The water is surely warm enough. Just over 50 degrees according to the link on this site, Noreast's satelite measurement and Wunderground's measurements. I still haven't caught a fish. I tried everything. Swimmers, bucktails, some small metals. No sign of bait, no sign of shad, nothing. Fished for an hour and a half without getting a hit.

I have no clue what I am doing wrong. I've been hitting spots that have produced, still not a thing. I'm rather annoyed now. Saw two other fishermen, they didn't get anything either.

Man, am I getting heart broken already...

I'm getting a little discouraged too, Patrick. I haven't fished more, with poorer results, than I have so far this season. Except for that now infamous Tuesday at the West Wall, it has been really slow.

I thought we'd all get into the schoolies yesterday at the Wall but nothing was happening (except for Sea Robbins!). the only missing ingredient was heavy wind.

Am I wrong, or have we been saying, "they'll be here any day," for about a month now?

Patrick, If you haven't tried shads you may want to. Try some 4 inch shads on 3/8 oz to 1 oz, lead heads, this is are most productive lure in the early spring. Try using all pearl, Slow retreive and give it a little twitch about every 3rd turn of the handle. Just keep putting in time on the water. It will happen soon for you!!!

Folks,
You cant catch what is not there. It is as simple as that. You are more than likely doing nothing wrong. Also, if they are there it does not mean they will eat. Now if every body is catching fish and you are not, then let me know. we may have to visit what you are doing wrong, or the correct equipment.
The old timer, Linesides.

Water holds its temp better than air. A day or two of hot weather may raise the back bay temps a few degrees but the open water is still cold and that's what the fish have to move through to get to the bays.

You must learn patience young Jedi. :)

Patrick, there are fish out there. Whether they are in your backyard or not is anyone's guess but there are some fish out there. The vast majority of the fish we are seeing north east of you are holdover fish that have moved out of their wintering spots and hitting some traditional, early season spots. These spots, which normally would have been red-hot by now have been weak at best. I had better success in early March than I've had in late April.
An occasional heavy day with the little rats but for the most part, pretty weak. A guy up the road from you has been getting them in the Housy plus they have been getting (or at least were) schoolies at the power plants and various spots in your area. I don't know exactly where you fish but if all you're fishing is the sound, you might have a problem. If you truly have 50 degree temps and you see baitfish, you're close to some fish but you may wish to work some of the local inlets, especially in if there are bays or coves that are running warmer than the front of your reef.

Now I don't know how the fish fill the western part of the sound but they are getting them slowly out front of LI and we are getting some up in Rhody and Mass. Nothing like what we normally have going at the beginning of May and it has been a bit of a hunt to find fish and that's probably what you are going to need to do. Hunt fish. Don't tie yourself to one location or method within that location. Go to small soft plastics with small jig heads. Stay 1/2 ounce and under and go with your light rod. But don't give up or get frustrated...

FISH AT NIGHT!!!!!! 8-)

Look at these screwy temperatures from the National Oceanographic Data Center:

Northern Atlantic Coast
Water Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit
Present Tetmperatures Last Updated: Thu May 3 17:15:05 2001 UTC Location Present
Temperatures:

Eastport ME 40
Bar Harbor ME N/A
Portland ME (44007) 50.5
Portsmouth Harbor NH N/A
Boston Harbor MA N/A
Woods Hole MA 52.9
Newport RI 47.1
New London CT 51.8

Notice how low Newport's water temp. is.

Except for Eastport, ME, everywhere else is warmer. Maybe that has something to do with it!! Check this address: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/natl.html and note that the present temperature for Newport (47.1 deg. F) is 4.9 degrees BELOW the climatological average for Newport (52.0 deg. F).

Of course, maybe the Newport buoy has an error in it. But if this temperature is correct, it might explain why everywhere except southern RI seems to have fish.

I do imagine that it would be difficult to hook up a battery powered aireated livewell to your ten speed but live-linning herring at/near the mouths of some rivers that hold herring, especialy the smaller ones, is your best, early chance at a keeper. I don't think mom is going to let you stick a livewell in the back of the Volvo though....

