Wow! If people think the striped bass population is good, their living in a dream world.
It's 4:10am and I just fished for 4 hrs and got one friggin tap!
WTF!
I'm not just talking about tonight either. This has been me and my buddies worst year by far.

sometimes it's all about location... cant say i can sympothise with you..my hands look like hamburger and my left shouder requires ice and advil therapy...sounds like you need a change in scenary.

Not saying I'm not concerned about sb but you probably just need to move. They're somewhere else.

A few weeks ago my buddies one tap all night turned out to be 39#. I think you may have missed an 82#er...

Yeh - that happens - but it has been happening more.

So while the fish are around in different places there does seem to be a lot less of them.

I have not been out nearly enough to have an oppinion. But that has never stopped me in the past so....... the days (nights)I have been able to fish have been a mixed bag for me. Large schools that showed up on certain beaches in years past at certain times during the season have not been there. It seems as though the whole schedule of movement has been off for me. I spent 5 nights chasing fish last week on beaches that held fish last year and have been fairly consistent for me in past years. I noticed there was not a plethora of baits that I had seen in the past however either. Unfortunately for me I haven't had the time to put into it either. Come to find out when I was deep into the CCNS there were fish on the elbow in one area or another. Maybe those fish will be moving up with the full moon and last year they were on the new. I won't be able to get down so c'est la vie. I am very Interested to see the assessments later this year.
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The fish are where the bait is. That's pretty much the way it always works, and always has worked.

The fish are where the bait is. That's pretty much the way it always works, and always has worked.

Amen...another thing that gets lost to some folks.. bass dont eat 24/7... they tend to feed for a period of time then rest for a longer period... they may be there, just shadowing the bait... just because they are not feeding does not mean they are not there..

It's been a pretty good year in these parts.

WH to Gansett has been S - L - O - W from shore all summer.

And very little bait. Some sandeels here and there, and some peanuts/herring every now and then, but not like it should be. And no fish on them, not even dinks.

Hot water too.
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Absolutely I guess what I was getting at is they were not in spots that they had been around the same phases in past seasons. Partially due to the lack of bait. I spent five nights trying to find the pattern in a stretch of fifteen miles based on past experience and they were closer to 20 miles away. It is what it is. Noted and logged for future reference.
The fish are where the bait is. That's pretty much the way it always works, and always has worked.
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Numbers wise, I've caught as many fish this year as last year and I've still got 3 months to go. I've also seen and caught way more schoolies than any year since 2007, which to me is a good sign.

You just need to adapt to fishing different spots or different times of day. The fish are out there, you just need to find them. And as mentioned above, find the bait and you'll find the fish.

Wow! If people think the striped bass population is good, their living in a dream world.
It's 4:10am and I just fished for 4 hrs and got one friggin tap!
WTF!
I'm not just talking about tonight either. This has been me and my buddies worst year by far.

Haus - are you surf fishing or boat fishing? It makes a big difference.

Generally its surf fishermen who start seeing a decreased fishery first. First thing that happens is a trend or drop in "consistincy" of success - this occurs over an extended period. I and others have seen this over the past few seasons.
Boat anglers generally can move around and find fish somewhere by the fact they have more range and equipped with electronics. Of course they still have to get them to bite.

Surf fishermen compensate for lack of bass by expanding their range to exotic destinations like Cutty, Block, etc. Or by reaching for distant water in wetsuits. You can't get a true gauge of the fishery from those wetsuit clad anglers who basically fish in what used to be the domain of boat fishermen. To get a realistic picture of the fishery you need to talk with the "general surf caster clad in knee high boots or waders".
When these guys are hurting for an extended period you know something is not right. Once the boat guys start feeling it - it could be too late. I really hope I'm wrong.

DZ

The few giant ones out there, may be chasing the multitude of small ones away.

Or the larger ones that are here are chasing the smaller ones, since the pogie netters have done a good job of chasing the bait away.
I'm not saying these guys shouldn't be aloowed to net them, but that when looking at the entire bass situation, let's look at the ENTIRE situation. That means lack of bait/forage, netting of smaller fish down south, and those that are "accidentally" caught by commercial draggers.

You want to hear some nice bass stories, talk to guys fishing offshore for tuna and ask them how many 50 lbers. they've seen while fishing for tuna?
Sometimes it's also about where the fishing pressure is the lowest.

