All the building blocks seem to be in place for a healthy back bay system for next year.
We ended the season on crabs around Thanksgiving. Never seen so many large healthy blueclaws. By now they are deep in the mud waiting for the spring dig out.
Compared to past years this one is about the best I have ever seen on grass shrimp. My drop net at the dock hasn't been baited in weeks. Yet every time I pull it up there is about a cup of shrimp in it. At low tide the bottom looks carpeted with them. Make no mistake about it. Grass shrimp are the main food source for flounder, weakies, stripers and blues in the back bays.
When you don't need them is when you can catch all you want. Big minnows and lots of them have moved into the protected waters around our docks. These are the same minnows that will fill the tidal creeks when the waters warm in March.
Last week I took a long ride in a slow boat all through the back bay. Everywhere I looked I saw healthy signs. For the next two months it will sleep and be ready for the spring start up. With all the building blocks in place It may just turn out to be a great season.
We ended the season on crabs around Thanksgiving. Never seen so many large healthy blueclaws. By now they are deep in the mud waiting for the spring dig out.
Compared to past years this one is about the best I have ever seen on grass shrimp. My drop net at the dock hasn't been baited in weeks. Yet every time I pull it up there is about a cup of shrimp in it. At low tide the bottom looks carpeted with them. Make no mistake about it. Grass shrimp are the main food source for flounder, weakies, stripers and blues in the back bays.
When you don't need them is when you can catch all you want. Big minnows and lots of them have moved into the protected waters around our docks. These are the same minnows that will fill the tidal creeks when the waters warm in March.
Last week I took a long ride in a slow boat all through the back bay. Everywhere I looked I saw healthy signs. For the next two months it will sleep and be ready for the spring start up. With all the building blocks in place It may just turn out to be a great season.