Striper blitz-bomb explodes under highway bridge in Portland Maine.

[petespeak]

En route to Plum Island to cap off my season, headed south down 295 corridor through Portland. Crossed bridge by Thompsons Point,: bait balls blowing up in the city, aggressive, BIG fish. And I'm doing 60 in bumper to bumper, a truckload of fishing gear and driving past the biggest blitz I've seen since the 70's. Every known striper river due south showed obvious bait action and some blowups. White knuckles on the wheel, driving past the exits of my favorite spots I reluctantly stayed on plan and headed to Plum Island. Never got out of the car: once I hit Mass., traffic, road work, detours, jammed up angry locals, confusing roads, rotaries, traffic lights on every block: four hour drive and still not there, I can smell the ocean! Finally, the suspiciously soft croissant from Dunkin did me in: stomach cramps, bent over the wheel, stomach churning like a ball of greasy eels, painfully aware of all the rest stop locations: 9 hrs of driving, several "pit" stops, 0 hours on the beach. NO WAY can I let this be the end...I'm going local and I'm catching a fish...try and stop me.

 

Edited November 17 by petespeak

[VitaminDee]

i would of stopped to fish the blitz somehow.

[petespeak]

9 mins ago, VitaminDee said:

i would of stopped to fish the blitz somehow.

I have never seen fish there. But I HATE urban fishing. Would much rather be skunked than stand under a turnpike bridge at rush hour. I moved to Maine 30 years ago to escape New Jersey and urban blight...caught too many fish in nasty places..rules of thumb: no city skylines, no busted glass in the mud, no dead bodies recently discovered, oil spills, or Superfund sites within casting distance. Never fish a place I wouldn't go skinny dipping. If you can't see your feet in knee deep water, as they say in Jersey, "FORGETTABOUTIT!!!"

Edited November 17 by petespeak

[VanStaalSteve]

There is an old saying, "never leave fish to find fish".

[Cascade]

1 hour ago, petespeak said:

I have never seen fish there. But I HATE urban fishing. Would much rather be skunked than stand under a turnpike bridge at rush hour. I moved to Maine 30 years ago to escape New Jersey and urban blight...caught too many fish in nasty places..rules of thumb: no city skylines, no busted glass in the mud, no dead bodies recently discovered, oil spills, or Superfund sites within casting distance. Never fish a place I wouldn't go skinny dipping. If you can't see your feet in knee deep water, as they say in Jersey, "FORGETTABOUTIT!!!"

I would have done the same thing, blitz fishing is nice but....

[VitaminDee]

1 hour ago, petespeak said:

I have never seen fish there. But I HATE urban fishing. Would much rather be skunked than stand under a turnpike bridge at rush hour. I moved to Maine 30 years ago to escape New Jersey and urban blight...caught too many fish in nasty places..rules of thumb: no city skylines, no busted glass in the mud, no dead bodies recently discovered, oil spills, or Superfund sites within casting distance. Never fish a place I wouldn't go skinny dipping. If you can't see your feet in knee deep water, as they say in Jersey, "FORGETTABOUTIT!!!"

yeah but snow is about to hit and end my season, that would of been icing to the end of that.

[petespeak]

Pretty sure I was watching the last gasp of our striper season...today is the last day for six months the temps will be over 50...I'm going hit my favorite and most private place in the world to fish this afternoon: (turning gps off so no one can follow. I know something nobody else does and I'm not telling, haha) Need a fishy memory to chew on over the winter.

 

Edited November 17 by petespeak

[Cascade]

38 mins ago, petespeak said:

Pretty sure I was watching the last gasp of our striper season...today is the last day for six months the temps will be over 50...I'm going hit my favorite and most private place in the world to fish this afternoon: (turning gps off so no one can follow. I know something nobody else does and I'm not telling, haha) Need a fishy memory to chew on over the winter.

 

Good luck today and please give those fish directions to the SOUTH.

[HugeDinghy]

I used to really enjoy the spring run on the ct river in the Hartford area. I wouldn’t want it to be my normal fishing but for a change of pace, I enjoyed it. It was like an oxymoron. 

[sandworm]

would have stopped and fished , my season ended now trout and steelhead fishing for the winter, our state closed our salmon season probably like last time for three years. Happy Holidays everyone stay safe!!

[petespeak]

4 hours ago, Cascade said:

Good luck today and please give those fish directions to the SOUTH.

Not sure where the fish I saw in Portlland yesterday were headed, but the fish I'm hunting today are Maine natives.

 

Bad News: those special fish aren't going anywhere.

Good News: Maine is growing a native stock of robust stripers that stick around all year who congregate and hunt together in "extended family pods" taking up residence in deepwater river bends and backwater creeks. These fish are big fat chunky mommas that have been showing up the last few seasons in the 24-40 inch range. Our Maine bred schoolies look like little footballs compared to the skinny southern fish that  thin-out when migrating up here. Canadian stripers are also going gangbusters recently. Prince Ed Island surf fishermen are learning as they go.

Edited November 17 by petespeak

[recoil]

Blitz fish don't count!

[C.Robin]

I’d fish a sewage treatment plant’s effluent if there was a blitz going on lol. 

[Sea Of Atlas]

10 hours ago, petespeak said:

Not sure where the fish I saw in Portlland yesterday were headed, but the fish I'm hunting today are Maine natives.

 

Bad News: those special fish aren't going anywhere.

Good News: Maine is growing a native stock of robust stripers that stick around all year who congregate and hunt together in "extended family pods" taking up residence in deepwater river bends and backwater creeks. These fish are big fat chunky mommas that have been showing up the last few seasons in the 24-40 inch range. Our Maine bred schoolies look like little footballs compared to the skinny southern fish that  thin-out when migrating up here. Canadian stripers are also going gangbusters recently. Prince Ed Island surf fishermen are learning as they go.

Nah Man. Maine fish and Canadian stripers have been around as long as stripers have been around and before New Jersey was a state. 

[petespeak]

10 hours ago, Sea Of Atlas said:

Nah Man. Maine fish and Canadian stripers have been around as long as stripers have been around and before New Jersey was a state. 

Hasn't been my experience. But on paper you are right. I should have said native striped bass are being caught in northern waters more than ever before.

 

After 56 years of consistently surf fishing 100+ days per season and catching thousands of stripers from California to Lake Meade to Jersey, up through New England and all the way up to Prince Edward Island, I can say without a doubt that native bass in northern waters are far more plentiful than any other time since I've been alive. This leads me to conclude that the native striper population is growing faster than before, most likely due to warming water temps and changing currents. But technically their have always been stripers up north.

 

And believe it or not, T-Rex also roamed Canada, but you won't see one there today...seriously, they even have fossilized footprints from an Allosaurus walking on a Canadian beach, way before New Jersey was even a state. Yet it is still true. Hmmm.

 

 

Edited November 18 by petespeak