Flash Mob at Canal at 4:40 a.m. this morning

[Swimmer]

Getting to the canal this morning with very few cars at the Herring Run and at only a few minutes after 3 a.m. was a minor victory considering how hard it is to get up and drive an hour at that time of the morning.

Getting to your favorite spot to find it empty is even better. Especially since there were feesh (plural of fish) there yesterday (unfounded rumor). (Which doesn't mean a god damn thing I know)

4:01 a.m. Guy takes position to my right and begins casting not in front of him, but in front of me immediately. Didn't happen every time, but enough so that it was annoying.

4:02 a.m. six young fellas, who were polite and gentlemenly, planted themselves to my left, within one pole, effectively, but not purposely, taking away my drift to the left on the incoming. So my area to fish now was only twenty feet to my right and twenty feet to my left. A few minutes later there were about fifty to sixty people fishing within forty to forty five poles of where I was standing.


6:38 a.m. everyone but me left.

7:00 a.m. Hess family rides by and said the only fish (single fish, non plural) taken they saw yesterday in the same area, right next to where they were fishing, just a few poles away from where I was fishing as I was chatting with them, no blitz, no multiple 30 #ers, just one caused all these guys to show up.

It was a very nice morinng regardless of the crowd. First cast using a recently won Afterhours yellow danny brought a flash of interest from a teen size bass, but no take. It came up behind the plug, bumped it hard then turned to leave from about twenty-five feet away. At dawn small fish showed, but only one was taken on what I don't know.

[Mike P]

One pole is ~176 yards. That's a pretty long drift, I would think? Just sayin'.

I was probably the guy they saw with the fish.

Also, some guy with bad eyesight thought that I was Walter Hess and asked me if I wanted to trade plugs for tied tail hooks.

[Swimmer]

Mike, you saying the poles are 176 yards apart. Thats a long pull. Pole 85 is 176 yards from pole 86, right. I'll have to check this calculation Saturday morning.

I would like a drift longer than the twenty feet that I had, either way.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

Mike, you saying the poles are 176 yards apart. Thats a long pull. Pole 85 is 176 yards from pole 86, right. I'll have to check this calculation Saturday morning.

Oh, I thought that you were talking about light poles, not individual poles. When we use "poles" down there, we usually mean the ones with numbers and lights on them. Like, pole 85 is 176 yards or so from poles 80 and 90.

[Swimmer]

Thats O.K. Mikey

[Mike P]

By the way, if anyone wants to know the real scoop on the Canal, it probably isn't worth the drive. We have fish on small bait, for the most part, and they're super-selective. And mostly on the small side. There are bigger fish mixed in, but usually they're not the ones you throw to when they break. I had the only fish landed among maybe 20 guys fishing a 300 yard stretch, and I'm pretty damn sure that it wasn't the fish I threw on. One other guy hooked up with a micro for a very brief time and dropped it right away. And I know T. Orlando will confirm this, as he must have put a plug on more fish than I did, and had one fewer to show for it.

But hey--if you want to burn gas to fight crowds and get frustrated by super-picky fish, it's your dime.

[Saltheart]

Why such crowds on a weekday early morn? I guess you are saying its a concentration of everyone to a small area do to a single fish report. That's sad!

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Why such crowds on a weekday early morn? I guess you are saying its a concentration of everyone to a small area do to a single fish report. That's sad!

Yes

[WESTPORTMAFIA]

Where the he'll were u guys? I crushed them. 3 fish from 2am - 830am. It was worth not sleeping last night. The biggest fish was a whopping 12 lbs or so. It was pretty cool to see that canoe or what ever the he'll it was floating thru. Was it an s-b member capeside who who hooked into it and tried to battle it to the bank? Pretty funny
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[tattoobob]

I love hearing stories about report chasers

I wish people would realize they are fish and fish swim and follow there food supply here today gone today

[Fishoholic]

Perhaps is was the ** that brought them and not a report.. Today wasn't the only day this week it was crowded

[Slipknot]

Glad I didn't go to your spot yesterday because I had 3 fish yesterday AM.
I got to my spot at o dark 30 and had the whole area to myself until it began to get light.Then got surrounded by 2 guys to my left and 2 more to my right.
2 small keepers on a bottle darter then a spook, 1 more on a jig.
Mike is right, fish are on tiny bait. And their little brains are focused on that, they would not touch my pencils, I only had one interested in all the time I threw topwater.

times like those I even try tin
I bet a teaser in front of a tin would do well

crowds love the easy fishing

[Matt D]

Sounds encouraging. I guess I'll make the 300 mile round-trip this weekend!

[PRBuzz]

O.D. M will probably start a thread later saying how my invite to go on the boat versus another night on the canal saved his day which he is using the term EPIC to describe today's action! WOW those ODM spooks had the fish fighting to hook up as more than once we saw at least 6 fish following the lure that couldn't wait to get hooked! Striperman36 I'm willing to guess will agree. Bobbers didn't work so well today, wrong tide direction for the area we tried to use them?

