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

[DarkSkies]

Some more night tides pics.....

This is a friend from Delaware......fishes every chance he gets, when he's not working....All pics courtesy of him....
His new addiction is bunker heads...before that it was live eels at night...as he travels the Coast to put himself where the biggest bass are feeding at night......
Note the size of the hooks he is using......







He sent me some pics of bass he was catching Cape May area...in June....
long after everyone else had given up catching larger bass down there....he was getting bass to 30#...at night,,,,by fishing up to 8 hours at a time...

(and if he was lucky...... was only catching one of these nice fish, per trip) all on the night tides......

[baitstealer]

Wow nice fish - that is a monster hook! Looks big enough to catch a shark.

[ledhead36]

....he was getting bass to 30#...at night,,,,by fishing up to 8 hours at a time...

(and if he was lucky...... was only catching one of these nice fish, per trip) all on the night tides......

Thats what its like in March in the rB. No one wants to get off the couch and go out there in the cold. We still manage to find some 20 pounders though. You have to put your time in. Awesome striper. congrats to the guy from Delaware.

[DarkSkies]

Being able to fish a bite, at a moment's notice....

I'm not talking about blitz fishing here....but the fishing when a solid bite develops..
Some folks are able to drop what they're doing, and in some cases drive a hundred miles, or several states away...to find fish that are not in the usual areas....
The Cape May/Atlantic County area bite earlier this summer, where most of the Berkeley C&R tourney winners came from, is but one example.....

During the last 2 weeks, a bite developed in a state North of us.....
I first heard of it about 2 weeks ago....I can talk about it now because it's fair to say it's mostly played out....only the locals have a fair shot at the isolated pockets of fish that remain.......

I just couldn't rush up there...I don't have that kind of committment-free luxury in my life...
However there are some people who can.....and do...being able to travel at a moment's notice...
And that's what makes the difference...sometimes it's just one or two nights of good fishing....


The list of out-of-staters up there read like a "Who's Who" list of the surf fishing world....A friend, one of the best fishermen I know...
recently went up.....he only had 24 hours,,,,and got nothing....while another friend had double digit fish to 30# the night before.....
That's part of what I mean by the insanity of this all....
And the reality that we are seeing less fish around....lack of a sustained pattern to plan your fishing by.....
forcing people to gravitate toward bites like this.....

I got feedback that although this bite wasn't highly publicized on the internet....the fishing was shoulder to shoulder....
That's not my kind of fishing.......and for that reason I wasn't in a hurry to get up there......

It has become, for some, a mad rush to jump in the car or truck, to get to the one shining area that month, where there is a good bite....if you miss it your numbers for the year will suffer.






**Just thought I would share...the ridiculous attempts some of us will go through to get into some decent fish.....
It really ain't that easy lately, to catch bigger fish from land....
If some folks can't look at this, and see how bad things have become, for most of us...creating frenzy conditions whenever a decent land-based bite develops..then they will never understand how far down, the quality of fishing for bass has fallen in the last 8 years....

[Blazin420]

..Lots of snappers around forgot my snapper zapper at home...duh....Also alot of what looked like spearing in the wash..May get out tonight for a bit..

[DarkSkies]

^ JB thanks for the kind words. It used to be a lot easier for me to catch decent numbers of fish. Tossiing a storm shad at any beach or river could usually produce a few small bass without much effort. We would go to areas of high bait concentrations on a summer night and hear bass popping all over. Now that just doesn't happen that often. Some feel I'm being over-zealous with my preaching, but I remember how easy it used to be, when I knew a lot less about catching.

Good point about the spearing Blazin, and congrats on finding some bass. I have been all over the NY Bight area in the last few weeks, harbors, inlets, rivers, etc.... seeing which types of bait are in which areas. I'm finding mullet and peanuts, and sometimes adult bunker. IMO these mullet and peanuts are nowhere near the quantities that we had back in 2006 (which was probably an exceptional year).

There are some areas that hold a lot, but many areas hold few or none. People ask about the mullet run. With the limited areas they are in now, I'm not so sure it will be a great mullet run for the NY Bight/ Raritan area. Other areas further South are full of mullet. Friends are netting a lot, and it may be a good year for those areas.
For the NY Bight area..... for some reason things seem slightly different to me this year (so far).

Of course. that could all change in the next 2 weeks as bait will play a musical chair pattern in various harbors and marinas...... also depending on the weather patterns. The only way to track it and get a sense of where to be is get out there and scout.




**NOTE:
The bait I'm finding in the most abundance is adult spearing 3-5", tiny glass minnows (about 1-2"), snappers (6-12") and some medium to large needlfish (4-12").
Teasers should be a part of the night for anyone fishing with artificials, and you should not be without at least one needlefish in your bag.
Things are starting to get exciting, but you will not see that unless you are out there putting your time in. Good luck to all.

