Fishing reports: Turd Ferguson helps the new guys

[DarkSkies]

The early spring fish are small, I agree.....For those fishing for them,

1. please crush your barbs if fishing plugs or jigs....
2. And use small circle hooks if fishing clams.......
These fish are our future resource and it's best to minimize injury and get them back into the water ASAP.....please think of that if you are taking pics of them as well......

Spring Bay fshing 2013......
As the OGB also mentioned, there aren't a lot of signs to bring larger fish in yet....no small forage, creeks (in NNJ,and excluding warmer water areas ) are mostly dead water and devoid of life at this time....some small fish are around but IMO there is not enough forage to sustain larger numbers and sizes in any quantity at this moment...

Bunker were seen in the bays before this...but IMO the bunker schools are not large yet as they get in season...and they move from day to day....As Fin was saying, we need the smaller forage as a stable base to bring more fish into the mix. The marine worms are a big part of this, but the other significant part is the killies, spearing, dace, grass shrinmp, and other small species that early season bass will eat....and right now, for many areas, these small fish are just not there....

**This could change with a few days, or a week of sunny/warmer weather.


I know folks are dying to catch fish right now, and many of us are climbing the walls.....
If you are willing to sit there for a few hours, near the top of tide, after a sunny day, the chances are decent you may catch a fish or two......Many of these fish are babies, and the future of our resource...please be careful with the C&R... thanks for reading.....

[DarkSkies]

A friend got a 37" bass about 20 lbs on Sat.
Just to put things in perspective, he fished 8 hours for that one fish.
Congrats to all who are getting out there and putting in their time. Odds are you won't catch fish like this fishing for an hour at a time. It has been nasty and windy for the last 2 weeks. Anyone who is even out trying, deserves some . You guys are making your own reports instead of chasing them. Whether you catch or not, great effort....well-done.





Attachment 16753

** Fishing window and feeding window......
These terms are crucial for success particularly when the water is cold. As has been mentioned by several members here, there are little spurts of activity when the bay waters warm up a few degrees....it reallly makes sense to pay close attention to these early season temps and look for these windows in time when those temps may cause a few bass to feed.

It bothers me when folks hype up a report or try to make generalizations about the few early season fish that are caught...the reality is that right now most of the guys out there aren't catching, the water (in most areas) is too cold for consistency. The ones who are, are generally lone wolves, fishing based on their logs and decades of experience, knowing when and where to target the few fish that may be feeding in an area.

[DarkSkies]

This is so important, that if you don't do it, my probing question to folks who are going out there, is "Why do you bother, then?" If you're going to go out in the raw weather, cold and wind, and sometimes cold driving rain, why wouldn't you want to pick the very best time, that was optimal for you to catch a fish?


Here's one example.....
There were some newer anglers I felt sorry for...out many times last year and this spring, still no bass caught by them.....I knew where and when they were fishing, advised them to change the time frame as they were fishing the worst possible time.....when I try to suggest this, often the response I get is...."Well I fish when I can....".....OK I get that,,,,unless we want to be unemployed and divorced, we have to make compromises when we fish....

**Remember this...the fish wait for no one......
Knowing this, I gave them specific advice about the best time to fish (right now, this framework can change weekly early and late season with colder water temps)......

What did they do?
They fished in the exact opposite part of the day that I told them their best opportunities were......And had no action at all......
I'm a results oriented guy.....sometimes I rub people the wrong way because of my bluntness....

I feel this way about fishing, and advice...there were few who offered me advice when I wanted to learn artificials....I was grateful for whatever advice they gave me, even though some of it was harsh criticism....I took the criticism, and to this day still feel that I do listen. If I am doing something wrong, or something that is not conducive to me finding fish, I want to learn how to be better.....
I think for good anglers, that learning never stops.....

An alarming trend among some new guys is:
1. They don't want to listen.
2. They don't want to really understand the advice you are giviing them.
3. Or, they want to spend the least amount of time at it, and catch a 50 lb bass in their first year of fishing....
4. I learned the old fashioned way. It was incredibly difficult for me, with much humiliation along the way....wondering if I would ever get to the point where I could understand these "patterns" that some of us talk about....















