Bite of the Decade?

[DarkSkies]

It may not be...but I can tell ya's we're not likely to have a bite like that again.
In the internet forums, there has been some good discussion . ..but some are clearly mis-informed.


I started this thread not to put others down, but to maybe help some who don't understand all the dynamics of why it happened, and why it will probably never happen again. at least for a long while....

Now that it's winding down, I feel it's time to start the thread, before some outdoor writer comes along and claims to have discovered it...



And to be clear, it was the old timers, here and elsewhere, like Finchaser and his circle of intel, some others here, and some of the old-timers I meet on my travels out there who were able to put the reasons and predictions together....

I had some very interesting discussions yesterday afternoon which I may eventually end up posting about...


The old timers deserve 90% of the credit for the correct analysis...and that's one of the main reasons I put this thread together.....

I know some of ya's here also contributed some great logic to the theories, and did some nice research...feel free to comment, or not.....


I'm gonna reserve my comments until I feel the bite is officially over....in the meantime this is Your thread, people, and thanks for your incredible insightfulness.... that we've shared in private....

[DarkSkies]

Sun means really nothing if the air temp doesn't stay above the water temp especially at night when clear skies create radiational cooling of the water sometimes seen as as what is referred to as sea smoke on windless nights. Combined with strong winds which have a natural cooling effect,very similar to wind chill. The last 2 hours of the incoming and first 2 of the outgoing usually produces the warmestwater temperatures. Fishing the beginning of the incoming this time of year usually drops the water temperature from the water rushing up on the cold beach and rocks which are sometimes frozen pushing bait and fish off the beach.

IMO this abnormal pattern has to do with the dredging kind of a natural chum slick combined with above normal water temperatures is what is responsible for holding the bait and fish in that one area.

This is GOLD, people, derived from 55 years of fishing experience, and an intel chain that extends beyond the boundaries of fishing clubs, and rivals the CIA and NASA for strategic thinking....and we're lucky enough to have the OGB here, dispensing these kernels of wisdom for free... .and you WON'T get this type of detail from a seminar, unless someone sees it here and steals it for their talks...

[cowherder]

I don't know as much as you guys and haven't been fishing nearly as long, I do know I have never had fishing like this in the winter. It is most unusual.

[seamonkey]

I would be curious if you are going to include south jersey in with that category, We have really been impacted by all the beach replensihment.

[DarkSkies]

I think the term Overwintering should be a part of this thread. Normally, it's used to describe freshwater bass, or saltwater juvenile bass, that gather in a specific area of a larger body of water because of optimal food or water depth and temperatures.

It's discussed in greater detail here...

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1877-fishing-terms-dictionary&p=58043#post58043










**********
Seamonkey, I don't feel that South Jersey had the populations of bass that Northern Jersey had.

Honestly, no one was fishing for them in that area, so it's probably not accurate to say they weren't there for certain.
However, folks were fishing for blackfish and bottom fish. If they did come across large populatuions of bass within, or even past, the 3 mile limit, I think there would have been some internet chatter on that....and so far it seems there wasn't.

[DarkSkies]

I haven't had a lot of opportunity to get back here and fill in some of these threads. For that I apologize,,,,Family responsibilities come first, and the lure of the bass continues to be too great....

I do think it's helpful to discuss some of these things that happened in the Winter...
There is so much mis-information out there on fishing websites, it's important to have a source that folks can turn to, to get some kernels of truth...

There are some folks who just don't know of, the extent and numbers of the white legger crabs that were in Monmouth County, or the vast schools and varieties of herring, or the bunker that were in the ocean in February...things that admittedlly don't normally appear to that extent, in the winter....and they were there in abundance....









Those discussions can wait, as I'm still trying to get some good fishing in while the water temps are optimal....

[DarkSkies]

What I want to talk about with you folks today
....is an analogy/story I have been thinking of the last few days.....something I think you may enjoy reading.....






