so i got to thinking... - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Nebe · 10-16-2004, 05:45 PM

what so you guys think about the current health of the striper population.. I mean, do you think that there are as many fish around as there was say 3 or 5 years ago?? Personally I think we're fooling ourselves thinking that all is well with the striped bass.. Over fishing, polution, lack of menhaden in the chesapeake all spell trouble for the bass...

BigFish · 10-16-2004, 06:08 PM

I am starting to think the same thing Eben.....based on all that has happened, or not happened this season!

afterhours · 10-16-2004, 06:38 PM

i concure, no need for sunglasses.

striprman · 10-16-2004, 06:39 PM

I haven't posted much lately but I did fish my favorite spots using my tried and true methods this past season. This season was different than the last 10 or so years, for the time I put in, I caught less fish. I did get some fish all season long but at least 50% of the times I went, I'd fish the tide and get maybe 1 or 2 fish and about 25% it was 1 bite, 1 fish. I think I'll fish to the first or second week of November, the next 2 weeks should still have fish in the canal, hopefully some biggies will come through..I never give up. I just think the water never really got warm this year. I think 6 or 7 more trips before I hang it up.

striprman · 10-16-2004, 06:55 PM

Oh, I did catch more smooth dogfish this year than I ever did before.

Christian · 10-16-2004, 07:19 PM

all i know is the last 2 seasons, including this one, have been the only 2 where i havent had a "best season"

i think its been the weather, and i HOPE its just weather.

CANAL RAT · 10-16-2004, 07:46 PM

going back to a 1 fish limit will help. the weather this year has been very wierd i think the pogies did not get the water temp signal to invade the cape. this winter is supposed to be VERY BAD

BigFish · 10-16-2004, 07:52 PM

They say every year that "this winter is supposed to be real bad"!!!!!! When was the last time they never said that?

Christian · 10-16-2004, 07:59 PM

bigfish, 3yrs ago i think.

we had a mild one.
same year we got TONS of BUNKER

CANAL RAT · 10-16-2004, 07:59 PM

last winter was a bitch one of the coldest in new england history the farmers almanac in 89% correct. NOAA even said this winter temps were going to be very below average. all these tropical storms dont help eather the waters getting torn up every week

Pete_G · 10-16-2004, 08:12 PM

I haven't seen a bunker of any age class on Brenton Reef in a month and a 1/2, maybe longer. And of course because of that bass have been almost non-existent there.

There's been some solid schools of bunker south of us as well as in the bay, but a month long drought just seems odd.

At this point, especially with reports coming in to the shop every day from Maine to Rhode Island from people fishing and hoping for fall runs that don't seem to be happening, I'm pretty convinced something is wrong.

Either we have a problem with the baitfish, or we have a problem with the stripers. Or both.

Rappin Mikey · 10-16-2004, 09:39 PM

Striper man!!!! Nice to see your back! Your front is fugley!

Nebe · 10-16-2004, 09:47 PM

I'm glad to hear i'm not alone on this.. the question is, how much more killing will have to happen before the regulations get changed??? I wasnt fishing in the 70's right before the bass crash, but from what i read it happened pretty quickly. Now 30 years later, imagine how many more people are fishing for bass. A crash could be happening right under our noses and the next thing we know, there will be no bass around agian.

makes you wonder doesnt it

CANAL RAT · 10-17-2004, 08:39 AM

i heard we are going back to a 1 fish limit next year.

who realy needs to keep 2 fish anyways. i would like to see a slot limit allmost all other states have one for stripedbass

Rob Rockcrawler · 10-17-2004, 08:43 AM

so far this year i have done better than the past few years, i put it a lot more time and would like to think im just getting better. last year at this time there seemed to be a LOT more fish. maybe it is just a late migratio. I have yet to see any adult bunker, they really need to address that or alot of the fisheries are going to take a big hit.

spence · 10-17-2004, 08:52 AM

What about all the talk that the boat guys did well this year and that the fish stayed farther off shore?

-spence

Pete_G · 10-17-2004, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by spence
What about all the talk that the boat guys did well this year and that the fish stayed farther off shore?

