Every once in a while a blind squirrel finds a nut. Thanks Mr. Ferguson. :idea:
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Every once in a while a blind squirrel finds a nut. Thanks Mr. Ferguson. :idea:
You're quite welcome... if squirrels were all blind I would be leading them all with bells on the googan bucket. :laugh: ;)
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Bluefish update......
I'm gonna make a prediction that people will start picking up racer bluefish in the BB and RB areas sometime this week or by the beginning of next.
They've already been caught in the ocean, though only for a few minuites.
What will probably happen is bait guys in Nomoco oceanside will report them first, or we'll get some reports of inlet bluefish along the NJ Coast.
As soon as the chocolate milk settles down, people should be getting them on small poppers in the usual back bay spots. This would be a great opportunity to take the kids fishing, folks. They easily tire of shore fishing and waiting hours for a striped bass to hit. The bluefish grab their attention better than most fish, and are perfect fish to bring children of many ages fishing for.
I'll set up some more details in another thread, but really want to see more kids out there bluefishing this year. Dads who sincerely want to take their kids out, and are not just selfishly looking for spots, feel free to PM me any time. I'll do the best I can to get you and the kids into some bluefish. :fishing:
Some big drum have come into the bays. Hold your rods and don't stray too far, lest you be the one to come here and cry your tale of woe about the "monster" that got away.... :eek:
Drum really start to get aggressive during a full moon. Waiting for my first one this year.
Got some nice bass pics sent to me last night via phone.
We're coming off the full moon, these next few days are prime fishin times for the dark side. The first few nights of a waning gibbous moon can bring incredible fishing action. Mark that down in your notebooks, guys and gals. ;)
Tides are still strong, waters are higher than normal, giving you a longer than normal window in certain areas.
Remember that the bunker move from night to night, usually moving out with the tides. The bunker you see today may not be the same that were there yesterday, as they have moved on in many instances. What guys are seeing is new bunker that comes in to feed for the night, and then moves on.
As for finding them, they tend to swim into the wind.
If we have a hard E, ask yourself where they could be if swimming into the E will give them shelter somewhere?
Same for a W or hard NW, ask yourself where they could be tucked in, in a situation like that. Try to challenge yourself with these types of questions, and you'll improve your skill set. :learn:
yeahbaby there r bass under the big bunker schools and some blue dogs too dark stop being a loner and answer your phone and stop by one nite!:HappyWave:
Wsih4fish, will do, your crew has been putting in their time, wtg. :HappyWave:
From today:
Fishin report, fished the bay 4-7:30am today, a few bass to 31", and 2 bluefish, light bucktails and small swimmers. The fish I got were in the middle to the bottom of the water column.
When fish are in an excited state over baitfish or bunker as the water temps rise, "Slow and low" presentation isn't always necessary. But when the water is still a little cold and they're not hitting top water, think of where they may be. They could be right there and you don't know it because you ain't presenting to them right. You can't go wrong with a light bucktail or rubber with lead for early spring. :learn:
If those presentations don't yield anything, it's time to move on to the next spot.
Mr Turd, I would like to add to that, if I might.:HappyWave: I haven't been out that much this season because of family responsibilities but continue to enjoy the reports and banter here.
I got 2 fish on clams today, but the strikes were not aggressive. So I would add when you are bait fishing, hold the rod or stay very close to it. You will miss the fish if you are not doing this.
Thanks for the input Cowherder. Anyone can jump in this thread at any time, that's what makes it interesting, so feel free, folks. Special attention given to the most inflammatory or goog-tastic questions. :laugh: ;)
The latest tidbit---
Slow and low is the way to go....
This may seem 2nd nature to some for this time of year.
The water is cold and despite the sudden rise in bay temps, the fish are still sluggish.
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I tried to help a new guy last week. He had $1000 worth of gear :scared: a St Croix top of the line rod, premium tackle bag, filled with all the brand-name expensive $30 plugs,,,,yet he was casting a 12" pencil popper in a deep water area.
I asked him if he wanted some feedback on what he was doing, he said yes.
So I tried......
The right presentation for that area is bucktails, rubber.
Fish are on the bottom, I tried to explain to him....
I went on to explain a little about deep-water presentation, and asked him if he wanted to sharpen his casting skills by going after a few bluefish... :viking:
"Bluefish????" He asked me in disdain, a look of shock filling his goog-tastic aura....;)
"Well, if thats all thats there, thanks but no thanks...." :upck:
Ain't nothing wrong with learning to sharpen your skill set by targeting and releasing a couple 100 bluefish. :huh: Then, when you finally catch a big bass you won't drop it due to googan error. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...cons/icon9.png
Maybe the way I think, learning at the school of hard knocks and opportunities taken, doesn't exist for a lot of people anymore....That's ok, that's the way I learned, and damn glad to have done it that way. :thumbsup:
I learned the same way, darkskies, trial and error. No internet, no cell phone chain, no facebook buddy lists, just good old fashioned sweat and walking and walking until you learned the cuts and troths. I don't feel bad saying this, a guy like that doesn't deserve to catch a fish. Buying high end stuff doesn't make you a fisherman, putting in your time and learning to read the waterr does. Today I got some bass. I have been out for the last 2 weeks, no fish so I didnt report. At least I was out there trying, and I didn't need $1000 worth of gear to do it.