**My gripe here, is that there isn't much committment among some of the newer anglers out there.....whether it be to learn the best times to fish, and how to fish when conditions change, to the severe culture of apathy among many salt water fishermen when it comes to getting involved fighting for fishing access, fishing quota, or fishing opportunities......

And it makes me sad...because each time I try to help someone, it takes time from my day, that I could be doing something else....I don't mind helping, because I want to pay forward for some of the help that was given me....

But if I give you advice and tell you to do something a certain way, if you don't take it seriously, I probably won't help you again.

I know I have alienated some in the fishing world with my candid comments.

I'm not looking to make hundreds more friends in life...I have enough good folks I know who I can count on....When I help (or anyone else) helps someone., we like to feel that the advice was worth our while, that the person learned from, and improved their game, from said advice........

[DarkSkies]

**New guys out there, please remember the words above.
1. If anyone here, or an old-timer you meet, offers you advice... Whether it be fishing or life skills related, we all want to be appreciated.
2. If you can pay attention, follow up,, and let the person giving you advice, see that you have benefitted from and appreciate the wisdom...
3. It's possible that they will want to help you more....and continue the relationship.......

These are things that I have learned in my life, going to the school of hard knocks.....and it is why I'm a little impatient with those who don't want to put the effort in.......

Remember that no matter how many seminars you go to, books you read, or advice ANY of us gives you...there is no substitute to learning fishing, to time on the water, and paying attention and documenting the lessons you learn from each trip, to become better.

Fishing window and feeding window....
There are some very informative threads here...all for the trouble of doing a search....they're relatively easy to find.....

All newer guys here should read them. if you have particular questions, ask them, in that thread,,,,and I'm sure someone will answer you......
Fishing window-
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...t-Means-to-You

Feeding window-
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-Based-Anglers

[DarkSkies]

Had a meeting about Drag Island last night....
As I made my way home before work this morning, I was inexplicably drawn to make a few stops.
Water temps were not so encouraging.....had some trips I was thinking of making in the next 10 days....will probably put them off till water temps rise a little bit more.....

There are so many going back and forth on this about what the temps are, or where the temps should be.....

I think Fin and some of the others have said it best...
The winter 2 years ago was pretty mild. Many of us have gotten spoiled being able to fish for them outside the usual seasonal parameters.
One of the key things driving early season bass, IMO, (in addition to water temps) is bait and forage. Other than the worms starting to stir in the mud everywhere, and some S Jersey areas with warmer temps and more forage, there is not a lot of forage around now, in most areas.

Inlets and areas leading to them are still cold. Back bays heat up for a day or 2 for brief windows, and then shut down again. Key on those warmer areas, spend time out there, and you will probably find some fish......

Overall, I may wait a bit as I have too much on the plate right now.
Still, was good to get out there after almost 2 months of not making a cast...

[mick2360]

DS, I dropped in after a long hiatus. Good to see that you are still mentoring the newer guys and making some good common sense points. All that I have to add is that crushing barbs is a good idea anytime of year but especially important now. The sun is high in the sky and warming the bays.....good things are going to happen. I may dust off my gear and meet up with you this year......they sure as hell are not biting in my office!

Be safe!
Mick

[DarkSkies]

^^ Anytime Mick...it's a little slow in NNJ now...but a week should change all that....,give me a call, come on down....

[DarkSkies]

Last night, about 5 minutes before I was scheduled to make to move to somplace else, I caught and released a nice 16 lb bass on a big swimmer.
The excitement of that fish brought out my addictive tendencies.
Casted another 100 times looking for another, not a touch.
2 additional hours of hoping when I should have made a move elsewhere.

By doing that I missed the tide at the other place I wanted to be.
There is an old saying, don't leave fish to find fish, so I stuck with that last night.

Happy, but still struggling with fishing as an addiction. If you want to catch fish consistently, you need to know when to leave one place and move to the next. With bunker around and fish feeding on them at night it has been very frustrating for me as I struggle to figure out what little patterns there might be.

You hear me talking about blind casting a lot. For bigger fish, in my experience, in the end it is all about random casting in areas likely to hold them.
Very tough to figure if there are less fish around. That is what my experience is out there at night, on artificials.

[DarkSkies]

Picky bluefish.....

With all the plugs and plastic I carry the fish only wanted 4 inch shads reeled in really slow. They were right on the bottom.

