Where did all that bait go?

[Slipknot]

OK, this spring everyone commented on how much bait was around and we were all speculating that it will be a good fishing season. Well spring was great but now it's summer and the fish moved off, but where did they go
I'm sure deeper water holds them if you have a boat, but what about the shore guys? the canal is slow also, the beaches are barren, what is going on? Larry's beach should be on fire. Is it gonna happen with this new moon? I'd hate to think the blitz fishing is over till fall , but where is all that bait that is supposed to attract the bass?

[Flaptail]

I know where it is.

[steve]

I have not seen a stick of bait in Gansett(RI) surf in three weeks but the fishing has been GREAT!

[libassboy]

I havent seen much bait down here etiher, but there is some. The bass are still around tho, eatin porgies and crabs.

[partsjay]

Had a ton of bait at one of my spots last week....I know that is a while ago, but it was the most bait I have seen at this spot ever.

[Moses]

In my boat, I've seen it all over the place the last couple of weeks, especially CCB.

From shore, the canal has been void.

[bart]

i took a long walk yesterday(before i tore my ACL ) on an outer beach that always has pods of fish moving through during the day this time of year and i didn't spot one fish on the outside. no bait, but hundreds of seals. might have something to do with it. on the inside there was a ton of small bait that i had never seen before but nothing on them.....except more seals.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by bart

i took a long walk yesterday(before i tore my ACL ) on an outer beach that always has pods of fish moving through during the day this time of year and i didn't spot one fish on the outside. no bait, but hundreds of seals. might have something to do with it. on the inside there was a ton of small bait that i had never seen before but nothing on them.....except more seals.

Sorry about the ACL - sucks - did it....

[cheferson]

Sorry to hear about the acl bro, but hey youll have tons of time to and smack around the wife

[RIROCKHOUND]

Bart... sucks, heal quick Bud....
Not much bait where I was the last two nights....

[bart]

thanks fellas, good luck out there...

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

OK, this spring everyone commented on how much bait was around and we were all speculating that it will be a good fishing season. Well spring was great but now it's summer and the fish moved off, but where did they go
I'm sure deeper water holds them if you have a boat, but what about the shore guys? the canal is slow also, the beaches are barren, what is going on? Larry's beach should be on fire. Is it gonna happen with this new moon? I'd hate to think the blitz fishing is over till fall , but where is all that bait that is supposed to attract the bass?

I heard the Black Salty people have been vacuuming all the waters along all the shores

[t.orlando]

Originally Posted by bart

i took a long walk yesterday(before i tore my ACL )

The bad luck continues..........just as you had gotten better, sorry dude

[tynan19]

Bart, sorry to hear that. What happened?

[Tagger]

Average year up my way Mackerel fishing is all over ,moved off by fathers day .. In the rocks its lobsters and crabs. Those herring that went up and spawned. Thier off spring should start coming out around August I think ,, Use to jig them up on Sabita fly rigs at the pier and fish them over the ocean side or live-line right at the pier. Last year on MY beach was the first time I heard of huge adult Menhaden beaching themselves fleeing fish . Kinda excited with the past good years we had with peanut bunker.. Hoping the Menhaden will come back in large schools .. Another part of me says .. "whats the use" .. "They'll just be targeted big time and beaten down again" . Up my way there's always Seaclams at the low water line (sand)to dig up and throw on the hook . September the Smelt fishing begins ... excellent bait fish .. Never in more than 15' or 20' of water and they stay close to shore. I think they stay with in a mile , not that I can cast that far . Flounders are making a comeback too.. Bass will eat juveniles .New Boston poop plant hopefully will make things better over the years .. although flounder fishing was never better than when they emptied poop trucks on the ebb tide at Hull Gut . I'm sorry what was the question ?

[UserRemoved1]

Slip I made an dark run through the canal early this morning and I can tell you there is SQUAT for bait in there. There was NO fish anywhere to be found except for the east cape side around a bridge not under construction. Even then it was on the bottom and they were not good returns so they were not big fish. This lack of bait in normal areas is not good. Last year we saw a serious decline and this year it seems even worse?

We did not find bait until we hit the bifur can outside Barnstable. We marked fish twice on the bottom across the bay. There was no top blitzes anywhere at false dawn running east.

The water is 57-61 degrees even on the flats. Still way cold. We found small pods of sand eels on the flats with hungry bass everywhere and nobody around. Ran the 50-60' contour on the way back to east end and there was squat out there.

Someone had a 35lb 48" fish on one of my needles today and a 15 lb blue too so there's fish out there but man these things gotta be gettin damn hungry.

Ted and I were commenting today how skinny and racer-like alot of the bass were. But there were many others that had large shoulders and very agressive too so they're eating something?

Last year was the first year that I did not see acres and acres of brown water from schools of peanut bunker in Vineyard Sound. I never saw bluefish in all out fall blitzes like normal in Vineyard Sound either. Sure there were blitzes etc but not the days and days of no stop hammering action on bait so thick you could walk on it.