Great advice DS.:thumbsup: You are spot on about that for this time of year. The fish this morning were on the bottom. Reeling metal quickly high in the water column got no results for some guys next to me. After they saw me catch a few, I advised them to start dragging the bottom, and they hooked up. When the water is cold, they don't behave like the nutty bluefish we are used to seeing. Also, I sharpened my fishing skills like you did the old fashioned way, through hard work, trial and error.
I hear ya BassBuddah! When we started fishing there was no internet or seminars.
Just pounding beach after beach, getting skunked, and refining your technique as you learned little bits and pieces of the puzzle. When you have to work for something, I think you appreciate it more. :learn:
Rainfish are here.....
Now would be a good time to use the smallest swimmers you have in the back bay when rainfish are around, make sure ya upgrade the hooks. ;)
Also if you have teasers that match that profile, fish them.
With not many sources of forage in the back bays other than bunker, it's been slim pickins for a lot of the predators, and a lot of the bass and bluefish have migrated on to SI, Jbay, and LI. Hopefully as the rainfish become more concentrated it will encourage the bass and blues to stick around for awhile...:fishing:
Concentrate on the ocean bite....now is a good time to get out there, figure out where the fish are passing by, and try to put yourself near the pathway they have been taking. The spawns are mostly done and the fish are on the move in their northern migration. A 43# bass was caught in OcCo yesterday on a pencil in rough surf. Even though the surf was big, the water, which had been full of weeds, was clean for periods of time.
Late last week, a 70lb drum was landed on the Misty Morn out of Morgan as they fished Raritan Bay for bass. A friend sent me the pic, I'll post it soon.
A 47# bass was caught on Sun morning in the MoCo surf on a clam. The pics of that fish don't do it justice, it was a real slob. The belly was relatively empty, one fluke, and some small fish.The fish was spawned out. If that fish had been caught when she was feeding on bunker, she would have been a legitimate 50. Congrats to M, who fishes all the time, and was in the right place at the right time to nail that cow! (And didn't need to brag about it on the internet) :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup:
I've been getting some pics of some nice bass people sent in to me. I've been a little busy and haven't had time to post. I'll post the ones I have permission to, when I get a chance.
Know that some quality fish are out there. There are less and less of these big fish around. I'll go into details backing that up in another thread.
If you do get one of these big fish, please ask yourself if your life will really be that much better if you parade it around to all the internet sites and tackle shops. Will it make you that much of a better person? If it's your personal best or a 50, then it's your choice to keep it, and I completely understand the need to do that. :clapping:
But if it's a 30 or 40, please remember that as mentioned, there are less and less of these fish each year. We can't just make more of them, like Doritos. A 30-40# striped bass can take 20 years to get to that size. Please respect this resource as much as possible so we have them for future generations. :fishing: Thanks for reading, folks. :HappyWave:
Fishing in the fog and weedy water....In retrospect, fishing clams or bunker in the ocean, if you could find a place that had some cleaner water, was the move to make last night. The fish are still there, migrating north. Bait on the bottom is the most consistent way for the surf guys to reach them with dirtier water when there is little around in terms of forage fish.
Biggest fish of the surf season were nailed tonight. At least (4) at 50 or close, many many more....
With an E wind, and outgoing tide, completely against what should have been the pattern. The bite died cold, then all of a sudden it was on again. Congrats to the guys who were there. The OFFC even got into em. About time, cause I heard they were all giving up fishin and buying golf clubs.... :laugh: :HappyWave:
WTG, and congrats. :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup:
Folks, right now if you get a fish with a pencil popper chances are it will be lot bigger than a 26" bass you can easily control.
With that in mind, if you go out there on the rocks, you could eventually bring in something large. It's only fair that you plan the landing out ahead of time, to get the fish back quickly (if you are releasing it) or to get the fish gaffed and up out of the way of everyone else ( if you are keeping it).
Most guys out there, they wouldn't need to read this. But there are some eager new people who need to learn, somehow.
Suggestions -
Please don't learn by letting your fish cross lines with someone else.
Have a rod that is strong enough to control your fish.
Guide the fish toward you and away from others using the drag and aggressive reeling technique, being mindful never to give the fish an inch of slack even for a second.
Before you hook up with that fish, have a game plan where you decide how you will land it, and how you will efficiently protect yourself from the ocean and any big/rogue waves in a set that could knock you on your aZZ. :scared:
Envision yourself landing that fish, and make sure it's protected eough that you won't slip or fall in if the fish still has some fight in it.
Gaffing:
Maybe I'm old school, but I believe every serious fisherman should land his own fish. Most of the time I fish alone so I'm used to it.
I grab on to the lower lip, grab it in a vice-like grip, and don't let go no matter what happens. You need to grab that lip with confidence and control your fish while you either bring it up top or release it.
Never grab a bass around the gill plates if you're releasing it. That can kill the fish after release.
Hope this helps, people.
This post was inspired by seeing a few dead fish floatiing.
I felt some folks could use the advice. :learn:
Fish are around in the ocean at night. Here's the catch, they're away from the bunker blitzes, and you will have to work for them. :eek: :laugh:
Sometimes it takes 3 hours of concentrated casting before the first fish hits.
Last night was a little better, I hooked or missed a fish about once every half hour. :fishing:
Fish the dropping tide in the ocean, slow and low is the way to go. Remember that the ocean temps went down substantially in the last few days, and fish are lethargic sometimes at night unless they're chasing bunker.
Classic cold-water presentation pattern should work here.
Small, medium-level swimmers, about 1-3' down.
Now if the bunker would just leave
If a striped bass ***** in the water, can one hear it?
Can you see it? Would anyone be listening?