The Midcoast Maine Running Stripah Report

[george]

I agree. R7s numbers are quite alarming.

However, it could have been an off season for many reasons. Next year will be the tell. Hopefully there will be a bounce back and you chalk this season up to an anomaly!

It could be just a fluke, but there might be deeper issues at play. I’m not basing my view solely on his data. I was hoping to see a bounce back in the number of fish under 24 inches last year, and again this season, but that hasn’t happened.

I’m a fish-first kind of guy, but I also believe that we, as recreational anglers, shouldn’t bear the entire blame or face all the consequences.

 

[Roccus7]

People fish for many reasons: love of the outdoors, provide for their family, show up their friends, etc. R7 is the only one I know that fishes for the love of plotting data!

I'm totally obsessed with striped bass fishing, to the point where my fishing buds call me Ahab. I have been known to quote Melville when the fish seem to be targeting me for their personal amusement. That's would be my more reserved side. When I'm really pissed off I go French Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, usually on myself, You couldn't catch clap in a brothel!!!

I measure each and every striped bass I catch because I take part in Maine's Voluntary Logbook Program. They use the accumulated data to supplement that disaster called MRIP. The Logbook is an Excel spreadsheet, so what else would a retired scientist do? Of course I parse it out, analyze it and since a picture is worth 1000 words, graph it. I've been analyzing and presenting data professionally for over 40 years, just can't turn that off during retirement; it's hardwired into my psyche...

 

[Roccus7]

A smart man would listen to omens on Friday the 13th...

... but nobody, including myself, would ever accuse me being smart when it comes to stripers!! As I opened the door at 05:10 today I was greeted with the redolent stench of a skunk. Anyone with half a brain would have turned around and got a second cup of coffee, especially since it is Friday the 13th!

Well I was a Man with a Plan so I misquoted David Farragut, "Damn the skunk, full speed ahead!" As I got to my target area I was a little disconcerted since I saw nor heard any overt signs of fish feeding: no bubbles on the dead flat water or none of the distinctive popping noises of bass feeding. Well it WAS almost totally dark so maybe I was unable to see the signs. With my first 1/2 dozen casts elicited no response I was thinking maybe I should have stayed at home, but then there was the bass feeding pop around my popper which got the heart pumping. Alas, the fish made the tiniest amount of contact with the plug so nothing I tried could entice it to go at the lure again. No worries, the fish are here and I will catch!

After 30 minutes of "casting practice" with no catching, I was starting to rethink my plans. Decided to exit the deep cove, and fish at 3 more historically productive spots. Now that it was full light out, and I hadn't seen any feeding fish nor heard any, my tail was definitely working its way between my legs. That feeling got worse as spot 1 was fruitless, making me fear that it will be a Pepe LePew Morning.

Got to spot 2 and on my 4th cast a miracle occurred!! A 25" striper decided my plug looked good and crashed it; the fish was boated, measured and quickly released. Newly restored, I kept casting there to see if I could add a second fish to the daily count. Of course, there was no second miracle; well, there still was Spot 3 to check. Turns out Spot 3 was totally sterile so I quickly decided to thank Poseidon for the Participation Trophy, take the "W" and head back to the barn.

Of course I'm already going over what tomorrow's plan will be, and sleeping in will not be one of the options...

 

[Roccus7]

Even a blind squirrel sometimes...

You know the saying, and I was feeling like that Blind Squirrel this AM when I headed out after 2 consecutive skunkings Saturday & Sunday. Saturday wasn't too painful in that I saw absolutely NOTHING all morning, not a fish breaking, nary a V wake in shallow water, not even a follow behind my popper. It was clearly a NOTHING morning.

On the other hand, Sunday was the kind of day that nightmares are made of. As I slowly made my way into the selected target area because of low water I noticed the occasional breaking fish up a bit so I hiked up the motor to the absolute lowest draft possible and still pump cooling water and crawled in. As I got to where I thought the fish were breaking, the water erupted as a single bass was feeding well within casting range. I put 3 consecutive casts over this fish with absolutely no interest on the part of fish. Needless to say I was far from amused, make that downright furious!! And that was it for fish activity that morning. Getting skunked always sucked, but stings far worse when you know there were feeding fish around.

