Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
I mention the above to make us all aware of the fact that no one is perfect....
We try our best to be prepared, and think of all these things....
But when big fish come calling....they frequently take you by surprise.....big fish are solitary by nature....and you never know when you may get the chance to see one or feel one at the end of your line.......
So like the Boy Scout motto...
Be prepared.......
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
The Committment to be out there...when the fish are there......
In my experience, the night bite, is very different from many other bites.....it is a study unto itself....
I was trying to explain to some newer guys I met the other night......that if you want to be successful, you have to know the tide.....
You can't learn it in an hour....or expect to catch fish with only a one hour committment.....unless you are concentrating on dawn and dusk.....
The biggest fish I have found while fishing, other than the bunker blitzes, are ones that I found deep in the night...
and usually when I was least expecting one....half asleep from the lack of action....until your arm gets the jolt of a solid hit on your plug.....a real solid hit....and after you manage to set that hook hard, you feel the fish start to fight, the drag starts to sing....zinnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg..............to me there is more adrenalin in that moment than drinking a whole pot of coffee....
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
As to the Committment....I have tried to help hundreds of folks over the years....some of them get it....they know the feeding opportunities are limited.....there will be one window per nght if you are lucky...if you find more than one....you have hit the jackpot......
The standard complaint of today's harried angler (family...job, social obligations, etc, etc) is "I fish when I can"
That's a great path to follow, if it is the only path that gets you out there., and you are able to get some relaxation from it....all good....
However, the fish feed when they do.....the fish wait for no one....and the tides...wait for no one....
So if you are ready to take it to the next level, you have to understand that clearly......and learn to make more of a committment...to be there when the fish decide to feed......
Senior Member
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
Originally Posted by DarkSkies
However, the fish feed when they do.....the fish wait for no one....and the tides...wait for no one....
So if you are ready to take it to the next level, you have to understand that clearly......and learn to make more of a committment...to be there when the fish decide to feed......
Amen,dude. When its on its on and when dead is like a funeral.
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
"Why is that Committment necessary?
Can't I just get that info from Facebook?---there is a cool new surfcaster group I joined....they are catchng large all the time, if you believe the pics they are posting.....why I can't just go to the beach, and shadow them? Why do I need to learn all this extra stuff? It just seems too frivolous to me....too obsessive!"
This is an earlier thread I did....
"How Hard are you willing to Work, to Learn?"
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-work-to-learn
Good reading for the newer members here.....
You need to learn these things, and fish a whole tide at a time.....so you will understand how a bite develops, how and why it sustains itself, and how and why it shuts down...and what you can do at that point.....you can't learn this on facebook, an internet seminar, or even here, for that matter...the only way to learn...is to go out there....put in the time....and see for yourself.......
Usually, when a bite dies....it is about the food lessening, or stage of tide lessening...or some factor that you are possibly not aware of....but you have to train yourself to "see" when this happens, and when it wanes.......
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
"What are the Benefits, besides me investing a sh*tload of my time, with no guarantees?"
My answer to that is that there are no guarantees in life....
When you asked that beautiful girl to become your wife, there were no guarantees that she would say "Yes!"
When you went for that promotion at work, there were no guarantees you would get it.
When you climbed that mountain ridge to scout for signs of that trophy deer, bull elk, etc...there are no guarantees that you would find the trail....
When you tried that new path in life, unsure of every step, there were no guarantees it would work out either....
Senior Member
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
Bored at work today. Would definitely be interested in hearing about more of this. Thanks for the thread, dark
Senior Member
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
I hope you put in a post or two about sitting on a white bucket. That can work out when there are bunker in the area and you sit tight for the whole tide. Have gotten bass up to 38# this way in the spring when they pass by.
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
^Ledhead, there's nothing wrong with sitting on a white bucket...you, me, and the guys know I did that for many years....
I have a few friends like you who consistently catch large by tossing bait at night and waitiing...one such friend gets bass in the 30-40# class every year by tossing bunker heads during the right time and tide.....
He knows all too well the importance of following the night tides.....
he has it down to a science and knows what week, to be in which location....we have discussions about fish migration and fishing all the time.....every year he correctly predicts when bunker will enter the bay in numbers...and he can see fish underneath when it looks like there is no activity above.....
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
He has been getting fish to the high teens in the ocean in the last 2 months on bunker heads...but the other night he called, grumbling that this is his worst year in a long time....
Also, a bunch of his fishing friends just went to Montauk, and did poorly in the surf....June has always been the traditional month when bass turn the corner at the Point...While the boats are doing OK...many have not noticed that their "split trips" are a relatively new phenomenon because you can no longer catch bass all day at Montauk...even in a boat...if that doesn't say the numbers are down., I don't know what does.....
