Its been a tough season! Words can't describe how poor it has been and talking to many others......I find I am not alone! Fall in particular has been pitiful! Sure there are a few who have done well but from surf or boat I think this has been the worst season in recent memory for many! I for one can't wait to put it in the books and get ready for next season! Your thoughts??


Anyone find not just a lack of sizeable fish but a lack of stripers in general.......dinks, schoolies were even hard to come by???

Season has been awesome for tuna & cod/ ground fish !!!
Taking my son Matt to football now and going to give it a late start to the cod grounds in a few hrs once the seas lay down

How did you find the striper fishing Ron??:confused:

How did you find the striper fishing Ron??:confused:

Overall Boston harbor sucked this year.
But I did very little inshore fishing this year, my boat has been parked out on Stellwagen most of the year !
Ave Maria did his usual numbers in the harbor !

Bait sure did not seem to be the problem??

my worst season in memory.....reminds me of the 80's a bit...

A couple canal high liners I spoke to yesterday mentioned it was sporadic (but good if you were lucky enough to be there) this fall. You basically had to be on patrol 24/7 otherwise you'd likely miss out. Same thing applied to a bunch of other locales...if you could be out 5, 6, 7 nights a week and keep up with things it was a little better.

Other than being out most nights, you were largely reliant on pure chance and %$%$%$%$ luck. I got the " you shoulda been here yesterday" report more times than I can ever remember.

Late fall was an exercise in futility...early fall was quite good for me though.

All in all it was an average year, IMO. I don't feel fish availability/numbers is the problem; it’s the distribution of fish meaning nobody knows what will show where and when.

Is the sky falling? I don't even remotely think so.

Boat guy -- but the #'s in CC Bay were outstanding this year. Even August that normally gets slow was great - best August I've ever seen. I didn't even need to troll wire the entire month (and I like wire).

Block was just stupid easy for the boats too.

What that means for the surf - I have no idea.

What that means for the surf - I have no idea.

It means the same thing it always has...judging the quality of our fishery based on what the surf crowd catches is a highly arbitrary means of measuring the fishery at best.

Although I do little boat fishing nowadays, I place much more value on the boat fishing reports/commercial catches, etc. as a measure of fish availability.

I did not fish enough to form a negative opinion. I did not work hard enough to be let down. There was plenty enough action to keep me interested. I did some recon, landed a few good ones, dropped some real large, saw some slobs taken by others and had many laughs.
Next year I am giving it a different approach. Putting in more time, trying new and different locations and applying different techniques.

My best year numbers wise, but as far as size goes it was a bust. My best fish all year was 23lbs, with the majority of my fish in the 12-18lb range. Like alot of other guys on this forum, I fished alot and I fished hard in very productive locations. We ussually have a pretty strong push of good fish right around this time in my area, which has completely failed to materialize....

It really seemed like June was THE month around here this year, with a short flurry of action in September.

I dont know

A couple canal high liners I spoke to yesterday mentioned it was sporadic (but good if you were lucky enough to be there) this fall. You basically had to be on patrol 24/7 otherwise you'd likely miss out. Same thing applied to a bunch of other locales...if you could be out 5, 6, 7 nights a week and keep up with things it was a little better.

Other than being out most nights, you were largely reliant on pure chance and %$%$%$%$ luck. I got the " you shoulda been here yesterday" report more times than I can ever remember.

Late fall was an exercise in futility...early fall was quite good for me though.

All in all it was an average year, IMO. I don't feel fish availability/numbers is the problem; it’s the distribution of fish meaning nobody knows what will show where and when.

Is the sky falling? I don't even remotely think so.

good post.
I think a lot of surfcasting is just that ...luck...
Going to a spot and blindly casting a plug over and over hoping a fish will bite can get you down or frustrated.
Too many variables to be able to call it a bad season from employing just that that method.

Yeah it was bad for me .

Going to a spot and blindly casting a plug over and over hoping a fish will bite can get you down or frustrated.


You making fun of me? :hihi:

I think surfcasting is more fickle than boat fishing but less based on luck. In a boat, you move without thinking less about it. Your "spot" tends not to be a 20-150yd cone around some point or geographical fixture as in the surfangler but a drift of 500 yds along some particular location or rockpiles.

In the surf, if you are skilled, spend 4-5 of every 7 days of every week on the water at known productive big fish spots while using big fish methods you are going to do well regardless. Fish distribution will determine whether you do real good or just OK.

If you are fishing from the boat and apply that same high degree of skill and time, you are just going to have more quality numbers and more quality fish.

Me, I don't have that skill. But I get schooled by those people in those conditions often enough to tell you dats what it is :devil2:

Most plug fishing is just that...."casting blindly"! Its the entire premise behind the technique! The fish are not always rolling on top and busting bait.......you mostly have to work for them, casting blindly, cycling through your plugs, altering your retrieve speed and finding what they want and how they want it!:fishin:

I guess its all how one looks at it. I did a few good nights in October, got a PB, but other than that, its been slow, real slow

Most plug fishing is just that...."casting blindly"! Its the entire premise behind the technique! The fish are not always rolling on top and busting bait.......you mostly have to work for them, casting blindly, cycling through your plugs, altering your retrieve speed and finding what they want and how they want it!:fishin:

Newsflash - most fishing is blind, regardless of what you use; plugs, tins, chunks, fly, eel, rubba, whatever :rotf2: . That may be the great equalizer, in most cases you do not see your quarry.

A 34# shore Bass winning the shore div. in the MV derby this year!!! Many are grumbling that it is an embarrassment for a noted stripercoast heavyweight like the Vineyard. Even the boat guys couldn't crack 50 and we are talking thousands of very accomplished fisherman. The derby got off on a slow start for me with the hopes that things would blow up by derbys end. Last two weeks of the derby I couldn't find a fish with a fistfull of cash in the fish market. I usually launch the boat when shore fishing doesn't produce but for various reasons I decided to stay on shore...big mistake!

You making fun of me? :hihi:
:)No.... I think your accomplishments speak for themselves....
Most plug fishing is just that...."casting blindly"! Its the entire premise behind the technique! The fish are not always rolling on top and busting bait.......you mostly have to work for them, casting blindly, cycling through your plugs, altering your retrieve speed and finding what they want and how they want it!:fishin:

Oh I agree...I'm just saying it can be frustrating for me and not really a good indicator on the overall outlook/season. Just my opinion.
All I know is I am going to fish some different spots next year....like the big fish ones JohnR is talking about. I have been fairly successful in the past, do alright now and will hopefully improve my numbers next year.

