When do the first keepers not holding over come to your neck of the woods?

2nd / 3rd weekend of April seems to bring the first sprinkle of keeper length bass, just how much is not holdover can be debated :hee:

So when do you see them?

April 22 will be my first keeper with sea lice...

With projected SEVENTY degree temps next week tho it's anyone's guess now.

Up here on the N. Shore of Ma. it will be very late in May before any sizeable fish show. Usually do not see my first keeper until the first few daze of June.

2nd week of April in my hole in CT.
End of the third week in April they'll be right in my backyard. I'm psyched because I just got a new job. Not only is my new job less than 5 minutes away from where I like to fish, but I start at 8:00 instead of 7:15. I figure this gives me close to an hour more fishing every morning!:jump:

I am planning to take the cover off my boat in the first week of April and start fishing by mid April. Should be some fish showing by then. I hope! :tooth:

Al

earliest I ever caught a 30" fish out of the canal was May 5

Up here on the N. Shore of Ma. it will be very late in May before any sizeable fish show. Usually do not see my first keeper until the first few daze of June.

aww spin your killing me.

i start looking mid april

boat gets wet april 1 even if just for a ride.

I'm hoping for my first keeper in mid to late may, maybe sooner if I can get out enough. June should be really good at one spot but it also depends on fresh bait and me having enough time.

My first day of heavy schoolie action last year was 5/6/06 and we had them on every cast until we decided we'd had our fun. That area has changed, it could be better, it could be worse so we'll see...

Its so close I can taste it.

aww spin your killing me.

i start looking mid april

boat gets wet april 1 even if just for a ride.

sorry Hunters, I gots to agree with Spinn. Last week of May seems to be when they show up around here.

Yep, Last week of May seems to be it for us.

Thats why God gave us Automobiles....I'll be hitting some more southern waters in Early May

1st step denial :jester: :jester:

do I hear North Shore guy road trip?

do I hear North Shore guy road trip?

I'm in..... :hee:

May 1st for my area, but being at school I am hoping I will have a shot at fish 3rd week in april. Gotta keep optimistic

Fish w/ lice by first week of May up here. Big fish w/lice very soon after.

This year, I am not sure there is still some floating ice on the sound here in New Haven CT, water temp is still only in the mid 30's.Next week should warm it up a bit but middle of April is my guess. With all the rivers near here it's hard to tell which are holdovers and which are not.

April 19-22 in the last 4 years like clockwork

Just checked the log it was not 14-17 like I thought :doh: it was 19-22

earliest I ever caught a 30" fish out of the canal was May 5

Yup. Every year you hear "rumors" of keepers in late April from the Canal, but the earliest I ever saw one with my own two eyes was right about then. Mother's Day weekend is usually a good bet to hang the first decent fish.

Last year, the first trickle of herring didn't hit the Run until very late in April--well after Patriots' Day :(

Keepers that aren't holdovers, I would say say 1st to 2nd week in May

are holdovers less hungry?

1st week in may thats if I can stop myself..Tog 3rd week april

are holdovers less hungry?

who knows... but they just don't count as "fresh fish" meaning they didn't migrate

Keepers that aren't holdovers, I would say say 1st to 2nd week in May

That raises an interesting question....

Does sea lice always mean "new arrival"?

Many of the "keepers" I have taken in that span have had lice all over them... weird. :huh:

-Dave

I have never caught a bass earlier than May 1

Hers's one from 4-14-06. A shade over 20#. notice no leaves in the trees.

Here's the fish after the ride home. Looks a bit different after sitting on ice without the extended arm pose. A shade over 20# even though this pic doesn't seem to do it that justice. It started raining on the way home, so I was able to slap the date right on the window. That was the first day of my April vacation week. I slammed nice fish that whole week and even caught more then a few 15#s on my last day of vacation in Western MA! It was a tad warmer this time of year last year however.

Here are a few of the western MA fish from the end of that week. Notice the sea lice. I kept only 3 fish that week and your seein em. One for me and mine, one for my parents, and one that was supposed to be for my grandparents but went to my neighbor.

Another Spring peeper from April 05. This one went 25#. Figured I just post some old pics to start getting people fired up.

that is one bloated belly

Historically I have been able to keep a 28" fish by the second week in May fishing off of Plum Island.

You can get them pretty early by the dam up between Ho'yoke and S.Hadley. Live line shad in the "hole" and you are all but guarnteed a keeper.

Gonna have to concur with Mid-May to June for arrival, JULY for the Cape Ann BITE, boyz. Will be hittin' the Tree like it waz my job May's new to June's new. The urban rivers of RI as well, oncet the herring starts ta schhhhtack up! Gettin' mighty close now, men! Coupla reliable sources have seen gulls working the NGST R last week. Could be an early one this year fellas? Stay ready:drool: :drool: :drool:

Gonna have to concur with Mid-May to June for arrival, JULY for the Cape Ann BITE, boyz. Will be hittin' the Tree like it waz my job May's new to June's new. The urban rivers of RI as well, oncet the herring starts ta schhhhtack up! Gettin' mighty close now, men! Coupla reliable sources have seen gulls working the NGST R last week. Could be an early one this year fellas? Stay ready:drool: :drool: :drool:


With herring being pushed up in March by Pollock, ya gotta wonder if it may be early for the striped set.

This is from Saturday's GDT

"A Large Pile of Sea Birds"

The falcon eyes of Team Morris - Bob Morris Jr., and son, Bobby III - witnessed another one of nature's marvels while lobstering in Thatcher's Bay off of Rockport aboard their 35-foot Spirit on Feb. 21. "We saw a large pile of sea birds (gulls and terns) in the distance; the sea was fairly calm. Bobby and I wondered what the heck could be on the surface during the daylight. The herring should be below with all this sunlight, and it is too early for mackerel and too cold for stripers and blues," said the senior Morris.

Once on site, the Morrises saw herring scales profusely glittering in the water along with "the black backs of fish darting in a bluefish-like manner, going after the feed. We think these fish were good-size pollock (more than 2 1/2 feet long) that corralled a school of herring right up to the surface," Morris explained.

Spin, I've seen some pretty epic "slammer" Pollock blitzes up here too in early,early spring /late winter's past....

dood- what are ya- naked in them waders??:shocked:

when would you anticipate them being on the bayside of the cape? I'm planning to hit there late april through may. I heard the schoolie action from the beach is great.

20-22 April is when I start catching them in my benchmark location, and picking up from there for the next few weeks. But they are there before. Going to need a boat. Any kind of boat...

That raises an interesting question....

Does sea lice always mean "new arrival"?

Many of the "keepers" I have taken in that span have had lice all over them... weird. :huh:

-Dave

I was catching fish at the end of December last year in SoCo that had sea lice. They sure were not migrating so I think the sea lice thing is mostly myth.

"Keeper" bass will be in the Merrimack river by the 20'th of May,Teen sized fish by the end of the Month, first shot of schoolies the first week of May..... If you get the fish on the ocean front they will have lice, if you get them inside the river, the lice will be gone within a few hours of their arrival....

We have this sea lice conversation every year.... IMHO, sea lice indicates a SCHOOL of fish with decent numbers. Usually when I see lice, I am catching just about every cast.