Hey Bob....hows this one for ya.....a lady I work with fishes freshwater with her husband all the time.....believe it or not they had reliable reports of water temps being higher in southern VT than here! Doesnt seem right does it??

Must be all that smog they are talking about lately.....screwing us all up! :O

I haven't seen any bait. That's the problem. No bait, at all. Bunkers are supposedly down in Greenwich which is far but not far from me. No sandeels, nothing. Dang.

This is how I hear the fish spread out. The two major spots for bass is the Chesapeake Bay and the Hudson River. Fish come out of the Bay and head up the coast. Some go up through the river and into the sound, some go around the tip of Montauk. Fish come out of the Hudson and who knows where they go.

Patrick,
Do you fish at night? I'm not talking about staying until a little after dark or starting before dawn. Let's put it this way. How often are you fishing after 2200 or before 0500?

Almost Never___
Rarely___
Seldom___
Often___
Usually___
Almost Always___

No need to give a lot of explanation. Just put yourself in one of the 6 categories. Also describe the areas you fish at night.

I would say rarely or seldom. Reason being is I try to hit the tides. If I went down there at low tide, the water level would be way too low.

Patrick,

Low tide or outgoing water is an opportunity too. You just have to fish different places than you would at high water.

For a given spot one tide may be better than the other. But no matter what the tide is a good angler can always figure out a someplace to fish (assuming such a spot is with in your bicycling range).

I don't know the area you fish at all...but I would take the water on either side of low deep in the night over the high tide here in NJ. I would get some satellite images or USGS maps and start studying the areas around you. Mount them under a piece of plexiglass and start drawing on them w/ dry erase markers. Start thinking about how the water will move and where you think the fish will take hold. Oh...And fish at NIGHT! :)

Charlie

Ummmm, so you don't fish at night. You don't have a job, or classes or a woman but you don't fish at night???? OhhhhhKaaaaay. You seem to be quite the xspurt on Gibbs darters but you don't fish at night?????? Have you ever caught a fish on a Gibbs darter? Not to say they won't catch in the daytime.

So here are some pointers.
Fish at night. (tides cycle in the dark too)
There is not much out there that will hurt you in the dark if you use some common sense
Search for answers rather than giving them. Not only here but when you are fishing.

If you are unwilling to do the above fish with bait. If I only fished in the daytime from shore I would, a lot.

One other thing. If I fish for only 1.5 hours and don't get a hit I don't right it off as poor fishing. Rather it's poor effort.

Plug and Charlie M:

At night do you use the same things you use during the day? Jigs and tails? Or do you use live stuff?

At night we've usually gone with eels, chunks (of everything), squid, but have rarely thrown the same stuff we throw during the day.

Everything works better at night except for poppers. Fish are just far, far more aggressive at night. They feed higher in the water column. They move more. They'll feed in shallower water. The strike harder. It literally is "night and day".

The only thing I don't do at night is live line big baits. I normally fish jetties and I find it very difficult to contol the line at night without being able to see it.

If you are like me and like to fish plugs they rule at night.

Another big plus is at night through the week I fish where and how I want to. In the daytime the crowd often dictates that. I hate that.

I guess I fish the same during the day as I do at night. I just catch alot less!! I switch my interests at day to jigging up some fluke or practicing w/ the flyrod. I call it casual fishing. I have a totally different mindset once the sun starts to peek over the horizon.

I usually throw plugs from the sand and jetties, none as nice as Plug's though. :)

Charlie

Well I'll fix up the bike I guess, pull out the lock and try to hit the beach at night. I just gotta rig up something so I can carry the rod, my tackle bag, my mini-tackle bag I put all my jigs, trailers and snaggers in, plus my waders.

Never said I was an expert at darters. In fact, I only have two darters. One I got from Tim and another I got from a flea market.

I'm not too crazy about the darters though. I fish calmer water so it's pretty hard to fish it. Maybe once I'll hit the water on the reef.

Oh yes, I forgot completely about that "No woman line". Just want to add to that.