What a horrible year!

I've been fishing all along the Westerly beaches and surrounding areas every day for the past 3wks.Nothing to show for it.The Fall run was non-existant this year.

Its was such a poor year,out of the three setups I use the most I only changed line once on one of them.

I really believe the crazy weather and lack of much of a summer effected the fish the most. Crazy temp and barometric shifts most of the year, can goof it up a lot. Not to mention it seems to be moving straight from summer to winter a lil too fast. Seemed to be a lot of weekends that my boat was grounded due to high winds and crappy weather. Personally I fished easily twice as much as last year and caught less than 1/2 the fish I did last year....:fishin::wall:

Sounds like I picked a good season to take off :devil2:

-spence

I did a lot of hunting for striped bass in Maine's rivers, estuaries, jetties, and beaches between Saco river and Ogunquit river. I hit all my regular hot spots (big producers in years past). Skunked!! Towards the end of the season, I went to a beach I never fished before and landed an fish full of attitude! This fish was mean! She drank sea water and excreted salt. Given the tackle I was using, I thought she was a 30 - 40 lber. Not! Only 8 lbs. Go figure. There is something in the Maine's water. :-).

All thought the season up in Maine was very slow this year, I also got a lot of casting practice with my Avet reel. Learning how to use a casting reel without a level wind was one of my personal goals this year. I am not a master yet, but one night I nearly emptied the spools on every cast. And then I stopped drinking the water. :-).

The BEST trip this year was the s-b.com Cuttyhunk trip in June. Great people. Great food. Big fish. I completely un-plugged and stepped back in time. I cannot wait until next June!!! Green light and all (inside joke).

I hear you Big Fish, I have started hitting the books and maps myself in preparation for next year's trips. I want to have all my research done ahead of time, because if I start getting skunked again, I am moving on to new water and structure.

This winter, I am hoping to do more than just research. I am thinking of taking up Ice fishing. This is another personal goal of mine, and this winter season is it! I think last year s-b.com did an ice fishing trip. True? If so, is there going to be a repeat this year?

PS

Sorry for the long post. I have been reflecting about this past season this morning and once I start typing, my fingers move faster than the neural impluses in my brain. :-). Note to self: Stop drinking the Maine water.

The season started pretty good for me, july and august sucked as bad as i can ever remember, september and october have been very good so far. I hope it ends with a bang. Nothing very large this year. I think my best was just a little north of 30lbs, last year it was numerous fish in that range. Ive noticed that it gets a bit difficult to judge a season at times since i improve my fishing every year. Its always a learning experience. I take away something from every trip, skunk or killing em, put it together to make it better for the next trip.

for the second year in a row...Suprisingly, August was my fall run... biggest and most came in august for me... I though August was supposed to suck!!!

This sums up my season: went out in the harbor of refuge Thursday morning to see if we could catch some winter flounder before the season closes. Started the chum pot, a seal pops his head up and that was that. I only saw one, but ones enough and it was inside the pond.

I don't want to spoil the pity party so I'll just say, 2009 was my best year since the late 1970s. :love:

Even accounting for the lost month when my wife had knee replacement surgery and was in rehab, and the 2 weeks or so to get back on top of the bite.

What does it prove? There's no substitute for being able to put in the hours.

And some advice--when you race to spot-jump someone in June, it always pays to remember to bring the bug goop so you don't have to leave before the best window of the tide :btu:

The fall for me was stellar, the spring had me in a funk that had me bemoaning the notion of even going fishing.

At 54 years of age I need serious motivation to keep me going, I found it at three locations and for 13 nights in a row in September until the first week of October I fished dusk to dawn on a rabid hunt for bass. The old adage of time on the water ( or standing in it) still holds true, you cannot catch them if you are not there.

You have to force yourself to go sometimes, to be where you know they should be and believe that they will show no matter how many hitless casts you make. You have to think differently than the others fishing around you. This fall the small baits took the biggest fish, night after night on the smallest Stetzko needles outfitted with oversized hooks, the smallest Super Strikes with a flag on the ass end in heavy current just swinging past the ambush spot.

Knowing intimatly the spots you fish at each stage of the tide. Where your needle should land and where it will sweep to with the tide. I spent countless hours under the midday sun studying these spots for each subtlety that might give me an edge.

Bait. Knowing where and what type of bait was present and if none was, niether was I.

Last night Sauerkraut and I stood in 40 knot winds and pouring rain with a touch of lightning on a beach and the school bass were just nudging our plugs. No one else was around and we commented to each other we must be insane but insanity has it's rewards and though the fish I really wanted to land won the contest the quarter sized scale on the tail hook of the needle confirmed my suspicions.

Luck is part of it but sometimes with some work you can make your own.

It was a great fall.:uhuh:

What fall run?!!!

Striped Bass are becoming a distant memory up here in Southern Maine.

We don't see nearly the amounts of fish that we saw two, even three short years ago. Same just south of me in NH.

Recreational anglers/commercial anglers....We've just killed far too many fish as a whole , abused the resource and trashed their spawning grounds.

You guys in MA,Conn, and R.I. will see and feel what I'm feeling very soon. Maybe then something will be done about this.

Sorry Bigfish...didn't mean to go off.

Its ok Ake G....we are here for you!:uhuh:

Just seemed like things never really got going north of the cape from the limited reports I had from tackle shops, fisherman I know, this board, and my own personal experience. Although boats in the Plumb Island area seemed to do pretty well. I didn't here many complaints from those fishing the surf from Westport to Southern RI. Lot's of big fish taken but also lot's of complaints about how many small fish there were. The combo of the two sounds pretty good to me. I also think fish were in very different places this year with the amount of sand eels and amazing reports of boat fishing off Race Point. I didn't do as well as the last few years but I also didn't try and change things up enough to react to the things that were happening. I just went to the same comfortable spots I've fished the last few years with success. Easy to miss fish and complain when you don't take the time to look for them. Thankfully I did improve my spring fishing alot this year. Found some nice new haunts on the south shore and had some BM Danny, Pencil, and Howdy bonanzas!

I do think the fish were more or less absent from my usual haunts.....however my feeling is where I had to take July and August off from fishing to renovate our bathroom, I never really felt like I was in my "zone" come fall!! After getting back into it in late August I never found my comfort zone personally and I know that did not help me......next season......I am just fishing!!:uhuh:

Fishing one particular sport on the Vineyard during the last few days of the derby I was casting into the wind, or just slightly sideways in an attempt to catch a FISH. I have never seen a plug knocked out of the sky and slammed into the water before that day. I tried casting with thewind but still slightly sideways and went a mile down the beach, but the plug only landed about fifty feet off the beach. It was rough fish at best for the last two weeks over there. That being said thier is something also to be said for nurturing relationships when there are no fish around, which occurs frequently driving up and down the beach or just standing in different beach parking lots when looking for fish.

