Blitztober

October is the month of the blitz in CT and RI. Every month from April through December could feature some spectacular feeding frenzies from a variety of different predator fish and bird species on a variety of different forage fish. But in terms of pure theatrics, big shows put on by the fish and birds in combination with the weather, the time period between about the first of October and the 15th of November has become my favorite time to chase the blitz, more and more so for photography now than for fishing. Rapidly cooling backwaters and increasingly frequent north winds push bait out of backwaters and out into open water, where migrating striped bass, bluefish, and tunoids push them to the surface and against beaches and structure, and vast numbers of birds also often join in the party. October blitzes, set in front of the best foliage and some of the most dramatic skies of the year, are unquestionably magnificent. At times, it even seems like there are more birds around than the currently abundant schoolie bass. 

Noah and I hit it right last week after a number of poor outings, including one where we watched a nearly mile long line of blitzing fish slowly push further and further away, fish I'd counted on to get Viktor (Landshark Outdoors) a good CT bite before he left the Northeast. That was frustrating, but on the 14th "Blitztober" lived up to its name.

We had fish all day. It was awesome. Though at times they actually averaged smaller than the predominant 2015 fish that have provided most of the action this year, there were enough of those 24" fish and some much larger fish in the mix to keep things interesting. A healthy population of anything has a great variety of fish of different ages and therefore different sizes. That isn't what we get in today's striper fishery, unfortunately, so it's a blessing to see bass from no more than 14 inches all the way up to about 40 inches.

At points, schools of bass moved up onto the white sand. At times, any time Noah and I looked into the water we saw stripers.  I could stand up in my kayak and pretty much as far as I could see... bass. The bottom was paved with stripers, all moving. I'd make a cast and as many as ten would all pile onto it. I wish I were more well equipped to document this sort of spectacle. It was unbelievable.

As the sun began to set bluefish joined the party. They were small, but it's nice to see any number around after a couple really dismal years. Up until that point it had been bass only save for a few rogue bonito. No albies at all. I'm a lot less disappointed by that the mediocre albie fishing locally this year than other fisherman. It hammers home the reality that albies aren't reliable, they never have been, and that we NEED bass for a consistent fall fishery.

Well, now it's time for me to chase the blitz again. I have a mere 20 minutes to get ready and leave today, so....

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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