[juro]

With all the foot long calimari around it's no wonder the spring blues are early. I've seen some of the biggest and thickest blues of the season late May and early June around Osterville over the last several years, they looked like the old pogie eaters and barfed up huge squid when they came in. I logged one around 17 # before fathers day a few years back.

The question is I wonder that the impact is of such early populations of inshore blues on the schoolie migration? Last year's May twinkies wouldn't stand a chance!

 

[Bill]

Really makes you think, doesn't it? Blues and bass populations seem to run in cycles over the years - and the cycles don't seem to coincide. Harvest rates, spawning success, weather, management, etc obviously play a role, but, these two fish do eat each other's (and their own) frye. Wonder if there is any info on how the migration patterns of these two guys impact one another.

 

[October Caddis]

I remember when Quincy bay and surrounding area had no Blues. Before the early 70's you could catch a few snapper blues but that was it. In one year they showed up by the thousands and in that year the makeral, pollock and stripers disapeared soon after. Fisherman said back then that the last time the blues showed up was in the late 30's and early 40's and when they did the bass were scarce. The other thing that happened in the 70's was the change in the type of bait fish that spent the summers in the South Shore area. It was always mackerel but the year the blues arrived the only bait fish to be found was pogies. Seems like we never heard of pogies north of cape cod or blues.

Guess what I'm getting at could there just be cycles where certain fish go else where and other fish fill the void or maybe the more aggressive feeding habits of blues force other fish in many directions and away from the traditional feeding and migration routes. For years in the 70's mackerel never showed up on the south shore but bypassed the area completely and showed up by the millions in the waters off northern Main to Nova Scotia, just north of the furthest point that the Blues made it too.

 

[FredA]

Has anyone seen the thread on striper migration on FFSW. Eric Lunds comments are very interesting. Basically, the way I read it is, the striper migration is independent of what the other guy's are doing (herring, blues, etc). As long as the water temp.is right and the buffet is open the striper ain't going anywhere. Apparently those conditions exist along the mid-Atlantic coast. He also says the 24" and under population in the Chesapeake is at its highest in 30 years. So even though the water temps. around here seem right the abnormally cool temps. to the south are holding the fish back.

Also, a guide that I took tying lessons with this winter insisted it was going to be a big and early year for blues. Anybody know the source of this insight?

Regards,
Fred A.

 

[Bob Pink]

Bob Paccia speaks directly with the fish!