Having seen and heard of so many anglers (and non-anglers) catching large and numerous fish, I wonder how this 2001 season rates with past seasons, year to date. Is it a banner year for you? Is it average? Below average? How would you rate the quality of fish you have seen?

Personally, I have fished less (due to work), but have been catching at approximately same rate for time spent with wet lines. Shore fishing seems to be slowing, as the boat anglers have been mopping up with live macs. Still working plugs, flies, and plastics whenever possible, but moving towards bait, as that seems to be more effective. More keepers than last year at this time, and they seem to have been thicker on the whole. Goal for year is to get first keepers for my kids.

Overall, I would rate 2001 as the most productive striper fishing year overall locally, and hope to get my cow soon!

Whaddaya think?

Nightfighter,

This has been a quieter year for me with a new baby and home. I haven't gotten the quality outings I'd hoped for, certainly knowing that the quantity of trips would be way down...

What I'm observing is an off year for the Rhody surfcaster with a higher number of teen fish but the cow count is off down here...

The canal seems better this year than last.

Boston Harbor and the South Shore seem a lot hotter than last year, primarily due to the mac factor keeping the fish around. This is also helping the shore bound as eels along the south shore have been better this year than last... Another possible contributor may be that the tuna moved into CC Bay earlier than the last couple years keeping the bigger fish in shallower waters... There seems to be large amounts of 40-45 inch fish around at times. I pray to the fish gods that a lot of them were released but I know many more have been weighed in this year over last... That disturbs me a bit. Also noticing a distrurbing lack of Blues in Rhody, CC Bay, & Bastin Habba...

Just my current picture on things...

I haven't gotten out that much. I'm still trying to beat a case of bronchitis and my waders have hole in them AGAIN. I am so fed up with them, I just tossed them out. I'm not fishing again until fall.

So far this season has been a bust. I've been trying to target large when there just aren't any large around. I've gotten one bass that didn't even break 20 inches. I'd feel pathetic but I haven't seen anyone else do much better in my area and I haven't gotten out too much.

I'm hanging up the 10 foot St. Croix for now and pulling out one of the smaller rods and have fun. Then I'm going to build a Lamiglas PSH108H spinning (getting some help from this guy Dorge on Fuji Concept guides) and the XRA1205 conventional for the really big water and then probably sell the St. Croix. She was a great rod and should sell pretty well since it's only 3 years old and I kept her very well. She's a 9 out of 10 for looks and a 10 out of 10 for function. It'll be sad to see her go. I paid 170 for it. Maybe I can sell it for 140.

Maybe we'll have one or two more trips together this fall. Still hard to accept defeat.

So that's how my season has gone. My spirit is broken. No large fish for me this year. Time to go back to light tackle. I'll stock up on yo-zuris, small wood and megabaits until I can get out of this hellhole.

Sorry if I depressed any of you. lol

Each year I like to play around with some method I've been thinking about over the winter. This season it's been live eels...so far it seems I've caught fewer fish each trip but the ones I've hooked have been consistently larger, with a 25# striper the top so far. 8-)
On the shorter runs where the weather was bad or I was trying out a new spot, it seems the schoolies have been around in just about the same numbers, in the same places I usually expect to find them. One bright spot has been the increase in the numbers of real small ones...11 to maybe 16 inches. I think that's a good sign for the future...but I do wish we'd stop targeting spawners (here in Massachusetts with the 28" and up limits). And I wouldn't mind seeing a tighter daily limit placed on the hook & line commercial guys. I don't think the management folks understand how frighteningly savvy & efficient some of those guys can be in taking fish. }>
There are an awful lot of 34"+ fish coming out of these waters & you can't do that forever without imploding the stocks.:-(
But all in all it's been a hell of a good year...I would take it in a heartbeat for 2002. :D

2001 has been a mixed bag for me. My schoolie numbers are way down and I've had to resort to different methods to take those fish. Problem is, I really only fish a couple of spots... so its not necessarily indicative of overall numbers. My main schoolie spot has been plagued by muddy water which I think has affected the fishing. Last year I caught 150 fish one weekend, which is more than I've caught there this year.

