I have been poaching info of a couple of others sites trying to plan a LI/NJ trip this weekend. Sounds like people are still getting but they are definetly saying it was the worst Fall run in a while and the general feeling was that many fish took an offshore route following the bait. Word was that the best numbers were being taken in 50ish ft of water well offshore where squid were concentrated.

For me this definelty was a pretty bad fall. I mean it was fun but it didn't produce the numbers and sizes that I had been experiencing in the past. And I guess where I am (Nantucket) should have been closer to the so labeled "Offshore Run".
What gives, huh :smash:

Regardless, things were definetly different this year. Very sporadic and spotty.

Praying that the weather agrees with my sched next week.

:(

Anyone have any thoughts on offshore routes ?

Yeh, I was still saying "it'll come, it'll come" back in October then reality sat in ad I figured they have gone the way offshore route.

Well, there's one opinion.

I second that, the best fishing of the fall for me was the first 3 weeks of Oct. Kept waiting for slugs of bigger fish to come through, but with no big bait on the beach, no big fish... BI had a big run of fish and I know some of the mosters were caught on... squid on the bottom, off the beach.....
Offshore it was....

Second everyone else that I havent seen the numbers of small fish around I'm used to seeing into dec... hopefully not a bad sign.... Or I havent been out enough (stupid work... frigga fragah :af: )

Happy T-day all..
Bryan

The number of fish close to shore were fewer this year. Had some good days, but not the numbers or size of years past. I am convinced the water quality right near the shore is keeping these fish out of the shallows. Recent reports put the mash areas in pretty deep trouble. I guess run off nitrogen and the effects of the oil spill contributed to the poor water quality. You Rhode Islanders saw a huge fish kill. It kills the small bait fish and keeps the large out into cleaner water. Now instead of feeding in the wash they just stay out and feed in deeper cleaner water. Its a sign of things to come.

I guess sinve we have wiped out all the inshore fish we need to open the EEZ so we can decimate that now.

The only thing in the bellies of my bass this year were small lobsters and a few crabs...this is a bad thing. The bait for some reason did not show until late this year and there was not much if any of big bait around. I rarely saw big schools of anything working on the surface...and I was out there a lot.

Funny though, it was the best commerical season ever! Most guys I know limited out every night. Looks like you take a mil # from the resident summer fish and your fall run *could* be effected. Maybe by increasing the quota's further, lowering the size limits, opening the EEZ and decimating the forage fish will improve the overall fishery some more? :smash: I just wish this crack boards of fishery management experts would stop patting each other on the back and step back, get some new glasses, and look at the total picture, it ain't as rosey as they think it is. Lets review their progress: no herring, no bunker, few squid, no mullet no large sandeels, poor mac populations, poor fall runs of bass but the commerical bass season is booming...yeah everthing is great, good job...NOT!

Sandman - the fish I did see this fall were FAT. Real fat. There was just too few of them.

I got a lot of strong, well fed fish this year. Bloated, smiling looking girls with bellies full of herring, silvers, s/eels and crab. Just all averaged around 28-33". Stout 10-20# fish !

I think I may have plain blown it way back at the end of September. I just didn't put the hours in. From what the smaller fish had in their guts there must have been some big'uns out there. Gotta pay some dues next year.

But I agree with Sman. How much impact did those 10,000+ less fish have on OUR fishing ?

This was the worst year fishing for me ever. Oil spill played the biggest part. Closed shell fish beds for whole season.Bad weather on weekends [I have to work to live]. One of my two week vacation weeks rain all week. Water started out colder than normal and did not warm up till late. Bait was late [large bunker never showed] and was spotty when they did.The wind would not stay in the southwest it kept going to the east [west is best and east is least]. One good thing is there will be next year. That is the great thing about fishing its about might happen rather than what has happened.

When the size limit was 36",I used to catch and release 35"fish all the time with some 40 inches mixed in..That was the norm..Now same place I'm into 26" and 28" with a 36" once in a great while..I've noticed this the last few years but the size limit keeps going down ..What happened to the HUMUNGUS class of 93 ? all poached out I bet ...:(

Worse fall I,ve ever seen

the bay was super slow for plugging//I caught less & put more time in this fall the what usually would have ben a couple of hours fishin///
finally started to run down the bay to the mouth // found fish //but the @#$%^&^ Bloofish killed me .plus I started too late I guess??
all in all it sucked =I knew where the fish were all season =offshore =but never made the run /////
they keep lower the size & we keep getting less fish ===============when RI opened to commercial again it was 1 fish 40 "/// I can remember {WOW} snagging 12 ppogies ,running 10 minutes from my slip & catching 11 fish up to 39" //ran out of bait =went back snagged 1 pogie /couldn,t get another =decided to go back with just the one //dropped the anchor & put the pogie in the water =before the anchor rope tightened I hooked up /a 40 fish
never mind all the4/6 lbs fish that would lay in the rips////////////
we are in the beginning of trouble again & no one gets it =============they will wait til there are none & then pull the alarm//

:af: :af: :af: