so over the past few years ive noticed that the striper bite at the hrbt has slowed... 03,04,05 and 06 it was pretty much non stop action in the light line from middle of sept to nov. this year i haven't even seen a striper.. whats up? anyone having the same thing going on? all my other fishing buddies are feeling it too. seems this ear is slow to get started.. starting to get worried im losing my touch..

FinnCatcher:

The CBBT has plenty right now. I had trips Friday & Saturday and found loads of various classes of fish. The "Tog " bite is on fire right now. Dont give up they are there!!!

Good luck to you this year and "Catch em up".

Capt. Scott

Thanks Capt. Scott.. guess i need to ride out to the islands and try my luck. ill bring some fiddlers too if i cant find the striped ones.. thanks. John

Looking back over the last five years in my fishing stuff the water has also been warmer than it was in the past few years. But this cold weather and the rain will help cool things off. It will pick up.

VooDoo

Fished the Elizabeth River last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, near the mouth of the river. Fished from about 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and caught at least 2 limits of schoolies each night. Then, fished until about 8:30 p.m., catch and release.

Monday took home a 23" and a 22", Tuesday took home a 25", a 23", and 2-22" fish, Wednesday took home a 23" and a 22". All fish were fat and healthy--no sores. The skinny fish were released.

Used artificials: bass assassin/superfluke/fin-s looking grub in a green/blue shade, dragged slowly across the bottom.


Good luck, everyone!

Water temp and bait availability are the driving factors that help determine when the stripers begin to move and school. On a more disconcerting note, 2 years ago the young of the year class for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay was one of the smallest seen in many years. Those 2 to 3 year old fish make up many of the schools that roam the lower bay in the early fall. They trend has been down every year for the past several years. With the Bay water quality continuing it's spiral downward, we may be fishing in the golden years of the Chesapeake Bay fishery. I sure hope not.

"we may be fishing in the golden years of the Chesapeake Bay fishery. I sure hope not. " i sure hope not too! and i wasnt talking about getting a limit at the hrbt. i miss the 60+ per person blitz's..

As you know, stripers are cyclic, like bluefish. It will be interesting to see if big bluefish are about to make a big rebound. I know that would hardly be an equal trade, but we shall see.As we said in the sixties,"Keep the faith,baby!"

This topic always brings to mind a qoute from the famous boat driver in a big yellow center console " if my kids want to catch fish...they better fish with me now because I am not leaving any." Of course he is only kidding Im sure.(Right Bob?)
Todd

well i took Capt. Scott's advise and made my rounds to the second and the first lastnite. from the first to the boat channel birds and fish everywhere. no problems limiting out and fish are in the 20-25" range. great nite fished from 8-1230.. left em biting.. that first fish sure feels good after this long streak of nothing. they dont pull like the drum but i just love striper fishing.. lost count on the releases. 30+..

Glad to hear it! Good Job!

I hear that first fish felt good to me too last week, like a dream.

Going to rip their lips off friday too, hope for a Tog or two!

Like Blackadder said "cycles"

FinnCatcher,

Glad it worked out for you.

I love fresh schoolies, one of my most favorite meals.

Capt. Scott

striper from wed. nite.

There were a lot of small 12" to 16" bluefish out there this year. Caught lots of them trolling for spanish in the ocean off Sandbridge.

Thanksgiving Day, Wade & I & my Dad will be fishing the upper bay around the Banana Hole & ghost hole up around the cut channel. waaaaaaaay up the bay from you guys in VB. That area has been good to us early season over the years. That will be our first trip out since our last offshore run the first of October. Time to re-group & shift our focus to stripers..........unless there's a good break for offshore. Good Luck Guys this season!!!!

that's where we are headed -- we are fishing wednesday, Fri, Sat, Sun that week. let's catch up. if the water temp keeps it up this week we might be headed up there this weekend - Red Drum heard of multiple citations in MD before the blow started. BTW - with the reports slacking off and all the debris in the water, the odds of me heading to OI next SAT are getting slim - something great would need to happen this week report wise. JW