Shouldnt there be...
 

reports of tons of schoolies? Clammer has me very concerned on the state of the bass. Its April 28, I know we had a cool spring, but there should be reports of hundreds of schoolies along the WW and MTK by now.
I'm not looking for spots, since I'm not interested in catching them, just wondering, is ANYONE into large amounts of fish? Am I being paranoid? :huh:

unless it's as bad as clammer says( which could be entirely true) it should go off any day now...

should have happened 2 weeks ago. only 1 school of babys so far. way off.

I usually skip trout season in CT... since I'd rather catch scholies in RI. This year I've been fishing for trout and waiting for stripes... I hope it's the cold weather, so far things seem a little later than the past few years.


FWIW, I'm in the "things are in trouble" camp.

me too

the water temp in Narragansett bay is ;;

50 & above .. everywhere / but probably @ the mouth ;

up north in the back rivers .. Saturday night is was 55 to 58 .. where ever we went ...... & another skunk . that,s three in the last 10 days ;;

I don,t think I,ve been skunked 3 times in the spring in the last 50 years ><><<><:deadhorse:

wow that does not sound good. No offense to you guys, but I hope you are all wrong and the fish just got sick of the WW and decided to come straight to the north shore!

They might have got lost trying to enter the Bay. Everything seems fine (as far as late April fishing goes) where I'm fishing. The little ones were fighting over topwater baits there was so many of them yesterday.

By "schoolies" are we talking about early 12 to 26 inch fish, and not "schoolies" that we'll be catching in a few weeks, correct?

yeah Pete, talking about the dinks that usually show early.
I can say that last year, I started get fish between 24-32" the first weekend in May, lots of them while fishing in the mid-bay. By the middle of May 20+lb fish were showing regularly.

yeah Pete .

when we were allowed to sell schoolies / the max. weight was 6 pounds ;;which is well under the 28" legal limit ;

Everyone could fill the boat / or beach last year with 26" to 33.5 " fish .. but many commercial guys had to cull thru them to get the market size of 34";;

they are so busy / F $%^&*() with the size & numbers & dates with Tautog, Scup, sea bass & fluke .. they are totally missing or ignoring the biggest issue .. STRIPERS::

WE might as well add this infux & their destruction as well >>>>>>>>>>>>> && that being / the seals, the millions of commarants , the osprey & the hawks ;;
As quick as the herring are trying to make a comeback ... these 4 critters are on a feeding frenzy ;;

25 years ago .. 1 or two seals would make us stop digging to watch them ....... commarants / didn,t exist >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> now every f $%^&*() winter .......... they feed on sea herring [seals] & every time a commarant dives ........ you can see it swallowing a winter flounder or eel .& we all know the state of these two species in RI ><><:nailem:

the 2 early season spots i fish in ct. have so far been- spot A) right on time & spot B) a couple weeks early (to me thats a good sign) - my dad who fishes the east end of long island got his first fish of "08" on 4/9..... he got his first of "09" yesterday- he said the bait and bass in the early spots he fishes are about 2 weeks behind- he only started to see the first schools of bunker last weekend.

50 degree water all over. 56 in EG. I marked a few fish but no schools. I didn't really fish. I was taking the boat for a "shakedown" cruise.

They must be close to rolling into the Bay, I saw more then a few fish getting close to keeper size caught over the past few days along the coast.

Nevermind, I originally posted a newspaper article from Newport paper this week, but may have some of you guys "spots" listed as hot, so I pulled it back.

Would this be spot burning to post a printed fishing report, if it helps S-B fishermen. Especially after the Cup kicks off, I would think all the info we can get to help the team would be good. Feedback on this?

you would think that. only problem is, it's not a private forum. there for pretty much any one who googles "stripers" will eventually run into it. (there are times in mid season when there are 33 registered users (posters) and 200 guests (non posters) viewing these forums) and BAM! there goes all the spots.

edit: still stuff like the OTW reports are generally fine. common knowledge is ""ok"". but to some, what seems like common knowledge, is super secret info to others. so generally specific spot stuff is bad. :(

kind of sucks. but thats how it is.

U said that last year....Plenty of fish here,,,:smokin::huh::humpty:

PETE G

that,s it exactly >>>>>>>> keepers are coming >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NOT true schoolies ..

