I guess you also have to look at why the effort numbers are so much lower. Last season on most nights I would only see a couple of people fishing, normally the same two guys. A few years ago it was normal to run into a dozen or more fisherman each night. During the day there was always some bait fisherman out but last year very few. The reason being is there just were to few fish around. Many of the people I knew who fish Maine, NH and Mass North shore have either stopped or greatly reduced their trips.

What is also happening is people like me are now making more trips to the canal and the cape. So as the fish range decreases you can expect to see an increase in the number of people fishing those areas.

Last year's good YOY will provide plenty of fish in two to three years. The issue will be quality. It will be a decade before those fish are worth catching. What is left out there now will be long gone under current rules. So unnecessary, so stupid, so predictable.

For the first time in my life, I stopped fishing the Canal before Columbus Day, last fall. There were some fish to be caught, but it just wasn't worth the effort.

Even as late as 2009, I had 50-60 fish nights early in the fall run.

Guys I know who hit it hard every night between mid-September and the start of bird season had the worst fall of the last 25 years.

No macks? There were thick schools of macks off the Race for almost the entire season. By your theory, we should have had more stripers than we knew what to do with.

Me thinks there's more to it than just bait.

There were Macks all over the North Shore for pretty much the entire summer last year

Just wondering - How has the Mass surfcasting been if you take the Canal out of the equation for the last few seasons? I stopped going on my annual trip to the Cape about 3-4 years back.

The RI surf where I fish has been hit or miss the last few years. We have plenty of bait and lots of bass at times - but also plenty of bait with no bass at other times.

DZ

generally speaking south side of the cape and north into bh were ok during the spring for me, nothing regularly over 20# though. sever lack of small fish as well from what others tell me especially along nauset and the lower cape probably alot to do with the seal population explosion. nonexistant in the fall for me and my two regular fishing friends, it was depressing. my 2 cents

Now add the cost of gas .

with less bass / guys are going to be alot less likely to ride around every night & I saw it last year / on how few boats were OTW during prime fishing times .

I,ve talked to quite a few people that are looking @ Freshwater ............ Much ofmy Schoolie guy will work in F/W & / even thro I thought Id never use it again / I kept my freshwater gear .

Many of you are talking about bait being a huge factor on the bass .
I believe it has some effect / But I think that has more to do with where the bass that [are] here go
Ton of bait at the tuna grounds / lots of large / Yet BB was very slow .
BI was & has been Hot in RI ............. Except for small at B/R & Watch Hill .the rest of the state pretty much sucked on a daily basis .
As I posted earlier / besides . a numbers game .........too many fisherman >< not enough fish .
no one in any of their posts .have mentioned anything about what I said earlier .
Which is very clear if you opening your eyes ................................. currently the Chessie is a sewer pit / with mico bacteria increasing // farmers still being allowed to have fertilizer & chicken #^&#^&#^&#^& seeping into the water everyday & now micro has now been found in other species besides Stripers .
lets not forget the miles of dead zones .. zero , none, nada ..live of anykind .
then what few survive .still have to make it thru miles of illegal nets & legal trawling ;
Lets throw in a Black market .................................................. .............. ALL of this & you thing a good year class is going to make a difference . First .. I heard that number was taken by a different method or location <<<< not sure & even if it was right / look at the chances of their survival rate .
IMO ,the only way to save the Striper this time is {IN ANY ORDER} Crack down on the pollutors . stop the insanse fishing antics/ methods / etc Both legal & illegal that goes on up & down the coast / But mostly Mayland to NC ;
Where killing large up here / because 90% 0f the smalls are gone . they are killing evrything .
I,m telling @ the current rate . it will be a forced closure in 3 - 4 years . & its not going to rebound like last time .... In the 80,s ..................most of the damage was done [fishing] /
This time add up all of the above & any other thing that could hurt & that sums it .
oH,,, throw in seals & commorants as added bonus .

The ONLY thing that matters is the stock assessment, everything else is based on that, and they have not changed the numbers in the stock assessment.

& you believe their assessment of the stock ????:confused:

There the ones . that were going to increase the commercial harvest , etc
Until both Commercial & rec went B/S ................................. then they did a 180 reverse & said the bass were in trouble & they laid out plans for changes in the current laws to reduce the catch ........ either by size or tonnage or both .
Then a [HAPPENING} . a good year class in 2011 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> scrap that plan ..everything is status quo ........... Just figure the opposite of whatever they tell ya :uhuh:

buzzards bay was slow, there were pogies unmolested in the same spots for a couple days at a time.

