Definitely plenty of schoolies around on the North Shore, I have seen massive schools of 24" fish with smaller/larger ones in the mix, and while there may be a lot of bait offshore, there is certainly no shortage inshore as well. I think shore catches around here are down due to the huge amount of natural forage available, I've been out in the skiff livelining macs and actually watched my offering been molested to death by hordes of schoolies, without being eaten. Over the past few seasons, I would say that the overall size of the bass around has increased, an estuary spot that was full of 12" - 18" stripers two or three seasons back is now holding more fish in the two-foot range, which was unthinkable there a few years ago. Long story short, I have no idea what's going to happen, but I'm very interested in how the fall run will shape up.