What if?.....
What if...you met a mysterious benefactor....
What if...that benefactor had millions in disposable income...
What if...that benefactor had a dozen of the world's fastest cars....
What if...that benefactor wanted to see his cars used and driven at top speed instead of gathering dust in a garage.....
What if...that benefactor couldn't do the driving, and for some strange reason he entrusted you, with the keys to all of his fastest cars...
What if...he told you you could drive any one of them....

What if...there was a catch.... (there always is, no free lunches in America! )
What if...he told you that if you took a car out, you could not obey the speed limits....
What if...he told you that if driving such a car, your task was to find one road, late at night, where you could go blindingly fast without presenting a danger to others...
What if...he told you that EACH night out there, you had to bring that car you were diriving up to the redline, balls out, and MUST at one point during the night, exceed 150mph....

What if...your only task was to follow your instructions, and bring the car back into the garage every night...no liability for damage.....

What if...his only other instructions were,. that should you Not exceed 150 mph on any one night, your key priveleges would be revoked, and you would be barred from driving these speed demons forever....


What would the adrenalin be like?
What would the head rush be like?
Can you imagine it?
Can you imagine the adrenalin high?
















This, folks, was my life as I fished for bass in the Winter...
Granted, some nights were not that great, 4-5 hours for a bass or 2....
But the nights that were good, it was like magic out there....You knew double digits were almost a lock... some friends caught as many as 40 in one night....the adrenalin from a bite that robust, is hard to describe....

Fishing artificials at night, that doesn't happen very often.... You didn't want it to end, and sadly knew it must, as all good things, eventually do end....

How would it be, coming off that adrenalin high, knowing that the bite you experienced, might never happen to that extent, in your lifetime....?





That, people, is the best analogy I can give, of how it was for me....
I know some here won't be able to relate, but some can....and I hoped the racing analogy would enable me to share how I felt out there, while reaching a wider audience.....

[DarkSkies]

As I get more time I'll try to come back and talk about the specifics....in the meantime if anyone has anything else to share or add, feel free.....



Please remember that any theories or characterizations that were formulated....some came from me beiing out there and direct experience...and others came from old Salts like Finchaser and some of the folks in his network....for these are the guys who had the decades of experience, with which to bounce these theories off of .....and I thiink a key thing, is that many of these guys still fish regularly,,,,,they knew how to discern the patterns, and tie them into prior decades.....

It's difficult to talk about these fish accurately, and understand the pattern, if you weren't out there to see it for yourself.
The old-timers are the voice of wisdom and reason for a lot of us out there....remember how much is lost, each time another one of them goes to the great surf-line in the sky.....

[storminsteve]

I didn't fish it even 1/4 as much as you did dark, but I have to agree it was fantastic. Just the idea that the fish were there and you wouldn't get skunked was enough to get me out there. Thanks for all the heads up, brother. Good times.

[dogfish]

Sorry dark I can't relate. Our fish leave within a week of historical dates every year and return within a 2 week period. If I knew some crazy rich guy that was giving me the keys to his Lambo, I would take that car and run to South America. Trade it in for the good life and the money from the car could buy a castle down there Just saying.

[finchaser]

Been fishing 50 years and this has never happened closest was 2006 when we had them until 2/14 when a snow storm ended it. Probably will never happen again since this was the warmest winter since 1890.

[Monty]

Been fishing 50 years and this has never happened closest was 2006 when we had them until 2/14 when a snow storm ended it. Proablly will never happen again since this was the warmest winter since 1890.

Or we could have climate change and the government will keep the beach replenishment going and this will be the first of many Winter Runs...

[strikezone31]

We had bass up to Jones, but it was spotty. All caught while jigging, by accident, and safely returned.
I think the bulk of the fish were on the jersey side, though.

[albiealert]

You guys are very fortunate. We have short stripers in the rivers all winter as they stay in the deeper channels. Nothing lilke the 20 pounders you all were catching though. Absolutely incredible and I want to thank you for the colorful reports in the winter fishing thread. They reallly helped to pass the time away.

[hookset]

Been fishing 50 years and this has never happened closest was 2006 when we had them until 2/14 when a snow storm ended it. Probably will never happen again since this was the warmest winter since 1890.

Amen, it was like the perfect storm movie, only it happened right along the coastline.