PROWLER 5 - THANKSGIVING DAY - STRIPER REPORT

[Prowler 5]

Hey gang, we had 10 brave customers show up today to go striper fishing even knowing the conditions. Kudos to them. We left the dock at 7:25a.m. and we used our speed to fly out to the grounds because we knew we had to get the job done early today with the strong outgoing tide against the east wind. We are 2 fish away from a boat limit this morning at 9:30, which is a good thing because it's starting to get evil out here. We had big overs with the slots and the bonus fish and even small fish. Jimmy, the farmer, had his personal best with a solid 40 lb. trophy fish. Russell and Mark and the rest of the guys are having a blast today. Joey, Sr. was screaming for me to come down, we have 6 on! Green tail jigs were the ticket again today. We have rain, wind and a little fog. A little bit of everything, but that's what the stripers love. The next 4 to 5 days look great for fishing with good conditions. Don't miss the bite. Come down and join us. 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. fare is $90; spinning rods are $10 if needed. The plan is to fish until the end of Dec. and hopefully that will happen. It's been a great Fall season so far. Thanks, Capt. Scott Wow what an awesome day got them the bite in the calm water at the end of the day on change tide bite. Ponytail Mark just beat out Russell for the pool today.

[Prowler 5]

MORE PICS FROM TODAY.

[Togfather2530]

Hi. Don’t you guys blackfish anymore? Do you plan on blackfishing this year or not.

[bulletbob]

I won't speak for the capt, but I dunno, these days these guys gotta go with the hot hand to stay in business, and right at this time stripers are hot.. You NJ guys are closer to the situation than me, but from what I can gather, blackfishing hasn't been that good this year, and horn dogs have been fierce, a lot of guys can't even keep a bait on bottom... bob

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Togfather2530

Hi. Don’t you guys blackfish anymore? Do you plan on blackfishing this year or not.

No sense in black fishing with current water temps and the amount of dogfish around .
Get decent conditions one day out of the week .

Hopefully with the cool down coming , as stripers roll on by the blackfish bite will turn on

[Togfather2530]

I feel it has nothing to do with water temps. The wind sucks this fall and I understand the striper bite is great. You can catch just as many or more black fishing in October. The blackfish bite will only get more sluggish as it gets colder for the most part.

[Togfather2530]

The dogs are a problem with the stripers as well

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Togfather2530

I feel it has nothing to do with water temps. The wind sucks this fall and I understand the striper bite is great. You can catch just as many or more black fishing in October. The blackfish bite will only get more sluggish as it gets colder for the most part.

Not this year .
And I spend a lot of time black fishing in October through February .

Water temps makes the blackfish move off of the many shallow water areas that can be good in October .
It concentrates the fish in less areas causing competition.
Colder water also pushes the dogfish out to even deeper water .

Right now dogfish are harassing anything that wants to come out to start a bite .
Catch a small blackfish and there are 3 or more dogfish. Trying to grab it while you’re bringing it in .
Drop a crab down and dogfish are all over it .

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Not this year .
And I spend a lot of time black fishing in October through February .

Water temps makes the blackfish move off of the many shallow water areas that can be good in October .
It concentrates the fish in less areas causing competition.
Colder water also pushes the dogfish out to even deeper water .

Right now dogfish are harassing anything that wants to come out to start a bite .
Catch a small blackfish and there are 3 or more dogfish. Trying to grab it while you’re bringing it in .
Drop a crab down and dogfish are all over it .

Your explanation makes good sense of course, and I totally understand what you are saying.. However, blackfish are a lot more active and aggressive in 60 degree water than they are in 40 degree water. They might be more concentrated, but they are also a lot slower.. Yes blackfish will hit in cold water we all know that, but as I have said here several times, whats known as "blackfish weather" is relly a myth. Cold winter weather spitting snow, is not prime time for blackfish.. When anglers had other cold water species to fish for, flounder/ling/whiting/cod, blackfish were pretty much left alone for the winter.. The mid winter blackfishing that so many guys are enanmored with today only started when the other species were decimated and there was really nothing left to fish for... Even the "blackfish specialists" moved on to whiting and ling by this time of year.. Dogfish were never the problem years ago they are today.. They were simply badly outnumbered.. You might catch one or two but usually before they got a chance to get to a bait, a tog would grab it.. Not that way anymore.. Dogs have the upper hand because no one wants to catch them, and the commercial market is pretty limited.. Europeans still eat them, but Americans want nothing to do with them.. Once people discovered how good blackfish are to eat, as well as how sporting they are to catch, the writing was on the wall.. I can recall gorgeous October weekends years ago, when blackfish boats barely scraped together enough guys to sail, while bluefish boats were so packed guys had to fish over each others shoulders.. Blackfish were easily the least popular "game species" in ny/ nj.. Times have really changed... I personally think the reason so many guys complain about the tog fishing these days is the simple fact that too many have been caught and eaten, they are very slow growing, and the population is way down.. Just my uneducated opinion.... bob

[Togfather2530]

Thanks guys for all your replies. I only really posted initially to see if the prowler captain was planning on fishing for blackfish this season or if he was going to abandon it. He always went to blackfish instead of stripers before. I do agree with you, Bob 100%. As far as the water temps go that was the same nonsense e No verybody talked about with the flounder instead of admitting that the fishery sucks. I understand the dogfish issue. They can be a pain in the ass, but when I was striper fishing under tons and tons of bunker, the one time I got out this year I was catching nothing but dogfish and couldn’t get any stripers to hit and all the other boats had the same results. More or less these dogfish are a problem with either fishery when they are there. As far as the water temps go, I have not been able to fish for several weeks. I don’t even know what the water temps are, but to me that’s nonsense. If they are warmer, of course you’re focusing shallower and moving deeper as it gets colder. Either way you should be able to find fish somewhere. I haven’t read hardly any blackfish reports on this forum this year. I don’t think the blackfish fishery will be good for very much longer.