This AM when time to fish came around I was far from eager to head out. Most of me wanted to sit home and lick my wounds from Sunday, but that little voice in me insisted to go out and avenge my ignominious defeat of Sunday. Once again low water prevented me from going right to the desired target area so I started a bit down tide in a spot that routinely works will at early flood.

As I worked that area with absolutely fish interest I did notice some fish breaks in the intended target spot. I wondered if I could get in there, but I did noticed that there were great blue herons standing in the area so having a bit more water would be necessary. As soon as I could squeeze in there I crawled in and started casting. Just as I was about to go to the port, a fish exploded to starboard within easy casting range and I was presented with a quandary; could I handle another embarrassment like I had on Sunday?

The basic reflex initiated a cast, but even while I let the lure go there was a real sense or "I have a bad feeling about this." Three pops later I had a very good feeling about this as the lure was crushed and soon there was a 25" fish to unhook and carefully release. This blind squirrel found his acorn this AM!!

Fished for another 15 min with no activity anywhere in the area, so I figured I'd take the "W" and head back to the barn and a hot cup of coffee. The only remaining question is what to do tomorrow?

Yeah, like all Striper Maniacs, I'm a masochist; I'll be at it again in the morning...

 

[Roccus7]

Well, turns out Sept 16 was the last day I caught a striper this season. The last day I saw a fish was on Sept 17 when I dropped another fish. After that skunking there were a few other dates with Pepe Le Pew and I finally called things on Oct 4 and hauled out the boat today.

I'm sure you're all waiting for the Roccus Data Dump and here it is. The Reader's Digest is even though I fished for stripers almost as many times as last year, my catch was down >50%. The table and graphs are shown below.

	# of Striper Trips	Fish Caught	Fish/Trip	Mean In.	Median In.	Engine Hours
2023​	100​	328​	3.28​	25.66​	24.50​	147​
2024​	92​	144​	1.57​	26.33​	26.00​	100​
YTY Delta	-8%​	-56%​	-52%​	3%​	6%​	-32%​

 

[longcast]

Well, turns out Sept 16 was the last day I caught a striper this season. The last day I saw a fish was on Sept 17 when I dropped another fish. After that skunking there were a few other dates with Pepe Le Pew and I finally called things on Oct 4 and hauled out the boat today.

I'm sure you're all waiting for the Roccus Data Dump and here it is. The Reader's Digest is even though I fished for stripers almost as many times as last year, my catch was down >50%. The table and graphs are shown below.

	# of Striper Trips	Fish Caught	Fish/Trip	Mean In.	Median In.	Engine Hours
2023​	100​	328​	3.28​	25.66​	24.50​	147​
2024​	92​	144​	1.57​	26.33​	26.00​	100​
YTY Delta	-8%​	-56%​	-52%​	3%​	6%​	-32%​

View attachment 85730

View attachment 85732

Fish caught. Yikes.

 

[captmike28]

Well, turns out Sept 16 was the last day I caught a striper this season. The last day I saw a fish was on Sept 17 when I dropped another fish. After that skunking there were a few other dates with Pepe Le Pew and I finally called things on Oct 4 and hauled out the boat today.

I'm sure you're all waiting for the Roccus Data Dump and here it is. The Reader's Digest is even though I fished for stripers almost as many times as last year, my catch was down >50%. The table and graphs are shown below.

	# of Striper Trips	Fish Caught	Fish/Trip	Mean In.	Median In.	Engine Hours
2023​	100​	328​	3.28​	25.66​	24.50​	147​
2024​	92​	144​	1.57​	26.33​	26.00​	100​
YTY Delta	-8%​	-56%​	-52%​	3%​	6%​	-32%​

View attachment 85730

View attachment 85732

Facing the prospect of a long, fishless, winter seems to get tougher every year. It must be extra tough on you fellows up north where the curtain comes down even sooner than for us on LI. Any chance you might catch some Tog in your neighborhood? Squeezing in even a few more outings can be very therapeutic!

Back to the Striper situation your statistics don't lie and obviously support what you have been writing about and experiencing all year. The fall off in total numbers is scary. While I don't keep nearly as accurate a set of records as you do, Roccus, I don't feel as though my spring production was off at all from last year

However, the fall run in the Orient area continues to be very poor as it has been for nearly 10 years now. When we still had our better fall Bass fishing, I could easily catch fish right up until my last trip of the season on Thanskgiving weekend. Then as things started to fall off the last date when it was even possible to catch Bass seemed to come sooner and sooner to the point where it is almost not worth the effort beyond around the 10th of October!

