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Actually catching Stripers through the ice is not that uncommon. In Joshua Atkins Nickerson's book "As I remember it" agbout growing up in Chatham at the turn of the century, he mentioned how his father and uncle would spear bass through the ice by drawing them up to the hole with lanterns in Pleasant Bay. On the Parker River up by Plum Island they would chop holes across the ice drop nets in and poison the river to catch bass for market in the winter.
Back in the 80's there were several taken through the ice in Follin's Pond in Yarmouth MA, one was near 30 pounds on a tilt for white perch.
Several years ago I went 22 months straight catching Stripers on the Cape just to see if it could be done and not only did I catch in Scorton and Old Harbor in Sandwich, I caught fish in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis Barnstable Harbor, Frostfish Creek in Chatham, Moonakis River in Waquoit, Blackfish Creek in Wellfleet and Upper Pleasant Bay at Barley Neck. The slowest month was March but February and January were actually good.
A mutual friend of Numbskull and mine tags bass. He tagged one last November in Quicks Hole on the Elizabeth Islands. He recently got the word that the fish ahd been recaptured in June just outside the Merrimac River entrance at Salisbury. That bass was heading North, no doubt in my mind.
There are resident populations in the Kennebec, Merrimac, Penobscot, Saco rivers to be sure but some fish do travel that far from the Chesapeake as well. It used to be said that the Hudson River fish never travelled beyond Long Island and Montauk. Well several years ago drifting eels in Barnstable we caught fish on the same night tagged in the Hudson and a couple tagged in the Chesapeake.
Fish do hold over. Some years they don't get the urge and if conditions are right they stay. I have talked to commercial shellfisherman in Barnstable Harbor who say they see them regurlarly in winter on the flats as the tide floods grubbing around where the clammers were working. Fish kills regfurlarly happen on Cape in mId winter when temps get too cold and fish get to far up creeks. In January 1995 we had several in Branstable Harbor, Scorton and Frostfish in Chatham. Duck hunters reported many in Barnstable and Pleasant Bay. I have caught bass with LaFleur in December at Old Harbor with three inches of snow on the ground and Stifftip and I caught them in Barnstable in a February snow with temps at 25 degrees and a stiff nortwest wind in our face while casting clouser minnows on flyrods on a flat.
They come and they go when they want to. The majority do go south from around here but if you know where to look you can always take a few.
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