Well...
In my opinion and talking to the handful of people I trade reports with this year has been down for numbers...
My hours fished/fish caught is down astronomically from last year, a year where I didnt fish a ton, but caught alot of nice healthy 15-25lb fish, no monsters but few rats (save for a two week stretch at a certain breachway where it was 27" fish every drop)
This year there has been a paucity of bait where I fish; most if not all fish I have cleaned this year have been empty or had lobster or crabs in them... never a great sign...
Working in and around Newport Hbr 3-5 days/nights a week this year this year I had been seeing numerous schools of blues working baby pogies, but.. where are the tinker mac's that come every august?? where are the silversides so thick you couls snag em?
At our dock I could cast net baby pogies, snappers and silversides every day last year and before., this year... where are they? Up the bay? I hope so, we need them... I jigged up a few blues (and a 34" bass ) from a deep hole (110ft) in Narragansett Bay.... This is my favorite light tackle sport, bluefish on 6lb in 110ft, but.... these fish have been lean and mean... long skinny 10lb fish with nada in their belly...
I'm optimistic that it will turn on this year... my worry is that it will be a rapid and ferocious feed if the fish find the bait... I hope I'm there for it and dont hear about it..
As Eben said a few people have done well, but.. I think that was a case of finding a pod of fish working a certain shoreline with a very specific technique... and the size was good, but numbers were'nt great...
As a scientist (not a biologist!!!!) I am looking at all this as hearsay and coicidence for now.. as the so called Mr. Smarty would say "junk science" Hopefully this new data from scientists is armwaving, but time will tell...
As a fisherman I think it has been a seriously screwed up year and hope the bait isnt in on the shoreline because of the persistant high surf, and as a result hope that as this lays down we will have a great end of Sept - Thanksgiving!!!
tight lines..
Bryan
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