How Is Your Season So Far?

[massbassman]

Disappointing season to be sure. Biggest fish was 28#, back in June, other than that, all small fish. And not alot of them. Lotta fishless nights. Been battling ongoing shoulder/back issues, which has further added to my misery. Have taken the last few weeks off, other than a short trip last weekend on vacation. Work's been a bear, and I just haven't had the urge lately due to the lack of action. Hoping for a turnaround as we get into September, but who knows at this rate. I gotta say, i'm really enjoying these full nights of sleep lately... even though I know they wont last.
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[Sea Dangles]

Great season and a lot of $$$ spent on fuel. I know I have said it before , but why target only bass?Fish for what is there and be happy instead of frustrated. I fished for nothing but bass for years and then I got a boat....still fished for bass exclusively.....got another (larger) boat and started to branch out a little. Cod,tuna,tog,bsb.,,,,I fish for it all. Lately the bonito have shown and they are fun to eat and catch. I fished the lanes yesterday and the Sakonnet today with many species to the boat including BSB,blues ,bass,tuna,wahoo and mako.

Did I mention I love fishing?
catch and eat

[chefchris401]

worst season for me in 12/14 years, some of it from personal reasons and others from lack of fish

spring started out great fishing the east bay and back water areas, lots of schoolies on topwater and blues and shad too, but no keepers, very little bait for the most part, never managed a keeper in the back bays where usually its lights out fishing for schoolies to 20/25lb fish, we use to catch 20-30 each this year it was 3-6, think the best day was 13.

once those fish pushed out started targetting my local haunts, newport, jamestown, soco, the light houses, all misesrable fishing, had one night were we had 16 fish between my buddy and I, but they were 14-24" fish, not the usual 15-30lb fish like the last 5 seasons.

Cutty was a great trip, buddy stuck his pb at 29lbs and was/is pumped about it still. But even that trip was slower than usual, one hopeful sign was that fish all had sea lice so i was hoping everything was just a month or two behind.

since then its been a gring to even get a bite or solid fish, finally hooked up with the hardest fighting fish ive caught in years, i mean epic fight, pulling drag, pounding waves, was great, that fish was only 41" couldnt believe it when it got in, wasnt foul hooked either. been out a few times since then, nada, dirty water, small fish and small blues have killled my motivation to leave my bed at midnight or later.

Ive really gotten back into freshwater, throwing big swimbaits mostly and just having some alone time, its been great, have stuck numerous 5lb fish, a ton of 4s and a bunch of others. its been super relazing and no pressure. picked up a crawdad and trolling motor set up, can basically go wherever i want with little or no hassle of a trailer, fits right in that back of the truck

Just havent had the time with my pops recovery and the wedding less than 3 weeks away to concern myself with stripers.

on a promising note was at the beach in soco on sunday with the wifey and was watching good size schools of rain bait getting blown up by something close to shore and the birds were working then hard.

one can hope for an epic fall like in 2010/2011 when the sea herring showed up and the ganetts went ape #^&#^&#^&#^& and i fished til mid december, that would really help my mental state if that happened.

[bassballer]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Great season and a lot of $$$ spent on fuel. I know I have said it before , but why target only bass?Fish for what is there and be happy instead of frustrated. I fished for nothing but bass for years and then I got a boat....still fished for bass exclusively.....got another (larger) boat and started to branch out a little. Cod,tuna,tog,bsb.,,,,I fish for it all. Lately the bonito have shown and they are fun to eat and catch. I fished the lanes yesterday and the Sakonnet today with many species to the boat including BSB,blues ,bass,tuna,wahoo and mako.

Did I mention I love fishing?
catch and eat

Couldnt agree more. this year ive spent a ton of time toggin in the spring, BSB, fluking. The past week ive been running hunting bones. Unless i run to block the bass fishing just hasnt been good. Focusing my efforts elsewhere, an im good with that cause i just like catching fish.

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Great season and a lot of $$$ spent on fuel. I know I have said it before , but why target only bass?Fish for what is there and be happy instead of frustrated. I fished for nothing but bass for years and then I got a boat....still fished for bass exclusively.....got another (larger) boat and started to branch out a little. Cod,tuna,tog,bsb.,,,,I fish for it all. Lately the bonito have shown and they are fun to eat and catch. I fished the lanes yesterday and the Sakonnet today with many species to the boat including BSB,blues ,bass,tuna,wahoo and mako.

Did I mention I love fishing?
catch and eat

it's a great point...but here's the thing... not everyone can afford a boat..( luckily for me I can).. or has the time or the monetary means to travel hundreds of miles to fish ... ... I've fished tuna... sharks and ground fish.. back before it was trendy to do so.. how are those stocks doing these days... Not everyone has Bonito, weakfish... albies or even a 'tog or scup to fish for..... the draggers have wiped out the flounder inshore... fluke rarely visit north of
Boston.. I guess one can put the down riggers on the boat ( if one has a boat) and go salmon fishing.. or peel the dust of off of a fly rods and head to the mountains... but all this avoids the real problem... fisheries management... anyone that wants to target a particular species ( any species ..not just striped bass)should be able to take up their favorite method and have a reasonable chance of catching fish... maybe not a P.B on every outing....but at least be afforded the opportunity at quality... obviously not everyone's skill set is the same... some have put more time in.. some have simply been blessed...it just saddens me to see so many struggling when I Know that it does not need to be this way... I hope I never see the day when a dog fish or a skate is considered a "good " catch...

