Rob, IMO in the past it has been a pretty sure thing fishing the sand eel bite as long as you give them the right presentation. I think one variable that some may not realize is that even though the bass are gorging on the eels. they are also chasing rainfish in the very near surf zone at first light. I'm not saying this is exactly happening where you fished, but often we are not aware of the abundant schools of rainfish at this time. I had to point them out to a fisherman today because he didn't think they were there....They were, just not many fish feeding on them. Rainfish are more abundant than they have been in the last few years (for the Fall)....Originally Posted by robmedina
I feel (JMO) that it makes presentation difficult when they are really keyed in on the smaller rainfish/bay anchovies....and on Sat felt your same frustration.
I had the same thing happen to me on Sat....Blazin, we both know how to catch fish..but for me it's even more embarassing when the fish are there and I'm trying frantically to dial in to that type of bite, for that particular day. I felt like a failure on Sat as I knew time before sunrise was limited...and I searched for the one thing they would hit.....feeling very lucky to manage 2 short bass before the bite ended just as quick as it started...Fished ALOT of hours this weekend with very poor results!!
.....For the next 1hr or so fish were swirling here and there in the wash just couldnt hook up..
This happened in a few spots on the island at first light but that seemed to be the bulk of the action!!
.....While out there i was thinking of falls past in this spot, and like you guys mentioned above, i used to go here and catch short after short on a day like today the fish would be in the 24-27in and there were alot of them then..This year i have not see ANY small fish AT ALL!! The large majority of fish have all been 28 or better..Not a good sign at all its getting me a bit worried about the next few years doesnt look good!
No small fish and all the big gurls are getting taking....!!
It was a very humbling experience......
Some friends who fish for them every day said
a. one day last week, there were a lot of fish...and they wouldn't touch artificials or flies in that specific area
b. and yet, the next day, they were hitting pencil poppers and big pike spoons....
Nice reports from the rest of ya's as well....
MikeO and Blazin, those were great stories you shared......it's the bizarre and unusual that sometimes keep us coming back...
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