Wow. Those pics make me want to dust off the 4 weight...

Amen to that John. Last Monday I saw a great meteor shower and a fabulous sunrise. No fish, but it did not matter. Last year I fished into December. Will do the same this year. It is never not fun and always fills me with calm and awe.

ED

Not sure it’s an ego thing. Given the number of skunkings I take each year when shore fishing, it can't possibly be.
Sure, things swing into your favor on occasion and all is wonderful for a brief time, but fishing from the shore is, was, and will always be a labor of love.

BB,you are the one who said you lost your interest and drive,that doesn't sound like love to me.maybe just burnt out.personally i can't get enough of the salt.i started fishing 49 years ago,have spent a good portion of my life working on the water or playing on the water.never can get enough of it.unfortunately i live about 5 hrs from the salt so i can only get about 100 days of fishing in.i guess to each his own

l.i.fish.in.vt,

You missed the last sentence of the original post. Tongue in cheek/joking thread.:huh:

Went out the next night and took a good skunking though. The cold, damp breeze on the back of my neck accompanied by a driving rain, numb fingers,backlashes and sleep deprivation assured me that I haven't lost the drive. Yet. :laugha:

Well said. What we need and take from fishing changes throughout our lives. Worth remembering.

good, I am glad you are done because my ego can't take reading any more of you posts about how you were bailing 25-35 pound fish :pop:
it makes me feel like a loser, then i go out to fish and get bluefish :rocketem:. I remember what you wrote earlier in the year about seeking out newer places if the old usual spots don't produce, I wish I had more time to do that. Luck has not been on my side this year. You had a pretty good season considering you didn't go out as often as you would have liked. :btu: Good for you.

Gee Slip, even my kid can catch schoolies.

Chris, That's a great picture. One the 2 of you will remember for a long time to come.:cheers:

Great picture :btu:

Ya, right now i'd be very happy to spend a cold night in the surf,

let alone a sunny day with green water, blue skys and yellow beachgrass in the background. :)

It's a looong winta. :(

No over for me. Just one more trip in the boat and then Iam back in the surf till December.

Having the boat gives me the freedom to rest (somewhat) this old, beat up body and still fish hard. Now Nov is here and I can hit the surf. I still love the rocks and the sound of the waves crashing . It's not about catching. It's about doing and I just love to fish for Bass.

Seriously Slip, it was really %$%$%$%$ luck more than anything else. After blindly walking into the fish on the first night, it was just a matter of showing up each night on the same tide until the fish moved on. Anyone who showed up did well. There was no real genius or skill involved. The biggest challenge for me is always trying to balance family, work, and fishing.
My schedule for those two weeks was like this...Up @6am helping wife get kids ready for the day>>> work from 7 until 5>>>get home from work and spend time w/family until 8:30pm bedtime>>>sleep until midnight,get up and drive an hour or so>>>fish from 1AM until 5am>>>drive home an hour or so>>>and repeat. Got a couple of nights sleep in there somewhere, but you get the picture. Fun but not easy, thus the "I'm done" attitude.

That's sounds familiar minus the kids. The 1 hour to 2 hour round trip everyone night is what did me in. When you're beating yourself up like that all the gas money just adds insult to injury.

Adding the kids is the killer part, knowing you aren't the most important thing in your life anymore. Took me some getting used too. The ultimate responsibility. BB I couldn't do that schedule anymore. I applaude you for the juggling act. I need a nap.

After 4 weeks of killer large fishing and some electrical issues that forced me to drop off the boat this morning, I'm winterizing and getting the 16 footer ready for my winter fishing. I'm taking a few weeks off to play some golf and get some gear stowed for the winter.

Sissy.

I'm officially done for the year.

I went down to Rhody for the first time this Sunday and got to see some of these spots I've been hearing about from you guys for years. It was really cool to explore some new area's, one in which I donated my favorite plug to the ocean :realmad:

I ended up getting into a nice blitz at the end of the day Sunday and caught a bunch of bass, all small but still tons of fun.

It was a bit sad knowing that I was doing my last cast of the year. I was happy that the last fish I caught was a nice 25'' schoolie on the fly rod.

I spent enough time and way too much $ on fishing this year but feel like I gave it my all. I have a lot of things to catch up on in the next few weeks and I feel satisfied walking away. Good luck to those who are still getting after it. This site will keep me interested as the snow starts to fall.


