Following the Night Tides......Do You have What it Takes?

[seamonkey]

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.......

Bored at work today. Would definitely be interested in hearing about more of this. Thanks for the thread, dark

[ledhead36]

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.

[DarkSkies]

^Ledhead, there's nothing wrong with sitting on a white bucket...you, me, and the guys know I did that for many years.......and I always managed to find a source of bait when you ran out for the night....

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.....

[DarkSkies]

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?

[DarkSkies]

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.....

[DarkSkies]

The one caveat is that I try to be more cautious in my movements at the waters edge, during a full moon...because I know if fish are in close, they can see me,,,and my movements might spook them....

For a full moon trip, I'm most happy when there is a "full moon obscured by clouds".
The cloud cover gives me more confidence, and knowledge that if the fish are spooky that night, they will be less wary with the cloud cover...again...this is just my experience,,,yours may be different....


Fishing during the moon tides....
There are a whole host of things to get excited about.....
1. Many major bait migrations or movements occur during moon tides.
2. One needs to only briefly scan the internet fishing reports to see terms like "June New Moon" and "October Harvest Moon" as times of great anticipation among fishermen...and times of great bait migration and movement....
3. Even without a major bait migration, whatever bait that is available, will be on the move, and at a much faster rate, in the rivers, bays, ocean, and inlets and inlet points,,,
4. The rapidness with which this bait moves, tends to have it disoriented and less organized in areas of stronger current or turbulence...
5. This presents perfect ambush opportunities for predators to feed aggressively on fish that may previously have been harder to catch....
6. With the predators being more active, you, the fisherman who studies these things, has more opportunity to catch them.

[DarkSkies]

As you get more into the game, and see fishing as a challenge of opportunities and openings, it becomes like a big strategy game.....if your strategy is correct you are a genius and will find fish when no one else seems to be able to...if your strategy fails.....you are just another loser, with a fishing addiction...


The best of the best know this....there is a video where Bill Wetzel talks about the conditions that drive him to be out there....
He describes sitting at work...and the feeling that a particular weather pattern, will bring bigger fish to the beach.....making for the possibility of a great night ......

I have these same compulsions driving me too....

How many others out there, have felt this as well?
The times, when you know, you just HAVE to be out there.....

[DarkSkies]

The days before and after the Moon Tides......


You will find discussions ad nauseum on internet fishing forums on most preferred moon fishing cycles.....
Waxing
Waning,
Gibbous, etc, etc......

I'm gonna simplify it all for you folks reading this...this is what works for me....
I make it my business to fish at minimum the 2 days before and after each moon tide.....
This puts your committment to fishing, to 8 nights per month....

If you're compulsive like me, you can make it 3 days before and after...which makes 12 nghts a month, that you absolutely must be out there fishing...

If you fish a lot, you will notice that the tides in between (this is why it's helpful to keep a log...) are generally less productive....
I call these "weak tide" nights because I feel that's exactly what they represent...weak tides, weak opportunity to catch fish....

Can you catch fish during these "weak" tides?
Absolutely, if there is a lot of bait around...
Whenever I am trying to illustrate a point in fishing theory, or what works for me...the absence or presence of bait., trumps all other factors...

[ledhead36]

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?

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.

[DarkSkies]

Meanwhile, if you understand temperature differentials and bait migration, you can still find a fish or two....I mentioned this to a friend who recently 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]

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.

Thanks for the perspective, ledhead.....
Have noticed that as well..the algae seems to be setting up earlier this year. We have had a block of weather uninterupted by major storms.....
Although some folks hate those storms, I feel that regular bad weather can help to keep life in the bay longer and with more variety.

For example....
1. It took an exceptionally long time for the Raritan Bay and NY Bight to heat up this year....the guys who were crowing about the fantastic bass action should check their logs for the past 5 years VS the bay temps then and compared to this year. I logged lower average temps this year....bringing optimal conditions for the bass to stay in numbers as long as they did......

2. There are other discussions that are now blaming the bunker boats for bass not being here...but what folks should focus on is that for the past 2 years some of our bays and oceans were filled with bunker schools, with relatively less bass being under them as compared to 5 years ago....

3. I often tell folks the bite is temperature driven.
By that I mean that every year I document reduced catches in my own log, as water temps change, and bass seek better water north or south, depending on stage of migration we are at.....

4. The one caveat to this, is that "bait trumps all"....
there have been times when bass shouldn't be in an area because of the too high or too low temps...yet they are there.....bait is the one factor I have seen that frequently overrides other factors...........relative to whether you have a shot at catching fish or not....

[DarkSkies]

"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?

[DarkSkies]

**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....

[DarkSkies]

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[DarkSkies]

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[DarkSkies]

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....

[DarkSkies]

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...

[robmedina]

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...

You got that right. It has ruined me from freshwater lakes and rivers. On vacation we went down to Jim Thorpe and I watched the white water rafting company launch and went down to the bank after they left. The Lehigh river was terribly smelly. I figured up that far in the mountains the water would be more pure, but nope. Made me miss the ocean all that much more!

[rockhopper]

Lets talk about the smells amen. Hope you have a section on rotten bunker and how you left it unfrozen on the back porch and how your girlfriend told you never to do that again! Because I did that!

[DarkSkies]

^^ Rockhopper, been there done that, no shame in admitting.....
I once had maggots hatched in a hole in the back of my Suburban because some chum spilled back in a door panel when I was driving around and the chum bucket toppled over.




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The Smell of Sweat...........and the Stench of Old Sweat...



Sweat, depending on it's age, can symbolize many things...
hard work....
physical workout...
sex.....
pure determination to get a job done......

When we see it at the point of creation, it can be sexy, fresh, new......
like when you're at the gym, and the hottie 2 machines away is doing a workout...covered with sweat, and you're trying not to drool.....(I know Pebbles reads these posts..... ..).there could be another whole section on how to "not" notice beautiful women on the street when you are walking hand in hand with your sweetheart....good thing to remember if y9u want to stay in the relationship you're in....

But fresh sweat can be sexy...
We see it in the gym...
Hot babes with glistening bodies.....
We see it on TV....
We see it on the beach......and TV commercials......

That's because.....
It's fresh....glistening,,,,and hasn't had the time to develop into something that has a smell,,,,just yet.....