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Stripers Biting on the Miramichi

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Discussion starter · #742 ·
I often read comments or questions on some of the fb fishing sites asking when the stripers will arrive or how long after the ice leaves will the run start. The stripers are already in the miramichi even though the river is still ice covered in ice In late fall large numbers of stripers will gather in and around miramichi and spend the winter the deeper sections of the river Many people think striped bass spend the winter along the coast in salt water but that's not the case. During rhe winter the salt water along the coast can actually be colder than the fresh water of the miramichi Salt water has a lower freezing temp than fresh water and is often just below zero during winter while the water in and around miramichi is just above 1 degree Celcius. Once the ice leaves the river the stripers start to come up from the bottom and move into staging areas. Staging areas are places like shallow bays or flats with a dark bottom, areas of water that have a rock wall or rock shoreline that gets lots of direct sunlight during the warmest part of the day and the mouths of brooks and streams. Stripers will gather in these staging areas in huge numbers because the water in these areas warms quicker than the main parts of the river. Once the river temp rises to the mid 40s to the 50 degree F range the striped bass will leave the staging areas and begin moving up towards their spawning grounds in Cassillis and Red Bank Some bass will begin spawning once the water temp gets to about 55 degrees F the majority of the spawning activity occurring when the water temps rises to 65 degrees F. If the weather stays nice spawning will take place for up to about two weeks. If the weather turns cold for three or four days with some cold rain the water temps can drop enough to shut spawning down and even get the bass to leave the spawning grounds and head back to rhe dswp water in and around miramichi where they spent the winter. Then when the temp rises again rhe bass will return to theur spawning grounds and finish spawning. Then in mid to end of June the river temps really start to rise and the majority of the bass start making their way down to the coast to seek cooler water In sept rhe stripers begin to head back upriver towards red Bank to feed on eels, both green and lamprey which are coming down out of all the brooks and streams The stripers move up and down the river with the tides searching for eels. By early Nov most of the green eels have made their way to eelground and burrow into rhe muddy bottom to spend the winter and the bass have made their way back to miramichi to spend the winter
Water temps dictate all aspects of a striped bass life and if you learn to watch the water temps you can pretty well figure out where when and why stripers are where rhey are at different times of year Understanding this will give you another tool you can use to become a better fisherman
 
Discussion starter · #744 ·
Well I would never say never drd309 because there are always exceptions and just when we think we have these fish figured out they throw us a curve lol. But for the most part I would say the stripers will be in the rivers spawning until mid June. The spawning takes place over a period of a couple of weeks starting some years as early as the second week of May but usually the third week so maybe the stripers that spawn at the beginnng of rhe spawning period make their way back to the Northumberland straight earlier than the stripers spawning at the end of rhe spawning period I would concerntrare fishing effort in rivers until at least mid June and after that would switch to the Northumberland straight
 
#745 ·
well the ice is finally flowing around Newcastle area. mostly just shore bound ice upstream of the bridge around beaubears and open water spotted in the tickle. with rain on the way tonight and mild weather through the next couple of days I'm expecting some good shore spots to be open by the weekend. I'll no doubt do some thorough exploring Friday, will update then.
 
Discussion starter · #752 ·
The northwest miramichi is looking pretty good today. Water levels have dropped and although the water is still a bit brown it’s much improved over what it was. That will prob change quite dramatically over night for two reasons. First is the temp today in Red Bank is 22 degrees so there will be lots of snow and ice melt upriver. If during the winter we gets lots of snow and a cool spring anytime we get daytime temps of 20 degrees or more within the first couple weeks after ice out you can expect the river to rise a foot or more over night Secondly the forecast for tonight is 10mms of rain with the possibility of 20mms in some locations. These two factors combined should lead to the river rising quite a bit over night and during the day tomorrow
 
Discussion starter · #753 ·
The river did raise quite a bit compared to this same time yesterday. It probably came up about 2 feet or more It is quite brown and dirty again. Last nights heavy rain with melt runoff from yesterdays warm temps combined to raise the water back to where it was a few days ago. There were some stripers being caught in strathadam, loggieville and millstream yesterday so at least that’s a bit of good news lol
 
#755 · (Edited by Moderator)
Your reports are MUCH appreciated NWbassman! And your text on the stripers behavior (in relationship to water temp) is gold!

I'm from a LONG drive away from your river. Is Miramichi touched by the flooding that I see on TV (South NB)?? Those pictures are really sad to see...

I came to Miramichi in May 2016 and did my best fishing trip EVER! I've skip 2017 but I'm coming back this month with some friends. Really looking forward to paddle your river soon (we are kayak anglers)! B)
 
Discussion starter · #756 ·
Not a problem at all guys. Water is pretty high but nothing like the flooding in other parts of NB. When the ice ran down the river on rhe Little Southwest and Notthweat rhe ice jams caused some localized flooding and property damage but nothing like south of here. Very windy here today but warm. The water is still high and dirty but there are fish being caught in and around miramichi. Wirh rhe warm temps I can see stripers starting to move up towards Red Bank any day now.
 
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