# Chopper Blues



## kurazy kracka (Oct 14, 2008)

so what ever happened to these back in the day? I wasn't around in the 80s when they were apparently abundant. I see up in the northeast they get them but why not up in the bay anymore? Is the upper/middle bay really in THAT bad of shape between pollution and the wonderful Omega company. then again there are now miles of dead zone in the summer which keeps a lot of fish away I assume.

would love to see some pics and hear stories of these fish.


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## Mastrbaitr (May 7, 2014)

Are you talking about when the blues go after the bait balls in the bay and make the water boil with the stripers underneath?


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## kurazy kracka (Oct 14, 2008)

Mastrbaitr said:


> Are you talking about when the blues go after the bait balls in the bay and make the water boil with the stripers underneath?


nah. chopper blues= 10lb + blues which you seem to mainly find offshore and in the northeast.

this is a chopper blue


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

kurazy kracka said:


> nah. chopper blues= 10lb + blues which you seem to mainly find offshore and in the northeast.
> 
> this is a chopper blue


careful Lad.............take you're finger off.

They still get em off Rt 50 bridge I'm told.


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## gpwf20c (Jul 9, 2008)

CaliYellowtail said:


> careful Lad.............take you're finger off.
> 
> They still get em off Rt 50 bridge I'm told.


They do, just not very big.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

I hit a school of them one time at IRI at daybreak, incoming high tide. They were slamming my 2.5 oz Krocodyle on every cast. Lasted about an hour... 

Sandcrab


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

1


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## kurazy kracka (Oct 14, 2008)

gpwf20c said:


> They do, just not very big.


I saw a few come up that were 10+lb'ers like that this season but nothing that was consistent.


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## timekeeper (Apr 11, 2009)

I remember those days ! back then you used to be able to fish the whole length of the water front from the road,not just the pier in north beach.saw many rods go in the drink from people not paying attention to their poles.It was great,pure fun.EVERYONE got along and caught fish.


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## doomdealer (Apr 10, 2013)

CaliYellowtail said:


> careful Lad.............take you're finger off.
> 
> They still get em off Rt 50 bridge I'm told.


I saw a kid try to thumb hook one on Rt 50 bridge. Guess how that turned out?


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

Sandcrab said:


> I hit a school of them one time at IRI at daybreak, incoming high tide. They were slamming my 2.5 oz Krocodyle on every cast. Lasted about an hour...
> 
> Sandcrab


Last July, on a hot summer evening it was wide open 3 to 7lb'rs on everything we threw at em' over at the IRI Coast Guard station.....blood all over the sidewalk. Fish boiling, birds working, everybody was hooked up. It was epic. 

Those bites this year were pretty non existent as far as I know.


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## MulGoGi (Dec 2, 2009)

doomdealer said:


> I saw a kid try to thumb hook one on Rt 50 bridge. Guess how that turned out?


heehee


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

The bay is about polluted today as it was 30 years ago when the big ones were everywhere so that is not a big issue (the striper boom of a decade ago took place in the same water after all). You can blame the lack of big blues on 3 things- 

1. Past attitudes by recs keeping everything they catch- they used to unload blues from the charters with wheel barrows. Most of the wheel barrows were rolled right to the dumpster with gigantic blues just wasted.

2. Foreign trawlers off the coast put a real hurting on them as well.

3. Lack of menhaden.


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## zam (Jun 16, 2004)

There is plenty of smaller Blues that come up the bay, As for the big chopper Blues, be careful what you wish for. The last time they showed up in force in the bay was around the same time the Rockfish population dwindled, coincidence?


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

Used to get 5-10+# blues up to Baltimore but not any more. Very sad


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## kurazy kracka (Oct 14, 2008)

zam said:


> There is plenty of smaller Blues that come up the bay, As for the big chopper Blues, be careful what you wish for. The last time they showed up in force in the bay was around the same time the Rockfish population dwindled, coincidence?


based on that I suppose they will be here again soon.

I think it has a ton to do with omega killin off the menhaden. same reason we don't get nearly as much in the surf as what I've heard it used to be. all the fish are 3+ miles.


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

We used to get into the chopper blues first down off the coast of Virginia in early spring. I would have to check my fishing logs but I believe we would get them next up in the bay a little later in the spring off of Kent island. I remember doing pretty well near Brickhouse bar and Love Point. We would get into them almost every night from the beach at Sandy Point, I believe in the late fall. Around the same time they would show up off the MD beaches. Wintertime off of the Virginia coast would produce some as well. A friend of mine caught one that was 48", a massive blue, off the Virginia coast while tossing metal for stripers. The last decent size on I caught from the beach was a 36" off of Ocean City about 5 years ago. Can't remember the last time I caught one in the Chesapeake but it was probably in the late 80's. Some large ones over 40" were caught in OC around the Rt. 50 bridge last fall including one that tied the current MD state record of 23lbs.

John


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## gpwf20c (Jul 9, 2008)

jlentz said:


> We used to get into the chopper blues first down off the coast of Virginia in early spring. I would have to check my fishing logs but I believe we would get them next up in the bay a little later in the spring off of Kent island. I remember doing pretty well near Brickhouse bar and Love Point. We would get into them almost every night from the beach at Sandy Point, I believe in the late fall. Around the same time they would show up off the MD beaches. Wintertime off of the Virginia coast would produce some as well. A friend of mine caught one that was 48", a massive blue, off the Virginia coast while tossing metal for stripers. The last decent size on I caught from the beach was a 36" off of Ocean City about 5 years ago. Can't remember the last time I caught one in the Chesapeake but it was probably in the late 80's. Some large ones over 40" were caught in OC around the Rt. 50 bridge last fall including one that tied the current MD state record of 23lbs.
> 
> John



Fishing log eh, willing to share? haha


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## CoolDude (Sep 28, 2010)

Fishing has changed a bit....I'm not sure it's due to pollution or just a change in migratory paths. Fishing has definitely changed. In a weird exchange, we're getting a few types of fish that we didn't used to get. As a kid you used to be able to nail large bluefish like that at Matapeake and also off of Seagull. We'd bobber fish with a huge bobber and spot on it....talk about fun. It's funny that Jersey gets huge boils right against the beach as the fish head south, but somehow the other they totally miss Maryland...as if they stray far offshore :-(


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## JakeW (Dec 5, 2014)

kurazy kracka said:


> nah. chopper blues= 10lb + blues which you seem to mainly find offshore and in the northeast.
> 
> this is a chopper blue


Haha! Not everyday do you see yourself plastered on P& S!


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