Honestly I think theres something going on here that these scientists aren't seeing. What it is I don't know but with all the declines of fish like pogies etc I think there is cause for concern?

[Flaptail]

Scott, first of all thanks for the package today. The only bright spot in a day that saw me stranded without a ride and a $518.00 bill for the truck for a new radiator, oh well the joys of four wheel ownership. I luv that needle man, that thing is the balls!

57 to 61 is perfect in my book for the flats in CCB. Keeps the Bloofish away though there still are some marauding the flats at you no where. This year I have seen more bait than in the last ten years and it's not just sandeels, it's baby herring and for the first time in a long while I had fish blasting adult pogies in the harbor three weeks ago. I was out on the Flats last night in my skiff with Stiffy and Alan Cordts following in Alan's whaler and we all caught though the wind did not die so spotting was tough but blind casting in known bass hangouts we did just fine.

This should continue untill the middle of July but it's over for me this weekend as the first School Bluefin was taken east of Chatham yesterday and I was fondling my squids this afternoon in anticipation of this years campaign.

As for on the beaches out front one only has to go beyond the bar at Peaked Hill and Head of the Meadow and it's all there, for some unknown reason it won't come on the beach and so the surfcasters suffer. Plus the closure thing ( Nauset went down today officially), now it's hike it and like it or don't fish. Or you could be like me and easily be swayed into a boat.

In Buzzards Bay there are plenty of big bass in certain places being held by large schools of real pogies not peanuts. I beleive these fish would come through the canal but they know a good thing when they have it so the canal guys are left jigging mostly fishless water. 30 pounders are being taken every day by savvy BB guys and they ain't about to welcome company. Agin, a boat really helps.

In the good ol days tin skiffs were regurlarly launched from P-Town and outer cape beaches, I beleive when the beaches reopen the most succesful will be those who re-visit that past tradition. For the common surfcaster of modest income it's a reality within reach and should be looked into. The bait and fish are there and there is a way to have them. RMMMMM, RMMMMMM, RMMMMM!!!!!!

[BobT]

I agree with you Slip. Was there all weekend and only saw a 1 small school of Choggies Sat. That 1209 is going to kill me. I think I lost my arm on one of those casts !!!! Didn't have a single hit. Kid got one. At least there is fish on the table.

[UserRemoved1]

U too Steve, one of mine blew a water pump gasket last week. Freebie job though they just replaced it in January. That was a $1200 intake job back then

Agreed on the temps, I like it cool for the same reason. One boofish all day and one cutoff to a suspected razorlip. Only reason I said that on temps is I believe more stuff like algae and plankton will grow in the warmer temps and always thought sandeels really kicked off after 60 degrees? Never researched it though.

Agreed on the bigger baits, we saw that last year too. It's the smaller stuff that I was looking at though, you know the stuff I'm talking about-15to80' contour on the south side where you have the huge rafts of bunker in the fall, or the balls of sandeels in some of the coves. Don't see anything now like that compared to what it used to be. Last year the flats on the n side of WH which is a big boofish attractor had very few bait fish on it compared to other years. Somethings changing that's causing this?

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Scott, first of all thanks for the package today. The only bright spot in a day that saw me stranded without a ride and a $518.00 bill for the truck for a new radiator, oh well the joys of four wheel ownership. I luv that needle man, that thing is the balls!

57 to 61 is perfect in my book for the flats in CCB. Keeps the Bloofish away though there still are some marauding the flats at you no where. This year I have seen more bait than in the last ten years and it's not just sandeels, it's baby herring and for the first time in a long while I had fish blasting adult pogies in the harbor three weeks ago. I was out on the Flats last night in my skiff with Stiffy and Alan Cordts following in Alan's whaler and we all caught though the wind did not die so spotting was tough but blind casting in known bass hangouts we did just fine.

This should continue untill the middle of July but it's over for me this weekend as the first School Bluefin was taken east of Chatham yesterday and I was fondling my squids this afternoon in anticipation of this years campaign.

As for on the beaches out front one only has to go beyond the bar at Peaked Hill and Head of the Meadow and it's all there, for some unknown reason it won't come on the beach and so the surfcasters suffer. Plus the closure thing ( Nauset went down today officially), now it's hike it and like it or don't fish. Or you could be like me and easily be swayed into a boat.

In Buzzards Bay there are plenty of big bass in certain places being held by large schools of real pogies not peanuts. I beleive these fish would come through the canal but they know a good thing when they have it so the canal guys are left jigging mostly fishless water. 30 pounders are being taken every day by savvy BB guys and they ain't about to welcome company. Agin, a boat really helps.

In the good ol days tin skiffs were regurlarly launched from P-Town and outer cape beaches, I beleive when the beaches reopen the most succesful will be those who re-visit that past tradition. For the common surfcaster of modest income it's a reality within reach and should be looked into. The bait and fish are there and there is a way to have them. RMMMMM, RMMMMMM, RMMMMM!!!!!!

[mikecc]

Plenty of bait you just have to know where to look