Bass with Blues (or vice versa)

[SmokeBringer]

Hi all,

Went out on the boat yesterday. Seas were much rougher than I would have expected (got worse as I rounded Beavertail). We ran into a ton of bunker off Narragansett Beach just an hour or so before sunset. We had had cloud cover for about an hour but when the sun came out, the baitfish came up. Much fun!

Anyway, I thought would share a trick that I learned on my own (probably nothing you guys haven't already figured out). When the baitfish are breaking the surface, the bluefish will often dominate any fishing immediately around the baitfish. The stripers seem to "lag" the action. So I try to estimate where the baitfish were "5 minutes ago". I often catch bass on the lag. I suspect they stay behind to finish up left over crippled baitfish but that is only a guess.

Smoke

[t.orlando]

Your "guess" is very accurate

[CANAL RAT]

same thing with weakfish

[tlapinski]

when bluefish tear apart a school of baitfish, they chop through the prey. they will take bites of the fish and gulp them down, paying little attention to the parts of bait that fall from their mouths. the pieces of bait then fall to the bottom, or get slowly swept away in the current. striped bass, especially the bigger ones, stay below the school and take the easy pickings. less energy is needed to suck down the parts of discarded baitfish than is needed to personally hunt fresh prey. it's all about not expending more enrgy to feed than will be taken in by the actual feeding. fluke can also be caught below actively feeding bluefish.