Happy Summer Everyone,, I wanted to stop by here and say Hi to JohnR,the Moderators and all the membership.. A Special Hello to Big Larry, Afterhrs Don , Pt.Jude Joe & Jeff and John HAB'S Jr if you are out there :) I hope all of you are enjoying the summer season and either catching fish or catching some quality time with the family...


Here is something I thought some of you might find interesting in regards to a Tagged fish I recently caught.. And if you have a similiar story to tell maybe you can share it as well...
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The Set Up

It was the morning of June 6th and we have really already been into the great Jersey Shore Spring Big Bass Fishing for a few weeks now but I somehow managed to miss most of the action again this year up until this point.
Well on this day you could just tell that things were about to break wide open as acres of bunker pods were just off the beach and were very nervous.. Just after sunrise you could see the Bass cruising into the schools erupting the water and bunker would explode into the air..

Game Time….

The season’s first real heat wave was building and whether that had anything to do with it or not I don’t know but these big 30lb-40lb Striped Bass were on a feeding frenzy and I must say the numbers of them present was just incredible and they basically ate from sunrise to sundown and beyond.. There was a stretch of say at least 15-20 miles of coastline that just let up with most of the action within casting range off the beach around sunrise and sunset but continued through out the day off in deeper water where the boaters had there way with them also..
Pencil Poppers & Snag Hooks made for~ Quite A Day........


The Tag

One of my fish had a US Fish & Wildlife Tag in its belly, but at first I didn’t realize it because it had so much growth on it I actually thought a Sea Lamprey was attached to its side.. It wasn’t until later when I was weighing in the fish for the Berkeley Striper Club’s Spring Tourney that I noticed it was a tag..

It took a while to get down to the contact # and tag # but I was able to read it and submit the information..

And here is the data/info:

Date tagged : 4/18/1997
Release site: Nanticoke River IN MD
Size at release: 38.3"

Date caught : 6/6/2011
Site : Seaside Heights NJ
Size : 50"
http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l466/Fishing2008_photo/DSCF0360.jpg

That is over 14yrs that this fish was tagged and had a growth rate from that point of less the 1” per year. And I came to the conclusion that this might have been a Male because the weight of this fish at 50” was only 41.12lbs with a empty stomach..

There is a moral in this.

14 years to go from 15lbs to 40 lbs.

For those who plan to fish for large striped bass a decade from now, these 32-38" fish that are the predominant fish around now ARE OUR FUTURE. There is nothing behind them. Nothing. When they are gone, we are screwed. Even if a good year class shows up again, they will not become 40 lbers during the fishing lifetime of many of us.

Good Point,,,

For what its worth there is a good size class of fish in the 18"-28" size living in Southern Jersey, whether that is enough to fill the gap from the last few years of poor YOY in the Chessy I don't know but it should help.. And these fish are are migrating already as evidence of another one of my personally tagged fish that I tagged this past May in Jersey and then caught a few weeks later just south of Montauk..

Hi Steve!! Awesome fish!!!:uhuh:

Been calling the dep on poachers lately in my area. Not turning a blind eye anymore. Dudes were taking 10-12" fish from the estuary. Not cool.I don't care how bad the economy is, they had the money to buy bait. They could have gone to the market and bought bass.
Been letting most of my 30+ keepers I've gotten this year back to grow up some more for next time.I believe i've taken 4 fish since january.
Nice fish btw.

Hi Steve!! Awesome fish!!!:uhuh:


Thx Bud,,

Hey if you check back in here on this thread send me a PM about that other thing...:kewl: