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

[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....