[jigfreak]

If they gave out PHDs in bait knowledge you would qualify dude. Right on I agree and thanks for sharing. I think the mullet will leave early way before the bulk of the bass get here. Just my .02

[DarkSkies]

^ Jigfreak, thanks for the kind words. It has become so spotty lately that I won't stop moving until I find a concentration of bait. So many areas that should have fish this time of year, are not holding any.
The full moon is on the 9th, 3 nights from now. The mullet are already on the move. I think you made a wise prediction there.



Fishing reports last 2 weeks of Aug 2014 -
Note: I probably could have done a little better, if I was out there more often.
I had a lot going on and just didn't feel like fishing.
I will say that for the first week of Sept, the fishing has gotten a bit better, but you have to put time into finding them. There are no consistent areas, even the better known ones.

Simply put....
Bait = Fish



8-17-14 AM 4 hour trip
Hadn’t fished in 2 weeks. Lots of issues. I had to drag myself out there to clear my head. Fished 4 hours, 5 locations. Not a tap.

Highlight of the night........ helping a Columbian tourist and his hot blonde girlfriend try to find her cell phone they lost at the beach.
They were both drunk. Honestly I only helped them because she was so hot. Helping them made me miss a critical part of the tide at the first stop. When I’m fishing, the tide is the most important thing, As I said, they were lucky she was a hottie.Sorry I could not find her phone for her.




8-21-14 AM 3 hour trip
Fished 2hours, only managed one small bluefish on rubber shad. Got chased off the beach by the lightning.Slept in car for 2 hours. Back out, no fish.
Decided to try my luck at crabbing. By wading the flats with a net I managed 2 dozen in 1 hours. Not bad for my first attempt at crabbing in 15 years.




8-23-14 AM 3 hour trip
Got down to the water, E wind was blowing steady 20mph, Had to find a lee from the wind. The rain from the previous 24 hours had effed up the water salinity and the abundant small bait was not there.
Decided to try crabbing again. I believe the water salinity changed the scene for the crabs as They were not abundant. Had to do a lot of walking. Ended up with a half dozen for an hour’s walking.
Scouted all the back bay places I know that hold bait, on the way home. It’s not that great as less than half of them had any notable quantities.





8-29-14 AM 7 hour marathon
Feeling bummed out, in no mood to fish.
A friend called and dragged me out. We got on the water late (my fault). Wind was ok but water was a little dirty.

We did a lot of walking bayside, fishing several outsucks and inlet areas. Dirty water and no real amounts of bait evident other than snappers. Remember, I’m not picking these places at random. All of them have held bait and fish this time of year, in past years.

Finally found a place with some bait, ebb tide. No fish for a long time until I started wading out far, First cast I decided to throw a loaded redfin for the first time that night. I was not really paying attention. As soon as it hit the water a bluefish, 8lb class, crashed out of the water, swallowed the plug, and ripped through the leader, all in the space of 3 secs. I was speechless, and pissed off at the same time.
How could I have missed that fish, and not been ready? I yelled at myself, telling myself it would probably be the biggest of the night, and it was.

My friend came out to where I was, and we had short lived action for the next 15 minutes as the tide rapidly dropped. He hooked a few, landed one. I hooked and landed one and missed 2 others.
The bite then died to nothing, We kept moving out further, but the fish had left the area for good.

Tried another place to finish the night off, but the water was extrememly dirty there. My friend got nothing. I stopped to go crabbing. Walked previously productive flats with a net, with no results. Something about that dirty water changed the crabbing there. I’ll go into more details in the winter,

Highlights of the night:
1. A big owl was watching us at one place, from 20’ high in the trees. It was cool and spooky as there wasn’t much moonlight. That’s one of the bright spots that can make a bad trip bearable.

2. Sad thing – we found a handicapped seagull flopping on the beach. Thought it might have line caught in it, so we examined it with a towel to hold it steady. Turns out – it was a one legged sea gull that had broken it’s wing. He told me to wring it’s neck and give it a quick death. I decided not to, maybe it would recover.
The sad thing – when we got back it was gone, - maybe a fox or coyote got to it, we’ll never know.

[jigfreak]

^ Jigfreak, thanks for the kind words.
The full moon is on the 9th, 3 nights from now. The mullet are already on the move. I think you made a wise prediction there.

Your welcome, and yes they are.

[DarkSkies]

I like the night tides this week...and with the full moon tides coming into play next week.... had to be out there last night......

6-26 PM trip-
5 hours
Two short bass and 7 bluefish to 10#.
Blues hit popper in the dark....bass hit loaded redfin... (Thanks to Monty for hooking me up with a few... )


Admittedly the bass have been scarce.....they seem to be concentrating the night feed in very few areas....
As mentioned the feeding window is so small now it is "ridiculous" as Monty likes to put it.....
Miss it by 1/2 hour and you find nothing.....

Last year the patterns were more reliable.....
This year the effect of overall decline of bass biomass seems more evident than ever before.....most of the boats targeting bass have turned to fluking......despite abundant bait in some areas...easily reachable by most boats or kayaks...
And about 95% of the shore anglers have given up on bass at night...rarely have I seen more than one other angler out there on my trips.....
I'm not even seeing the numbers of baby bass that "should" be there by virtue of good YOY results...

