Defining bait in the water

[DarkSkies]

The best bass action I get is when the surf is loaded with different kinds of forage, killies (near inlets), rainfish, spearing, herring, and everything but bunker (peanuts are ok because they are small). All small fish like that and if it's going to go off it will. .

Spot on, FnM.....I'll come back to this when I get a chance.....the seasonal patterns forage fish follow are key to finding fish when it seems there are none around.

[DarkSkies]

^^ That sentence paid off big time as some herring I have been following since Dec provided the base for an all night bonanza, over 100 fish....
Haven't had fishing like that in a long time.....

Post #134
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ers-com/page14

The combination of 2 days of rain and bad weather prior, schools of herring, and the recent arrival of massive schools of bunker and spearing provided the perfect opportunity as bait was flushed out of the inlets in strong new moon tides.

Pic...

[storminsteve]

Cool pic, thanks for sharing.

[jigfreak]

Those herring were striper candy. It was a great week.

[surfstix1963]

They are of no use if the fish stocks keep declining.

[DarkSkies]

^^ This is a great point, Surf.
Seems pretty obvious to you, me, and and other guys who have been fishing a long time.....

But talk to some of the newest guys out there, and they just don't get it....
On many forums, guys talk about how there are more bass than ever before, and "NO WAY IS THE STRIPED BASS POPULATION DOWN< THE FISHING IS EPIC RIGHT NOW!"

When people make statements like this, they often aren't looking at the big picture....
We can have boatloads of forage fish, ton after ton of it swimming happily through the bays and sounds. If there are less fish to eat it, nothing about that will ever change, unless we decide to look at the numbers we harvest every year....







*******
Update - the grass shrimp population in many back bay areas in NNJ has exploded in the last 2 weeks. When you hear about guys hammering fish in one area or section, there is always a reason. Since the herring left, the grass shrimp have been a big part of the reason for those numbers of fish being there.

Although the predators are mostly bluefish, there are also bass, kingfish, and weakfish in the mix as well.
People who are uninformed talk all the time about how "fish move".

Well, these fish will not move, as long as the grass shrimp are in that area, or until the water temps go up drastically, causing them to head for deeper water.

[Monty]

Are the grass shrimp like this?