Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockport24
Hey Joe - what's up with the bluefish - the prevailing theory seems to be that no bluefish means the big fish are "offshore" still on the bait, whereas bluefish usually scatter the bait and bring the fish in? Any truth to that? This season it seems like the fish were never inshore in big numbers..
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....blue fish...like bass are cyclical...but it's been many ,many years since we haven't seen at least the snappers ..especially with all the bait around...... as far as the bass being "offshore".. there has always been a contingent of bass that hang out on stellwagon and offshore rips and shoals ..up our way... it's not as big a deal as it is down the cape or along the block.. they mainly use Jefferies as a travel lane between Maine and P-town. Not as a feeding station.. a few hang out there and are seen/caught by tuna fisherman( or on occasion get caught by a dragger)...it's a straight shot full of feed...that is my theory as to why we rarely
see those fish that stay in Maine late.. they high tail it for warmer water using the Jefferies ledge super highway ...everything they do is predicated on the sun...it is their clock...just like birds or any migratory animal... water temp. may effect their comfort zone and feeding habits but in all reality, has very little with their migration... and if time runs out for that long journey... they scoot...flipping the "bird" to Great bay, coastal N.H. the MM river and cape Ann as the swim bye... as long as I've been fishing bass... 42 years to be exact... we have ALWAYS had big bass all summer.. even when they were scarce else where.. August has always been a very good month.. as much as a lot of people do not want to admit it and try to cover it up with the "they are some where else" reasoning.. bottom line is there are simply less of them.. and the farther north you go,, the less of them there are...yes I fish from a boat.. but never fish for bass in anything more than 20' of water, and that is only in the mouth of the river running wire in the rips where the bottom can go from 4' to 20' in a 10' span... 99% of my fish come from the shore line or surf zone in 6' or less of water( I have in the past fished days on the ledges 1-2 miles off the beach... for every 1 fish I caught doing that..i got 15 at night in the surf zone)..... we all know that bass move "offshore" most of the time when the sun gets bright.. but once it darkens the surf zone/shallows is where the food is... My fishing "methods" are a hybrid boat/surf style adapted for my area...just like the surf men.. what they see is what I see...my advantage is mobility that they don't have. If things don't work out, it's easy for me to move.. several times a night if needed.. an option they don't have if they are on foot...
all that said... I've caught some real decent fish this season.. so I'm not complaining.. I'm just adding a perspective , most people would be ecstatic with the fish that have come over my rails... several in the high forties( one 2 ounces shy of "50" #19) and quite a few in the 30's...but these are not the numbers of fish I have been accustomed to...... I have maybe 30 or 40"spots" that can produce a big fish at any time... most, of these have been barren of quality fish... something that hasn't ever happened in my life time.. with exception of a few nights as I stated in an earlier post... all of them have been from one section of beach on one particular bar... and it's not about bait...it's everywhere... the Merrimack river has had a school of pogies all summer for the first time in over 20 years.... as well as river herring and sand eels...nothing but small and medium fish are on them.. and most nights/days they are un molested....fishing may be slow but if we remain humble and diligent there will be some nice fish caught on the next full moon... that I can almost guarantee...I've already booked vacation time...