Big Bass - where are they?

[fiftywide]

I think the biggies are here. Landed a 45# and a 38 LB off of long branch on Sunday. Got em both on 10 inch poppers. It was awesome. My 13 year old got the biggie and my wife the 38.

[Ismellfishy]

Folks out livelining are routinely getting fish in the 20-30lb range. Those are decent fish but once june rolls around the 40s & 50s will eat. Right now the biggest fish are nabbed pulling bunker spoons, which is par for the course, then they come in on the bunker. Last year june 20 was out and had a 48, 52, &55 lb fish caught on one trip. Just be patient.

[SharkHart]

the air temps went from 80 on thursday to 50 on Friday then 3 days of gale winds made the water temps drop rapidly, I had strong catches before this pattern on large fish, stay tuned its going to get electric very soon

[Legacy]

Pete - There are a lot of sharpies that don't post on any site and are especially quiet when they are releasing the big girls. That said, we have had an excellent spring trolling our custom home-made spoons. Just last Thursday we had 3 over 30 pounds and another 5 over 25 in Raritan Bay with practically no other boats around trolling in the slop before the big blow.

There are big fish spread out from Manasquan to Debs Inlet, Long Island. Just not as packed in on the bunker schools as years past that makes for easy fishing that everyone reports on. Putting the time in on weekdays this year has made all the difference in the world.

[NJ Dave]

A friend up state around new windsor is still catching big fish in the hudson river.
A lot of fish are still up river and have not yet returned from the spawning grounds.
A few high 80/90 days by this weeks end should turn things back around.
2 more weeks and it should be an out front bunker busting bonanza.

[ChaosStarter]

Originally Posted by NJ Dave

A friend up state around new windsor is still catching big fish in the hudson river.
A lot of fish are still up river and have not yet returned from the spawning grounds.
A few high 80/90 days by this weeks end should turn things back around.
2 more weeks and it should be an out front bunker busting bonanza.

Hopefully just one more week b/c that's when my charter is!

[Dino]

the ocean is a dynamic and complicated eco system.. sometimes its hard to explain everything that happens or doesnt happen with an A, B, or C.

[slammer]

I also think its the weather. When we get warm steady weather live lining should take off.

[bunker dunker]

Who Cares The Smaller Ones Are Better Eating

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by bunker dunker

Who Cares The Smaller Ones Are Better Eating

I'm with you BD ! Do you remember not so long ago when a 28" fish was a Monster ? I miss those 24" slot fish . Gill , gut , and scale them . Cook them whole on the grill with some wet Hickory chips on the coals or stuff and bake them for a Holiday Feast . Head on is a better presentation . Big fish don't taste as good and are too hard to cook whole .