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Clearly this is a heated topic and I'd be a fool to suggest I truly understand all the science, but what I do know is this is the first season since I've fished for striped bass where I didn't catch a single keeper. Now I need to qualify that statement, because about 8 years ago I changed the way I fished, but I still think my experience is just as valid a sampling as any other. Why, because I'm fishing the same waters I've always fished, with primarily the same tactics I've always used and my days for 8 years all have pretty much started the same way. I'd launch in Westport with the sun just about to pop up and I'd fish a milk run of ledges with plastic to see if I could catch some bass before the sun came up and I switched over to deeper water to drift and jig for eaters.
Ten years ago, I'd catch several dozen stripers, with multiple keepers each and every morning I'd go out; all before the sun got to high in the sky. At the end of the day, I could absolutely count on hens and chickens ledge to give up as many more smaller fish as I felt I had the energy to catch. Each and every year since, I've seen a dramatic decline in the numbers of fish and specifically those 28-36 inch keepers, which would routinely clobber my plastic in between schoolies.
I suspect I'd have to work long days and target only stripers to even have a chance at even catching a third of what I did ten years back. There were a few years around 2006 to 2008, where I could have filled my boat with keepers and schoolies; I'd catch them all day long while jigging and drifting for black sea bass off Gay Head and the sound. Those couple of years were such fun, one drift your nailing 30-40 lb stripers, then the 12-15lb blues would move in, with black sea bass and fluke in between. That same offshore structure for the past 4 years hasn't given up a single day that even comes close.
Catch them to make a living, catch them until they are gone, then go get a job in the trades. Certainly I'm not saying charters are to blame, everyone targeting and harvesting stripers is to blame, we all collectively own the responsibility to turn it around or we can all continue to rape the resource until we have a moratorium.
I know people depend on charters for a living and I feel for them. I know fishing is a long tradition in New England and trust me having just finished Fatal Forecast by Michael Tougias, I understand it's a hard tough life and to see restrictions put on how you can support your family makes it tougher. If I were in the business I'd be looking at other means of making the boat make money, because I see the writing on the wall and proactive measures are far better than reactive ones.
I plan to make my contribution by not harvesting bass, I hope others will do the same. I can't control the weather, the black market for fish, the fact that other cultures couldn't give a rat's ass about our regulations or that the politicians are listening to anyone without deep pockets; but I can do my part.
Tight lines to all, but many species are a lot of fun with the right gear.
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