Amen...another thing that gets lost to some folks.. bass dont eat 24/7... they tend to feed for a period of time then rest for a longer period... they may be there, just shadowing the bait... just because they are not feeding does not mean they are not there..


Bingo. !!
They can be like predicting where birds will be at times.
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Amen...another thing that gets lost to some folks.. bass dont eat 24/7... they tend to feed for a period of time then rest for a longer period... they may be there, just shadowing the bait... just because they are not feeding does not mean they are not there..

and just because they are feeding doesn't mean they will feed on what you have. I've been tormented by a few good fish at a certain spot this week. When they do feed they are just slowly swimming through the bait with their mouths open, like a basking shark. They wouldn't hit a live eel small or large, bucktails, sluggos, swimmer, pencils, even flies! Talk about torture...sight fishing in it's most frustrating form. they mock me :jump1:

Amen...another thing that gets lost to some folks.. bass dont eat 24/7... they tend to feed for a period of time then rest for a longer period... they may be there, just shadowing the bait... just because they are not feeding does not mean they are not there..

That's especially true in August.

always slow for me this time of year....it's hot

Ok, I'm reading through these responses and I'm right, most of you people are living in a dream world.
First of all, I know how to fish and have caught plenty of fish in all the areas I hit. Secondly, I surf fish at night in waders/drytop or wetsuit-depending on how I feel. I hit a huge chunk of sea coast searching for fish each night I fish and like I said in my first post, I am not basing my season on just last night. This whole year has sucked. You can make excusses all day long as to why certain people don't catch, but I can catch and it has been getting worse and worse for the past few years. Maybe you guys that with all the excuses are incredible fishermen, but I'm telling you the striped bass are hurting. If ur a boat guy, don't bother talking about it, boat fishing is easy. I don't even consider it fishing.
Our ocean should be full of bait and stripers everywhere, but from what I see when I swim and snorkle is what I call a dead sea. Its embarrassing. If you guys want to settle for what we have now, that's sad. Keep dreaming
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Welcome to Surfcasting in August.

Welcome to Surfcasting in August.

I know, I know. I'm more venting about the whole season and how this year compares to years past. Just horrible. I jave caught in the past in August, no problem. It's just getting worse.

Haus throw eels.

The stocks are down. Has been by far the worse I've seen in all my holes that usually produce except one for a short period.

Been through this before. I fear we may be doing it again. We do stellar work at screwing up mother nature.
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what DZ said...

surf guys are hurting. boat guys can always find fish( I'm not discrediting big boat fish, just saying....)

hopefully there's a fall run this year that doesn't just take place in the canal. I wouldn't bet on it though...

Out last night in Fishtown. One tap for the three of us, as well.

Mean no disrespect but I think its your location. I have not seen a drop in my catches for 5 yrs in a row, if anything its getting better or Im just learning more and getting better "reading" my past log books. Probably a little of both. I did get a big SKUNK last night which I blame on bright moon,flat water and the fact that I was teaching my wife how to hook a eel,cast,retrieve,stuck in rocks,repeat. More of a night of gentle fishing rather than 200-300 cast marathon. Can I ask where your fishing, well, general location?

And the fish are always where ya get 'em!

Spotted this on a fish forum.

"Where are the fisherman this year ? Can't they figure out that we've moved over here, where all the bait is? It's good to be a fish. Heh, you guy's, get away from my rock, you're crowding me in. Go find some other bait fish down over there. Plenty for everybody."

Let's just say I cover a very large area.
Also, I'm shockd at some fisherman's mentality. If I was doing well fishing every night, but there were many other fishermen stating their numbers were way down, I would be concerned. It seems like some of you guys think that as long as you are still catching, everything is fine. I just don't understand you thinking. What are you going to do when you start getting skunked every night? It will eventually start happening to you, but there will be other people saying they are doing fine and on and on and on it will go until there are none left.

Mean no disrespect but I think its your location. I have not seen a drop in my catches for 5 yrs in a row, if anything its getting better or Im just learning more and getting better "reading" my past log books. Probably a little of both. I did get a big SKUNK last night which I blame on bright moon,flat water and the fact that I was teaching my wife how to hook a eel,cast,retrieve,stuck in rocks,repeat. More of a night of gentle fishing rather than 200-300 cast marathon. Can I ask where your fishing, well, general location?
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