There is another thread here that talks about the decline of fish in Montauk....
or you could just do an internet search for
"Why are there no fish in Montauk right now?"
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...tauk-right-now
Despite all the internet cheerleading by folks who say they are having a relatively good year for striped bass....I'm not.,...have to travel further and longer trips to still find bass...and am not finding the numbers I usually run into.....he told me his trips are 8 hours or more at night,,,,,all for one 16-20# bass.
He claims this is his worst year in decades....
I would have to agree with him...those are my sentiments as well...
I wonder where this year stands for you..relative to your past years of success?
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
Fishing the Moon Tides.....
Anyone who begins to develop an addiction to fishing...and starts to plan out their trips, as to which place they will be fishing, at which stage of the night tide....knows all too well the importance of the moon tide....
Every time I see someone claim, on the internet
"Well I didn't catch fish last night, damn full moon!"
If you are using that excuse, maybe you need to re-think your skill set, and ask yourself why you are not finding fish...because most likely it ain't the fault of the moon....
1. You may want to blame fire in the water, phosphorescence...(a common occurrence during warmer months and exascerbated by the brightness of a full moon)
2. You may want to blame lack of bait, forage....all good reasons for fish not to be there...
3. You may want to accept that there are less fish around than there used to be, even at night,
4. You may want to consider that with all the new guys in the game today, there are less fish to go around for us all.
5. You may want to consider that weather or storm patterns have affected migration in your area...
All of the above would be valid reasons why you may not catch duriing a full moon trip...but if they are not factors...please don't blame the moon.....
Senior Member
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
Not so great for me this year either dark. Some good weeks in march and april but may went downhill. There is also a lot of algae in the bay on the edges. Almost like a red tide but brown. I am envious of guys with kayaks because they can get out deeper.
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
"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.....
The other part of the Equation here, is the Failure part....
There will be times when you are out there....and no matter what you can't find a fish....Even more depressing than hooking that one fish and losing it....is the work you put in.....a full night of fishing, 3-7 hours, and you just can't buy a hit, anywhere.....
To me, that is the most depressing....but if you really love fishing, it's not a total loss....
1. It can be an opportunity to look at what you did during the night....and ask why the fish were not there..
2. It can be another opportunity to look at bait patterns, and ask yourself if there are likely to be fish in another area where there is more bait around.
3. It can be another opportunity to look at your log and see what temperatures the fish have been most active at....what patterns are you seeing?
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
**Remember.....if there are tons of bait in an inlet or back bay area, and the water temps are consistently holding in the high 70's....there is a lesser likelihood of you catching bass until those temperatures moderate downwards a bit....
If there is an algae bloom in the back bays, fire in the water,or other adverse conditions....these all will affect the bite, and where the fish will be sitting and moving through....these are all factors to think about, on nights when you can't find activity....
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
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Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
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Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
About ready to move forward with some more posts in this thread.....
I've decided to break it down into 5 main areas.....
2. The Sights, the Smells, the Sounds...of the lifestyle....(you know I'll be focusing a lot, on the Smells....
)
....
Now for the fun stuff.......please be warned that if you have a sensitive stomach, now is the time to turn back...do not go any further....
Administrator
Re: Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?
The Good Smells.....let's get that out of the way first......before I get into the bad ones....
1. The smell of bunker in the bay or ocean at night......the slight scent of cucumbers, or heavy fish smell, that tell you they are there......if you have been doing this for a while...you don't need to see them flipping.......you can Hear them.....or Smell them....
2. The Smell of Freshly caught fish....baking in oll, garlic, butter, and spices, wrapped in foil, in the grill.....
3. The Smell of the Night.....the jetties, inlets, bulkheads, ocean beaches, trails with honeysuckle, the cactus pears, the smell of rocks and dirt on the cliffs overlooking some ocean vistas, the smells of the night.....that only linger for a second or two, before they blend in with the dozens of other smells, and become indistinguishable,,,,,
4. The Scent of Salt Air...it has a definite scent....a Freshness.....the breeze that breathes life into you, as you are tired, and don't want to push on any further....it is the Breath that refreshes.....and wakes you up...when you are getting drowsy and all of a sudden you are brought back into reality as a nice fish hits your line, makes it's first run... or smashes your plug...and almost jolts your arm out of its socket.....
5. The Smell of the Sea.........
There is no smell like that of the sea....ask any Sailor, Merchant Mariner......Capt who is on the water a lot.....or Fisherman who spends many nights a year out there.......some of us may take it for granted....but the smell, the scent....has a subliminal attraction for a lot of us.....and there are many who could not bear to live too far away from it....for too long...
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