Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

Bingo. A friend of mine is down in Fla. and told me about the big blues showing up this year in pretty significant numbers. Doesn't happen every year but it does happen and has been happening for some time. I also remember when I was a young kid maybe 50 years ago same size blues showing up in Maine chasing schools of bunker, the locals didn't know what they were and never saw them before. I don't think that was a product of climate change back in the 70's. There's no doubt climate is an issue in this world, but to blame everything on it I think is the easy way out to support a narrative the current administration is driving for a different set of reasons.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

With all the wind and cool weather we are having down here I think these big blues are going to stick around for a while. All of a sudden diamond jigs have become a hot item !

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

A few months ago we caught some blues fishing a reef off the coast of Sanibel on the Gulf side. My buddy has been fishing there for several years and said it was the first one he's every caught down there.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

I know a Miami charter boat that caught them also, now I'm wondering where these fish came from ?? From the Carolinas? NJ ? How far do they migrate in the winter due to cold water ??

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

Interesting question for sure but I don't think they mind cold waters at all or we wouldn't have had years of Nov / Dec even Jan fishery here in NJ back in the good ole days.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

We have been catching them on the mid shore wrecks fishing for Seabass in December for a few years . I don't think our fish migrate far South but I do think they move offshore.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

I've experienced the same. Bluefish have developed a very similar migration pattern as the big weakfish we're seeing offshore in the fall and trends for that matter in the spring / summer. Migrating further offshore could be caused by any number of things but if it's water temp related it would suggest both species are seeking warmer water in deeper depths in the fall as opposed to colder temperatures in shallower inshore waters. Fish don't have to go north in the summer to find water temps condusive to their liking as long as there's ample forage available in deeper cooler local waters.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

OK but I am going to need for my feeble mind a better explanation on this?
We know that offshore Seabass wreck trips are producing bluefish and sometimes weakfish. This is COLD water fishing in the lower water column for seabass , fish come up cold, bait comes up cold and sinkers come up cold.
Are you saying weakfish and bluefish hit these baits in elevated water column temps that vary by a few degrees in Nov / Dec?
How are they searching for warmer water in deeper depths off shore in this timeframe?
Again I am naive to this but would appreciate more info,
Thanks

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

Dales529, I have been catching Bluefish on the drop over the mid shore wrecks out there. Not on the bottom. Caught them jigging for Pollack on the same wrecks earlier in September/October. I think that food is their motivation. There may be some out there year round. Never really thought about them hanging on the warm side of the thermacline. Go figure, I have caught those Yellow Eyed Devils just about everywhere from brackish back bay to the deep off the Hudson Canyons Eastern Tip. Hopefully they will show up in numbers this Summer.

Re: Couple of Visitors from NJ
 

I'm not at all saying that weakfish and bluefish eat baits in the mid to higher water columns on offshore sea bass wreck trips as a majority of these fish, when encountered, are caught right on the bottom so the water temperatures must be of a level they not only can tolerate but are comfortable with. I'm saying in between seasons water temperatures inshore are affected much differently than bottom temperatures offshore.

The attached article is a good read, one of many, on the impacts winds and seasonal changes have on the ocean bottom water temperatures along our portion of the coast. Note the impacts fall currents, wind and storms have on upwelling and bottom temperatures offshore.

https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/adv...sad190/7462579

Why do blackfish move further east as water temperatures inshore drop? Why do porgies and sea bass move further east, and to a degree south, into deeper waters when water temperatures get colder inshore? For the same reason, why do fluke move east 40 to 70 miles offshore when water temperatures start cooling down in the fall and stage offshore throughout the entire winter in deeper water? Is it because the water temperature is too cold? I doubt it otherwise their migration patterns would probably change. My post was questioning whether or not the same thing is happening to bluefish and weakfish with the larger specimens of these stocks migrating further offshore in the fall which, based on articles I've read, could be due to lower bottom temperatures offshore than inshore waters which get colder faster at that time of year.

Maybe I'm wrong and it's something else but many fish which inhabit our inshore waters in the spring and summer actually migrate further offshore in the winter months to deeper waters. My post was questioning if the same is happening with bluefish and weakfish as evidenced by catches we routinely see in the fall and other summer species we don't typically associate with offshore waters which apparently have no problem acclimating to deeper water climates that time of year.

Drop a sinker in December at the Shark River Reef and I'm sure it will come up ice cold as well. Maybe the deep water temperatures in the fall and winter because of upwelling and the thermocline breaking down due to currents from Nantucket Shoals and wind and weather conditions as the article points out causes offshore temperatures to actually be warmer than inshore causing some of our traditional stocks to take a more easterly track during their fall migrations. That's all I was throwing on the table. Hope that provides a better explanation of my post. Whether it's true or not who knows, just a question based on articles I've read I was throwing out.