I Don't Care What Anyone Says........

[Cappucci]

This sums up my season: went out in the harbor of refuge Thursday morning to see if we could catch some winter flounder before the season closes. Started the chum pot, a seal pops his head up and that was that. I only saw one, but ones enough and it was inside the pond.

[Mike P]

I don't want to spoil the pity party so I'll just say, 2009 was my best year since the late 1970s.

Even accounting for the lost month when my wife had knee replacement surgery and was in rehab, and the 2 weeks or so to get back on top of the bite.

What does it prove? There's no substitute for being able to put in the hours.

And some advice--when you race to spot-jump someone in June, it always pays to remember to bring the bug goop so you don't have to leave before the best window of the tide

[Flaptail]

The fall for me was stellar, the spring had me in a funk that had me bemoaning the notion of even going fishing.

At 54 years of age I need serious motivation to keep me going, I found it at three locations and for 13 nights in a row in September until the first week of October I fished dusk to dawn on a rabid hunt for bass. The old adage of time on the water ( or standing in it) still holds true, you cannot catch them if you are not there.

You have to force yourself to go sometimes, to be where you know they should be and believe that they will show no matter how many hitless casts you make. You have to think differently than the others fishing around you. This fall the small baits took the biggest fish, night after night on the smallest Stetzko needles outfitted with oversized hooks, the smallest Super Strikes with a flag on the ass end in heavy current just swinging past the ambush spot.

Knowing intimatly the spots you fish at each stage of the tide. Where your needle should land and where it will sweep to with the tide. I spent countless hours under the midday sun studying these spots for each subtlety that might give me an edge.

Bait. Knowing where and what type of bait was present and if none was, niether was I.

Last night Sauerkraut and I stood in 40 knot winds and pouring rain with a touch of lightning on a beach and the school bass were just nudging our plugs. No one else was around and we commented to each other we must be insane but insanity has it's rewards and though the fish I really wanted to land won the contest the quarter sized scale on the tail hook of the needle confirmed my suspicions.

Luck is part of it but sometimes with some work you can make your own.

It was a great fall.

[Finaddict]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

The old adage of time on the water ( or standing in it) still holds true, you cannot catch them if you are not there.

Luck is part of it but sometimes with some work you can make your own.

Time on the water is the answer - if you're not putting in the time, you're not likely to be catching fish, especially when the "easy" fall frenzy action isn't there to support the occassional trip ... unfortunately, that was my year ... although I am not done ...

[BigFish]

Trust me Andy......I have been putting in untold hours as have many others I know....the fish have not been co-operating! If time on the water was the only factor...then I would have a truck load of fish!

[tattoobob]

with the limited time on the water I had this season, I have to say is "right place right time"

[Ake G]

What fall run?!!!

Striped Bass are becoming a distant memory up here in Southern Maine.

We don't see nearly the amounts of fish that we saw two, even three short years ago. Same just south of me in NH.

Recreational anglers/commercial anglers....We've just killed far too many fish as a whole , abused the resource and trashed their spawning grounds.

You guys in MA,Conn, and R.I. will see and feel what I'm feeling very soon. Maybe then something will be done about this.

Sorry Bigfish...didn't mean to go off.

[BigFish]

Its ok Ake G....we are here for you!

[BigFish]

I do think the fish were more or less absent from my usual haunts.....however my feeling is where I had to take July and August off from fishing to renovate our bathroom, I never really felt like I was in my "zone" come fall!! After getting back into it in late August I never found my comfort zone personally and I know that did not help me......next season......I am just fishing!!

[quick decision]

I have not seen any big schools of fish this fall like the past years. I think they all stayed off shore with the amount of bait that was reported.

[luds]

Just seemed like things never really got going north of the cape from the limited reports I had from tackle shops, fisherman I know, this board, and my own personal experience. Although boats in the Plumb Island area seemed to do pretty well. I didn't here many complaints from those fishing the surf from Westport to Southern RI. Lot's of big fish taken but also lot's of complaints about how many small fish there were. The combo of the two sounds pretty good to me. I also think fish were in very different places this year with the amount of sand eels and amazing reports of boat fishing off Race Point. I didn't do as well as the last few years but I also didn't try and change things up enough to react to the things that were happening. I just went to the same comfortable spots I've fished the last few years with success. Easy to miss fish and complain when you don't take the time to look for them. Thankfully I did improve my spring fishing alot this year. Found some nice new haunts on the south shore and had some BM Danny, Pencil, and Howdy bonanzas!