But... my 33lber from last friday is my biggest fish which makes it a successful season. And I've caught keepers 4 out of 5 times at my southshore eel slingin' spot... well, last night I dropped one at my feet which I'm counting 'cause I could've tackled him if I'd wanted to. But its been one fish and done.

I had planned on focusing my schoolie fishing out of my boat, but I have only had it out once for the MSBA boat tourny and we focused on large and took a skunk. Alot of outside factors have prevented me from getting out more. Its a 16' v-haul so its really for runnin' the rivers, etc. but it can get me to some fish if I ever get it on the water.

Overall, other than my first outing in april, I've only been skunked one weekend, however, I haven't had any really good days. Consistently average. Better than consistently sucky.

Patrick, weren't you chirpin' about buying van staal's and breakaway rods recently... now you're ready to get rid of what you got and give up? Come on man... it either runs in your veins or it doesn't. You can't give up... if CT isn't producing, there's your incentive to work... to buy a car so you can travel to the areas that are producing.

Quitting isn't an option.

Caant really say as I am among those who havent made it out much at all this year :( I promised myself this winter-spring that I was going to get out a LOT this year and as luck would have it, my crazy schedule (and life) got in the way.. I keep hanging on to the hopes of getting out there though!!! The rest of the summer is pretty much shot ALREADY as far as time goes.....hmmm...maybe I will have a record fall!!! Yeah THATS IT!! :) I am just holding out till fall, when I will get the mother of all bass! heeheehee.....

huh...what???...wherewho why when wha.... oh sorry, just caught myself dreaming again... whew!

This season to me has not been as good as far as size goes, by this time last year I had 6 bass over 30lbs and this year I have none so far. This year I do have 63 Bass over 20lbs with the largest at 28lbs. I do have to say that I did alot of expirementing this year and have fished alot of new areas and throwing more artificials than lures. As far as numbers go I am on top so far, I think theres a decent amount of fish, just not the quality. Not really worrying yet, always get my biggest fish in September.
By the way I just fished Rhody Wed and Thur night. This past Wed. I had 33 bass up to 26lbs and Thurs I had 29 bass up to 20lbs....

Guys,
I feel that this year has probably been more productive for me than the last three combined.
I have been fishing the Cape and the North Shore of Mass exclusively. In the last two weeks I have caught 8 fish over 10#; the last fish I had caught over 30" (discounting this year) was in 1997.
I was hot into blues one day in Cape Ann (they were so thick that they were chasing unbaited hooks on the surface). I haven't seen them is such concentrations since the late 70's.
As far as thechnique goes, I have switched over almost exclusively to bait this year...It's really been doing the trick for me.
Rick

Schoolie,

I'm not giving up. Fishing isn't in my blood, it is my blood! My last physical, I had little red blood cells with stripes on them.

I'm far from giving up. I'm just expanding my horizons a bit. I'll be able to use the Lamiglas Paragree rod when the little guys move in and switch to the XRA1205 when the bigger fish are around or when I get to travel to where the big fish are. The rod I have is just too much for casting little stuff.

The Paragree is going to be a great rod. It's a 9 foot blank rated for 1/2-1 3/4 oz. I wanted to try something different and contacted this guy Dorge from around the net looking for help on Fuji Concept guides. I don't know much about them so I'm following his advice to the T and I'm not changing my mind about it. He told me that the best guides to use on a light rod are titanium ringed SiC guides, gave me the sizes and all. He told me this good reel to use. It's a daiwa reel made for Cabelas. It's rather pricey but it has 12 ball bearings in it and a roller bearing. He said it's my best choice for the rod. It's going to be a sweet setup.

It's going to be pretty cool.

So long story short, not giving up, just changing the game plan.

For size and quality, this season is better than the past 4. For numbers, this season is slightly worse than last year, but significantly off the pace for any of the past 6 years I can remember. June was a terrible month for numbers, as compared to years past. July isn't as far off on the numbers, but it's way ahead in the quality cow fish department, so I'm not complaining. I am hoping that August and September are hot like last year, especially when it comes to big blues :), so that things even out in the long run.

