Summer doldrums
 

Do you guys take a break when the temps are up there and the water is pushing 75+ degrees in july and august?? Or do you just change up tactics and continue to catch??? Warmer water also means higher metabolism, so they have to eat more when it gets like this.

ill refer to my first year of striper fishing (3-4 years ago now) where i didnt know there were seasons, blitzes,best tides, ideal temps and we caught fish all year. FWIW making it more complicating with all that stuff has changed my productivity... well in hind sight, thats what it feels like.

jsut my .02

If I can get out there, I'll go. I might not be as excited but I still savor ever minute I get on the water in the summer. Sometimes, I'll just put a little more beer in the cooler and be a little more lazy while I'm out there.

As far as changing tactics, I'll look for cooler water and I'll give up on any chance at top water action.

When the outer cape was good, August used to be the best month for 40 plus pound fish. My best days/nights were all in late July/ August. If you can overcome all the negatives out there right now, the next six to eight weeks are the best time for a biggie IMO. Live or rigged eels only, please.

August 16, 1996 Ballston Beach in the hole in front of the big dune. More 30-40lb fish than you ever saw. Mike is right. We use to kill them in August on the Outer Cape beaches. Start at the Mission Bell and work to High Head. Work every bar and hole. If you didn't score big you ran to Head of the Meadow, Coast Guard, Long Nook, Le Count. It was all live and rigged eels and the sharpies killed em.
Names like Lanny, #^&#^&#^&#^&y C, George Heavey, Tony S, Chucky from NY, Jimmy Cigar and the true legend, George Calzone.

I fish business as usual. In the last few years I have had a few memorable nights that rivaled Sept or Oct.

Fall can be really good, but it is overrated IMO. I think its mainly due to the unpredictable weather we get. Line storms and the like can kill or ruin a good bite. I like summa betta.

So last year I got skunked all throughout July and the first part of August, but I was only throwing swimmers with red gill teasers and the occasional storm shad, plus I was only fishing around either sunrise or sunset. This year I am using live eels and sluggos and trying to fish only at night and it's going better than last year - no large yet - but no skunks either.

Location Present
Temperatures





Portland ME (44007) 68.5




Newport RI 77.0

New London CT 71.1

79-80 off wickford when I was working today...
I cut way back the last few weeks; work is busy as hell, and the heat drains me.. plus fishing had sucked for me anyways...

78 degree water at Sally Rock and the North end of Prudence this AM

switch up
 

Go for fluke or scup.

The big ones fight pretty good and taste better anyway!

I change my approach... from catching to casting practice... :wall:

In years past I've always had a little honey hole to rely on for decent bass in the hot months.. this year they're empty.... c'mon Sept.

I doubt that the water on the very bottom of the Canal ever gets over 65 degrees, no matter what the surface temps may be ;)

I keep at it, yet I did take a week off this month,last year I had no skunkings in july or august, this year only 3 nights no fish in july I will only fish with live eels this time of year also if you find fish at a spot this time of the year they will be there for the summer as they don't move around much when it's warm thats way spots that don't get much pressure are better, no ones thining the herd.

August is always a new ballgame from July. Different types of bait move in - most of the time. The baby bunker should push around more, mullet should move in, and the herring fry should start to come out. Makes for some surprisingly good fishing in August even with water temps so high. I just hope this August shows some of this -- because -- July sucked...:smash:

Good post Joe, I don't know what others measure success by...However you are right,overall July sucked...Cant catch whats not there..

Great morning.... lots of bunker... All kinds of fish from fluke and bass on the waters edge to blues in the back... tons of silver sides and med-large bunker... more bait then fish but plenty of fish... some schools went out towards the atlantic unmolested while others got decimated.... dozen bass in the 30-32" range with a couple of shorts... lost count on the blues and dropped a nice fluke right at my feet who took a sinking SS popper...

Lost a loaded yellow mack redfin to a bass who @ 15' away peeled some 40-50yds of line off my reel... didn't see what hit a partsjay popper but it was pulling line off so fast.. again to a different lobster pot....storm shads 6", 6-7" pencils, were also effective... dannys and surfsters got the occasional tag along and eels were ignored..

Nicely said...
soon... lets hope so at least :D

Yeah isn't that the truth.
Arms are gettin tired of that though, need a tight line soon.

What do you guys consider a slow/bad trip or month????

slow/bad trip month, easy..skunks skunks and more skunks.

this time of year (summer doldrums) I try to catch albies.

less sunset-darkness trips, more darkness-sunrise trips.

slow trip... 1 or less keepers, slow month, allot of slow trips. July for me blew. 0 keepers. Biggest mistake? Not using eels. That has been remidied