Rips can be very fishy but approaching them requires calculation and caution.
Rips provide three of the most important elements in fishing: structure, strong current, and concentrated forage. Some of the best rips, however, are also the largest and most treacherous. Understanding how and why rips form is the first step in fishing large rips safely.
Rips are created during peak tides when water flows over bottom obstacles like ledges, reefs, banks, and shoals. As a swift current hits such structure, the hump forces water to speed up as it sweeps over it. That’s because the restricted water flowing over the structure must keep pace and meet with the unobstructed water flowing around the structure.
A series of standing waves, called a “rip line,” is created when the faster, upwelling water collides with deeper, slower water behind the structure. The water ahead (up current) of the rip line is calm, while the water behind (down current) of the rip line is choppy.
A further result of the interaction with the reef or ledge is that the waves lean forward because the top half of the wave is now moving faster than the base of the wave, which is slowed from structure friction. The waves can’t support themselves, which causes them to topple forward, crest, and break, which is, of course, a hazard to small craft. An opposing wind exponentially increases the height of the rip line as the breeze collides with the current and further stacks up the waves, so you should take both the current and wind direction into consideration when evaluating the marine forecast.
The leading (up-current) edge of a reef typically starts at about a 135- to 150-degree angle from a flat bottom. The water here begins to sweep up the front face of the reef. This up-surging water motion causes a vacuum-like effect – the same way an airplane wing gets its lift from air rushing over it – with calmer, slower water just ahead of the structure. This comparatively quiet water is called the “sweet spot.” This area is where the bait and predators are located, and therefore where you should probe by drifting a bait or bucktail off a three-way rig, diamond jigging, casting metals or plugs, or trolling.
Since it takes time and distance for the upwelling water to reach the surface, the sweet spot is located a short distance – depending on the depth – in front of the rip line, not directly beneath its leading edge. So, you should fish in front of the rip line, not right at its edge, which also conveniently provides a calm and safe area to fish with a small boat. To put that distance in perspective, a shallow, small rip’s sweet spot may start only 50-feet up current, whereas a large, deep rip’s sweet spot may start 100 or more yards up current.
Predators hold in the sweet spot to conserve energy and ambush baitfish that gather there to feed on organisms stirred up off the ocean floor. Under ideal conditions, sportfish will chase prey up through the water column and trap it against the surface just in front of the rip line. This phenomenon can generate epic blitzes and fantastic topwater action with spin or fly gear.
Always leave your engine idling when drifting toward a large rip line. It’s a risk that your engine may not start, and you’ll take curling waves aboard stern-first as you enter the rip. If you’re hooked into a big fish, be prepared to either fight it into the rip, or if the rip is too menacing, drag the fish away from the rip with your boat. You may lose that fish, but you’ll be safe. And always keep an experienced navigator at the helm.
No matter how concentrated and tempting the action is at the sweet spot, there are at least six reasons never to anchor in front of a big rip: 1. the current drag on an anchor rode can pull a small boat under bow-first. 2. Anchor retrieval is dangerous and often impossible. 3. Maintaining bottom with a lure is typically impossible because you must drift to keep pace with a tide-swept jig. 4. Rips often have a fleet of vessels drifting down current, and an anchored boat will cause a roadblock and possible collision. 5. It’s extremely difficult to horse a big fish against a strong current to a stationary boat. 6. Baitfish and predators often travel back-and-forth parallel to the rip line, and anchoring prevents your ability to stay with the school.