I found the same thing in both places I fished, Vpass.
People talk about how easy bluefish are to catch, and will hit anything artificial you throw at them.
When the water drops drastically after being warmer, or trends down to 50 degrees or less, in my experience they become very picky for the artificial bite.

[finchaser]

south winds cooler water made them lethargic you had to finesse them to hit

[porgy75]

**New guys out there, please remember the words above.
1. If anyone here, or an old-timer you meet, offers you advice... Whether it be fishing or life skills related, we all want to be appreciated.
2. If you can pay attention, follow up,, and let the person giving you advice, see that you have benefitted from and appreciate the wisdom...
3. It's possible that they will want to help you more....and continue the relationship.......

These are things that I have learned in my life, going to the school of hard knocks.....and it is why I'm a little impatient with those who don't want to put the effort in.......

Remember that no matter how many seminars you go to, books you read, or advice ANY of us gives you...there is no substitute to learning fishing, to time on the water, and paying attention and documenting the lessons you learn from each trip, to become better.

Fishing window and feeding window....
There are some very informative threads here...all for the trouble of doing a search....they're relatively easy to find.....

All newer guys here should read them. if you have particular questions, ask them, in that thread,,,,and I'm sure someone will answer you......
Fishing window-
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...t-Means-to-You

Feeding window-
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-Based-Anglers

Picky bluefish.....




I found the same thing in both places I fished, Vpass.
People talk about how easy bluefish are to catch, and will hit anything artificial you throw at them.
When the water drops drastically after being warmer, or trends down to 50 degrees or less, in my experience they become very picky for the artificial bite.

south winds cooler water made them lethargic you had to finesse them to hit

I have learned so much just from this thread alone. I hope I have at least said thank you for all you do and inviting us in to learn this stuff ds.

Finchaser I also hope I have thanked you too for your input. It is apparent to me you are one of the old salts that has earned lifes wisdom through the school of hard knocks, you too ds. Thanks for all you share. I go back from time to time and read this thread to see if there is anything I missed., thanks for sharing your wealth of knowedge and being so helpful.

[DarkSkies]

Thanks for the kind words Porgy. I'm sure Fin appreciates them, too.

This is just a reminder that this site is about all of you....
I have explained to you all, that the site is about you, and what you all post...


Some key things I have noticed about the internet generation out there......
a. They want to be entertained,
b. They want to be excited,
c. Yet many are not willing to be even a small part of the excitement, or the entertainment...instead expecting others to do it for them.

So Porgy, I thank you for the questions and threads you and others pose on this site...if you are thinking it in your head...chances are...someone else has the same question....ask away......and thanks for doing your part to be part of our community.....















This is something I recently sent to a friend....he fished all night for one 13# bass........

"The biggest sense of achievement is not when everyone else is catching fish in a blitz..it's when you catch one or two, on a night when it seems they are not around...."


It's a real sense of accomplishment to find one,
when others think there are none.....

[DarkSkies]

Mid-Summer Fishing doldrums........
In my experience, the NJ areas that are now holding the most amount of bait, and fish....and chances of night bass, blues, and weakfish...tend to be back bay areas...and will continue to be superior through October.....

a. one thing that diminishes the activity is the high water temp, so if you are fishing now at night, the best advice I can give you is to
b. concentrate on the last 3 hours of the flood tides when the water can be up to 8 degrees cooler.....
c. Look for barometric changes, like a severe .4 to .5 drop before a storm system comes through.
d. Look for significant temperature drops or wind pattern shifts....these can all be productive in spurring a feed.









** Remember this as a rule..if you are fishing back bays, and even the ocean, when there are only a few fish around it is critical to find the "feeding window" - sometimes that window will only last for 1/2 hour to 2 hours, or only 20 minutes.....
This is why it's important to fish a whole tide at a time, until you figure it out, and then you will be dialed in, if a pattern develops....

[DarkSkies]

Late summer transitions.......


My logs show late summer bluefish (other than the snappers) start to load back into the bay during the last 2 weeks of August....this has been a fairly consistent pattern......but it also depends on water temperatures lowering a bit, and the gathering of small and larger baits....this Post Sandy year has been slightly different for a lot of back bay areas that usually see more activity at night.


