1st time post - is it over?

[pwaitkun]

hello all, just got back from a RI fishing trip. Caught a few (8) small bass (undersized). Grew up fishing down there and lived on BI for a few years of really good fishing a loooong time ago. My question simply is there, or could there be any bass left up here at all? I'm not looking for spots just a general southern Maine coast report . Are there any bass being caught at all? thanks in advance

[striperstalker2]

I would think its totaly over,except a few small fish that holdover in estuaries.The canal is reporting mostly small fish left .Also Rhode Island seems to be mostly small fish,With the exception of the occasional large mixed in, and in my case today

[jimbighead]

You can focus on Deer, and not miss any good fishing.

Welcome aboard

Jim

[Sea Of Atlas]

It probably is over but I am having a hard time accepting that fact! This is the year that I became obsessed. I caught my last striper in Maine on 10/13/09 and it was the smallest I have ever caught. I fished the following week with nary a bite.

However, there are these two reports:
- Saco Bay Tackle 10/31/09:
Inshore we are still seeing large schools of mackerel in Saco Bay and north towards Pine Point.I have not had any reports of stripers the past week,I'm sure there are still a few scattered fish here in the bay and in the Saco river.
- On The Water 11/5/09:
There are still large schools of mackerel in Saco Bay and north towards Pine Point. Most likely an errant group of stripers are milling around the bay and in the Saco River.

Let me know if you find any!!

[seadogs1]

There aren't any fish in Casco Bay or Saco Bay anyway.. it's a dead zone, remember? If you want to catch em go down to joppa or the canal. That's where all the fish are all season long. They dont even make it up to Maine anymore

[riptide_robert]

Yes, I believe this was the fat lady singing a few weeks ago......

[ehiney]

As some have pointed out, it's over and has been over for almost a month. According to my observations - (determined by steady consistant catches) it was over earlier this year.

[cgmac]

I have been following your blogs on the declining striper catches along your coastlines. We are experiencing the same deal up here in Canada. Last year we had phenomenal striper action through the whole month of Oct.A bunch of us nutcases actually like to fish the late night or early morning tides, this usually keeps us away from the "newby's" and tangled lines. Some nights we are out till sunup, but it's usually worth it. Last year it was common to hook and release 30 or 40 fish a night! This year it's been hit and miss, there seems to be lots of baitfish arround ,but the stripers aren't here in the numbers they were last year. The most we hooked on a full tide would avg. 8 or 9. The declining fish numbers in your area woul explain why our stocks are down since most of our fish migrate up from your neck of the woods.
I noticed the size limit in your area is different than ours, you seem to have a slot limit on your bass. Ours is anything over 27 ". Our D.F.O. must seem to think differently about the spawing size. I wish our goverments would put their heads togrther and come up with a common approach to save this fishery. It wasn't that long ago that we actually had a commercial fishery for
the striper here in N.B. Some of the older fellas along the St. John river tell me that 50 - 60lb stripers were common in the nets back then. That was only 30 or so years ago, today according to the D.F.O, we no longer have a sustainable resident striper population. That's how fast a species can disapear! I wish you guys luck with your fishery! I know up here it is for the most part a voluntary catch and release policy.

[sodabiscuit12345]

Originally Posted by cgmac

I have been following your blogs on the declining striper catches along your coastlines. We are experiencing the same deal up here in Canada. Last year we had phenomenal striper action through the whole month of Oct.A bunch of us nutcases actually like to fish the late night or early morning tides, this usually keeps us away from the "newby's" and tangled lines. Some nights we are out till sunup, but it's usually worth it. Last year it was common to hook and release 30 or 40 fish a night! This year it's been hit and miss, there seems to be lots of baitfish arround ,but the stripers aren't here in the numbers they were last year. The most we hooked on a full tide would avg. 8 or 9. The declining fish numbers in your area woul explain why our stocks are down since most of our fish migrate up from your neck of the woods.
I noticed the size limit in your area is different than ours, you seem to have a slot limit on your bass. Ours is anything over 27 ". Our D.F.O. must seem to think differently about the spawing size. I wish our goverments would put their heads togrther and come up with a common approach to save this fishery. It wasn't that long ago that we actually had a commercial fishery for
the striper here in N.B. Some of the older fellas along the St. John river tell me that 50 - 60lb stripers were common in the nets back then. That was only 30 or so years ago, today according to the D.F.O, we no longer have a sustainable resident striper population. That's how fast a species can disapear! I wish you guys luck with your fishery! I know up here it is for the most part a voluntary catch and release policy.

