Quote:
Originally Posted by Flaptail
I never thought I would say this given my romantic reminisscence of the 70's and early 80's and the dropping ooff of a lot of bass at Old Harbor fish market but:
#1, bring back the 36 inch one fish a day limit.
#2, stop the commercial sale of Striped Bass along the entire coast, you want to eat one then catch it yourslef or go hungry.
#3 In other words, it's time to realize the greater importance of this fish and it's economic impact and make it a gamefish.
#4 The menhaden fishery needs to be stopped. No harvet for commercial nees and no harvest for supply to bait shops either.
There I said it, I have come out of the Gamefish for Striped Bass closet.
Let the persecution begin.
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My thoughts exactly.. only my fish went to the local coop.... I havent killed ( knowingly ) or sold a bass since 2004...
I fish well north of most of you ( NH boarder to Gloucester), gone are my days of chasing bass up and down the coast, at 53 I'm just not inclined and have nothing to gain or prove by it.... I have my patch of "ground" and it has been very,very kind to me, even when the fishing was tough for others to the south( early to mid 80's), I always had an abundance of fish...during the moritorium, I still did well and thought the "doom and gloom" was a crock.. my thinking then ,is you just need to fish harder.. fact is.. I hadn't been at it long enough... now, being older and wiser ( the wiser part sometimes questionable) i see things differently... and with out a doubt, there are far fewer small fish.. missing mostly, are the 10-12lb class fish, Normaly Plum Island ( Mass) is loaded with these fish, there are nights I need to make several moves just to get away from them...the last few years they have all but vanished from traditional waters... we all ( or those of us that have been around a few years)know that bass stocks and their comings and goings are cyclical, some years they show in spots for several years in a row then they are gone, only to show up in big numbers somewhere else,they may be the king ( or queen) of the surf, but they have been known to hang off shore ( the bank)... and when they migrate, they dont always take the shoreward route, thus lending to the absence of a fall ( or even a spring) run, I hear/ see people talk about all the fish still in Maine... it means nothing to the fishermen ( and woman) to their south, the longer they stay in Maine, the surer the bet that they ride the outside currents out over the deeper ( and warmer) bait filled water, right around the tip of the cape( cod)...fall runs are all about location, some years some areas have banner years while others wonder where all the fish are....
are the fish in trouble... maybe, but I dont think so.. at least not yet... are there less of them.. no doubt about it.. I'm in favor with those wanting to give these fish game fish status.. personaly.. I think they deserve it....and as for the bait sorces AKA Pogies and herring.. we havent seen a sustained school of pogies in the Merrimack river since 1987... no big bait means no big fish... IMHO the main reason the river is lifeless by early August after the last of the surviving herring have returned to sea...thus most of the action is out on the beach...