We get to do it all over again tomorrow on Raider Nation II. What a class guy Capt Ronnie is to invite us for what he considers a less than satisfactory charter on Sunday.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Fishoholic

Perhaps is was the ** that brought them and not a report.. Today wasn't the only day this week it was crowded

That's probably more of it than anything---** and June.

[t.orlando]

As an aside.........twice this week, and usually at least once a week, I get a call saying the fishing blew up in so-and-so area. Everytime it seems I was at so-and-so area fishing when it supposedly blew up. Not once was it true. I think sometimes somebody gos by and sees a fish or two caught in a small time frame, and next thing you know the word on the street is it was AWESOME. Don't believe the hype.

[WESTPORTMAFIA]

I actually saw 1 guy with a couple of handfuls of mussels he was leaving with in the east end after I left my location. He must have read my post from last week. Lol. The fishing sucked but he didn't leave empty handed.
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[Canalratt1]

Had an East End spot basicly to myself, nothing doing there. Was going to hit mid canal but knew it would be crowded. Pretty disapointed for a "good" tide.

[BrianS]

It was silent around the herring run
Was there midnight - 7am

Didn't see anything landed at all.

No bait either except the occasional stray herring

Prolly try again tonight
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[striperman36]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

O.D. M will probably start a thread later saying how my invite to go on the boat versus another night on the canal saved his day which he is using the term EPIC to describe today's action! WOW those ODM spooks had the fish fighting to hook up as more than once we saw at least 6 fish following the lure that couldn't wait to get hooked! Striperman36 I'm willing to guess will agree. Bobbers didn't work so well today, wrong tide direction for the area we tried to use them?

We get to do it all over again tomorrow on Raider Nation II. What a class guy Capt Ronnie is to invite us for what he considers a less than satisfactory charter on Sunday.

Any fish under 38" except for PRBuzz's were told to 'get out of the fookin boat!!'

The spook is a slammer, never seen fish react like that, except on the old Danny Plugs.

[chaz]

Originally Posted by t.orlando

As an aside.........twice this week, and usually at least once a week, I get a call saying the fishing blew up in so-and-so area. Everytime it seems I was at so-and-so area fishing when it supposedly blew up. Not once was it true. I think sometimes somebody gos by and sees a fish or two caught in a small time frame, and next thing you know the word on the street is it was AWESOME. Don't believe the hype.

they see fish but not stripers,seems the scuppers did well early sat 5 am (last sat)
was thinking bout catching some bait but why.

[stripermaineiac]

Nows the time to start hunting for small schools of big fish. Like hunting deer only you get wet more often LOL. They're there you just need to move a lot and fish different. Change it up a lot and move a lot. Chase the smell of the bait.Spots mean nothing this time of year. But there are some nice fish around just not in big groups.Find little fish move away from them you'll find big fish.Just takes a little bit more work. Weeds the fly by nighters and report chasers out.

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

O.D. M will probably start a thread later saying how my invite to go on the boat versus another night on the canal saved his day which he is using the term EPIC to describe today's action! WOW those ODM spooks had the fish fighting to hook up as more than once we saw at least 6 fish following the lure that couldn't wait to get hooked! Striperman36 I'm willing to guess will agree. Bobbers didn't work so well today, wrong tide direction for the area we tried to use them?

We get to do it all over again tomorrow on Raider Nation II. What a class guy Capt Ronnie is to invite us for what he considers a less than satisfactory charter on Sunday.

Hopefully no one throws up tomorrow !
Gonna have bit better conditions.

[piemma]

Mike is right, fish are on tiny bait. And their little brains are focused on that, they would not touch my pencils, I only had one interested in all the time I threw topwater.

times like those I even try tin
I bet a teaser in front of a tin would do well

crowds love the easy fishing[/QUOTE]

...and that is why God invented teasers. I have been doing OK, not great with size but OK with red gills and eels. When they get focused on small bait like sand eels thay will slam an eel if there is a teaser with it. Something about the competetive instinct.

[big jay]

I marked a serious school of fish as I was leaving the harbor yesterday - there were 2 guy with surf rods standing on the bulkhead just talking, think they thought I was crazy when I came out of the pilothouse pointing and telling them to cast.
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[Raven]

i thought this was gonna be about Tagger trolls
doing the Ditch Dance in Unison

THEY shoulda been there @ 4:20 am

[Raven]

Originally Posted by stripermaineiac

Chase the smell of the bait..

Flaptail would say that...........

thinking back

[HESH2]

same old shouda been there yesterday,by the time you hear report fish are gone.alot of very small sand eels my way and fish are on them.

[Pete F.]

In the early 70s I worked at Killington, It was an awful snow year. Standing in the lift line we started talking about this imaginary snowstorm that was coming. By the end of the day everyone on the mountain was talking about it.
People hear what they hope to hear.

[DZ]

[/QUOTE]
...and that is why God invented teasers. I have been doing OK, not great with size but OK with red gills and eels. When they get focused on small bait like sand eels thay will slam an eel if there is a teaser with it. Something about the competetive instinct.[/QUOTE]

Right on Paul...
In the last week a simple $3 Red Gill has taken more bass than anything else in the bag. Best one week stretch of numbers I've ever taken part in.

DZ