I guess its safe to assume you dont keep a fishing log.

Mike P

what you said is exactly what I mean >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> alot of guys don,t [bother] with schoolies ....which means they don,t see the steady decline in this fishery ........ they won,t get concerned until they are having trouble getting large .....


& as far as old clubs .... pretty much the only ones that kept records were the one on the old Schaffer contest & to some degree / on only local touraments . back then ...... with a 16" size limit & no daily limit // no one lept score unless [again in was in a tournament ;

if you took a survey of all the schoolie monster fisherman & flyrodders & charter boats/ guides than make a living putting clients on shallow water fish , numbers, etc & they all replied truthfully ....................... maybe you would realize this is a bigger issue ..than fish the other side of the rock .
Every single fisherman that I know that is still fishing & were seasoned fisherman in the crash of the 80,s / will tell you the same story ;
Damn // how many times can a sledge hammer bounce off a head before it realizes its getting smashed ><><><:hs::hs:

Chuck, it will be OK, I think.
Jim White has a post up on his site and it's real gloom. He may be correct. I lived through the moratorium and maybe we are getting ready for another collapse. I have a huge amount of respect for Jim and what he knows but I am still thinking I will wait and see what's happening about May 15th. if I'm not getting into decent fish by then well we all should start worrying.

Bay schoolies are down in numbers and arrival dates for the last 4 years for me. Arrival date for my spots have been delayed by a week each year for the last 3 years. And the number of fish for my spots is way off. I know bait and water temps as well as other factors could be effecting my spots but I know what I see and I know it has me worried.

In years past (not last year), I would typically start fishing a couple rivers between Mattapoisett and Wareham in mid-late April. According to my records, I would always be into schoolies, 12-18" by third week in April. BY fourth week a little bigger to 24". Then I'd switch over to canal fishing by Mother's Day with the first keeper usually coming 3rd week of May.

Last year I decided to work Buzzards Bay area hard in the boat. I launched april 13th and checked every bay and estuary on both sides for many many hours. Nothing with no signs of life. Went a couple times the last week in April and the rivers/estuaries were yielding small schoolies pretty consistently.

First weekend in May, lots of bait, stripers and birds so action was more noticeable. Even caught a couple small keepers in the 28-30" range. I took friday 5/16 off and fished friday - sunday extensively and Buzzards Bay erupted. Tons of bait, stripers, birds and plenty of keepers.

I think were in the same pattern and expect things to start opening up this weekend thru next weekend. Soon guys......

Finally!!! Some sanity!!!!

There was an excellent spawning year in 2001, and very good spawning years in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The 2001 fish are just reaching spawning age now, and the later classes are still too small to legally harvest everywhere outside of the bay areas of Maryland.

Where'd they all go, if they're gone?

And from all reports the Hudson has been churning out record spawns for almost 20 years, since they cleaned it up and eliminated haul seining in NY.

Hmmm....I dunno, Mike - fish and chips, maybe...:huh:

Paul, respecfully, I think you're missing the point. You're talking about "decent" fish or the fish that arrive in mid-May or the almost keepers Moses is referring to. My observation along with Clammer and JW is - Where are the dinks? Those are the future of this fishery and are usually around in massive numbers by now. My own observations seem to line up with what some of the old timers are saying(no offense). I'm not saying the sky is falling, maybe its no big deal. But I'd like to hear that someone somewhere is seeing acres of schoolies.

I think this first week of the month will give up 40+ fish days. just need SW winds and some sun, which we've been getting a lot of lately....

Considering I'm not fishing right now at this moment, that's a good indication that the East Bay is loaded with dinks.

-spence

Ok Jim. I will sit on the side and keep quiet. I just think that I have been through this before and in 2 weeks it's fine with schoolies all over. I really think the weather has had a lot to do with the lack of small fish. NE winds keep the fish out and the cold water in. I am sure there has beeen some attrition due to slaughter in Maryland, NC, etc. But has Mike P pointed out, our fish, by and large, come from the Hudson. Where did they go? They certainly weren't killed in Maryland because they don't go south.

Let's just wait and see what is happening on 5/15.

I truly hope you are right!

OOOOOOOOOOP


some of the hudson fish & holdovers from Ny /:north do go south ><><:faga:

Looks like more than usual in North Carolina rivers this winter..maybe they are starting to avoid the dirty Chessy in favor of cleaner water.

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/article...e666051408.txt

Two of my nephews hit schoolies big Tuesday night in one of the salt ponds.

good news!

For many years, up until just a few years back, it was common to read signature lines in posts that said, "the job's not finished until we bring back the big fish". Lack of big fish, and schoolies and just-short-of-legals up the ass were still signs of a troubled fishery to many.

Now the big fish are back and we're looking at the lack of schoolies in one local area as a sign of a troubled fishery.

I'm confused by all of this :confused:

I look at the Hudson data and see 17 or 18 straight years of strong spawns, and at the Chessie data and see down years but enough good years that are light years better than anything we had in the 70s, and I have to think that the sky can't be falling.

And yes--Hudson fish do wander south, but not that far south, and none of them are down off the Outer Banks during haul seine season, or staging off the mouth of the Chesapeake in the winter.

there are plenty of schoolies around and there is a lot of bait in the bay right now. yesterday i was out fished like 30 to 7 i couldn't really get to them but the boat guys could. largest one i pulled in was about 26". this morning it was non stop action for about a good hour or so. the fish are also getting bigger from last week already so that is a good sign for the weeks to come. just hang in there its almost time and the big girls will be here soon!!

also read the fishing report in the projo today that might get you a little excited

so what's the story now? still slow?

RP24 I'm with you a slow start down there means a real slow start up here. I'm getting the itch.

you got that right Squib!
I'm still starting next week.

nobody replied, so that means they are catching! :lurk: