What do you THINK????

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Fish_Eye

When you are fishing a favorite spot hard and get skunked what's your thought process?

There were no fish there.

The tide was wrong.

I should have gotten there earlier.

The full moon killed the action.

There was no bait in the area therefore no fish.

I didn't have the right color lure.

I suck.

Seriously, we've all had occasion to fish a trusted spot with lures or bait we are very confident with and despite the stars and moon being in the right place we don't catch...are they there and have lockjaw or do you chalk it up to fishing over barren water?

Last night was slam zany for 45 minutes (10:30-11:15) until the moon popped through the clouds. Everything was absolutely perfect too...wind, tide, etc. We were also in a spot where we've taken a lot of real large fish....here's what happened..

1. We got there a little late.

2. Moon killed it.

3. Wrong hue on my eel.

4. I just suck.

5. Summer doldrums...

[Slipknot]

I try not to think anymore
it hurts my head

[Fish_Eye]

Over the last month I've been hitting Block Island HARD...diving, fishing, filming, video, and even a little spearfishing. The place is filthy with fish beyond belief.

On many occasions I'm seeing thousands of fish and NO bait...which always warrants the question, why are they here?

More than once I've dropped in the water and have found dozens of nice stripers swirling around yet the anglers fishing live eels can't buy a fish. The fact is, they are there, they just won't eat...at least eels, at least right at that time. Other times, like last Saturday they wouldn't stop eating for five hours. We caught over 50 stripers with three over 40 (weighed) and another one suspected of being as large, 10 in the upper 30-pound range and the remainder of the fish in the mid to upper 20s. Epic fishing trip.

I will say that I think we outperformed almost every boat that was out there (30 to 50) because of one or two little maneuvers we were implementing. I'm certainly going to be highlighting these tips in techniques in the new DVD I'm working on.

Here's a shot of one of the fish from the weekend. It's hard to make a big fish look large next to the father and son team of Captain Wayne Wood and Travis...BIG BOYS!

[Back Beach]

I think lots of times the fish are present and you just don't/can't catch them, no doubt about it.

[DZ]

Here is a “surf fishing perspective” to your question. Not knowing the answer to your query is what surf fishing is all about – it’s the aspect that keeps me at this game. I’ve been at it for a long time and I’m smart enough to know that sometimes “they just don’t bite”. We surf fishermen don’t have the luxury of using electronics to prove fish are actually there. I always chuckle to myself when another fisherman tells me that there’s nothing around because he can’t possibly know that for sure. Even though I’m “above water” I’ve observed bass swimming with various bait fish in relative harmony – the bait sensing that the bass were not actively feeding. I’m sure you’ve seen it underwater. Just last fall I was casting one night in what I would call perfect conditions – I fished for 2 hours and it was dead and I couldn’t believe there were no fish around. My curiosity got the best of me so I did something I don’t often do – I shined my neck-light on the live eel I was casting when it was close to my perch. To my amazement the eel was being followed by multiple bass into the 20 lb class on every cast as if they were curious but not interested in feeding. They never even bumped the eel. A novice angler that night would have thought nothing was around.
Not knowing all the answers gives me more incentive to keep learning.
DZ

[MarshCappa]

Very impressive