HISTORY repeats itself ;;



BE careful Dave >>>>> ya get me down there next fall / If I can get some tail inline /add to the fishing & ya might have me there longer than ya think ><><><><:wave:

IF ALL WERE TOO KNOW ><><>><


SMOKE & MIRRORS :bs:

I was in Virginia Beach last weekend, left on their "Trophy Season Opener", or "Large Breeder Massacre" however you see it.

Anyway, all the locals down there said that all the large where still way up in the Potomac waiting to spawn as the water was still too cold down there. Apparently they won't spawn until the water hits a certain temperature.

Should be anyday by now, I am sure the deed is done and the fleet are sailing north after the past weeks weather.

I am probably wrong. I'm not a fish biologist. But I know that I hear this same stuff every year and every year by June 1 everyone is smiling. It only April for God sake and we had a long cold winter, as almost all of the country did. If we are not catching fish by mid May then I'll start to worry.

its the weather
 

i mean the reproduction rate due to pollution in the Chesapeake bay and subsequent disease
is having an undesirable affect on numbers....

but the cold temps hanging around has changed ....dramatically

every two years .... spring has moved up by 1 week

i used to be able to plant my peas every year on Saint Patrick's day
not any more....

there's a 30 day difference now

or roughly 4 weeks for spring to arrive

for ground temps and water temps...
so ADJUST YOUR CALENDER

Paul, just my experience that by now people are nailing 50+ schoolies all over the place, you know the spots. It seems like Pete G is seeing fish so that makes me feel a little better. Who knows, bait moves, things change.
2 years ago I caught so many bluefish in Sept and Oct, it was disgusting, last year less than a dozen. I'm not worried about the bluefish pop, things changed. Clammer and others have been preaching doom and I was curious to see how this spring went and so far seems slow for the dinks. I have no clue, but it worries me.

What Clammer said.

The numbers of small bass appear to be dwindling from the highs I remember in the last dozen years or so -

While there are some school fish around - notably in That Spot Pete referred to - they aren't elsewhere yet.

There are still seals out on the Drive as of a few days ago on Seal Rock (hence the name), and cormorants by the hundreds.

I dunno, maybe the answer is a seal hunt using cormorants as a club - probably wouldn't get a lot of popular support though, I guess

Water temps are above what I always considered the trigger point locally

Beats me - but historically speaking, a dearth of small bass and a glut of larger fish parallels the two biggest crashes - the one in the late 1800's that caused the closure of the great striped bass clubs of that era and the more recent moratorium


Yeah, I'm concerned - and Clammer is right about fisheries management dropping the ball again - 2 fish a day at 28" has been sheer stupidity.

You've gotta ask yourself, what would we all do without a bass fishery?

God knows I don't have the temperment or social skills for golf. The people you run into golfing are the ones I go fishing to avoid, anyway...:rollem:

So who's gonna be the next Bob Pond this time around?...:huh:

You know, if I am completely wrong, I'd rather have erred on the side of caution.

Don't you think that the people catching 50+ schoolies a day might be as big a problem as the seals and cormorants? Even with the best handling, there has to be some release mortality.

I've never targeted schoolies in huge numbers in the spring. Holdover or fresh, they've either spent a stressful winter or undertaken a long migration. I know that everyone is itchy to go after a long dry period, but the bigger fish will be along soon.

definitley Mike, Im sure it causes damage. Im just using that as a comparison for the amount of fish around.

Lot's of cormorants means bait and there is tons of small bait around - I'm seeing it while togging and it has drawn mackeral into the harbor. When you have lots of bait the bass can be anywhere - and they probably are. Just give it time as Piemma says.

DZ

I would love the bass dispersed with a ton of bait... Not so great for us fisheman, but great for the bass. It saddens me when bass are schooled in tight in a predicatable location. IE bunker, in the bay... Makes for an easy killing spree/massacre.

I've always thought that a LOW/MODERATE amount of bait was a bad thing. Concentrates allot of bass in a small area. A nice even spread of bait is what I'd like to see.

Still real thin in the squid department, Dennis - have yet to see a single ink stain at the GIC -

Glad to hear you're seeing macks - the big question is, are you seeing any blackfish...

