4 keepers in the mouth of merrimac

[wutdl4]

Guys,
Here is a picture of last nights action for three guys. Three fish are 30 inches and the big one was 37 inches. We opened up the bellies of the fish to see what they were eating. There wasn't even a trace of food in there stomach, nada. Do they digest very fast or is the bait fish out there minimal? I would have expected somthing in there tummies. Is this a bad sign or is it common? The fish were hitting hard, so what were they eating? We caught around 30 fish in all.

Well I cant get the picture to be included. It says it's to big. I tried to make it smaller but no luck. If anyone has an easy way to conver my file let me know. Then I'll put up the picture. Thanks

[wutdl4]

4fish

[macojoe]

do you have paint shop?? If so just open it there and go to Image and then re size. I always make mine 500 X 333 and it works fine. You must have gotten some soft ware withthe camera that would do that for you.

[macojoe]

well I guess you figured it out!! Nice fish

[bassmaster]

the fish may have puked during the fight, there maybe a short supply of food there
anyway glad You caught fish

[Christian]

i agree with puke theory. ever get the ones where they do it right at the beach especially if in a blitz? its gross they spray 1/2 digested fish everywhere.
o ya, nice fish.
what you catch them on?

[BigFish]

Those fish might have been longer if you had measured them with their heads still attached. Joking. Stripers actually do vomit the contents of their stomach periodically. Especially when feeding heavily.

[wutdl4]

we caught them on 5 and 6 inch rubber storm jigs. You know the kind with the lead in the front.

[jugstah]

Good thing about stripers barfing while you reel 'em in.. the barf attrracts evne more fish to the vicinity.. last week when fishing off a boat, a bluefish puked out its contents and there were little fish bodies everywhere, and the blues came right out of nowhere to chomp down on 'em!

so encourage the fish to barf

[Christian]

ya , i know the storms. a friend wasthere yesterday from the surf , a few legal fish and someone got a 36"er.

[MidniteSurf]

First, I'd like to introduce myself to the board. I fished a bit in my youth, and since I got out of school a couple of years I've done more serious striper fishing from shore on the North Shore, So. NH, and some of the breachways around Westerly RI. I've had decent success, catching fish up to 20lbs thus far. I have joined this board for the quality reports and tips that I have seen thus far, and look forward to contributing in any way I can. My goal for this season is to break the 25# barrier, and maybe approach 30#.

And now for my observation on those ghost-bellied fish around PI... I've brought home/cleaned 2 of my keepers caught on PI this season and noticed very little if any food in their stomachs. One was emty, the other had what appeared to be a partially digested minnow of some kind. For 12-15# fish, I thought this was strange as they must be piggin out this time of year. I have witnessed the barf phenomena during frenzies, but these fish were not in a frenzy. There seems to be plenty of bait around in the river this year, so I don't think it is lack of food. I think it may be due to their feeding cycle and the tides. Their hunting tactics depend on the movement of the water. I fish the mouth around the low, which appears to be a time when the stripers are just moving back through the mouth upriver to chase bait. When the tide turns they ride it down, gorge, and by mid-tide they're outside the mouth again. Perhaps then they rest, digest, and prepare for the rising tide. Just an idea...

[Christian]

fishing Plum tommorow night (5ish on), river mouth. surf of course. anybody gunna be there? got to fix my waders now for tommorow night. gunna be crowded but its better than nothing.

[Steve K]

Christian,

I might be there tomorrow night but not that early. I think that I will wait for the crowds to thin out. Most people who fish there run for their cars as soon as it gets dark. Good luck.