I Fish mostly from Hull to Barnstable and typically don't fish during or after the big NE blows because most of my fishing has been from the boat. CC bay gets very nasty for a few days after and is not worth being out in.

I plan to spend most of my time fishing the surf this year and know these are prim times to hit it. The water is typically very stained to muddy during and after these winds. I've tried to go diving in these conditions and even at 40' you can't see your hand until it touches your mask. As a kid I remember hearing "when it blows east, the fish bite the least". After that diving trip, I thought, no wonder, they can't see $hit.

What's the deal with fishing these times - do you have to wait for it to clean out a little, or hit it before it gets too stirred up?

Hit it. fishing isn't always about catching. My friend and i hit the river last night in the rain knowing darn well that our chances were slim. The water was high and murky. We got skunked, although my friend had a fish on for about 5 seconds. We had a great time being idiots in the rain. Play hard my friend.

Years ago some of my best back beach fishing was when it blew hard E/NE, couldn't throw eels. But you could sure drag fresh sand eels ( single dropper and 5 to 8 oz bank on the bottom )on the big sticks. . . :uhuh:

The big caveat was the mung. Though some bars would block it and you could find open slots.

One of the best shore blitz's I got into last fall was at the start of a Northeaster. The wind was up, the water was rough and the bass pushed the bait up onto the beach. I've had this happen a number of times. It's one of my favorite times to fish. I use a fly rod and barely have to cast or cast parallel to shore. Once the water gets dirty the bite drops off. When I've fished dirty water the bite has been slow to non existent.