, I was lost in thought, wondering which pond to fish following the requisite Saturday yardwork, when a splash of yellow caught my eye. There, directly in the path of the lawnmower, the first dandelion of spring stood above the green blades of grass. I stopped for a moment, pondered what it meant, and mowed it down while forming a new plan for the afternoon’s fishing.
What's Biting in April in New Jersey?

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

The shad run is one of my non-negotiable, must-not-miss events of the springtime. Luckily for me, my friend Joe Cermele always saves me a seat in his drift boat for a float down the Delaware in April. While shad are always Plan A on these trips, plans B and C (for striped bass and catfish) can take a good shad day and turn it into one of the best fishing days of the entire season. That’s what happened back in 2023.
A Surfcaster Looks at 40

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

By the time you read this, you, the cultured, well-read anglers of the Northeast, I’ll have crested the “hill” and turned 40 years old. Approaching this manufactured milestone, I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks, and I have become acutely aware that the tide is ebbing, and there is still quite a bit I’d like to do before it bottoms out, six feet down.
Shimano Releases Five New Jerkbait Colors

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

Above: Shimano World Minnow in Matte PerchA quarter of the OTW Office is currently embroiled in a bass-fishing contest that began as a casual contest between friends has turned bitter after the current leader continually violated the excessive celebration rule. So the rest of us have been on the hunt for gear to give us an edge in the contest, and the new colors on Shimano’s their higher-end jerkbaits (one in particular) have grabbed our attention.
Catching Coldwater Stripers Before the Migration

1 month ago | onthewater.com | Jimmy Fee

A dusting of snow remained in the parking lot—the last vestige, I hoped, of the February freeze. I leaned the rods against the truck and tugged on my gloves as Anthony rooted through his bag for chemical handwarmers to stash in our jacket pockets. I suspected he was beginning to regret joining me in observing this high holy day of the striper angler: March 1.All of New England—including where Anthony and I were fishing—enjoys a year-round striper fishery.