I have a quasi-woman you could say. I met her over the internet about 8 months ago. She is 22, loves fishing and cooking plus she is the sweetest and most adorable woman I have ever laid my eyes apon. Way past my wildest dreams. Plus she finds me attractive, go figure on that one. We are sort of an item so to speak. She also loves animals as much as I do. We talk just about every night for, I would say 4 or 5 hours depending on what is happening the next day. Plus we talk on the phone once a week at least for a bit. It's like we are soulmates. Right now we have some things holding us back. So it's not a relationship in the conventional sense but all the emotions and that stuff are there. We just can't touch or be with each other physically. I guess it's like that old fashion courting from back in the day. It's all good. It takes up a lot of my time but it's worth it. We are planning on meeting soon and we are going to take it from there. I would say we are in love. I know it sounds pretty stupid considering it is over the internet but I guess it can manifest your life in so many ways. Probably what makes it so special. I figure after 8 months, I would be able to find some flaw with her or catch her in some deception but it hasn't happened. And once we meet, if that still holds true then it can only get better I suppose.

She is the reason why I've been a lot friendlier and much more motivated about life. So you can thank her.

In closing, I have a woman that I listen to about stuff that most guys find as the low point of a relationship but without THAT benefit guys love. Ahem. She occupies most of my time with either talking or me thinking about her or all that stuff that comes with it.

I also have a job coming up soon. Not to mention the interest in law I have taken. I'm still evaluating if that's feasible. Plus, the lure making and rod building thing to make a little extra scratch on the side if possible. Completely legit of course. I don't work under the table. I'm also considering moving out of my parent's house. Of course this will be happening later once I get enough money saved up. I'm thinking about rural upstate NY, Lower NY, or Rhode Island (Hiya Neighbors :) ). It all depends on how things go with my lady friend. I think Rhode Island is my first choice. Cost of living seems to be lower from what I've seen. And Rhode Island is relatively small. No matter how far you are from the ocean, it's always nearby. Then lower NY, then Upstate NY with occasional visits to the ocean. The sacrifices we make for women...

So I have a lot of things brewing right now. I'm getting these feelings that it's time to move on.

John, don't blame me, Plug opened this can of worms! I was just responding.

Fish with bait? I'm pretty much through with the bait thing. Too much to carry around. I do carry a knife though in case I chunk a snapper, shad, or get a fresh bunker. But as far as going to the bait shop and buying bait, I'm not up on that anymore.

Charlie, I will look for maps from the Coast Guard. A while back, I asked the town if they had topographic maps and they said it was too expensive to do since the beach is always changing. Maybe the Coast Guard will be able to help me more. I think I have a large piece of plexiglass from when the front door glass broke and we replaced it with plastic to avoid another accident like the previous one.

Thanks for all your help guys. I'm looking at the bike and thinking about rigging it up.
Seeya up in Rhody sometime... Depending on the lady of course.
:D

Patrick....go to www.topozone.com You can get a USGS map for anywhere in the US. AT www.terraserver.com you can get a sattelitte image for anywhere in the world. Just download and print.

They might be a few years old...but they are pretty accurate and the basic lay of the land won't change that much. At least it is some homework while you are off the water and thinking of how to fish while you aren't there.

Charlie

Patrick, I'm not blaming anybody. As a matter of fact, I don't see why you're all in a bunch about it. His reply was right on the money - Fish at night, with effort and a little common sense and you'll get bigger fish than during the day. Pretty much sums it up for 90% of us. He's probably shocked that a fellow in your position, wouldn't be sawing wood evey second from an hour after sunrise til an hour before sunset less travel time. While we wouldn't turn in our lives, wives, kids, and jobs to have the opportunity to fish from dusk til dawn, you at least have that chance. Instead, you're on the internet every few hours around the clock.

He's right though, if you want to catch big fish, and that's what you say, you need to think in tides and moons AFTER the little kids go to sleep. You want to know how this wind will impact that tide drop at 12:30 in the morning. You want a cup of coffee before dunkies closes and to be there when they open up smelling like fish with eelslime on the brim of your hat and striper slime on your right shoulder and back because you lugged a nice fish out over your shoulder.

You seem to be an intelligent kid but a bit dense at times. Think long and hard about what you want to accomplish this season or at least IF you want to accomplish anything. Don't babble on about it. Just do it. Get out and FISH