Some anonymous recollections of others:

1. A friend called me today and told me how they used to go up to Cape Cod because huge numbers of bass used to pass by there on the migration. He told me of thousands of bass rolling in the surf, 30-40 years ago. As Gunny said, all you had to do was toss a piece of bait or a bucktail out, and you were into fish in the 30# class. They were all over the place.




2. Another friend told me he has a friend living in New Brunswick, near Canada. The bass used to come there by the thousands as part of their northern migration as they passed the state of Maine. His friend hasn't had a good year for striped bass in many years. Is it a case that they just don't move that far north any more, or is it the case that there are less bass to go around?

Only you people can answer these questions for yourself. Do the research, there is a wealth of material in this thread.




3. Another friend has a problem with the lack of bluefish in the surf, especially as represented by the smaller year classes. I used to fish with these guys as recently as 5 years ago, and we had times when we would get numbers in the 30's and 40's of bluefish caught and released, several times a week, for the spring run. That hasn't happened to the extent it used to. People say the bluefish are all offshore on the offshore bait.

What about the edges of the bowl, the M&M theory? Isn't it possible it could be a factor here as well?

Of course, lots of people hate bluefish, and don't care. Many guys who fish from boats will dispute it, and tell you it's unreasonable to say this. There are miles and mils of bluefish just offshore, they will say. I agree that's what they're seeing, so I understand how they would dispute a hypothesis that there are less around. As mentioned, the surf fishermen catch the"overflow" How would you know about this perspective unless you fish from the surf?

Surf fishing traditionally was where you caught the overflow of fish from an abundant biomass. If that biomass is declining, the surf guys would certainly be the first ones to notice it.

Food for thought people, food for thought.