Sure there are a few who have done well but from surf or boat I think this has been the worst season in recent memory for many!

You forgot to add kayak. :fishin:

My one disappointment for the spring run was Joppa. It turned on then shut off after the rain. Back to the Harbor. The spring run was great for me in and around Boston Harbor. Juvenile Herring everywhere, action mostly every day. The Mackerel rolled in and the big bass came with em. I abandoned the kayak and went into my friends boat and cleaned up live lining. When the macks were out of reach in the outer Harbor area I cleaned up in the rocks with Dannies and weightless Sluggo's. Some trips I would go through one bulk pack of 9" white sluggos fishing weightless in the rocks.

For the 1st part of the summer season I had a good time in the boulder fields from Winthrop to Manchester. July in Manchester and Gloucester areas has consistency with occasional night runs around Winthrop produced good bass. Not a lot of bass, but good bass. I had shutouts. It's part of the experience. Funny thing about July, Jumbo's came during the Full Moon week. New moon was bust from Nor'easters.


August! August never fails in and around Boston Harbor! I don't care how bad the season goes August is a special time in and around Boston Harbor. Why wait for the fall? Get bass in the rocks from shore when they are scrounging. No one was out fishing. Most were hungover from a spotty spring. It was a %$%$%$%$ show. The big squid came in the middle of August, bass were gobbling lobsters there was two weeks of epic bass fishing before the motherload of blues rolled in and made it impossible to get to the bass. Dog fish didn't even show up. It was great with everything working, eels, Habs needles, Sluggo's, Ronz, Sampson's Rubber Lobster, tubes during the days and bucktails bounced on the bottom.........Then my phone rang..."Jeff, the Albies are in."....and I left the Bass for Albies. :jump1:


The second week of September I started bass fishing again back home. Played with bass and poagies in the Harbor. Time to put on the hard hat as combat fishing was now in effect. Seiners and gill netters did a number on the poagies. There was some bright spots and after that West Wind blow with no response from the east wind to warm it back up it was all down hill from there. Bait was tough to find and bass were not showing.

My fall had some quality bass on live poagies. Find the poagies good bass were not far away. After Columbus Day, it was tough to find poagies. I was hoping that some day blitzing would fill the void but nothing happened for me. It got cold and made night runs in the kayak impossible for my toes....now I'm just trying to find something salty to give a tug...lately it's been smelt. :smash:...take the good with the bad.

The reports coming in lately from my network of anglers has been alarming. :confused:

I'm driving 3 hours to the RI shore tonight ...

It best not be over.

The old adage of time on the water ( or standing in it) still holds true, you cannot catch them if you are not there.

Luck is part of it but sometimes with some work you can make your own.




Time on the water is the answer - if you're not putting in the time, you're not likely to be catching fish, especially when the "easy" fall frenzy action isn't there to support the occassional trip ... unfortunately, that was my year ... although I am not done ...

Trust me Andy......I have been putting in untold hours as have many others I know....the fish have not been co-operating! If time on the water was the only factor...then I would have a truck load of fish!:rotf2:

with the limited time on the water I had this season, I have to say is "right place right time"

I remember a day in 1996 we were catching schoolie bass at the west end of the canal every cast .. We worked are way east trying to catch larger fish . Couldn't do it . The whole canal loaded with these fish all plainly visible . Then we worked are way up the coast all the way to Hull ocean side .. (still every cast school fish). Finaly quit on the bay side of Hull to the sight of a bay loaded with small fish . The Class of 93 , Where are you now .. Does seem to be drying up North working its way south .. When it was 36" we'd catch 35" bass very frequently? nightly if thats a word ? . I think Larry's observations have merrit . We'd always have a month of stupid fishing in the fall .. Didn't matter what you threw in the water . Alot the northern fisherman are making there way south (canal area) seeking fish . This year wasn't my best effort due to family stuff ,,but I've been noticing it for years . I knew where Flap was but I left it alone ,, just one spot .

I agree Larry. While it wasn't a total disaster, it was a far cry from what was. :)
What I see is the pickin's getting progressively less and less each year.

dinks last evening on Duxbury Beach all by myself and the three seals that went by that could have been pushing the little ones through.

Fished SoCo RI and SoShore Ma and Mashpee this season and it was a bit goofy.
No peanuts last year. Just a few this year. Lot's of adult menhaden (relative to past years) and no fish with them.

I always think Nov. is the best RI fishing, but it closed down early last season and may do the same this season.

My best move was stocking up on AH swimmers and needles! Get to use them again next year :)

I remember a day in 1996 we were catching schoolie bass at the west end of the canal every cast .. We worked are way east trying to catch larger fish . Couldn't do it . The whole canal loaded with these fish all plainly visible . Then we worked are way up the coast all the way to Hull ocean side .. (still every cast school fish). Finaly quit on the bay side of Hull to the sight of a bay loaded with small fish . The Class of 93 , Where are you now .. Does seem to be drying up North working its way south .. When it was 36" we'd catch 35" bass very frequently? nightly if thats a word ? . I think Larry's observations have merrit . We'd always have a month of stupid fishing in the fall .. Didn't matter what you threw in the water . Alot the northern fisherman are making there way south (canal area) seeking fish . This year wasn't my best effort due to family stuff ,,but I've been noticing it for years . I knew where Flap was but I left it alone ,, just one spot .

Thanks Eddy but it was a combination of three spots actually, Mr. Striper, BiteMe, Numby, Sauerkraut and Labrador1 will attest. they all were witness on different occasions as was BigFish for 2 nights at least.

I really believe the crazy weather and lack of much of a summer effected the fish the most. Crazy temp and barometric shifts most of the year, can goof it up a lot. Not to mention it seems to be moving straight from summer to winter a lil too fast. Seemed to be a lot of weekends that my boat was grounded due to high winds and crappy weather. Personally I fished easily twice as much as last year and caught less than 1/2 the fish I did last year....:fishin::wall:

Agreed :uhuh:. I believe the tough fishing has a lot to do with the wacky weather. Fall fishing isn't what it should be on Long Island. I'm just hoping for a very late run, and that I can tough out the cold weather to fish it.

On MV it has been a very poor fall run... the winner for shore bass in the derby was just 34#, the smallest winning bass in a while, i think that explains things over here:smash:

Question .. do you belive the fishery is as strong as its ever been ?
or do you believe its as strong as its ever been just becoming an off shore fishery as some have stated.. or just an I'm good ,,you suck at fishing,, kind of thing ..

I have not seen any big schools of fish this fall like the past years. I think they all stayed off shore with the amount of bait that was reported.

[QUOTE=Slingah;719450]I did not fish enough to form a negative opinion. I did not work hard enough to be let down.

Well, I did fish hard enough (and I still am) to form a negative opinion of the striper year, 2009. And I did fish hard enough to be let down by the fishery which I believe is over harvested and ever more stressed.

Also Bluefish: I do not target them, but I do not believe I caught more than a dozen the entire season.

Brother Don on the New Jersey shore tells me the Spring run down there was quite awful compared to years before. I wouldn't hold my breath about the on site experience he will report after his month of November passes.

I did OK this year, especially considering I didnt fish all that much :huh:

SAME AS THE LAST CRASH ::

A FEW of us have been saying it the last 6 years .its getting worse & worse .......................personally my worse fall I can ever remember .

& those that manage the fisheries are talking about the stock of fluke , seabass, scup & tautog / while they are stating stripers are @ a Ok level & are they f #$%^&*() nuts ......within 5 years .............. when they wake up ........ ya best look at you photos because it won,t be a swimming bass .
yet they closed the scup , seabass & fluke / short because of over harvest & to protect the fishery .

In MY whole life I have never even seen a season come close to the number & sizes of seabass & scup that were & are still around .......... 10/25/2009 & we are catching scup & seabass of all sizes on green crabs ;;

It should be called fisheries mis.management ;;

Commercial hurting the bass population .

try 9 million rec taking 2 bass a day with @ least RI & MA a 365 day season /...F #$%^&*() nitwits :wall::smash:

I was not thrilled with the fishing this year but think it was because the moon phase in relation to the time and tides and location were not favorable. To put it another way the tides I like for daybreak occured on days when the moon was in a phase that I have never found productive for the areas I like to fish.

SAME AS THE LAST CRASH ::


try 9 million rec taking 2 bass a day with @ least RI & MA a 365 day season /...F #$%^&*() nitwits :wall::smash:

I agree with Clammer. Us old guys have been saying this for years now. Got to stop the 2, 28" fish. Put in a slot or make it 1, 36" or even 34" fish a day.

Remember it's not the guys on here that I am talking about. The jamokes that take 28" fish are the ones I address. I know it's legal. I here all the BS about "they (28") are the best eatin'. Pretty soon you will not be eating *&&%^ for bass because they won't be any.
We have got to put a stop to this insanity because the fisheries management guys are idiots and are driven by stupidity.

I tell stories about the old days all the time that are good. So let me leave you with one that's bad.

It's 88 or 89 and the moritorium is on which means you cannot keep ANY bass no matter what size. You could go 10 nights in a row throwing eels at the best spots on the coast and all you would get would be bluefish. One morning Eddy St.Onge and I fish Deep Hole and between the 2 of us we got 5 micro bass the biggest being 16 or 17". We are elated, high fiving and going crazy because we hadn't seen a bass in 2 or 3 weeks. We left and stopped at a bait shop that is now closed called Top of the Dock and told the owner that we got 5 bass. He threw us out of his shop for being BSers and spreading rumors. He said flat out "There are no more Stripers".

Hard to believe? We lived through it. You can believe it will happen again unless some kind of sanity sets in. I watch guys doing snag and drop in the Upper Bay this Sring. Catching 28" bass and keeping them by the boat load. 4 guys on a boat and absolute "stupid" fishing and they keep 8, 28" fish. WHAT THE *&&^&^% a!!!

You guys may think I am full of s*&^%# and I hope I am wrong but I have seen it and this is starting to look just like the collapse in the 80s.

like the old guys said- just like the 80's. when will the #$%^$%^% clowns wake up?................soon i hope.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Catching 28" bass and keeping them by the boat load. 4 guys on a boat and absolute "stupid" fishing and they keep 8, 28" fish. WHAT THE *&&^&^% a!!!



there are a lot of boats out there keeping 8 30lbers at a time and that is alot worse for the fishery

I had a GREAT summer from the Yak... In ONE area. That's the point some people are missing. Guys that had a great season got lucky/fortunate enough to find one of the small pods of decent fish. Those pods are getting few and far between. Is it fish moving offshore? Damned if I know. I do know it's the fringes that will suffer the most first in a collapse, and that appears to be happening now. Echoing Ake's post, Maine has absolutely SUCKED the past 2 years. I used to be VERY good... with little shore pressure compared to what we have down here. I used to look forward to fishing up there on vacation since it was easy and NEVER had trouble catching fish into the teens, not cows but nice solid fish for a relaxing night. Past 2 years I've worked my @$$ off up there for little to nothing. So bad in fact I question even bothering bringing up my gear next year.

1 @ 36.. it worked before, it should work again. Why not just keep it there.

What Paul said...:agree:

And Clammer...and Sauerkraut...and Larry and just about everyone else...:hs:

More effort for fewer fish...there's a lot of talent here and I can't believe the "I stink" reasoning from good surfmen...it's not conincidence...:confused:

Yeah, Paul, I remember the '80's, plugging up a 15" bass at 2nd Beach and I couldn't have been more surprised if I'd just caught a bonefish

If it wasn't for massive schools of bluefish by the acre there would have been NO fish at all - nada, none

It reminds me more than anything of the crash in the late 1800's that caused all the great bass to clubs to close which was caused by industrial pollution and overfishing - written club records from that period that I've seen show a similar pattern of a crash over a period of time and IMHO it's looking familiar

Look at the opinions of all the guys on S-B and their accumulated experience covering a large portion of the New England coastline

This time you have to point to overfishing, the reduction fishery on pogies ( and no, I don't mean Ark Bait) and runoff from lawn chemicals and all the other crap being used on waterfront properties that ends up in the Bay

I can't see 2 at 28"...:no2:...it's #*&$# absurd, 1 at 36" seems prudent at this point

Rant over - I'm going out for blackfish

At least the buggers aren't pretty enough to be paraded around for photo ops...:smokin:

Like I said earlier in this post, it was an average year, IMO. I don't buy into "The sky is falling" opinions.

Is it possible we have fewer fish available than, say, 5-10 years ago? Its possible, but how do you measue this stuff in any meaningful way? Certainly not by what a few surf fisherman experience.