P.S. I'm going to get my ski's tuned and prepare for the "other season"

Considering I didn't fish at all July/August, and that Sept into October I was on the road most of the time, and then I injured my right arm...

I'm just getting started :jump:

Although the bar is set pretty low. If I can get a keeper in Nov I'll be happy as a clam.

-spence

There are still bass on Cape here, Sunday night nada, the water was still "ugly", but last night thinngs were getting back to normal and I did okay. Mostly small fish but with matched gear and/or the flyrod it's still better than sitting at home goin', "Sh!t it's 5pm and it's dark out already"!

Got at Least until Thanksgiving round these parts, then the annual pilgrimage ( no pun intended) to Fishers Island to wrap it all up.

Does anybody remember how LATE last year lasted?
Only this year there seems to be a good concentration of LAHHHHGE in close. Time will tell, but I'm one of those whackos that doesn't fish all winter, but will fish until I am absolutely sure there are only resident schoolies swimmin' round. I have become more choosy since the migration has begun. I'll focus more on the right moons and the right times during the next month to month and a half.

I am more of the Pete G school of thought. Have never been bothered by the cold, providing there's enuff layers. Will be making the journies to SOCO for the two best moons of this month, and as warm as it has been it looks as though Dec's New may hold some promise.

And there is a matter of a Plug Tourney still motivating many of us to keep pushin' on, at least until Dec 1 :D. Also, i set a personal goal of 40#+ for this year. Looks like the odds may be dwindling, but I haven't lost the drive being encouraged by my best season to date.

I can definitely appreciate the wear and tear of the juggling act BB. My Honey Cove on Cape Ann is 45 mins one way. SOCO is a good 1.5 hours to WKPG B&T from my doorstep in Saugus. Hold on for at least the next two moons, you may be pleasantly surprised and at least ya won't be kicking yerself in the proverbial groin this winter for not giving it yer all.

Hang it up iffin you must, but being more selective and narrowing your fishing windows may be what's needed to jump-start your final push?

Well Boys and Girls,

Yesterday was my last trip. It was the kind of day one dreams of, both weather-wise and fish-wise. There were mutable schools of Bass with a few large Blues mixed in. What fun, mostly small fish but there were so many schools you could shop around ‘till you found some keepers. It was a great end to a season that was, let’s say, less than Stella for this ol’ boy.

Yesterday afternoon I took my tin boat to Wareham to be winterized.

I’m already having withdrawal symptoms... ”Hi my name is Al and it’s been 1 day since I’ve been fishing!”

It’s going to be a long winter.

Al

I think my last trip might be this coming weekend... (unless you count a haddock trip in early december)

I got alot of stuff I need to learn for work (C# ASP.NET etc)
Cant do it while casting :)

Yep! All the time:btu:

I gave up albie fishing this past sunday. It was the first time since august when I didn't at least see some sort of hardtail. I was actually looking forward to giving up on them. I think I'll wait until december to give up bass fishing, christ I haven't fished for them hard since bones and albies showed up a few months ago!

I can't believe the number of folks that are saying they are done for the year. The water temps in Newport are 55 degrees, and the bass don't leave until it hits 50. I have not seen a gannet diving on herring yet, during the most spectacular part of the run. Traditionally, it goes until Thanksgiving, and this year we are 2 or 3 weeks behind. If you have fished too hard, OK, pack it in. No knock on anyone, really. Dust off the gear, folks, the best is yet to come.

Amen brother...like I said...I'm just getting started :vamp:

-spence

Lots of gannets since the storm

It ain't over yet.:wave:

Hi Boys,

For you that say the best is yet to come...I agree 100%. Especially for the larger fish.

But this ol' boy's had a fun year and my Christmas Tree Farm has to be made ready for the season. Besides, every year AM temperatures in the 30's seem colder than the year before.

So for you all that are still fishing I wish you lots of action. Keep warm and be careful!

Al

Keep the faith guys, big push of large in a few of the spots I fish. Plenty of bait too.

The Big run has not even started yet.I hope this cold evenings start getting things in motion.

I was trying to net some bunker and caught snappers the other day.

is it that time already . Im travilin to fish in ct .