Newport Water Temp 43 degrees
What water temperature do we need to get things started

ALready has for smaller fish.

50 is the magic number 52 lights out!

Water temp don't mean sh!t..When the bait comes//They will follow...

Down in Virginia Beach they crushed the stripers in 45 degreee water this winter, bait is the key, there was a ton of bait around this winter.

Water temp don't mean sh!t..When the bait comes//They will follow...

Better get out there then, there's several coves of the Bay already VERY filled with adult bunker... :buds:

Nothing but a seal harassing them though.

Better get out there then, there's several coves of the Bay already VERY filled with adult bunker... :buds:

Nothing but a seal harassing them though.

Seen them all winter in certain places....

there are two schools of thought as to when the bite starts, for some water temp is the key, while others believe it is the angle of the sun that signals the migration.

until the fish start talking, we will never know.

I know believe that the water temp has anything to do with when & where // for years i did >> but not any more ><><<><

50 is usually the taget number, but when you have a shallow or dark bottomed bay, the sun can heat up the water between tides, creating a temprary surge in temps, and subsequently the fish bite as well.

50 is usually the taget number, but when you have a shallow or dark bottomed bay, the sun can heat up the water between tides, creating a temprary surge in temps, and subsequently the fish bite as well.
They bite all winter long..:humpty:

i heard from a reliable source you could see the herring stirring up the waters in cape cod over the weekend. so maybe it's go time now for the cape.

I have also heard 50 being the magic number...for striped bass.

Cod from the shore, the time is NOW! Weather is at least bearable but water is still in the low 40's. Better than getting skunked in a december squall

lowest I ever caught was 38 degrees bucktailing a rip

I like 50-60 for the plug bite

In the Merrimack/Plum Island area: 55 def. F. is the "magic temp"

all this chit chat about water temps and the striped ones arrival got me thinking about a new theory that i have to research extensively now... :conf:

buuut.. its near impossible for me to accept temps having nothing to do with. as probably around 95% of ocean life is cold blooded, and rely on water temps to keep them normal. buuuuut i keep seeing people saying they are showing up almost randomly. thus driving people to think they follow food and temps play no part of it...

what if both theories are right? say the striped ones follow the food... welllll the reason the food is coming here is because they are looking for more food (some for spawning grounds) and then their food supply is being drawn this direction as well..

now... looking at (i think its a 20 yr cycle) map of ocean temps.. theres been some changes (as you probably know) but not close to shore... way out in the "conveyor belt" areas.

sooo what if it's actually the ocean temps waaaaaaaaay off shore that determine when they show?

for example... certain algae may need a certain temp to reproduce and thrive.. as the summer approaches this certain temp draws closer to land. causing this algae to bloom.. so now that plankton that feed on this algae start to thrive closer to shore.. now most small fish that feed on plankton realize this (somehow, probably cause they feed on it and just eat their way up here) and see this as their opportunity to leave overly predator crowded waters and head this way. and we all know who is right on their heels.

ofcourse also hafta factor in when water tamps change, so do currents, which could also assist in pushing more and more bait fish food towards our shores..

other factors.. when does what spawn? like whens the peak crab mating season? (cause crab eggs seem like tastey treats to me. other eggs of animals should be though of as well) sooooooooo many factors to consider.. and i think i have just enough time to research this cacamany idea of mine before they get here.. just hafta start at the top of the food chain and work my way down.. could take a while..

i will always stick by water temp being a major role is aquatic behavior. upwards of 60-75% of the influence on life under water. but there is soooo much going on down there its unreasonable to think its the only factor.

ok im done confusing every one with a theory i havent even researched yet... :conf:

so i think i figured it out.... and didnt take any where near as long as i expected. boy i love the interwebs.

http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/phytoplankton/primer.html

if ya realllly dont want to read all the info on there... (which i strongly recommend you do) it says...

plankton blooms are pretty much almost impossible to predict. but occur in the spring. due to more sunlight, changing water temps that stabilize the water column (which is in turmoil in the winter) and fresh high nutrient filled water (thanks to the winter turmoil)

i dont think its any coincidence that it just so happens when the bait fish start showing up in masses...

so now thats my final answer... the striped ones show up shortly after the bait fish show up, after the first major plankton bloom of year. which happens completely randomly and is determined by a whole crap load of factors.

so ya just don't know unless yer out there fishing so get at it. :D

(btw just found some real time chlorophyll images... the blooms already started)

what if both theories are right? say the striped ones follow the food... :

I'm all for the concept that striped bass follow the food, there's nothing more important besides reproducing. It's just HOW closely they follow it and if/how much it relates to water temp (or anything else).

Herring and bunker are usually here at least a month before migrant stripers arrive, clearly they aren't married to these schools of bait. Something holds them back. Probably bait elsewhere. ;)

The delay of migrant stripers may be contributed that the bass know that the herring will spawn. If the bass eat the herring with the eggs then the food supply will deminish.

In my opinion, temp matters only to how active the fish are. They follow the bait into cold water. They get slow and lethargic. When the water warms they get more active and are move visible.

that higher temperatures increase the ocean currents

and eventually the bass are sorta hitching a ride....

(correct me if i'm wrong)

the same way geese take advantage of the aerodynamics of the v formation which makes it easier to fly behind the leader

or how spring birds ride the air streams of hot air blowing up from the south to head back up north in the springtime

Water temps play a role, although I’ve never paid them much heed. The timetable plays out roughly the same every year. :rtfm:
From now until late April you'll begin to see micro bass spread from our south to north. Inland waterways (like the ct river) you'll see some larger fish taken from now up until mid may. Holdovers will be caught just about every place that supports them with some good sized ones in the mix. Matunuck will yield a 50 any day now as it does every year. :fishin:
Early May will bring a sniff of larger fish and mid/late May will bring the ones that we all dream of during those REM moments of our sleep. It plays out just about the same every year. If you are looking for large fish, it’s really 5-6 more weeks before the large schools make it up here to Mass/RI.
Until then get your :sleeps:
Its a marathon.

This questions gets asked every year... bass follow the sun... both in the spring and in the fall.. water temp. dictates their metaboisim.. that is all.... I've caught bass in a certain Boston location through the ice on tip ups while fishing for large mouth bass....more than once and on different years.

I've caught hold over schoolies while smelt fishing in the Parker, Hamton and Exeter rivers

I catch bass each spring (plum island area) from area with water temps in the mid 40's...

Like any migratory species, the clock continualy runs.. and they run with it...water tempeture.. like plug color...is WAY over rated.

I'm a believer that the fish follw the sun angles .However Buzzards Bay tower hit 42 degrees yesterday for the temp watchers.

I'm all for the concept that striped bass follow the food, there's nothing more important besides reproducing. It's just HOW closely they follow it and if/how much it relates to water temp (or anything else).

Herring and bunker are usually here at least a month before migrant stripers arrive, clearly they aren't married to these schools of bait. Something holds them back. Probably bait elsewhere. ;)

It seems to me, the bigger fish don't always take up station where all the bait seems to be concentrated either....

It seems to me, the bigger fish don't always take up station where all the bait seems to be concentrated either....

they don't need to because they can swallow anything that swims by... heh heh heh :bl:

For the larger breeding fish, wouldnt their arrival be dependant more on the water temp/conditions of their breeding rivers then ocean temps or sun angle?