Well... there are those who believe (like lil ol' me), that the lack of big bait inshore at all of the hallowed Striper surf turf over recent years has already been pushing the bigger Bass to off- beach hunting grounds! Don't know about you: but over the last five years I'm seeing less bigger & fatter Bass, not more!-- contrary to optimistic expectations of "experts" based upon good relevant YOY Indexes. But just ask those off-shore draggers & commercials how common 40's & 50's & 60's Stripers are in their by- catch of Herring, Mackeral, Cod or whatever! Esp. on my beloved Cape, where the arrival of Seal- gangs more intimidating than an invading Army has for 3+ years now succeeded in pushing the most of the "big" bait (here large Sand Eels & Herring mostly) well off of the once- productive beaches of the Backside. Guess who's found our big fish & Herring & Sand Eels? -- the guys dragging nets daily in 80- 120 feet, depending upon season. Between Seals & Bass & other predators, no doubt the smaller schools of large bait left out there have sought deeper/ off-shore places to hide (and, for every Lobster & shelfish eaten by a Bass... I'll bet 100+ are devoured by Dogfish!
Managing Dogfish properly, is as big an issue in "large" bait Mgt., as any! When will "they" admit the ocean is paved with their "protected" Dogfish!-- that foreign trawlers would gladly take off our hands for their Fish & Chips if we only let them! (Dogfish are the ONLY case where I'm "for" letting foreign ships at our fish stocks!)
So: that's why our surf- caught Stripers have only Crabs & runt Lobsters, etc., in their bellies: they made the "mistake" of looking inshore/ shallow for food-- lucky for us Surfcasters! But I believe 95% of the bigger Bass now associate big bait with deeper/ open water, from Cape May to Race Point at least! (Haven't fished beyond myself yet). Too bad for us surf nuts: we need Bunker (Pogies), Herring, Eels/ Sand Eels, Squid & Mackeral in our casting range to attract the fat/ well- fed Cows we seek! Anyone see much of these in the Surf last season? Not I!! (Not from Sandy Hook, to PJ RI, my range last year anyway). Some peanut Pogys in late- season, and a 10 day Spring Squid run aside-- and yes, 10 years ago Mackeral were commonly caught from surf & piers in May where I'm from!
SO... Let the Pogys, Herring, Eels, & Mackeral alone & free of commercial netting for a few years-- and while we're at it, the Stripers too! (yes, Gamefish now!!
) Lay off the inshore Alewife- type Herring runs, & Eels too for a few (everybody!) Crack down harder on the underground/ unmonitored sale of Bass (illegal pinhooking, netting, & even Recs. selling to restaurants directly w/o license, etc.), & those that keep shorts obviously! Curtail the dogfish explosion & way-too-abundant Seals SOMEHOW
... and THEN watch the (large) bait population explode to the point where they're found everywhere, shallow & deep like in years ago-- & just watch the results! All Bass are then fatter... & more prosperous, & thus numerous too!... and Surfcasters will THEN claim back their fair- share of 40's & 50's from the off- shore draggers "by- catch!"... & to a lesser extent (by far!) the deep- water Recs./ Charters/ trollers! Simple to me!! -- now, HOW do we do all of this??
