There is a large poll going on at RISAA and several other organizations on changing the bass size and limit. It started yesterday and I happened to be on my computer when the first email came across.
I responded with 1 fish per day 36". In an hour I saw a dozen replies with all but one guy responding with the same answer 1 fish a day, 36" minimum.
If you guys notice there have been more threads this year than ever before regarding the lack of small bass and the decided downturn in the quality of the fishing from a few years ago.

It is happening. We are starting to see the same trend that we saw in the late 70s when there were a fair number of jumbos being caught but no little fish around. Believe me, you guys will not enjoy fishing day in and day out and never catching even a schoolie.

My log books say that in 88 I went 21 straight days at Deep Hole, Weakapaug, Charlestown and Quonnie in Sept with 1 20" bass. In 91, as the stocks started coming back, I remember getting 5 schoolies at Point Jude Light and I told the owner at the bait store that use to be at Pier 5 in Narragansett. He called me a liar in front of a store full of regulars. He said "everyone know there are no bass anymore".

come fishing with me.... i'll show 18-27in fish all day long.

ALL >>> DAY >>> LONG

seals were not part of the equation way back then in the numbers that exist today.....

yet they are never mentioned or their take considered by the counters and marine biologists as if they don't exist.

why is that.... no money in their pockets? :huh:

seals were not part of the equation way back then in the numbers that exist today.....

yet they are never mentioned or their take considered by the counters and marine biologists as if they don't exist.

why is that.... no money in their pockets? :huh:

But they can estimate how many lbs of fish recreational fisherman keep yearly.The entire system is broken.Top to bottom.The explosion of seals in the cape should be added into the equation.They probably take close to what the comms do daily but without size or number limit.There was a reason men used to kill them in the early years.They destroy the local fishery.So yes Seals are exploiting the local bass fishery and not being accounted for.

come fishing with me.... i'll show 18-27in fish all day long.

ALL >>> DAY >>> LONG

1) It doesn't matter that 1 or 3 or 10 guys can find them. EVERYONE should be able to.
2) 18 to 24" are not little fish. 12 to 14" are little fish. 10 years ago there were schools of them miles long in RI. I remember the water boiling with millions of little guys feeding on peanuts from Watch Hill Light to Charlestown.
3) Are you tryig to say there is no problem?????

I hope they make the change next season. Would this be only RI, or coast wide? I can see it happening in new england but further south i know they have different take limits.

1-36''sounds great hope it happens

Yup. It's time
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

We should have a poll too.

My concern is that as I understand it, fish not "taken" as part of a state's allocation can be given back to ASMFC and redistributed to other states.

I'm really not sure on this but would like to see if anyone knows.

How should the poll be worded ;)

1 @ 36" coast wide would be alright with me, problem is all the states are not on the same page, too much greed.

There is a large poll going on at RISAA and several other organizations on changing the bass size and limit. It started yesterday and I happened to be on my computer when the first email came across.
I responded with 1 fish per day 36". In an hour I saw a dozen replies with all but one guy responding with the same answer 1 fish a day, 36" minimum.
If you guys notice there have been more threads this year than ever before regarding the lack of small bass and the decided downturn in the quality of the fishing from a few years ago.

It is happening. We are starting to see the same trend that we saw in the late 70s when there were a fair number of jumbos being caught but no little fish around. Believe me, you guys will not enjoy fishing day in and day out and never catching even a schoolie.

My log books say that in 88 I went 21 straight days at Deep Hole, Weakapaug, Charlestown and Quonnie in Sept with 1 20" bass. In 91, as the stocks started coming back, I remember getting 5 schoolies at Point Jude Light and I told the owner at the bait store that use to be at Pier 5 in Narragansett. He called me a liar in front of a store full of regulars. He said "everyone know there are no bass anymore".

Go Back on my posts... Been talking 1 @ 36" for a while now... No slot limits, they kill more fish.....

