June
 

I'm glad it's over.

Herring season was a joke this year - a total waste of time.

Very few (respectable) fish this June for the amount of time put in. After conversing with the locals (and not so local - NY), seems like most of the surf guys are in the same boat.

Things were late, water was cold and the sun really didn't shine for days at a time. SW wind - whats that?

Did it suck for the rest of you surfcasters do in June?

If this keeps up I'm going to have a clearance sale on all my gear, head to the pro shop, buy a golf cart and start chasing a little white ball around. Is golf best played on a dropping tide?

Tat - I hear a lot of the same but I'm sticking to my May theory of things being behind schedule in many regards. So while some big fish are already in Maine. other big fish have yet to pass Montauk. The wealth, what there is, has been spread out a lot more than usual.

In third that... the fishing has been streaky... one of three things has happened this spring to me...
1. No fish;
2. one, maybe 2 small keeper - mid 20lb fish
3. lots of fish, 22-30" and nothing bigger

The three scenario's never seemed to overlap...
I do think the season is behind a bit... normally I am fishing in the bay from my skiff in June, but the bite had been better off the rocks, now its about 50/50 which is better on a given night, so I'm hoping my normally great mid june fishing is behind...

And herring... what are those?

No doubt you'll get a consensus vote on that from the surf guys and rock-hoppers -

I've been talking to a lot of people and trying to put it together - basically, EVERYTHING is late this year - bait and fish - by 2 to 3 weeks it seems.

And the water temps are colder than normal too - a charter captain told me the temp at the Rose Island Light is only 62 - which for July 1 is way off - and he's still seeing 20-25 # bass heading up the bay :confused:

Add to that the abundance of 3-5" herring we're just now seeing - that shoulda happened in the beginning of June. Autopsy results on keepers are showing a lot of crabs, too, so the bass are into bottom grubbing for chow, but that's all gonna change soon.

I went eeling in the river the other night and the #&**#@%# moon was as bright as a reading light, got one 27" bass and several takes - and drops on an eel that I thought were small timid fish - then looked at the eel under my light and it was pretty well 'blued' making me think they were bigger fish spooky on the moon.

I dunno - who was it said an expert who can give ya all the reasons for not catching fish :huh::confused::huh:

Keep the faith, Mike - better days (or nites) are coming - real soon too - I'll call ya today re Dentons (the frames are done), bucktails, etc etc - and a weekend stroll with a coupla buckets of snakes ;)

I fish in CT. Here are my observations. The river run of herring was pretty poor, and seemed to develop early - go away - and then again late.

In the Sound, temps are within a couple of degrees (warmer) than last year. Large fish are in the area , though the squid bite did not seem to be what it was last year. Hickory shad are starting to show (bait) but seem to be a little late as well.

I am doing very well with big fish this year. Last year there were more fish to be caught, but this year there seem to be less only they are larger.

F*** June. :af:

Hmmmm....ah, yes, Mr. WeeWee - I can see by looking at your chart that you need a little saltwater therapy - as your doctor I recommend a thorough immersion twice a day until the symptoms begin to subside....

Followed by a daily dose for the next 2 weeks until this condition has cleared up.

Fishing pox, is my diagnosis...:hs:....yes, particularly virulent strain too......

Newport RI 59.5


Thats at the Npt Tide Gauge, I read 59-60 last night in the bay... where I cant tell ya :D
But it should be 63-65 degrees this time of year, so we are WAY behind this... the 65 degrees Gary Lay reports is shallow water, any deepers spots are at or around 60, maybe a degree or two warmer on the ebb then the flood...
B

scupping has been great! they're stupid.

i don't know on a dropping tide, but on a new moon i've done well in 9 holes. chartreuse is definitely the hot color. the black colored balls tend to be a pain finding.

While the oft-maligned tautog may not be terribly bright, they too have offered good sport on light tackle, making up for the dearth of big girls hereabouts :p

Hey, Tattoo if ya take up golf you're also gonna have to wear pastel colored clothing - are ya sure you don't wanna think this over for a while? :hihi:

Not that there's anything wrong with that.....:eek:

I cant complain about the last 2-3 weeks.:D :happy:

June hasn't been the best for me. Lots of time put in and I've been catchin' mostly dinks.:af: Guess I haven't been at the right spot at the right time yet.:smash:

I thought in july and august it slows down because the water warms and the fish seek relief in deeper, colder water??? JUne is supposed to be a great month , no?

then the fluke comes closer to the shore, as well as scups too? i know they are here... but this year has been really so bloody slow.

Don't give up yet, their still catching large in jersey,water temp still low to mid 60's.

i aint going to jersey, dude;) well, if the bass god can bring those basses from the jersey to new england and give us a sporting of landing a tropy monster bass...

They will come,they don't like hangin in joisey when the bunker are gone.:hs:

thats why new englanders have the "fall run." when the bunkers arrive, they will make the fishing more fun and exciting (big menadens and peanut bunkers). i dont use pogy chunks for they havent brought a bas for me.

Best bait around IMHO.. you should give it another try... better yet, look at the top 12 bass ever caught, and tell me how many were caught on pogy heads.

does ANYONE like hanging around in jersey????

I do. The beaches in southern Jersey are cared for better than any beach I've seen up here. And rumor has it they get some good fish down there too.....

alright, i get it. i will give it another try, eben.:)

But then you have to admit you're a chunker... :yak5:
Not that there is anything wrong with that...

Chef, yeah generally June is the best month of the summer.... the best may still be coming though with water temps chilly!

When I started out bassing, thats what I used. We caught tons of big bass on pogies.. we'd start out with 12 frozen pogies... we 'd use a serrated knife and slice the pogies into fourths... one chunk was the head, 2 chunks were the belly, and one for the tail... the bellies would fall apart on us so we'd chum up the cove with the bellies and hook on the heads. we'd use a water balloon slingshot to wing the bellies as far out as we were casting, then we'd cast out the head. Since then I've fallen in love with plugs and eels, but it was a great way to catch big bass. If I remember right, we'd use a 3 oz egg sinker on the main line above the swivel.

i tried using a big piece of it and then my rod broke. the balloon thingie, eben? you gotta show it to me somedya.

June was great, from shore and boat.

Slowed right down the past week though, can't buy a fish the past couple times out, unless you count dogfish:smash:

Boat= Super Duper
Shore=The dozen or so times= BAAAAAAHHHHHH.

I got to agree Tatoo, worst June ever for me. Funny part is , last June may have been best ever...go figure??

I have not had a great June either. I have had a fish or two most trips but nothing with consisent numbers. Hopefully July will be better.

I agree with JohnR. Big fish are just starting to show up here.

I had a 35#er two nights agoo and three 40+ were beached since.

Top water action on the rips. big fish :)

we will be fishing hard this weekend :)