McFly- GAMEFISH STATUS and 1 @36"

X2

You can't have both.
Gamefish status will mean Zero take
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Gamefish status would work but the problem is too many greedy types that don't wanna work for the future it's just here n now for them.Like a few other old farts here I've been through the moratorium. Still fished but got real good at release methods.Tagged a load of fish for ALS an others. We still had some fish up here in Maine. I still had stripers to land during the Derby. Some very impressive-an over 50lb-that all got released. Now very few fish up here an the Derby striper numbers are only what they are as the size is down to 32 in.A size many of us would never keep unless dieing let alone weigh in.For 4 yrs it gets less n less. Some of you boat guys luck out from time to time but up here it's just plain close to done.Bait all over the place just enjoyin the day as nothing is there to feed on them. My point is is that it is what it is an are we gonna do something about it or just keep blamin an moanin an groanin about things.
Catch numbers need to go down,Gamfish would be nice to see but too much greed there. Bag an size limits need to be changed. Fewer fish caught. bigger penalties for violators to include loss of all gear. repeat offenders do time.
You wann see the real economic affect. check the value of all your gear and multipy it by 10,000.Double that number and do the same then cut the ist number in half an do the same. Add those figures an then multiply it by the states that have stripers. 1st number the middle ,second the hard cores an third the weekend types that only fish a few times.We spend huge on our passion.Those are lowball numbers. So lets spend some to fix the problem before all the gear just collects dust an our memories are all we have left of a passion we all share.

i guess that depends on your definiton of game fish status. for example- north carolinas definition is what most gamefish status proponents support.

"Recreational anglers want the state to classify striped bass as gamefish, meaning no one could legally catch them for commercial sale. If the bill passes, those fish could be caught only with a hook and line for personal consumption."

Don that's the way it's been up here in Maine since the 60's. Zero take means moratorium.

If Zero Take keeps the stocks healthy, I'd gladly support it.

For those of you who didn't fish during the last crash, let me provide some perspective.

The guy that got me into striper fishing in the late 70s was a long-time shore fisherman. He entered a tournament in the late 70s along with about 1000 others. There was no prize awarded for third place because only two fish were caught.

[QUOTE=stripermaineiac;921120]Zero take means moratorium.

i'd support a mortatorium right now- c&r only for a few years. a bunch of us older guys have been warning about history repeating itself. welcome to the past :(. like coleman said- surfcasters are the canaries in the mine.

denial- ain't just a river in egypt.

Myself, Clammer, DZ, Afterhours, Stripermaniac and some of the other "antiques" on this board have been preaching this scenario for 5 or 6 years. No one in a position to do anything wants to listen.

Interesting to note that some of the biggest obstacles to getting anything done during the last crash was not only traditional commercial interests - but Rod & Reel quasi commercials who right until the end claimed there was not a problem.

DZ

Stripers forever have been trying to do this i dont think we will see this happen.before it is too late too many greedy comm guys and rec vuys alike that put a higher value on table fair then on the fishery as a whole . This needs to be done at the federal level as done.by state it will just let a different state do.more damage
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

So Rec guys that like to keep a fish for the table are greedy now....hmmm....I always thought that was a basic human need......to put food on the table.

I have no issue w/ the Gamefish status and 1 at 36....but the whole "Holier Than Thou" catch and release crap drives me friggin nuts.

If you go to any of the striper web sites there all like this one. Some think everything is fine with the stripers and others see the stocks heading towards a crash. The same holds true for just about all of the fishing clubs. None of these groups can come to a consensus on the topic so nothing happens. This makes it easy for ASMFC to continue along their present path.

There is only one well know group out there that is focused on reducing the catch and that is Stripers Forever. They may have their faults but at least they are working on the issue. SF also understands that there is little chance of ASMFC doing anything until the problem is so bad there is no other answer. Need to focus on this through your state representatives so that they put pressure on their ASMFC reps and pass laws to protect the fish. Even if new laws do not get passed they still send a message so something might be done before one of these laws does make it through.

So in my opinion if your really concerned join SF and support them. Then write letters to your reps.

Not all recs are greedy but the guys who fish 6 days a week and take home there 2 every day thats greedy you seem to.take offence to.calling people greedy to.me that may make.you one of fhe.guys i take.fish home.for the table 2 or 3 a year
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

for the record....I kept one last year.

usually I keep 2-4 a year

But if somebody is keeping more, and they are getting eaten ...who is anyone to judge them and call them greedy. They aren't doing anything illegal.

just cause it isnt illegal doesnt mean its good but hey i guess we an all fish for scup and skate when stripers get wiped out and all the pretty plugs you build and.crappy ones i.build we be useless
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Whatever...you keep doing your thing and I'll keep doing mine

:smash:I am suprised it took this long for it to show up in this thread. :smash:

I didn't realize that calling people names and being condescending was a valid strategy for protecting the stocks. Silly me

I would have thought working together to reach a common ground would be the way to proceed in a healthy fishery...again...silly me.

I've been on this board for 9 years and every year its the same crap....

"You suck because you keep them"....and "You suck because you don't want to let us keep them."

100's of anglers blaming everybody who doesn't see things there way instead of getting together and putting there collective heads together to try and solve the problem.

