When I pulled into the parking lot at Charlestown Breachway on Veteran's Day this week I knew something was up. I was expecting a big crowd like I've seen there all fall. Instead, there were only a few cars, and I would later find out most of the owners of those cars were beach walkers. I saw exactly two fishermen fishing the beach and one lone caster off the rocks. That told me they weren't catching along here in the last few days. Heck, I was here anyway so I decided to give it a try. I fished for about an hour and came up with one small schoolie. One guy told me it was the only fish he had seen along here in the past six hours.
I moved around that day to several more locations, yet all I could get was three additional small ones. Along the way, I saw no bait, no birds working and no fishermen.
I would fish two more days this week in different locations and would come away with exactly one schoolie. It was not good. Same story.....no bait, no fish.
So, the big questions after this week of poor fishing are as folows. Are we in a lull or are we staring at the beginning of the end? I don't know but here are some things I do know. The month of October and early November saw massive numbers of stripers move through, maybe the most we have ever seen in October. It was daily blitzes along the south shore beachfront. In other recent years, that seemed to happen more in November. I also know the masses of bait that attracted all those October stripers is gone. Maybe more is on the way, maybe not.
On the positive side, I know the water is warm, mid fifties for the most part. I also feel it is way too early to be talking the end. My guess is that we are still about 10 days away from the end of consistent fishing based on past years. And, at this time of year, I always have my hopes that an ocean herring run will develop, and that would light up the fishing. Gannets have been around so maybe that is telling us something.
This week will tell us a lot. If the fishing continues to be poor, it will be a sign that the end is near. If it improves, expect a couple of more good weeks. I hope it is the latter.