Patrick, I'm not too sure how thick your blood runs with fishing but it's probably a little diluted as of late. I think you've tried so hard to read every angle of fishing and improve upon those angles that you are overwhelmed with choices as you approach the zone between land and sea (uh, harbor). You get to your spot and are so wracked with indecision by what to do, that in the end, you do nothing. This is not a dig but I'm almost willing to bet that your fishing efforts are as scattered as your online time. Your obviusoly frustrated based on your recent posts.

When you reach a stage like that, you can recover from almost any situation by going back to fundamentals. The basic and near certain things that everything else sprouts from. Back to basics, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), all those old sayings mean something... A pitcher's new fangle curveball is working that good afterall? He might go back to old reliable until he gets that curve going again... Same thing with fishing...

Here are my recommendations for you (keeping in mind I don't know your spots):

Go back to basics:
When you go fishing, try for a while with bait like clams (the better quality you have, the better it works) on circle hooks and worms. And try some light stuff like sluggos, shads and Cocahoes (also known as the pearl Berkley Power Mullett). Rig simple teasers and fish when the fish are most active first light and before and after sunset... I know there are some bass and blues in that are because I know people that fish it.

Just sit back and relax. Revaluate you fishing situation, take a deep breath and a consistent approach and get yourself out of your slump. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, it's already round...

Good luck...

I would rate this season a 10! It's my first season to fish by boat. I have already gotten 15-20 keepers some larger ones to 28lbs, still learning the boat fishing so hoping a 40lb fish is coming soon.......

So far my season has been mixed. I did get a few bigger fish this spring than I expected and the run of weakies was great. But quantity wise it was lower. Some of my usual prime spots just never developed this year. First time in at least 6 years they didn't produce well. OTOH, I've also forced myself to fish "new" areas and "new" techniques (places and techniques I haven't been to/done much before). So until I come up to speed on them it will be slower. But you gotta pay the piper one way or another.

Patrick - Is that before or after you finish making those 8wt and 9wt fly rods you've been talking about on WMI?

This has been a weird year for me. I have not spent as much time at the Ditch as usual but when I do I'll get numbers and decent fish. Most of my fishing has been in boats, fishing for stripers and other bottom fish. Some days the bass are everywhere other days they just disapear but the fish are definatly larger than the last few years. The Ditch is having its best year since the early 90's and the size of the fish is even better! Blues were everywhere a month ago in Buzzards Bay but disapeared. Cod, Fluke, Scup and Sea Bass fishing is as good as it gets!

Jaiem,

The paragree and arra are coming before the fly rod. Decided a 9 weight is the best for what I need.

John,

You are exactly right. I have so many schools of thought going through my head, it's hard to make a decision. I'm going back to light tackle. 4 and 5 inch Fin-S on jig heads, Bombers, Yo-Zuris and tiny pieces of wood. I'm not really into the bait thing anymore. Just every so often I'll toss sandworms if I can find them on the flats.

I'll make it work.

Mixed results this year. The spring was the best I've ever had as far as pure numbers of fish. Had tremendous luck with fish in the 25-30 inch range in May and June......literally all I could catch on a few occasions.

Since mid-May my time at the shore has been limited. I primarily fish the Cape, and some of my favorite spots have been cursed by mung lately and have severly hindered my fishing. I'm hoping to pick things back up on the Cape for the rest of the year, and I'll see if I can scrape up a fish or two during my vacation on the Vineyard in three weeks. From what I've seen on the Cape, though, it's shaping up to be a great fall run.

All told, I can summarize by saying few large fish, plenty of small fish, and not much of anything in the last 3-4 weeks. But I'm very optimistic about the rest of the year.

This year for the most part has been slow for shore fishing. But the quallity of fish seem to be better. Last year was cooler and wetter.

This year has been the best for me so far. One reason is more oppurtunities to fish and people to fish with. I have also caught my biggest striper ever this year, and although she was only 44" and 29lbs 10oz, it's a start. On the three striper charters I have been on, we have been consistantly getting in to fish in the 28" to 40" range. We have also caught a number under 28" but not many. The good news is there is still plenty of fishing left before hunting season. Now Greg about that south shore eeling spot.....