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

it's a great point...but here's the thing... not everyone can afford a boat..( luckily for me I can).. or has the time or the monetary means to travel hundreds of miles to fish ... ... I've fished tuna... sharks and ground fish.. back before it was trendy to do so.. how are those stocks doing these days... Not everyone has Bonito, weakfish... albies or even a 'tog or scup to fish for..... the draggers have wiped out the flounder inshore... fluke rarely visit north of
Boston.. I guess one can put the down riggers on the boat ( if one has a boat) and go salmon fishing.. or peel the dust of off of a fly rods and head to the mountains... but all this avoids the real problem... fisheries management... anyone that wants to target a particular species ( any species ..not just striped bass)should be able to take up their favorite method and have a reasonable chance of catching fish... maybe not a P.B on every outing....but at least be afforded the opportunity at quality... obviously not everyone's skill set is the same... some have put more time in.. some have simply been blessed...it just saddens me to see so many struggling when I Know that it does not need to be this way... I hope I never see the day when a dog fish or a skate is considered a "good " catch...

I just returned from a week in Va Beach and was fortunate to get offshore for a day trip. It was slow..as is the trend in some areas. I have been going for 9 years and when I first started it was a slaughterhouse. Come December and January they had been filling dumpsters daily w racks of bass!!! They have not brought a bass to the dock in 3 years at the Rudee inlet. 12 miles out there are huge schools...sound familiar? I don't feel trendy just for fishing for ground fish,I just enjoy it. I haven't tried for bass in a month, but I know they are where I left them.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Great season and a lot of $$$ spent on fuel. I know I have said it before , but why target only bass?Fish for what is there and be happy instead of frustrated. I fished for nothing but bass for years and then I got a boat....still fished for bass exclusively.....got another (larger) boat and started to branch out a little. Cod,tuna,tog,bsb.,,,,I fish for it all. Lately the bonito have shown and they are fun to eat and catch. I fished the lanes yesterday and the Sakonnet today with many species to the boat including BSB,blues ,bass,tuna,wahoo and mako.

Did I mention I love fishing?
catch and eat

Chris, I have to admit, I admire your flexibility to change it up. I'm too stuck in my ways of being a Striperman for almost 50 years but I'm changing. I have been scupping and BSB fishing. I'm terrible at it as my technique and mindset is still "bass". I 'll figure it out on my own as that's how I learned to be a successful Striper fisherman. When I started there were no cell phones, internet or FB. You learned on your own by trial and error, listening to the sharpies and keeping your mouth shut. Most of all you put your time in.

I will never forget me complaining to Charlie Murat and Dave Hammock that I had never caught a 30# bass and they laughed at me. Charlie looked me right in the eye and said, "You haven't earned the right to catch a 30 in the surf cause you ain't put your time in yet".

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by piemma

I have been scupping and BSB fishing. I'm terrible at it as my technique and mindset is still "bass". I 'll figure it out on my own as that's how I learned to be a successful Striper fisherman. W

Can you even feel the bottom?

[Moses]

April - late start getting boat ready due to family vacation but did hit the freshwater scene hard due to prompting by my youngest son. We fished a lot in April & May targeting bass, pickerel & even our first trout.

May - 60% freshwater fishing which was productive majority of the time. Really gives perspective to how much prep work is needed when you own a boat and fish saltwater.

Canal sucked for me the whole month.

Sea Bass fishing in Buzzards Bay was lights out! Personal bests for both my sons on 6+ lb Sea Bass and honestly they were everywhere I tried.

Massive amounts of bait everywhere.

June through beginning of July was very slow for me due to my Dad (age 83) being really sick. Miracles due happen and he's back doing everything 100% after 50 days in medical facilities.

July - Aug has been a mixed bag. Again, massive amounts of bait everywhere but catching has been strange. One day it's nothing but big bluefish, another day sporadic decent bass (15-25 lbers), another day nothing, another day schoolies.

Had quite a few good mornings down the canal which was nice.

Just hit Buzzards Bay again earlier this week with my sons and Sea Bass were everywhere, lots of shorts but for them it was non stop catching.

I haven't targeted tuna once, weather windows and my availability just haven't lined up. Still hoping to hit south of MV in the coming weeks.

We'll see what the next couple months hold.

[nightfighter]

Almost nonexistent. Sucks.
Got out on boat for just the tenth time this year. Had netted live pogies in the baitwell. Hit four spots that would have held fish in years past. Chunked up four of the pogies to get slicks in two of those areas. Nada..... Had one schoolie that was barely longer than the pogie take a look. Just four bass boated this season, all on day I first launched in early July. I used to routinely have four onboard by 7AM!!!!! Local comms are way down. Best local fisherman I know took bait into Boston Sunday, worked his way back towards Marblehead and found nothing.
Saturday I got to favorite local surf spot just after sunrise. Too late, as another guy had two 38" fish on the rocks. He said it shut down when sun rose. I did manage a fish though, and actually even landed it!!! All 27 inches of it. But I was grateful for the fish. Time to get on the rocks in the dark and save the fuel I guess.
I will be hitting some inshore cod spots in state waters as they have been holding cod and are not included in the Gulf of Maine closure.
Can't justify targeting bass right now. Hoping to bail out the season with albies..... I will go over to the Derby IF they are there in decent numbers.
All sorts of folks locally are asking what is going on and I have nothing to offer but my sorry numbers. Many seemed surprised, but I am useless to anyone looking for reports or tips in this neck of the woods. No chest thumping here..... Hero to zero.