8473 members of this board, who, if they could get on the same page might actually be able to accomplish something.

20 years from now I'll be on this board and everybody will still be talking chit to each other....and still nothing will be getting done.

Assenine

I've posted this before and swear this WILL be the last time... I've seen this before... yup I fished through the 70's...80's.. 90's and beyond... i fish from a boat... but where i fish... it's just the same as surf fishing.. I ply the same water...often SHALLOWER than you surf men do....I see what you see...and I don't like it.

the first time around when everyone was sounding the alarm.. i was young.. i was catching fish.. some small ones but some real monsters too... in my young eyes there was nothing wrong and i thought the alarmists were just a bunch of tree hugging wanna-be's...my youthfull, inexperienced eyes could not see or comprehend the whole picture... fishing virtualy around the clock , combined with youthfull excitement gave me a leg up on the competition..funny how aging and wisdome puts things in perspective... IMHO.. I fish the outer range of the great striper migration ( Plum Island Ma.) there are very few nights I cant find a few large.. and if i miss one night.. I'll get them the next ...last year, the murmurs of how bad the fishing was at PI were begginning as soon as mid June....... we saw plenty of large last year... at times... some nights we quit long before they stopped feeding.. we had more medium fish than in recent years... .. truely a positive sign and glimmer of hope for the future, but small fish were, by reasonable account non exsistant...and you need small to make big...there should be far more schoolies than large or mediums and it simply is not the case... anywhere!

these fish are no doubt in trouble... and there is no way around it.. if the future genrerations are going to have fish to catch.. the fisherman fishing today need to act...

There are anglers up and down the coast, like myself, that with local knowledge will always eek out a few fish.. until there are no more... hopefully I/we will never see that day arrive...

My.02
roc

Couldn't agree more. Well said!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I know a lot of those guys. They spend hours on the phone after every tide trying to give their fish away. The guys who take 2 fish every day aren't doing it to put food on their tables, or on anyone in particular's table. They're doing it to parade them around and look like highliners--to stoke their ego.

Here's what happens---some people take their fish. They butcher filleting them, and a lot goes to waste. Then they take the fillets and stick them in the freezer. Come January, they discover the fish they froze in June, unwrap it, and find that it's covered with freezer burn because it wasn't packaged the right way to freeze. And then it goes right in the garbage. :doh:

This time, we won't even have the bluefish around, like we did in the 70s and early 80s. :(

I could go out almost ant time of the day back then, cast jigs crimped directly to 80# wire, and catch all the bluefish I wanted, in the Canal.

I didn't see anyone on this board call anyone names. A couple made reference to behaviors that were, in their opinions, greedy.

Second point: I don't ever see how things will get solved when the opinion that something is ok because it is legal is the rule. Those of us who believe the law is wrong, and that fisherman should be more conservative in spite of the law, have the right to those opinions, and the right to say it in a public forum.

Because, unfortunate as it may be...it isn't illegal. so if you want to initiate the kind of change your looking at....you need to change the rule.

and to change the rule you have to work together for a common ground....not point fingers.

people who fish and keep fish look at the other side (C&R) as being greedy for trying to take away from them.

so Who's Right? Who's Wrong?

Calling people greedy for doing something that is perfectly legal for them to do is not going to foster any kind of cooperation....its only going to build walls and no one will give an inch for a common goal.

like I said....20 years from now this argument will still be waging and nothing will change, because nobody will give the 10-20% that needs to be given to make a change.

Instead of Game Fish and 1 @ 36" why not go 50% reduction for commercial take and 1 @ 36"....doesn't that cut the take pretty much in 1/2 and allow both parties to do their part AND keep doing what they currently do....only in a reduced manner that will help the stocks

not saying thats the answer...but for anything to be accomplished there needs to be give and take on everybody's part

add me to that list ,, That's why I mostly fish the funnel (canal ).. better odds than beach fishing . I fished through the last crash too . Watched it thrive through c&r ,, watched it decline again ..

Sorry Tagger. I forgot you.

...and to the Dad Fisherman. I don't want to start a flame war but your attitude is part of the problem. You may think you will be here in 20 years and the same thing will be discussed but you are wrong. If things keep going the way they are now, there will be no Stripers in 20 years. I'm pretty sure I'll be dead (84?, No way) but you will be fishing for Scup.

Wake up and realize no one is saying don't keep a fish for the table. You are missing the whole point. What we are saying is the 2, 28" is just plain wrong. A commercial season ANYWHERE is just plain wrong. Non-gamefish status for stripers is just plain wrong.

Now, go out and kill your 2 28" fish and don't bitch when there aren't anymore.

The rules and regs are up to this point, have shown us they don't work. One more thing, how many wait for the schoolies every season just to catch 'em and toss 'em back? How many of these schoolies don't survive?

didn't you just post more pictures of big dead bass than anyone else in the 2011 Fishy Photos Thread?...shoudn't we all start with ourselves????:uhuh: