hq2
06-28-2015, 08:05 AM
Went down to Parker River on Saturday, trolled T & W in PI sound, drifted some with various baits. Caught two 20 inch schoolies with some herring chunks off the Ipswich river, had another good hit. Had a good SE tailwind and current; didn’t have to paddle at all the whole way back. Went down to Pavilion beach and caught a keeper yellowtail flounder from shore with a leftover worm. Didn’t see anyone else catching anything.
And with this post, my striped bass trips draw to a close. Over the past 17 years, since striped bass made their revival from the last moratorium era, I have traveled throughout New England, first on shore, later from kayak, fishing for stripers at dozens of locations. Some trips, I had success; others were just nice days OTW. However, as the New England coast and weather are always beautiful, I enjoyed every one of them.
During that time, I was a consistent, but not frequent poster on this board. When I posted, I tried to post helpful trip info or comments that would help steer other folks to (or from) certain areas without spot burning, and also help correct the bait shop/tackle sales nonsense posted on OTW. I hope that folks here found them of some value. This will likely not be my last one; I may still have something to say occasionally, and may write something in September when I fish the harbor for bluefish and togs (and stripers), but given the current status of the striper fishery I doubt if I’ll have much to write about.
Over the past few years, as the striper fishery has declined, I have begun cutting back my trips, and fishing for other stuff. Each year, the chances of catching anything good have diminished. Last year, I made one last attempt at hitting a lot of striper areas, knowing that soon there would be little or nothing there to catch and that the limits would be reduced. With the singular luck of scoring a 36 inch 20 lber near Plymouth from shore, my efforts met with only modest success, typically one or two 20-24 inch fish per trip in my kayak, like this Saturday.
For many of you (those of you with large rigs with spreader bars and twin 225s), the current SB decline is a major problem. Unlike the last time, when it was clear that simple overfishing was the main issue (people bringing home (and sometimes throwing away!) piles of large fish), this time things are more complex. The striper decline now is due to many things; pollution in the Chesapeake spawning grounds, commercial pressure, and lots more recreational fishers, so it’s not so easy to cast the blame on the twin 225 guys this time around. (And yeah, I used to be one of you a while ago, back when I used to troll Cuttyhunk in my Dad’s 20 foot Grady White).
Still, I have to wonder how many fish a lot of you big boat guys took out each trip over the years. Even if you only took home one a trip and caught and released 10 fish each, that’s two less fish per person per trip in the water (assuming 10% hook wounding mortality). Since many of you guys went out dozens of times each year, over time, that’s a lot of fish taken out. For me personally, I can guarantee I didn’t catch anywhere near that number. I can count on one hand the number of keepers I caught in the last 10 years, and I threw back no more than 2 dozen smaller fish a year.
Since I came up during the moratorium, and was not up here prior to that to enjoy the first (50s-70s) striper heyday, I don’t have the perspective many of the more recent SB fishermen have of expecting huge, catchable, and incredibly tasty fish to be right nearby. Back in that era, we fished for other species, (legally) filling our cooler with bluefish and togs, not even thinking about targeting the stripers we caught as an occasional bycatch. Now, I will head off to fish for other species again, with happy memories of days OTW fishing for stripers. In a way, I’m actually looking forward to fishing for other stuff; can’t wait to try my luck for some lakers in NH or big smallmouth in the Merrimack, now that I think I know how to catch both. There’s good shad fishing in May, and winter flounder in the harbor too. And, there’s always my favorite moratorium tog spot, which still fishes as well as it did back then, and now has large tasty scup too. I’ll do O.K. in the next few years; don’t know what the twin 225 guys will do, but they’ll come up with something (tuna, maybe?).
In closing, as a new generation prepares to face reduced, but not quite moratorium levels, of SB fishing, I hope all of you will remember, when the fishery rebounds again, in maybe 5 or 10 years, (it took nearly 20 the last time!) what we learned back then:
“Striped bass fishing is a privilege, not a right. Do not take it for granted!”
See you at togfest, guys.
Howard R. Quin (hq2)
And with this post, my striped bass trips draw to a close. Over the past 17 years, since striped bass made their revival from the last moratorium era, I have traveled throughout New England, first on shore, later from kayak, fishing for stripers at dozens of locations. Some trips, I had success; others were just nice days OTW. However, as the New England coast and weather are always beautiful, I enjoyed every one of them.
During that time, I was a consistent, but not frequent poster on this board. When I posted, I tried to post helpful trip info or comments that would help steer other folks to (or from) certain areas without spot burning, and also help correct the bait shop/tackle sales nonsense posted on OTW. I hope that folks here found them of some value. This will likely not be my last one; I may still have something to say occasionally, and may write something in September when I fish the harbor for bluefish and togs (and stripers), but given the current status of the striper fishery I doubt if I’ll have much to write about.
Over the past few years, as the striper fishery has declined, I have begun cutting back my trips, and fishing for other stuff. Each year, the chances of catching anything good have diminished. Last year, I made one last attempt at hitting a lot of striper areas, knowing that soon there would be little or nothing there to catch and that the limits would be reduced. With the singular luck of scoring a 36 inch 20 lber near Plymouth from shore, my efforts met with only modest success, typically one or two 20-24 inch fish per trip in my kayak, like this Saturday.
For many of you (those of you with large rigs with spreader bars and twin 225s), the current SB decline is a major problem. Unlike the last time, when it was clear that simple overfishing was the main issue (people bringing home (and sometimes throwing away!) piles of large fish), this time things are more complex. The striper decline now is due to many things; pollution in the Chesapeake spawning grounds, commercial pressure, and lots more recreational fishers, so it’s not so easy to cast the blame on the twin 225 guys this time around. (And yeah, I used to be one of you a while ago, back when I used to troll Cuttyhunk in my Dad’s 20 foot Grady White).
Still, I have to wonder how many fish a lot of you big boat guys took out each trip over the years. Even if you only took home one a trip and caught and released 10 fish each, that’s two less fish per person per trip in the water (assuming 10% hook wounding mortality). Since many of you guys went out dozens of times each year, over time, that’s a lot of fish taken out. For me personally, I can guarantee I didn’t catch anywhere near that number. I can count on one hand the number of keepers I caught in the last 10 years, and I threw back no more than 2 dozen smaller fish a year.
Since I came up during the moratorium, and was not up here prior to that to enjoy the first (50s-70s) striper heyday, I don’t have the perspective many of the more recent SB fishermen have of expecting huge, catchable, and incredibly tasty fish to be right nearby. Back in that era, we fished for other species, (legally) filling our cooler with bluefish and togs, not even thinking about targeting the stripers we caught as an occasional bycatch. Now, I will head off to fish for other species again, with happy memories of days OTW fishing for stripers. In a way, I’m actually looking forward to fishing for other stuff; can’t wait to try my luck for some lakers in NH or big smallmouth in the Merrimack, now that I think I know how to catch both. There’s good shad fishing in May, and winter flounder in the harbor too. And, there’s always my favorite moratorium tog spot, which still fishes as well as it did back then, and now has large tasty scup too. I’ll do O.K. in the next few years; don’t know what the twin 225 guys will do, but they’ll come up with something (tuna, maybe?).
In closing, as a new generation prepares to face reduced, but not quite moratorium levels, of SB fishing, I hope all of you will remember, when the fishery rebounds again, in maybe 5 or 10 years, (it took nearly 20 the last time!) what we learned back then:
“Striped bass fishing is a privilege, not a right. Do not take it for granted!”
See you at togfest, guys.
Howard R. Quin (hq2)