Last year(2008) I had the single greatest season ever in my lifetime from the canal ( so did many,many,many others) as the quality fishing lasted nearly 4 1/2 months. I easily caught over 150 fish over the 20# mark. This year(2009) I caught maybe 1/5th that number (25-30 or so) and I didn't do much differently. I put in an equal number of nights/days. Why fewer big fish? They were set up somewhere else, IMO.

I don't feel the numbers above have anything to do with a population crash, but simply the distribution of fish. There were good piles of fish in many areas this year, just not in the same spots/same time as previous years.

Keep in mind these are wild animals and their numbers can fluctuate for a number of reasons. Its possible we could be in a shallow trough right now, but the coastwide landings don't suggest it.

I had a good season and I fished less than the past 2 years due to family issues. I got a new PB and had nights where I boated a dozen fish, most over 20lbs. Alsmot all on eels at night and in different areas. Best time was end of June through first week of August. Spring was fantastic for small bass on lures, great daytime fishing.
Im a little puzzled by the "blind casting" comments. Even in a boat, I never blind cast, I'm always fishing "something", a rip, bar, rock, etc. Sometimes I get one cast in before I have to move back to the area I am targeting. I reposition my boat constantly. I think about each cast and where I need to place my eel or plug. Maybe I over think it. All and all a good year for me. I never do well in the fall so I cant say this year is any different.

Bass are in trouble if you ask me.I caught fish, some of which were quality, but the bass are in trouble.Look at how long comm season lasted,look at the numbers from the Derby.I have eyes from M to CC bay and nobody I know could stay on the fish with any consistancy.Sure,Team Striper won the Cup again but the majority of our anglers have the same sentiments as most of us.This could be a fluke or a strange year for bait patterns but I am of the opinion that the rec angler is destroying the sb fishery. 1 fish over 36" along the coast would be a good start in helping sustain or stabilize the fishery.Like others have noted,some had good years, or found fish in the fall but the BIG picture looks grim.

I told all of you so 3 years ago. Remember? Most of you thought I was delusional.
There are way less fish around than 5 or 8 years ago... Way less. Until everyone wakes up and embraces catch and release, the trend will continue on a downward spiral.

I don't mean to sound doom and gloomy, but 80% of people fishing now didn't live the moratorium years..
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Bass are in trouble if you ask me.

I would concur with you if we had only one size of fish(all real large) present, which we clearly don't. The 70's crash should have been easy to spot as there were all jumbo fish and no smalls. Given the size distribution of fish present right now, I can't envision a crash coming soon under any scenario. Harvest rates may be higher than replacement rates right now for all anyone knows, but there's still plenty of breeder sized fish out there.
The recs keeping 2 fish per day is very wasteful though. I'm not sure anyone can eat that many fish. Those who keep 2 a day in many cases do it simply because they can...therein lies the problem... its a "tragedy of the commons."

Question .. do you belive the fishery is as strong as its ever been ?
or do you believe its as strong as its ever been just becoming an off shore fishery as some have stated.. or just an I'm good ,,you suck at fishing,, kind of thing ..

I believe that the fishing is hurting inshore. Reports of all kinds of bass in the EEZ and on Stellwagen make me think that the stocks might not be as endangered as others think but something drastic is definetly taking place inshore to alter thier historic seasonal habitations. Seals? :confused:Water quality? :confused:Bait availablity?:confused: I think all may be contributing but not being a research scientist it's purely speculative on my part.:wall:

One thing is for sure they are defintely as litoral as they always had been. Something is going on.:uhuh: What I do not know.

Can anyone answer this?

How many stripers do we need to have in order to keep everyone happy? 50 pounders every other cast? 60 pounders every third cast? On what do you base your opinion of the fishery?

I think there's a lot of ego involved too. You have a less than stellar year and suddenly the fishing stinks.

Can anyone answer this?

How many stripers do we need to have in order to keep everyone happy? 50 pounders every other cast? 60 pounders every third cast? On what do you base your opinion of the fishery?

I never thought I would say this given my romantic reminisscence of the 70's and early 80's and the dropping ooff of a lot of bass at Old Harbor fish market but:

#1, bring back the 36 inch one fish a day limit.

#2, stop the commercial sale of Striped Bass along the entire coast, you want to eat one then catch it yourslef or go hungry.

#3 In other words, it's time to realize the greater importance of this fish and it's economic impact and make it a gamefish.

#4 The menhaden fishery needs to be stopped. No harvet for commercial nees and no harvest for supply to bait shops either.

There I said it, I have come out of the Gamefish for Striped Bass closet.

Let the persecution begin.

Burn him... BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!!!!!

I'm with Flap.

Terrible weather, terrible fishing (bass), far too quick a season for my taste; was the season that wasn't.

I never thought I would say this given my romantic reminisscence of the 70's and early 80's and the dropping ooff of a lot of bass at Old Harbor fish market but:

#1, bring back the 36 inch one fish a day limit.

#2, stop the commercial sale of Striped Bass along the entire coast, you want to eat one then catch it yourslef or go hungry.

#3 In other words, it's time to realize the greater importance of this fish and it's economic impact and make it a gamefish.

#4 The menhaden fishery needs to be stopped. No harvet for commercial nees and no harvest for supply to bait shops either.

There I said it, I have come out of the Gamefish for Striped Bass closet.

Let the persecution begin.

Flap:
We were all guilty of selling in the 70s. We also learned what that massive abuse led to. The management of the entire fishing ecosystem is out of whack. It's not only the Bass, as you pointed out, it's the bait. They are so GD intent on making fertilizer and fish oil capsules that they are completely ignoring the bigger picture.

[QUOTE=Flaptail;



#2, stop the commercial sale of Striped Bass along the entire coast, you want to eat one then catch it yourslef or go hungry.

#3 In other words, it's time to realize the greater importance of this fish and it's economic impact and make it a gamefish.

.

There I said it, I have come out of the Gamefish for Striped Bass closet.

Um, maybe I'm a bit misinformed by "Gamefish Status", but doesn't that mean that you can't keep them at all, even for personal gratification or consumption???