[Swimmer]

Fishing one particular sport on the Vineyard during the last few days of the derby I was casting into the wind, or just slightly sideways in an attempt to catch a FISH. I have never seen a plug knocked out of the sky and slammed into the water before that day. I tried casting with thewind but still slightly sideways and went a mile down the beach, but the plug only landed about fifty feet off the beach. It was rough fish at best for the last two weeks over there. That being said thier is something also to be said for nurturing relationships when there are no fish around, which occurs frequently driving up and down the beach or just standing in different beach parking lots when looking for fish.

[Tagger]

I remember a day in 1996 we were catching schoolie bass at the west end of the canal every cast .. We worked are way east trying to catch larger fish . Couldn't do it . The whole canal loaded with these fish all plainly visible . Then we worked are way up the coast all the way to Hull ocean side .. (still every cast school fish). Finaly quit on the bay side of Hull to the sight of a bay loaded with small fish . The Class of 93 , Where are you now .. Does seem to be drying up North working its way south .. When it was 36" we'd catch 35" bass very frequently? nightly if thats a word ? . I think Larry's observations have merrit . We'd always have a month of stupid fishing in the fall .. Didn't matter what you threw in the water . Alot the northern fisherman are making there way south (canal area) seeking fish . This year wasn't my best effort due to family stuff ,,but I've been noticing it for years . I knew where Flap was but I left it alone ,, just one spot .

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Tagger

I remember a day in 1996 we were catching schoolie bass at the west end of the canal every cast .. We worked are way east trying to catch larger fish . Couldn't do it . The whole canal loaded with these fish all plainly visible . Then we worked are way up the coast all the way to Hull ocean side .. (still every cast school fish). Finaly quit on the bay side of Hull to the sight of a bay loaded with small fish . The Class of 93 , Where are you now .. Does seem to be drying up North working its way south .. When it was 36" we'd catch 35" bass very frequently? nightly if thats a word ? . I think Larry's observations have merrit . We'd always have a month of stupid fishing in the fall .. Didn't matter what you threw in the water . Alot the northern fisherman are making there way south (canal area) seeking fish . This year wasn't my best effort due to family stuff ,,but I've been noticing it for years . I knew where Flap was but I left it alone ,, just one spot .

Thanks Eddy but it was a combination of three spots actually, Mr. Striper, BiteMe, Numby, Sauerkraut and Labrador1 will attest. they all were witness on different occasions as was BigFish for 2 nights at least.

[jimmy z]

I agree Larry. While it wasn't a total disaster, it was a far cry from what was.
What I see is the pickin's getting progressively less and less each year.

[fishgolf]

dinks last evening on Duxbury Beach all by myself and the three seals that went by that could have been pushing the little ones through.

Fished SoCo RI and SoShore Ma and Mashpee this season and it was a bit goofy.
No peanuts last year. Just a few this year. Lot's of adult menhaden (relative to past years) and no fish with them.

I always think Nov. is the best RI fishing, but it closed down early last season and may do the same this season.

My best move was stocking up on AH swimmers and needles! Get to use them again next year

[flyben24]

On MV it has been a very poor fall run... the winner for shore bass in the derby was just 34#, the smallest winning bass in a while, i think that explains things over here

[Tagger]

Question .. do you belive the fishery is as strong as its ever been ?
or do you believe its as strong as its ever been just becoming an off shore fishery as some have stated.. or just an I'm good ,,you suck at fishing,, kind of thing ..

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Tagger

Question .. do you belive the fishery is as strong as its ever been ?
or do you believe its as strong as its ever been just becoming an off shore fishery as some have stated.. or just an I'm good ,,you suck at fishing,, kind of thing ..

I believe that the fishing is hurting inshore. Reports of all kinds of bass in the EEZ and on Stellwagen make me think that the stocks might not be as endangered as others think but something drastic is definetly taking place inshore to alter thier historic seasonal habitations. Seals? Water quality? Bait availablity? I think all may be contributing but not being a research scientist it's purely speculative on my part.

One thing is for sure they are defintely as litoral as they always had been. Something is going on. What I do not know.

[ecduzitgood]

I was not thrilled with the fishing this year but think it was because the moon phase in relation to the time and tides and location were not favorable. To put it another way the tides I like for daybreak occured on days when the moon was in a phase that I have never found productive for the areas I like to fish.

[Got Stripers]

Terrible weather, terrible fishing (bass), far too quick a season for my taste; was the season that wasn't.