Hey cgmac,

Fellow Canadian fisherman here. Ive been around new brunswick a lot a few years ago but mostly fished fresh water around Moncton and Fredericton.
Can you PM me? Yours doesnt seem to work. The last time I was in NB I was told the striper fishing was recovering and not great. That was a few years ago though.
I'll be back in NB for about a month starting mid-september next year.

[cgmac]

HEY SODA BISCUIT, good to hear from you! A lot has happened in the last few years in N.B. We have our very own Musky fishery now! The Saint John River up and arround Fredericton is a hot spot now for Muskies, as well as the Woodstock area. There is talk that we may have the next record book musky swimming our waters! There is also quite a discussion going on about Pike being caught here.Some of the boys on our discussion form have sent pictures in and it looks like it's true.
The smallmouth bass has made huge gains here also, and I heard there is a Largemouth population thriving in and arround Oromucto. The D.N.O. aren't to happy about all these so called "invasive species" in our waters, they were probably started fron someones livewell. But if we relied on those guys, all we would have to fish arround here is smelt! By the way, anybody got any extra walleyes in there livewells,ha ha.
If you are in the area anytime next year ,give me a shout! The stripers start at a hit and miss thing then, but we can always give the muskies a run.
My E-Mail address is cgmac@nb.sympatico.ca

[MDM]

Great to hear from you guys up North. Welcome!

[TheBuzzard]

Yea, I've always wondered what's happening up there. Thanks.

[ability]

[Little]

Originally Posted by cgmac

I have been following your blogs on the declining striper catches along your coastlines. We are experiencing the same deal up here in Canada. Last year we had phenomenal striper action through the whole month of Oct.A bunch of us nutcases actually like to fish the late night or early morning tides, this usually keeps us away from the "newby's" and tangled lines. Some nights we are out till sunup, but it's usually worth it. Last year it was common to hook and release 30 or 40 fish a night! This year it's been hit and miss, there seems to be lots of baitfish arround ,but the stripers aren't here in the numbers they were last year. The most we hooked on a full tide would avg. 8 or 9. The declining fish numbers in your area woul explain why our stocks are down since most of our fish migrate up from your neck of the woods.
I noticed the size limit in your area is different than ours, you seem to have a slot limit on your bass. Ours is anything over 27 ". Our D.F.O. must seem to think differently about the spawing size. I wish our goverments would put their heads togrther and come up with a common approach to save this fishery. It wasn't that long ago that we actually had a commercial fishery for
the striper here in N.B. Some of the older fellas along the St. John river tell me that 50 - 60lb stripers were common in the nets back then. That was only 30 or so years ago, today according to the D.F.O, we no longer have a sustainable resident striper population. That's how fast a species can disapear! I wish you guys luck with your fishery! I know up here it is for the most part a voluntary catch and release policy.

Thats where a lot of our fish were these last two years, I think.

[p.clifford]

The fish just do not make it up here in any numbers any more. i just spent a week fishing in Jersey and its nothing to catch twenty fish a day on a decent headboat. With a bonus tag you can keep three fish and the boats limit out frequently. With presure like that we are not goint to see fish in Maine. Dont fight it. It's not going to change .You are better off spending the time on the highway and driving to where the fish are. You won't be sorry. Maine is for scenery, not fish.