Feel free to answer via PM...I'm gonna go sight-fishing for 'em tomorrow...:)

Hey, Paul - I'm old and old people are notoriously impatient...besides being grumpy...:laughs:

Nobody can look up a bulls rear end any farther than the next guy. speculation doesn't solve a thing. Every year is different from the last; you just enjoy what you get and adjust your style and location to fit that change. One year theyr'e on this side of the rock and the next year they are on the otherside at a different tide. Guys get spoiled and forget how to work for fish. I bet if we looked at the minutes from surf clubs in the early years they were also speculating about the end of all things to come.

Get a grip here fellows!

I guess its safe to assume you dont keep a fishing log.

Mike P

what you said is exactly what I mean >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> alot of guys don,t [bother] with schoolies ....which means they don,t see the steady decline in this fishery ........ they won,t get concerned until they are having trouble getting large .....


& as far as old clubs .... pretty much the only ones that kept records were the one on the old Schaffer contest & to some degree / on only local touraments . back then ...... with a 16" size limit & no daily limit // no one lept score unless [again in was in a tournament ;

if you took a survey of all the schoolie monster fisherman & flyrodders & charter boats/ guides than make a living putting clients on shallow water fish , numbers, etc & they all replied truthfully ....................... maybe you would realize this is a bigger issue ..than fish the other side of the rock .
Every single fisherman that I know that is still fishing & were seasoned fisherman in the crash of the 80,s / will tell you the same story ;
Damn // how many times can a sledge hammer bounce off a head before it realizes its getting smashed ><><><:hs::hs:

Chuck, it will be OK, I think.
Jim White has a post up on his site and it's real gloom. He may be correct. I lived through the moratorium and maybe we are getting ready for another collapse. I have a huge amount of respect for Jim and what he knows but I am still thinking I will wait and see what's happening about May 15th. if I'm not getting into decent fish by then well we all should start worrying.

Bay schoolies are down in numbers and arrival dates for the last 4 years for me. Arrival date for my spots have been delayed by a week each year for the last 3 years. And the number of fish for my spots is way off. I know bait and water temps as well as other factors could be effecting my spots but I know what I see and I know it has me worried.

In years past (not last year), I would typically start fishing a couple rivers between Mattapoisett and Wareham in mid-late April. According to my records, I would always be into schoolies, 12-18" by third week in April. BY fourth week a little bigger to 24". Then I'd switch over to canal fishing by Mother's Day with the first keeper usually coming 3rd week of May.

Last year I decided to work Buzzards Bay area hard in the boat. I launched april 13th and checked every bay and estuary on both sides for many many hours. Nothing with no signs of life. Went a couple times the last week in April and the rivers/estuaries were yielding small schoolies pretty consistently.

First weekend in May, lots of bait, stripers and birds so action was more noticeable. Even caught a couple small keepers in the 28-30" range. I took friday 5/16 off and fished friday - sunday extensively and Buzzards Bay erupted. Tons of bait, stripers, birds and plenty of keepers.

I think were in the same pattern and expect things to start opening up this weekend thru next weekend. Soon guys......

Finally!!! Some sanity!!!!

There was an excellent spawning year in 2001, and very good spawning years in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The 2001 fish are just reaching spawning age now, and the later classes are still too small to legally harvest everywhere outside of the bay areas of Maryland.

Where'd they all go, if they're gone?

And from all reports the Hudson has been churning out record spawns for almost 20 years, since they cleaned it up and eliminated haul seining in NY.

Hmmm....I dunno, Mike - fish and chips, maybe...:huh:

Paul, respecfully, I think you're missing the point. You're talking about "decent" fish or the fish that arrive in mid-May or the almost keepers Moses is referring to. My observation along with Clammer and JW is - Where are the dinks? Those are the future of this fishery and are usually around in massive numbers by now. My own observations seem to line up with what some of the old timers are saying(no offense). I'm not saying the sky is falling, maybe its no big deal. But I'd like to hear that someone somewhere is seeing acres of schoolies.

I think this first week of the month will give up 40+ fish days. just need SW winds and some sun, which we've been getting a lot of lately....