I realize it is all about the available bait, but some patterns just do not make sense to me. I know there are still fairly good schools of bunker and other bait on the south shore which supports their fall fishery. We still see some decent pods in my area yet no Bass on them. Guys just a little west, part of the North Fork Surf crowd, still catch a few Bass on the beach from time to time. Maybe the most painful of all was a call I got from a friend this past Sunday. He has a home on Southold Bay facing Jessups and does a fair amount of surfcasting. While it has been a little slow for him, he told me on the last outing he crushed them from shore with close to a dozen fish landed 4 in the slot plus a few overs and unders! When we are struggling just a little further east he usually has a good bite.
Maybe I need to invest in a surf stick!

 

[OVERBORED]

In an earlier post, you mentioned seeing something you hadn't before: Bass feeding on Green crabs.

When the forage changes, so does the feeding pattern.

It's possible your catch numbers are off 56% because the fish are feeding at low water, in spots you can't get to.

It happens here when bass are feeding on sand fleas and other crabs in the wash. They feed right up to the surfline, half their bodies out of the water.

Just a thought.

As far as tog go, I've caught them in New Hampshire but not Maine. Tried once in Maine......

 

[Roccus7]

. Any chance you might catch some Tog in your neighborhood?

Interesting thought & I do hope that some day that may change since I live in Tog Valhalla with all the ledges and green crabs, but as the French Knight would say, "No chance Maineish Bedwetting Types!!"

It's a damn shame they aren't here because I can catch a 5 gallon bucket of green crabs in 20 minutes off my dock; the granddaughters love it!! LI Toggers moan about the price of green crabs, and the clam diggers up here moan about the overabundance of green crabs eating the steamers...

The Main(e) reason I can say "No Togs Yet" is that the lobstermen don't catch any in their traps and with all the traps around here, they'd be the first to know. They do catch cod and bergalls (Cunners up here) and some unicorns like the occasional flounder, sea bass and even a triggerfish, but never a blackfish! The cunners up here can get large to the point of sandwich-sized fillets and I do keep those; they taste just like tog!!

Still have yet to catch a flounder, even though I try every year and have had some tiny ones come up to see what I'm up to while clamming in the early spring. I've also caught a tiny BSB and a micro bonito while jigging for cod, but nothing else on the damn, wish they were here. I still hope that a positive aspect of the warming of the Gulf of Maine would be starting to see Tog, BSB and Fluke coming to visit in fishable numbers. When I say we've got a limited inshore fishery up here, I'm not kidding. Since cod are closed all spring and summer, it's only Mackerel, Harbor Pollock (small) and Stripers inshore...

In an earlier post, you mentioned seeing something you hadn't before: Bass feeding on Green crabs.

When the forage changes, so does the feeding pattern.

It's possible your catch numbers are off 56% because the fish are feeding at low water, in spots you can't get to.

Green crabs are not a change in feeding pattern, the bass have been eating them all the time up here. Crab patterns are a go to fly for the Maine Long Rod crowd. I abhor fishing with bait, but have tried them on occasion with no joy. Green crabs, small lobsters, and grass shrimp are the most frequent stomach contents I see in bass stomachs on filleting. Unlike finfish, it seems that Decapod Crustaceans (these crawlers are all in the same taxonomic order) are rarely regurgitated when catIch a fish. Guess their shells hang up in their guts unlike bait fish and squid, which they often puke up as soon as they're hooked. This year while fighting a fish, it puked up a squid boat side which could still swim. It didn't swim much as a bass that was following mine sucked it right up!!

As far as bass feeding in water I can't get up into, yes it does happen, BUT if you saw my prop at the end of a couple of months and looked at the paintless finish on my skeg, you'd know "Roccus Has Been Here", LOL. With King Moon Tide differentials of as much as 14', you learn to Dance with the Devil living up here if you fish in the estuaries!!

Low water is a far more productive tide than high around here, which I believe is due to the concentration of fish and bait in particular spots. I'm notorious for bringing the boat into spots that no 22' boat belongs in, and have gotten more than a few texts from kayak fishermen saying, "HTF did you get up there?" When "Sight Fishing" in 2' of water around here, a event, you're not casting to fish you see, but to a prominent V Wake you see...