mattlist
12-16-2008, 03:11 PM
I'm no where near as experienced as many captains here so take this with a grain.
Looking back @ my log for the year it seems that the bunker movement started in late September- early October with the first daytime keepers being pulled from under the pods. I honestly did not see many bunker schools after that. Which is scary, bunker actually filter the ocean water like oysters do. Without bunker expect algea blooms and dead spots to be more frequent. They feed on what kills most humans and fish alike. The bluefish slam came on big the next few weeks right off the shore. By week 3 in October the striper slammers started getting landed in the deep water holes. Week 1 in November was a lul in the action until week 2- 3 when the bite really turned back on big in shallower lumps 30ft of water close to shore. Week 4 in November was still good, but the size of the fish started getting smaller keeper ratio went down. Funny enough, I got many first hand reports of adult bunker schools running in the back. I did not see any but I did get some big blues on metal while nightfishing so I assume it was correct. Weeks 1 in December the bite began to slow again and the size and color of the bass were noticeably different. Darker in color, smaller in size, keeper ratio went down further.
This leads me to believe that the smaller fish being caught now in the region are actually resident fish who have moved offshore to more constant temps much like many of the smaller back bay fish do in the winter. I'm sure there is still a mix of migratory fish in the bunch but in my very humble opinion there are more locals than shoobies right now. Would love some feedback to see if my trends are on the money.
Looking back @ my log for the year it seems that the bunker movement started in late September- early October with the first daytime keepers being pulled from under the pods. I honestly did not see many bunker schools after that. Which is scary, bunker actually filter the ocean water like oysters do. Without bunker expect algea blooms and dead spots to be more frequent. They feed on what kills most humans and fish alike. The bluefish slam came on big the next few weeks right off the shore. By week 3 in October the striper slammers started getting landed in the deep water holes. Week 1 in November was a lul in the action until week 2- 3 when the bite really turned back on big in shallower lumps 30ft of water close to shore. Week 4 in November was still good, but the size of the fish started getting smaller keeper ratio went down. Funny enough, I got many first hand reports of adult bunker schools running in the back. I did not see any but I did get some big blues on metal while nightfishing so I assume it was correct. Weeks 1 in December the bite began to slow again and the size and color of the bass were noticeably different. Darker in color, smaller in size, keeper ratio went down further.
This leads me to believe that the smaller fish being caught now in the region are actually resident fish who have moved offshore to more constant temps much like many of the smaller back bay fish do in the winter. I'm sure there is still a mix of migratory fish in the bunch but in my very humble opinion there are more locals than shoobies right now. Would love some feedback to see if my trends are on the money.