On another note, second best year I have ever had in my life. Again, just like last year, the fish were just in different spots. Had to figure them out, but once I did, it was consistently great for nice fish. The weather was a major, major factor in this (as well as real life things). BAsed upon my slips, I fished half as many nights this year and caught half as many fish, but the avaerage poundage was still the same as last year.
I quit after Columbus day last year, and the reports last year were pretty bleak. I am giving it a half hearted effort once in a while this year, but I haven't caught a fish since columbus day weekend. The reports from my network of guys that are still pounding it hard are doin little more than poundin' their pud.
I have been saying it for years that the rules of the commercial fishery here in Mass have destroyed the inshore stocks of bass. Yes, I have helped contribute my small effort to it, but a very small part. Do I feel "guilty" or bad about it? Not really. Would I miss it if they did away with the commercial fishery? Not really. everyone fishes for different reasons. Normally I don't even keep fish as I don't eat it.
Good luck to everyone that is still givin it hell, all it takes is one cast for that fish of a lifetime, and it could be on the next cast, so keep at it.
Good luck cause it ain't over yet.....the fat lady is only on the first verse of the song..........

i am having the best seson i have ever had. 4 times as many keeper bass than any year prior and my personal best. Not a lot of big fish but an overall good year for me.

game fish status prohibits the sale of said fish, it allows public consumption. i'm in favor of gamefish status for stripers with a limit of 1 fish at 36". i'm glad some of you guys have had great years :claps:but the writings on the wall and some of us have seen/lived it before.

To say you contribute to the decline of in-shore stocks and that you don't feel too bad about it is pretty telling. I'm not making a personal attack, just saying...

Yeah, i know that I sell crack... and it's probably ruining some lives, but I really don't feel bad about it at all. If I couldn't sell crack I'd be fine.

Crack is illegal, selling bass w/ a license is not.

Big difference.

i am having the best seson i have ever had. 4 times as many keeper bass than any year prior and my personal best. Not a lot of big fish but an overall good year for me.

Just my and AH's point. 4 times as many keepers but if the size limit were 36" how many then?
I am glad some are having a great year. I had a super Spring myself. That's not the point. You guys are missing the point entirely. The point is: The MAJORITY of the guys are not having a great year and the consensus seems to be that there are less fish and less quality fish and fewer periods when there are good fish. It's not about one or two or three guys having a good year. Read the posts. I'm betting that the number will be like 80% having a &%*^% year.

Second question? Why not a lot of big fish. Could it be because there are a high percentage of guys and gals fishing that are killing 28" fish?

When we went to 34", then 36" then the moritorium you couldn't buy a 30# fish. I won 2nd place in 90 with a 32# fish in the Thundermist Club. Thundermist guys fished almost exclusively on "The Back" and the likes of Lanny Grazini, Chuck H, and a bunch of "high hooks" that were some of the best that ever threw a conventional were in that club. A 32 takes second place and a 38# fish won it. Tony Chiroppo was one of Lanny's partners.

I pray to God that it doesn't come to pass but there are 5 times more guys fishing now than there were 20 years ago. if we don't do something quickly, there will be no bass agan.

Crack is illegal, selling bass w/ a license is not.

Big difference.

I don't have any issues with him selling. That wasn't my point and I know the crack analogy was stretching.

My point is that he is doing something he knows/suspects is hurting the fishery and really could care less about it.

The "if I don't do it someone else will" argument. If you think it's hurting something, but do it anyway for $$$ it just shows what is important to him.

I don't know redlite, I'm sure he's a great guy, but I doubt he needs to fish to put food($$$) on the table.

I wasn't alive for the moratorium but I bet it sucked. Lets not have another.

Grew up fishing in the 90s and boy was it fun. I'd like something done to help protect the bass but I don't know how practical making it a gamefish is. I don't fish commercially, but a lot of guys do and the last thing that this government is going to do now is put more people out of work.

I vote for gamefish status, slot limit, 36" / 1 fish, or anything that will help.

just my 2 cents.

I've had a good fall run. numerous 20# fish with the highest being 35# and some in between but mostly stuck in the 20's. ALTHOUGH, I fished EVERY SINGLE night since sometime in september where I didn't make it out for a few days. a lot of hours. I'm sure my odds aren't too good but that's ok.

The majority of my fish did not come from my usual spots. After countless dead nights at each one of my usual's I moved and occasionally checked back.

Sometimes your old haunts are just that.


On the not so good end, the fleet at the islands just keeps getting bigger and most of their fish just meets comm size. multiple times this year I asked the local markets that a lot of the fleet use what largest of the day was and usually it was a high 30's fish. not good.

On the OK (still not good end), but a little relief since I've wondered all year. I've seen more schoolies (massive amount of 15 inch fish) in the last week then I've seen in a couple of seasons put together. The lack of schoolies was something I've been thinking about all year.

this is just what my season and what I've noticed, not disagreeing with anyone, not fact, just opinion.

just my 2 cents.

I've had a good fall run. numerous 20# fish with the highest being 35# and some in between but mostly stuck in the 20's. ALTHOUGH, I fished EVERY SINGLE night since sometime in september where I didn't make it out for a few days. a lot of hours. I'm sure my odds aren't too good but that's ok.

The majority of my fish did not come from my usual spots. After countless dead nights at each one of my usual's I moved and occasionally checked back.

Sometimes your old haunts are just that.


On the not so good end, the fleet at the islands just keeps getting bigger and most of their fish just meets comm size. multiple times this year I asked the local markets that a lot of the fleet use what largest of the day was and usually it was a high 30's fish. not good.

On the OK (still not good end), but a little relief since I've wondered all year. I've seen more schoolies (massive amount of 15 inch fish) in the last week then I've seen in a couple of seasons put together. The lack of schoolies was something I've been thinking about all year.

this is just what my season and what I've noticed, not disagreeing with anyone, not fact, just opinion.

really good sensible post. Kudos!!

I am encouraged to hear that you are seeing schoolies.

Can anyone answer this?

How many stripers do we need to have in order to keep everyone happy? 50 pounders every other cast? 60 pounders every third cast? On what do you base your opinion of the fishery?

I think there's a lot of ego involved too. You have a less than stellar year and suddenly the fishing stinks.

How many??? Next question.
50's or 60's??? What are you smoking?
My opinion is based on the reports of my friends who fish. Both the comm's and rec's who, in most cases, had subpar years.
Ego? Yeah it sucked for me but my observations are not based solely on my experiences.
I hope I am wrong but I don't think I am.

How many??? Next question.
50's or 60's??? What are you smoking?
My opinion is based on the reports of my friends who fish. Both the comm's and rec's who, in most cases, had subpar years.
Ego? Yeah it sucked for me but my observations are not based solely on my experiences.
I hope I am wrong but I don't think I am.

Chris,

My point is the fishery isn't collapsing. Based on what we see and hear there may be a fewer fish, I don't know.