The exciting thing about this for me.... is that it's been my experience that the more bluefish that fill a bay or river/creek system or area, the better the bass activity becomes.
Bass can sometimes be lazy feeders and stay on the perimeter when bluefish start to make their end of day runs into the bay looking to harass the growing pods of different bait.

The best fall times for me, have been end of day, and deep in the night.....I have found that lack of boat traffic in an area is a key factor if you are looking to find this type of activity....one of the few exceptions being that if the bait is extremely thick and concentrated in an area, the predators may be less affected by the boat traffic and feed anyway....

This can be exciting to find in late summer water that is seemingly dead, or filled with predictable summer residents like small fluke, sea robins, croakers, and spot......one trip you will be out there....and after a long absence, say to yourself........"Wow where did all these bluefish come from?"
The more likely scenarion is they were there before you thought they were, but gravitating to areas of highest bait concentration.....

As mentioned, the water temps tend to have an affect, in my experience, on how the angler will perceive the bite to be......as the bay temps drop into the 70's and start to trend downward, I have found those temps to be ideal for marauding packs of bluefish, weakfish, and later on....bass.

[DarkSkies]

So many fishermen concentrate on the ocean this time of year, waiting for the fish to "load up" and become more apparent, near the jetties and inlets.....
That's a great strategy if you are
1. targeting fluke, which by this time are starting to move from the back bay flats into deeper water anyway...
2. or targeting sharks...

However, if you are targeting any of the other species mentioned above......my best experience for consistent late summer action has been in the back bay areas and sod banks.
Whether you are fishing bait or artificials this time of year...the amount of juvenile baitfish in the back, simply dwarfs the scattered amount you will find in the surfline , and as such presents a compelling reason (for me) to exploit every known concentration of back bay bait, to see if there are fish on them.







There were years in the past, that I did not leave the back bay areas to fish the ocean until the end of October (Columbus Day)...the fishing was that good, and there were enough nights with double digit catches of bass and blues to the teens to make it worthwhile....

**Unfortunately, that pattern has changed for me. I am finding less bass overall as part of a decline I have seen in the past 8 years...hence the reason for me moving around more.....the point I'm trying to make here, is that for the next 6-8 weeks, speaking strictly of Jersey waters, the back bay will be more productive for those who understand tides, structure, and bait patterns....

Understand these patterns, the limited feeding windows common to the back bays, and what sparks fish to feed....and you will manage to find some exciting action out there at night.

[DarkSkies]

Pattern fishing...fishing a Pattern......

Fishing Fall 2013.....when I or friends do find them....there is no pattern, or the pattern will only last for a few nights, if we are lucky.....I had double digits of bass the other night....went back last night hoping that pattern would repeat, as it has for me, for the last 10 years,,,and nothing.......
This can be explained by a lot of things....but for those of us who fish patterns, and eagerly anticipate that once we find fish, we will have them for awhile....these patterns have not really held up like in the past....

The best explanation I have for this (my experience only, others may have different opinions)...is that the fish are spread so thin, that it's very tough to try to discover a pattern,,,

What I am experiencing....is patches of fish...here and there.....
This far into the fall run, the bass being spread so thin,, has not been so poor for me, for many years......

[cowherder]

^^ ds I think you mentioned in the past about standing on the red x. So far this year that would be something to look for because it does not seem like a pattern to me either it just seems too random. Maybe I should look to purchase a red x detector lol.

[DarkSkies]

Cowherder, I think these comments below, will confirm the difficulty of finding a pattern, lasting beyond a few days.....



** I think the bulk of the bigger bluefish that we were targeting have shifted over to the N side of the NY Bight.....
Some have re-appeared on the RB flats, some close and some only reachable by kayak....and there were some really nice ones in the surf on Fri...chasing the bunker in tight along with some trophy bass.....
What prevents me from hitting the surf for them is these bigger blues usually mostly show up chasing large schools of bunker.....and that means you have to be there for that hour or two......they get sucked out like a vacuum when the bunker move offshore......

So for me....chasing them on the flats and rivers is more predictable of a pattern to try and follow......and can yield double or triple digits on those rare nights when you are perfectly dialed in....with the occasional 15+ pound bluefish thrown in, and the occasional large tiderunner weakfish.........


But so far this year.....those patterns have not lasted for more than a few days, for me.






