i've done well this year too, but i am also looking at the bass situation with open eyes... There is very little bait around, i havent seen but a few bird frenzys. Lots of guys are doing horribly. Sure if I was to base this discussion on my own catch ratios i would be saying things are great, but the deal is that things were better a few years ago.

I guess Im just not convinced. I read scientific evidence which says teh bass is doing well, iread evidence that says its declining....my own experience is that is doing well. Did you see Mike Laptews videos from Cuttyhink, I bleive they are from last year. There were hordes of fish.
As far as lack of bait, what explains the millions of blues? They wouldnt be here if there was no bait.

There is lots of peanut bunker, but no large bait for the bass to feed on (large, mature sand eels, adult pogies, etc..)

The ASMFC striped bass committee meets next month and they are due to recieve new numbers for cath rates, populations, etc. from the Technical commitee. Rumors have it tyhat the numbers are not good. We'll just have to wait a couple fo weeks and see what happens.

It is obvious the numbers are not good.. look at how hot newport was last year, and this year it is a dead zone. My logs are way off, and i am not alone. Then I read Mr Sandman's post, and i cant help but worry.

When you hear stories about a good sized fish with a couple of schoolies in it's belly like I heard this weekend, you have to believe something is wrong. In the summer, yes it happens...but when you hear of it in the fall, it should really set the alarm off.

:1poke::angel:

Same discussion, 11 years ago.
:1poke::angel:
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The wheels of Government...they turn very slowly!

Even a broken clock is right 2 times a day ;)
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No #^&#^&#^&#^& Mike !
They will be crying the same song in another 11 years from now.

i remember this post. i only wish todays fishing was 1/2 of what is was back then....

What ever happened to StriperMan

I know. :smash:
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Ok now all of a sudden we all think there is a problem . Some of us have been being the harbingers of doom. All you kids have said we were full of it. Now you've finally seen what we've been talking about for years. AGAIN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TO FIX THINGS ? . Bob Pond Hit the nail on the head . GREEDY WILL BE GREEDY. So what do the rest of us do?
I make custom tackle. Many of you use my plugs and enjoy them. The money is what hurts the stripers. How do we deal with this issue. I'm a hippocrit in that i sell striper gear but I still preach conservation. I'm one of the old crowd.. Been on the band wagon since I helped Bob Pond wage the war in the early 70's . We all know what needs to be done so what are we going to do about it ? I'm retired and will do what ever I can to help. WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO TO HELP? Oh by the way --- you charters Capts-- Lets be real. I've been a Master Capt for 30 plus years. The future is what we releas/ e not the shack money we pocket. 30 plus yrs of Charters or a few yrs of commercial sales. MMMMM Let me think on this. MMMMM RON MCKEE ---- THE STRIPER MAINE _ IAC

i keep sayin
freshwater striper program for the bigger lakes
take the pressure off the salties...
sorry, i just have faith in Hatchery Science
and think trout are over rated distributionally (my word)

I'm a hippocrit in that i sell striper gear but I still preach conservation.


My exact thoughts when I walked by your booth at RI !

2004 was slow, 2006 was great, 2007 pretty pretty good, but it started going downhill then and became very noticeable 2009+

2004 was a cornucopia of fish compared to today


How is that hypocrite? Sure, technically we are all a bit hypocrite in that we fish but also want to reduce pressure on the fish - well, 'cept for the kill 'em all sort. But we don't need to take every last one, or the next to every last one. I actually think it is a good thing that someone can profit from something AND be a steward of that resource. Stripers are certainly a case where two in the bush are worth more than one in the hand.

Custom plugs don't kill any fish ? Haven't seen 1 with rubber hooks.
And last I checked custom plugs are not being given away free, matter of fact lots sell for stupid $




How is that hypocrite? Sure, technically we are all a bit hypocrite in that we fish but also want to reduce pressure on the fish - well, 'cept for the kill 'em all sort. But we don't need to take every last one, or the next to every last one. I actually think it is a good thing that someone can profit from something AND be a steward of that resource. Stripers are certainly a case where two in the bush are worth more than one in the hand.[/QUOTE]

Was bob pond a hypocrite?
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I'm not ready to give the stripers Piping Plover status quite yet . For those that are predicting " no fish for our kids " and other extreme outlooks then yes you are hypocritical if you sell tackle or even run a web site that promotes the catching of striped bass . Telling others they are greedy for selling fish or the chance to catch a fish and then satisfying your own hobby isn't cool.
The resource can be managed as a renewable one and it will be .
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Your logic is flawed. A person can release a fish and not take home or purposefully kill a fish for his entire life if he wanted to. Catch and release is conservation.
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What are we doing to help?

We just took a 50% reduction in our daily bag limit. As a charter operation, that had the potential to hurt our business, but we took what we felt was the long term approach to managing the future.

30+ pages bitching and complaining, Mass stood up, took a big reduction, and no one here even acknowledged it.
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This is what I remember and my logs indicate as well. Cheferson and I were crushing fish on eels all season long from 2004 up until 2007-2008ish. We would expect a 20# fish almost every outing. After that it started to go downhill fast. No big resident fish anymore, all dinks.

We had it good then. We had a #^&#^&#^&#^& ton of peanut bunker, too. Huge blues. Where the hell did they all go?!?

What I would give to go back to those days/nights....

[QUOTE=Raider Ronnie;1067155]Custom plugs don't kill any fish ? Haven't seen 1 with rubber hooks.
And last I checked custom plugs are not being given away free, matter of fact lots sell for stupid $


yup- money for nothing and chicks for free :). of course anyone who fishes will kill some fish, even the most skilled c@r will tell you this. the generally accepted kill rate for is 9%, compared to 100% for fish kept. most of my customers practice c&r for the most part with the occasional fish kept for the table. i believe it's possible to profit from this fishery and and promote conservation. i would think that anyone who profits from this fishery would want it to flourish for obvious reasons.

There is offshore
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So it's ok to kill some fish and profit from it if you are practicing your idea of conservation ? Would it be alright to drive the beaches if you only killed 9% of the plovers you drove over ?
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better that than the fish be gone
time will tell

push them over the brink and it may be too late

you can be a gambler, I'll stay conservative

fishing freak acknowledged it

maybe you missed Patricks' thread

A man can only be responsible for his own actions.
I attended just about every dog and pony show regarding striped bass over the last 3 years. Very few people did. I took the time off from my job, at money lost to me. I would drive in Fn traffic up to 120 miles round trip as did a handful of other people. I know it meant nothing to how things are run but it mattered to me.
From my own fishing over the last 10 years maybe I've kept 20 bass from thousands caught. Plug trebles are replaced on most of my lures with crushed barb singles. Using eels or macs I hit the fish quick to reduce the gut hooking. I use heavy enough tackle to get the fish in without being near death from the experience.
Plenty of us have a lot of time and money invested in chasing this fish. Not just Captains and plug makers.
We are all invested.
Just one man being true to himself.
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