My question to everyone was simply this...How do you judge what quality fishing is? Do you need a 50 or 60 every trip out in order for it to be considered good? I don't thnk so. You don't even need 30 or 40# fish to be considered good, IMO.
My belief is there's still plenty of fish out there. Just because the folks we know catch less one year than the previous doesn't constitute a collapse.

As for commercial landings, I did the commercial thing for many years (1985-2001) and can tell you in the early-mid 90's the striped bass fishery was deemed "restored" by fisheries managers. It still took 6-8 weeks to fill a quota that was less than half of what we have now. Maybe it was because fewer people were participating, I'm not sure. This means it took nearly the same amount of time back then to fill a quota that was half of what we have now...are you paying attention?

Personally I had a bettert year than the last two but a far cry from 8-9 seasons ago. We can definitely argue about what's to blame (seals, commercial fishery, bait, weather, regulations, fishermen taking steroids (If I don't the next guy will!)) but I really see very little reason not to do something. Why not go to 1 @ 36"? Worst case scenario we improve a healthy fishery, what a bummer that would be! I don't know what constitutes a healthy or ideal fishery but I do know that a lot of experienced anglers share my feeling that the striper fishery is not what it was a few years ago.

Aren't you still a comm guy?
Semantics don't work in this case Mike.I didn't say collapse, but I did use words like decline and subpar.The 30,40 or 50's thing isn't especially relevent in this case either.Personally,I'm happy with the thought that there MIGHT be fish where I happen to be casting.You can dig up as many skewed numbers from the past as you want to support your weak argument but my eyes and ears tell me now what many Old Salts have been saying for a few years.Please post pics of all the cows you caught this fall.(without redlite guiding)

.I didn't say collapse, but I did use words like decline and subpar.

Fair enough, but you did say they were in trouble. As for what you, I, or anyone else caught this fall whether guided or not, it simply doesn't apply to the big picture. A few weeks of slow fishing in one single spot doesn't mean the fish are disappearing.

Much like me, you were the proverbial Charlie Brown waiting for the great pumpkin this fall...and he never showed.

As for the "guide" comment, I need a good guide in order to have a shot at catching something decent.:huh: I have no problem admitting it.

This is the reason I typically turn down all your "guide" offers...you simply don't produce for me...:laugha:

game fish status prohibits the sale of said fish, it allows public consumption. i'm in favor of gamefish status for stripers with a limit of 1 fish at 36". i'm glad some of you guys have had great years :claps:but the writings on the wall and some of us have seen/lived it before.


Education might help too....I, myself, honestly thought that gamefish status meant no keeping what-so-ever......strictly catch and release.

I would bet that there is a lot of people that didn't know this that are against Gamefish status for just that reason.

I would agree with that too......one fish 36" @ gamefish status

I never thought I would say this given my romantic reminisscence of the 70's and early 80's and the dropping ooff of a lot of bass at Old Harbor fish market but:

#1, bring back the 36 inch one fish a day limit.

#2, stop the commercial sale of Striped Bass along the entire coast, you want to eat one then catch it yourslef or go hungry.

#3 In other words, it's time to realize the greater importance of this fish and it's economic impact and make it a gamefish.

#4 The menhaden fishery needs to be stopped. No harvet for commercial nees and no harvest for supply to bait shops either.

There I said it, I have come out of the Gamefish for Striped Bass closet.

Let the persecution begin.


My thoughts exactly.. only my fish went to the local coop.... I havent killed ( knowingly ) or sold a bass since 2004...

I fish well north of most of you ( NH boarder to Gloucester), gone are my days of chasing bass up and down the coast, at 53 I'm just not inclined and have nothing to gain or prove by it.... I have my patch of "ground" and it has been very,very kind to me, even when the fishing was tough for others to the south( early to mid 80's), I always had an abundance of fish...during the moritorium, I still did well and thought the "doom and gloom" was a crock.. my thinking then ,is you just need to fish harder.. fact is.. I hadn't been at it long enough... now, being older and wiser ( the wiser part sometimes questionable) i see things differently... and with out a doubt, there are far fewer small fish.. missing mostly, are the 10-12lb class fish, Normaly Plum Island ( Mass) is loaded with these fish, there are nights I need to make several moves just to get away from them...the last few years they have all but vanished from traditional waters... we all ( or those of us that have been around a few years)know that bass stocks and their comings and goings are cyclical, some years they show in spots for several years in a row then they are gone, only to show up in big numbers somewhere else,they may be the king ( or queen) of the surf, but they have been known to hang off shore ( the bank)... and when they migrate, they dont always take the shoreward route, thus lending to the absence of a fall ( or even a spring) run, I hear/ see people talk about all the fish still in Maine... it means nothing to the fishermen ( and woman) to their south, the longer they stay in Maine, the surer the bet that they ride the outside currents out over the deeper ( and warmer) bait filled water, right around the tip of the cape( cod)...fall runs are all about location, some years some areas have banner years while others wonder where all the fish are....

are the fish in trouble... maybe, but I dont think so.. at least not yet... are there less of them.. no doubt about it.. I'm in favor with those wanting to give these fish game fish status.. personaly.. I think they deserve it....and as for the bait sorces AKA Pogies and herring.. we havent seen a sustained school of pogies in the Merrimack river since 1987... no big bait means no big fish... IMHO the main reason the river is lifeless by early August after the last of the surviving herring have returned to sea...thus most of the action is out on the beach...

Fair enough, but you did say they were in trouble. As for what you, I, or anyone else caught this fall whether guided or not, it simply doesn't apply to the big picture. A few weeks of slow fishing in one single spot doesn't mean the fish are disappearing.

Much like me, you were the proverbial Charlie Brown waiting for the great pumpkin this fall...and he never showed.

As for the "guide" comment, I need a good guide in order to have a shot at catching something decent.:huh: I have no problem admitting it.

This is the reason I typically turn down all your "guide" offers...you simply don't produce for me...:laugha:

I will say it again.I AM NOT BASING THIS ON MY EXPERIENCES.But I have friends who also have friends that are fishing what are historically productive areas.Valiant,the race,BI....they simply could not stay on the fish.Never mind my barren pumpkin patch.I think this qualifies as the big picture.Read the words instead of interpreting them.This is not a fall run observation either,rather a compilation of data going back a handful of years.To me, words like decline and subpar will eventually equal trouble,it's simple math.And stop Flaptailing us with old comm stories on the backside.

