Do you think the first early large are holdovers or migrators?

depends on color old olive green hold over shinny silver new arrival..02

I just always say they are migrators. It makes me feel better and stronger.:buds:

a few fish must leave earlier than the rest....

the instinct to migrate is stronger in them...

or they are efficient holdovers....

I have heard of winter caught fish , (holdovers in river)) up to 43 inches long. So I guess big holdovers are possible.

kid here in ct took one aound 47" end of February. Then proceeded to tell the world where he caught it :fishslap: Can't imagine it was migrating...

Oh.. also know a guy that took a 47" on the fly locally in early march couple years ago. Had to swim a bit to win the fight. He and his witness are definately not bs'ers so it is likely a true story. Sure that fish was here all winter.

so what's the difference whether they migrate or not?

Are they not good to eat?

Can you not keep them?

Is it taboo to keep or catch them?

Why do people not want hold overs?

personally, I don't care if there are holdovers or not, I just care if they are in the spots I want to fish, I don't particularly enjoy fishing at a lot of known holdover spots around boston, but hey, if I catch a fish in mhead, I couldn't care less where it came from. as we all know, fishing isn't only about the fish it's the whole experience and standing next to a power plant isn't my cup of tea..

They are migratory from where they heldover :scatter: :spin:

Why do people not want hold overs?

because......

they are members of the Bush administration.....:rotf2:

in Joisey the back is closed from Jan 1-March 1. I was tolds this went into effect because guys used to target large resident fish in the winter in the backbays deeper holes.

Danny thought these were large today :hs:

Holdovers.

because......

they are members of the Bush administration.....:rotf2:

This post just made me smile :wavey:

kid here in ct took one aound 47" end of February. Then proceeded to tell the world where he caught it :fishslap: Can't imagine it was migrating...

Oh.. also know a guy that took a 47" on the fly locally in early march couple years ago. Had to swim a bit to win the fight. He and his witness are definately not bs'ers so it is likely a true story. Sure that fish was here all winter.

Hi Guys - I haven't stopped by here in a while:wavey:
My son caught this in the Thames in late Feb.
I wouldn't exactly call it spot burning as everyone knows that holdovers hang there and have been for years.

But, you don't see too many bigguns.
Caught it on a zoom fluke and a light rod.
Definately not a migrator, and not very fat either.
I don't know why some fish migrate and others don't ?

Winter fun, though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/RotnikVW/Fish/P1000060.jpg

Don't discount the possibility that the Thames may have its own sub-population of bass that winter over and spawn there ;)

I wouldn't be surprise if they spawn there either. There are a bunch of holdovers in a river around boston that a movie was named after ;), and I've seen some super tiny stripers come out of there, so ya can't help but think some are spawning....

Don't discount the possibility that the Thames may have its own sub-population of bass that winter over and spawn there ;)

i thought that was proven? if the kennebeck river can spawn why not the thames?? or the housy for that matter? both are big systems loaded with bait.