It is happening. We are starting to see the same trend that we saw in the late 70s when there were a fair number of jumbos being caught but no little fish around

I was around throughout the 70's (in fact, fishing commercially)..NO WAY is now anything like that...there is WAY more fish around now...back then, you could fish a whole tide at Valiant, Sugar Reef (Watch Hill), Isabella Beach, Brenton Reef, or most other places in Southern NE and, if you were lucky, you got 4 or 5 fish. Nowadays, anybody with a jig has been getting 20-30 fish at Nauset....look at what is happening at the Block.....in fact, back in the late 70's, early 80's, Block Island and maybe Race Point were the only places with good number of fish.

The reason why it died in the late 70's is because there were NO REGULATIONS!!! (oh I forgot, 16" size limit). Now you have regulations in place that will NEVER let that happen again....please stop with the doom and gloom....

polution had a lot to do with the recruitemt classes of the late 70's early 80's... PCB's for example. Look at how many osprey are around now compared to 20 years ago.

Im all for 1 at 36 BTW... but just wanted to point out that pollution fact.

If RI or MA lower it's rec catch limits will the remaining balance be transferred equally to all of the other states or will it lower the total is what I need to know.I've heard it could go either way.That is not acceptable.The rec limit needs to be lowered coast wide and the com should stay the same or follow suit and be lowered.Serious assessment of the stocks need to be made and allow for adjustments like the growing seal population in the cape.The fishery managers need to be informed of problems on all the different angles of the population all the way from inshore bait being decimated to the draggers and trawlers bycatch problems.Everything needs to be factored in.They are failing right now and we all know it but it seems there's nothing we can do about it.:wall:

Better be managing the forage (pogie/bunker, herring, macks...etc) population at the same time or there will be problems down the line.

We should have a poll too.

My concern is that as I understand it, fish not "taken" as part of a state's allocation can be given back to ASMFC and redistributed to other states.

I'm really not sure on this but would like to see if anyone knows.

How should the poll be worded ;)

The way it works is by coastwide quotas, so if any state adopts stricter regulations than 2 at 28 (or the conservational equivalent) it may reduce the total take. Of course it would also leave room for the states that use the 2 @ 28 to catch more fish.

I should have added that a poll isn't likely to have much influence. What you need to do if you want to change the limits coastwide is to exert pressure on the members of the ASMFC striped bass board. They are the ones that make the decisions.

polution had a lot to do with the recruitemt classes of the late 70's early 80's... PCB's for example. Look at how many osprey are around now compared to 20 years ago.

Im all for 1 at 36 BTW... but just wanted to point out that pollution fact.
I had an osprey buzz me about 4 a.m. the last time I was at the ditch. It was kind of an awesome sight at that time of day when you could ust barely see it. Last year over the Vineyard there were three opsrey eating one dead albie on the beach. Never would have seen that even a few years ago.

Plus I had five egrets land to my riight I think waiting for a handout. I named them they sat there so long, Heuy, Dewey, Louie, Mook, and Eben.

1) It doesn't matter that 1 or 3 or 10 guys can find them. EVERYONE should be able to.
2) 18 to 24" are not little fish. 12 to 14" are little fish. 10 years ago there were schools of them miles long in RI. I remember the water boiling with millions of little guys feeding on peanuts from Watch Hill Light to Charlestown.
3) Are you tryig to say there is no problem?????

nope just saying i cant find big fish. Kind of making a joke... sorry if that wasn't the time or place.

That said, last year I experienced football field boils in early Sept up our rivers here, all very small bass. It was pretty amazing.

RI was the first state in the North East to adopt 2 per day @ 28",I would like to see it go back to one @ 36".

RI was the first state in the North East to adopt 2 per day @ 28",

By about a week.

I would like to see something done about all the Bycatch and forage fish Netting, and more to be done in the way of science before i choose what needs to be done, the carnage that goes on in the winter in VA, & NC also needs to be looked at. I also think that all states should have the same regs. across the boards

John a poll will give us numbers but without a way to put the data to work it's just another poll. A proposal needs to be put together taking into consideration cuts in both commercial and sportfishing for the benefit of the fish not one user group or another.The poleticians won't even talk until we aLL come to them with a joint prposal for the benefit of the fish like that Rhode Island senator did yrs ago. Ron

By about a week.

MA. jumped on board 1 year later.