[QUOTE=Fish360;719469]I did a lot of hunting for striped bass in Maine's rivers, estuaries, jetties, and beaches between Saco river and Ogunquit river. I hit all my regular hot spots (big producers in years past). Skunked!! Towards the end of the season, I went to a beach I never fished before and landed an fish full of attitude! This fish was mean! She drank sea water and excreted salt. Given the tackle I was using, I thought she was a 30 - 40 lber. Not! Only 8 lbs. Go figure. There is something in the Maine's water. :-).

I fished a total of around 3 weeks in Maine, from the Piscataquaw to Kennebunk, with a concentration around Wells/ Ogun......I found it to be pretty good. Every day I caught at least a couple of stripers. Not the big ones I see on this site, but bigger than usual. Had good luck on the fly...several around 30", which was great for me. And had a blast on a couple of boat trips on the coast. All in all, very good memories.

I watch guys doing snag and drop in the Upper Bay this Sring. Catching 28" bass and keeping them by the boat load. 4 guys on a boat and absolute "stupid" fishing and they keep 8, 28" fish. WHAT THE *&&^&^% a!!!



Agreed! I always took my bunker and left upper upper bay, never fished there. Sometimes I just wished the bunker would leave and that the bass would follow, just so the bass would stop getting murdered. It was like shooting fish in the proverbial "bucket" up there this spring.

I'll admit, I had a tougher spring than usual which was probably directly related to the fact that bunker were only holding STRONG in that one particular area (as opposed to many coves like years' past) and therefore was no reason for the bass to be in strong numbers elsewhere. But I still rather fish alone in some of my favorite spots, away from the crowds, than get caught up in that absolute mess up there.

I know you saw what it would get like up there Sat morning at 6am...crazy. That's why I was up there at 2am, just like you.

I will say it again.I AM NOT BASING THIS ON MY EXPERIENCES.But I have friends who also have friends that are fishing what are historically productive areas.Valiant,the race,BI....they simply could not stay on the fish.Never mind my barren pumpkin patch.I think this qualifies as the big picture.Read the words instead of interpreting them.This is not a fall run observation either,rather a compilation of data going back a handful of years.To me, words like decline and subpar will eventually equal trouble,it's simple math.And stop Flaptailing us with old comm stories on the backside.

Hahahaha that's too funny! "Flaptailing" I cannot wait to use that.

I guess we could call your posts "Sea Dangling"?:rotf2:

:buds:Get the point of this emoticon?

The worst season I ever had... 1 30 lber from shore and from the boat we killed them top bass was 49.05
Its not over yet.... 54 water temp down here...

I guess we could call your posts "Sea Dangling"?:rotf2:

Sea Dangling=Trolling, albeit at very high speed...:fence:

Wasnt the best season I have had but its wasnt the worst either. Someone mentioned earlier that unless you were on patrol 4-7 nights a week you could have missed out. I have to agree. Had only a handful of fishless nights and 5 or so nights out of probably 30-40 trips this year that was surfcasting at its finest yeilding many,many fish on those outings in the 25-35lb class and a few low 40s mixed in. There was a huge lack of bait in my area compared to years past but think its different every year is.....next it could be loaded.

The amount of time I put on the water only yielded 2 40+lb fish. I was a bit dissapointed as we logged over 200 hours surf casting the boulder fields this year from June-Oct.

Games almost over...1 more week and I am calling it. My wife is starting to wonder if she is still married.

Fireman

Boat fishing the bass were thick out off Race point (Big Jay). East of Chatham up the backside; had consistent numbers and the rips were red hot earlier in the year. To the south the pickings were good for the boat guys. I'd say it was a good year for bass and the boat guys. No regrets. From shore another story at least for me.

first, i am for 1 @ 36", Striper gamefish status, AND an ACMenhaden inshore moratorium for 5 yrs.
and they must be done together, since by themselves yer only pissing in the wind, imho.

for me this year was an ODDD year,,,,,,,,,,,,,

wet spring conditions, tide times not aligning with moons,
GLASS at the right times/right moons, funky fishing ALL year.

for the last three years~~~ my go-to's, were unwaivering!
down to the days/hours based on conditions that had repeated.
hell, they even "felt" like the same pods of fish, migrators and residents alike. consistently stacking up, varying in size and fight, maintaing a realizable "pattern" from June to November with regard to size and amount gathered~~ but nonetheless THERE, right where they were "supposed to be" according to the best lawgs intel i have been able to compile.

and then there is 2009, to wit, the rub of which we are speaking.

a couple of things occurr to me as i review my three spots that i have documented the most in that short 4 year span, to include '09. this year was MOSTLY much slower and something completely DIFFERENT! this year i had schoolies earlier, and more often, and more of them, from NH to RI. one spot has been typically absent of schoolies and notable for lahhhge. this year it was the reverse, where schoolies were the norm and 25#-30# fish were fewer and farther between, not nearly as many, and NOTHING over 30#??? at the same NShore haunt for 4 months, this year only, it was schoolie central. specifically, there was one night that cookie cutter 19" stripers were landed 7 of 10 casts,,,,,,,,,,come to find out after talking to some locals~~~they bailed 9 40#'s in a three week period, no less than a beach and two coves away. so that tells me that they WERE there, just NOT on my exit ramp. and as an aside~~i did move around quite a bit more than years past, introduced myself to two areas, and got led to a couple more,,,,,,,,,,,,,,to a VERY slow and significantly SMALLER season, overall.

the second thing is this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,this year was loaded with glass-like conditions. for many of the "optimal dark tides" there was absolutely ZERO surf!!! there were bumps, ghost takes, swim-bys, short takes, tail slaps, big/med/sm swipes, and man-hole cover swirls. basically, all the signs of skiddish predation towards offerings that have slayed in the past when given the same time/tide/moon/place. could've been me, as i know i missed several(4 BIGGUNS) takes this year; yet, something was "missing" within the surf this year. primarily, i think that it was the surf itself. glassy, gin clear, firey water certainly favors our quarry.

lastly, i'll close with this. don't blame me, i got rained out today ~so what else is a bruthah to do? having read ALL of the above, could we not simply be in a YOY lull? the spike years were '89-28, '93-42, '96-60, '01-52. if it takes 6-8 years to reach 27"-35" and a reasonable growth rate is 1"/yr up to 12 years old, then are we not about where we should be sizewise based on the science? 2002 was well below the mean average of 11.7, 4.6 roughly.

so, is it safe to ascertain that we've experienced a not so stellar year based on stock patterns and changes in paths of migration, rather than the END is near? certainly we need change, please see the top, but i don't think that we are in the middle of a crash~~~more like the preventable outer edges should we enact proactive measures, NOW!