What helped me with the bluefish is bunker...
And a few other forage concentrations, as mentioned.....
I have not been able to find any sizes when there were no bunker...
The fish are still scattered...unless you are able to fish deeper water somewhere...so I've had to work for them...





But I have noticed...for me......

1. When water quality diminishes....the artificial bite diminishes...
2. If there are no large bunker concentrations at night....the likelihood of catching....for the places I am fishing....goes way down......

[DarkSkies]

Back at it again. I started my 2016 season the night of the Sandy Hook NMS meeting, have been fishing steadily ever since whenever I get a chance.......

What I have found so far, is that if you do find find fish, you need to make it your business to exploit that opportunity....don't take it for granted that they will be there tomorrow....because they probably won't be...

The fish that we are finding on the edges....seem to be fast moving...what one Capt catches today, is often a different batch than was here yesterday....for shore bound anglers, that is even more critical.....

I'll post my reports here, when I get a chance....good luck to all those who are fishing....
Remember, blink and you might miss these fish....

[DarkSkies]

Fishing Reports Spring 2016

March
3-16 Wed PM
Fished a few places after the proposed SMS meeting. A wide range of water depths were probed, nothing.

3-23 Wed PM
Same routine. The water had warmed up a bit so had to be out giving it a shot. Full moon tides and past log entries drew me out there. Friends doing real well fishing clams and worms in various places. Strictly tossing artificials, still no action for me.
Did some scouting of early season estuaries and nurseries. Lots of bait being built up, particularly spearing, and freshly born grass shrimp. This might set up to be a good year.

3-30 Wed PM
Same routine. Was discouraged because some of the bait guys I ran into, said that even they were doing poorly. Time to expand the area I'm fishing in and make more stops.

3-31 Thu PM
3 bass to 28", released.
First bass of the season.

Back out again. Didn't like the wind so slept in my vehicle for a while. Got up a few hours before dawn, wrapped up in some old blankets. It was cold but wind had died down a bit. Got to the water, first cast was into a feisty bass, just under keeper size. Thought it would be great, but I assumed wrong. Had to work for these fish. Spent the next 2 hours wading and moving, trying different strategic hiding places. Managed 2 more, all on mid level swimmers. Could not buy a hit on rubber or bucktail. Bite died at the first hint of gray light.

[DarkSkies]

April 2016


4/1 Fri PM
17 bass to 14#, released.
Encouraged by the previous night's results, was out and hitting it hard. Water still cold in some spots. Friends in boats and yaks were starting to catch on artificials. Also, started noticing a big build up of bait in certain areas.....
more spearing, grass shrimp, and encouraging quantities of herring.
I knew it was time to be out there, whether catching or not. If you miss it....... that will be the night that everything went off, and you would never know.
Such is the burden...... of being a compulsive fisherman.


The spots that held some fish the previous night didn't hold anything. I felt the water there was colder so went looking for water that was a few degrees warmer.
That seeemed to be the key. Whenever I found slightly warmer water and high bait concentrations, I found a few fish feeding. Finished the night with 17 fish to 14#.
Covered a lot of miles to find these fish.
Pretty good night for an early spring trip, and one of my better nights, that early, in a few years.

[DarkSkies]

4/2 Sat PM
15 bass to 12#, released.
Winds had been a problem, but there was no way I was not going. Got down to the water and they were howling. Only a few places offer a lee, so I had to find one. Once I did, continued to find fish on artificials. Mostly 25-32" bass, no real small fish like some others had been finding.

All fish fresh and clean. light in color. They definitely were not here 2 weeks ago in these numbers.
My theory is these are the fish some of the boat guys are finding, and they're coming up to the flats to feed at night, chasing herring, bunker, and spearing.

The problem with that theory...... is there are a lot of fish all the way up in the Hudson already. With them staging in different areas, there's no telling how long the decent fishing will last...few days...or few weeks...it's a coin toss.

[DarkSkies]

4/4 Mon
Winds got bad, effed things up a bit.Out trying hard, nothing at all.

4/5 Tue
Same thing with wind and cold. Bay temps dropped substantially the past 5 days, not expecting much. Had to be out there anyway. Within 5 mins, knew it was going to be a repeat of the night before. Gave it a good try for 2 hours, and then went home early.


4/6 Wed PM
The bay temps started to go up a bit, so I knew I had to be out there. Worked a large section of the flats.Wind was calm at first but began building. Moved several times.Nothing at all.


4/7 Thu AM New Moon Tides
Slept in my vehicle, hoping for activity. Got out there, wind was howling a steady 25 mph with stronger gusts. Finding a lee from the wind is so important in cases like this. I know I have talked about that before.

When you have a fishing addiction, this becomes 2nd nature.
You just do not accept going down to the water and not being able to fish. You always have not only "Plan B",but Plan C, and Plan D, when the weather or winds are not conducive to fishing where you originally wanted to.

Again, nothing at all.

[lostatsea]

Your having a great season would love to catch that many in a night. finchaser fishing farm?