Which Gets There First

[cow tamer]

When fishing at night and there's both bluefish and stripers around, do you think bluefish get to your offering before a striper has a chance? How about during the day? I seem to think bluefish beat out the bass, night and day, making it more difficult to target bass.

[numbskull]

Always check under and behind bluefish schools.

[afterhours]

like numby said - go under them.

[Joe]

The last few seasons I've done some sight fishing while deep wading at a couple other spots along the South Shore. Pretty far out - to the inside of the second bar on bluebird days when it's pretty flat and beach has been replenished by a southwest wind - the only time you can do it without a wetsuit.
I've noticed that when the blues come, a lot of them come. You'll either get a horde of them, or small groups - like 5-10. It's like a thoroughfare - you'll see bait come by then the fish.
I don't think there is much rhyme or reason to who gets there first. In a mixed school of bass and blues - the smaller bass are as aggressive as the blues.
You can get a good bass if they are there and you target them - usually you will need do something different than everyone else is doing. Everyone has heard about people using chunks on the bottom during a bluefish blitz and picking up a big bass - but I've also seen people be successful with a much more subtle technique - like working a big popper slowly or using a big danny when everyone else is throwing metal. The guy who gets a good striper when everyone else is getting blues is usually the guy whose technique represents a departure - the thinking fisherman.
I do think that if you get an occasional blue what you're running into is these small groups of fish that are running up and down the the beachfront. When you're getting blues nearly every cast; you're into a big school.

[baldwin]

If you're cast lands 5' from a bass and 25' from a bluefish, the bass will get it first if he's interested. All depends on where they are, what you're using, how aggressively each are feeding,...
If you're hooking up mainly with blues, let it sink and slow down your retrieve. If that doesn't work, you can move. But, moving may cause you to leave the fish, and blues are also fun.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Joe..
used to watch these 'wolf packs' of bluefish swim in a flying v type formation a couple of summers ago at the dock in Newport... the peanuts would go by, then the bluefish would go by, I'd wait for the peanuts, hook one on a boat rod w/ a locked drag, toss the bait in front of the incoming pack and hand the rod to my non-fishing golfer of a younger brother...
instant lobster bait!

These were't snappers, ranged from the 8 in the picture(he's 6'4) to over 12... in a small basin inside a marina and a locked drag... it was fun fishing.

Go back at night and there were decent bass to be found