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I did not vote because i saw no "average" year in the vote...and in the end.. it "averaged" out.
..late May and June were fantastic...during my vaction on the full moon in June, I had the best daylight plugging I've seen in 20 years... july was normal with river fishing dependable,Myself a a few differant anglers had night time fishing that left large schools of fish( off of the beach) from 20-45lbs feeding because we had had enough for one night( work always seems to get in the way) and around Plum Island( in the river) we had a nice Mix of fish, small to very large ( I had two in one night that might have made 50 or better had I wanted to weigh them).. teen and low twenty sized bass returned to the river mouth( and never really left it) in numbers not seen since the mid 80's...large swimming plugs on wire line by night or live lined macks by day made for a sucussfull trip.... enter Irene... she made a muddy mess of the Merrimack and surrounding beaches... rough storm tossed seas and ground swells kept me from my usual shallow water haunts along the beach front... as soon as things cleared in mid tolate September, the rains re-muddied the river distributing coffee ground consistancy mud out and along the beaches to the south.. clearing out any fish that had shown up... I think I counted 14 fish come over the gunnels ( large, anything under 15lbs is schoolie material, yes i think old school) Mid September through the second week of October... I would consider 14 fish a NIGHT "normal " in most years average.......and I went fishless my last 3 trips... which included a 9 hour daylight marathon of live mac swimming and wire line trolling that covered water from New Hampshire 2/3 of the way to Gloucester.. we even tossed poppers to bluefish ( they dont count either)so the end of the season was a dissapointment of sorts.. I could have moved south ( Like I would have in my younger days) looking for fish south of my domain.. but I dont see the need.. a few more fish wont change my life... as long as I make it back to the dock safely each season it's a good one.. even if the skunk flag is flying..
One thing that did make this a special season, I began fishing with a new fishing partner this season, the first time since 04 that I havent fished alone on a nightly basis...we fished ( and caught fish) on nights when sane people would stay home( and I would have tossed in the towel if I were alone).... even when it was slow..windy ... wet and miserable.. we found a reasons to laugh and to take "one more cast" more often than not.. it lead to one more fish which of coarse led to a few more "one more casts"..
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