Where are the Bunker? Here's a not such a crazy idea...

[Roccus7]

@george , @captmike28 I heard a very interesting hypothesis regarding the lack of boats fishing all over LI this spring, including an empty Plum Gut in prime tidal conditions, and it wasn't because of the reduced striper slot...

Apparently there is a dearth of bunker all around LI this year, and many Osprey chicks are not getting enough to eat because Mom & Dad can't find "dinner". My Jamesport buddy said he's had Osprey diving down at his topwaters, which he found unusual, and I agree. With Ospreys all over the place up here I've yet to have a single one even start a dive on my plugs in 11 years of fishing. This is NOT normal Osprey behavior, their eyesight is way too good for this and something is driving this behavioral aberration.

Well someone very well connected in the Montauk Surf Casters and other East End organizations, forgot his name, has started to talk to folks about the possibility that sonic disturbances from all the windmill surveys has disturbed the bunker migratory patterns, keeping them away from LI.

This is a very interesting hypothesis. Anyone else out there have some additional info on it?

 

[george]

I'll leave the gut to Mike. I have been in touch with a few drone operators that have confirmed bunker seemed scattered. Hopefully this is not another consequence of this industrialization of our once peaceful oceans.

 

[poorrichard]

Agree on the bunker.
Fishing Plum Gut is another issue. I used to fish it all the time.
Since Orient by the Sea was sold. and the boat ramp closed.
No access for trailered boats anymore.

I would love to see a ramp built in Orient State Park. Don't think it will ever happen

The lack of trailer boat access has to effecting($$$$) the local tackle shops, deli's gas stations ect.
I am a little surprised they arrent pushing the local state representatives to build a ramp

 

[captmike28]

@george , @captmike28 I heard a very interesting hypothesis regarding the lack of boats fishing all over LI this spring, including an empty Plum Gut in prime tidal conditions, and it wasn't because of the reduced striper slot...

Apparently there is a dearth of bunker all around LI this year, and many Osprey chicks are not getting enough to eat because Mom & Dad can't find "dinner". My Jamesport buddy said he's had Osprey diving down at his topwaters, which he found unusual, and I agree. With Ospreys all over the place up here I've yet to have a single one even start a dive on my plugs in 11 years of fishing. This is NOT normal Osprey behavior, their eyesight is way too good for this and something is driving this behavioral aberration.

Well someone very well connected in the Montauk Surf Casters and other East End organizations, forgot his name, has started to talk to folks about the possibility that sonic disturbances from all the windmill surveys has disturbed the bunker migratory patterns, keeping them away from LI.

This is a very interesting hypothesis. Anyone else out there have some additional info on it?

I don't know whether or not the very erratic fishing we have seen in Plum Gut this year is only related to a much smaller Bunker population, but it certainly makes sense to me.

In early May we did have some very large pods of Bunker invade the Peconic's and the eastern Sound as well. Whether it was the warmer water temps and earlier start to the Bass fishing this spring, I am convinced those early Buker pods really did heat things up as far as the bite goes. I also believe it is why we saw so many really large Blues int he Bay much sooner than I can remember in the past.

Another related observation is that with the combination of warmer Temps early on and the large Bunker Pods the Bass were already residing in good numbers in the Gut as early as May 9. That is a good 2 weeks sooner than I can ever recall seeing them in the much cooler waters of the eastern Sound.

We enjoyed very steady Bass action in the Gut from May 9 through the first week of June with a very similar pattern to last year. Overall, large numbers of fish and a very high percentage of slot fish in the 28-35" range. Then around June 10 the bunker thinned out a lot and the fishing in the Gut became very erratic for both Bass and even Blues.

Over the past week or so we have seen the Blues start to take hold again, but the Bass fishing is quite unpredictable, decent some days and almost none on others. But one thing is for sure not many Bunker around and now the Blues have been spiting up Sand Eels.

One last observation is that last year when we did have the large Bunker Pods all over, there was a "resident population of Stripers right underneath my boat in the slip Every time I would be prepping bait in the morning before a charter you would see many Bass swimming right up to the surface picking off the discards. So far, this season, I have not seen a single Bass at my slip.

I am not sure what has moved the Bunker off so quickly this year but in almost all cases a lack of bait or a shift in the patterns and location of bait will always impact the availability of our game fish.

 

[Pangaroo]

West end bay fishing is just awful . Never seen it so bad. Virtually nothing on the bottom. Something is wrong here.

 

[george]

I did hear som encouraging news that there are a lot of bunkers in NJ that are headed our way. Hopefully it was just an aberation.

 

[Matts]

I'm seeing normal amounts of bait in the western sound. I've seen plenty of osprey carrying bunker they had just dove on.
Yet, for the first time ever, a week ago, I had an osprey dive on my live lined bunker flipping on the surface. I jerked the hook out and both the bait and the hook came free. My reel was a bit backlashed, despite the clicker.
A few moments later, right where the bunker landed, there was a big splash and a loud sucking pop as a larger predator claimed what was likely the same bunker, stunned from his airborn adventure.

 

[pequa1]

Although I dumped the stinkboat 15 months ago and just kayak backbay, I do actually talk to many of the boaters that drift near and nearly all are saying that fluke fishing is the worst so far for years. I did see what I thought was a bunker or two in the creek this morning (east wind drove me back off the bay in just 90 minutes, lol) but whatever the terns are diving on is definitely not peanuts. along with the sound blasting for the wind farms, weren't all the south shore inlets dredged this spring as well ?