** Also, for those waiting for the next "wave" of bigger bass to come up from South Jersey....
be aware that they are already catching migratory fish....
1. At Montauk....(slow bite so far)
2. and Cape Cod

[DarkSkies]

Lack of consistent pattern.....continued....
(Observations from my 5-29 trip)



When the numbers are down, like it was before the moratorium, it becomes difficult to catch bass in areas where they previously were. On that night's (5-29) trip I made 5 different stops. Each place had produced at least one bass in previous years' trips.
1. Fishing does change to year to year,
2. and temperature affects this as well....
3. but the seasonal patterns a lot of us try to follow, are pretty regular. If you pay attention to time, lunar cycle, tide, current flow, and bait movement, you can usually pick up a few fish on a night's trip out there....

I don't bother fishing for bass in the daylight any more because unless you're on the boat and find feeding fish, it's too inconsistent for me. The night tides have been a consistent producer for me for bass and bluefish action, especially the moon tides, during which I have almost always done well.

To be out at night, moon tides, cloudy conditions, has been the ticket for multiple trips of double digit catches of larger bass for me in the past. There is one place that I only usually hit during the beginning of a noreast pattern, always holds fish for those specific conditions...Thur's trip was the first time this season, that I have seen fish there.....and they were only bigger fish.....mid to high teens.....no signs of smaller bass at all.....which is really disturbing to me....

So in summary,
A. fishing for bass with a bunker head or chunk, will give you that one or two bass that are feasting on that pod.....
B. When the concentrations are higher, you can get them with artificials, if you want to work at it.....
C. I view fishing and catching with bunker or heads, as not indicative of the health of the fishery.....and it may lull some into a false sense of security..."Look the bass are around....see I caught a 20 lber last night on a bunker head!"....this is not logically accurate, IMO.....
D. It's the same way when you are working live eels in an area......with a live eel....even if no fish are around....you will draw that one fish, that is within a hundred yards.....to that eel because it's one of the most deadly tactics for drawing bass in.......but catching that one bass, on the eel.....again, does not show relative health of a fishery........
These are just my observations, over decades of fishing bait and artificials....
Again, nothing wrong with fishing bait....I did it for many years....and know many key tapeworm beds I used to dig at regularly.......

But also...in my observation......fishing with bait is a guarantee to catch at least one fish.....if fish are active in that area......
because fish, even when numbers are thin.....will be drawn to the scent or live activity detected by their lateral lines.....








** Fishing with artificials, especially looking for bass at night.....has been pretty disappointing for me, this year......because there is just no pattern that has lasted more than a few nights, or hours, so far, for me.....and the catching (while focusing on areas that have always held a few bass) has been disappointing as well..
These are just my observations...thanks for reading.....

[DarkSkies]

Right now - 9-11-14- Advice for Fishing Artificials that Catch....NNJ

1. You can't go wrong with fishing a bucktail/rubber or BT/pork right now.
Rubber would be good too but will get chopped by the bluefish.

2. Fish, if any, are down and deep as the bait that was around 2 weeks ago has really thinned out.

3. If you have plugs, try some 5" or less..., SP minnows (or smaller) white or yellow, or small bombers with shiny foil blue colors or white with red heads, the best mullet representations out there....

4. TEASERS are a MUST as most of the forage is 3" or less, but tough to fish when weeds are in the water.

5. You cannot throw those small plugs in rough water though...Poppers would work at first light in the ocean when mullet run the coast as they are doing now.
6. As I said most of the mullet have cleared out of our back bays, not only here, but raritan river, shark river, and barnegat bay and manasquan river - they are 90% gone already, except for the new schools that may come in at night to rest from up north.

7. Your window to fish the ocean is the first half hour before and after first light every day, or the last 2 hours before dark at and of day.
If you can find a few mullet you will find fish at those times.

8. Pickings are very slim right now. No one who is fishing from shore now is catching more than a few, if that many.Party boat just started catching in the channels, What few bass there are, are either scattered, or deep and on the bottom

9. And...this is the best of it, right now IMO, this full moon weekend....By Monday if no more bait arrives,, it could get worse,,,,as we traditionally every year go into an October waiting period until some resident bass start to move into the usual places by the mid to 3rd week of october...and we will start to see a small portion of the migrating bass......