-spence

I'm thinking that was just the "reports" that were spread around. It sounds good, and it's an easy excuse as to why most us are doing so poorly from shore. I'm real tired of fishing for 6 hours and catching 2 big blues and a twinkie bass. Admittedly I'm lazy and I don't like to leave Aquidneck Island, but it doesn't sound like there's any good reason to take a drive south anyways.

Also several of the boat guys I know (although they are only targeting BIG fish) didn't have that great a year.

I think most concerning at this point is the lack of big schools of 15" to 32" fish. Where are they? Of the fish I've heard about being caught in the past month or so as many have been over 20 pounds as under.

Hopefully I'm wrong and things are going to start happening around here in the next couple of weeks. Looks like the weather is going to be a bit unsettled mid-week, maybe a fall run will develop. Water temps have taken a serious tumble in the past week as well.

Crafty Angler · 10-17-2004, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pete_G
Either we have a problem with the baitfish, or we have a problem with the stripers. Or both.

You're right, Pete - and I've been thinking it's both for a while.

I just recently read an article that said fisheries scientists are starting to believe that there is a problem somewhere in the striped bass stocks.

Lack of suitable forage I feel is first and foremost. Check out Omega Protein on Google sometime and think about it's impact on menhaden coast-wide.

Lack of proper nutrition will lead to health problems in any organism.

And I also feel that ASMFC was waaaay too premature in declaring a full recovery and the size and take limits were not at all appropriate for the maintainance of a healthy population.

There's just been a lot of pressure on the stock since the "recovery" and I believe the result might just be becoming evident now.

You know, if it turns out that we're all relying on anecdotal information and our fears are unfounded...well...personally, I'd much rather err on the side of caution if a number of steps have to be taken to insure a sustainable striped bass fishery.

kippy · 10-17-2004, 09:50 AM

I believe the problem first and foremost is the lack of bait available..I have not seen as much as in previous years. I am all for going back to a 1 fish limit as well...as long as the commercial guys take a reduction.

basswipe · 10-17-2004, 10:35 AM

Late August/Early Sept. had lots of peanut bunker around and then there was nothing.The few bass and blues I've caught over the past few weeks all seem to be feeding on silversides.

I'm no biologist but the lack of baitfish seems to coincide with the lack of bass.

Nebe · 10-17-2004, 11:15 AM

Go talk to a lobsterman how he is doing this year. He will tell you he is having one of his poorest years in his memory. In fact, if you go down to teh co-op docks in gallilee, you'll notice that most of teh lobster boats are not going out. There was an article in the projo a few weeks ago about the lobster crash and they eluded to the fact that there are lots of stripers around. Then you have the winter flounder problems. I'm nto a scientist but I do know that the baby winter flounders are headed down narragansett bay right around the time that the bass start making their selves known in the spring... We dont want bass eating lobsters and flounder..... we want them eating menhaden.

We need to get the menhaden back. i believe that they are the base to the food pyramid not just here, but most importantly in the chesapeake, when the bass are there for the winter. Crafty is right, Omega Protien is the problem, and you can be sure that they are big enough to have lobbiests pushing for a higher Catch every year.
As for me, I cant remember the last time I kept 2 bass a day. in fact, i probably keep about 10% of the keepers i catch each year.

I would love to know the numbers of people fishing before the moritoriam in the 80's and the number of people fishing now... I would not be surprised if there was at least 10 times the number of guys wetting a line now.

Where is this rumor of one fish a day coming from?? I would love to see a one fish at 24" to 34" then release anything below or above. If we did that, and also saved the adult Menhaden, i believe things would be alot better.

striprman · 10-17-2004, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rappin Mikey
Striper man!!!! Nice to see your back! Your front is fugley!

I am not striperman, I am striprman

fishweewee · 10-17-2004, 12:09 PM

I think the stripers basically got together and unionized. They're on strike until they get better forage.

Funny, I think striprman nailed it - fewer fish for the hours put in.

And this is obvious - I'm noticing a correlation with poor fishing and lack of any visible bait, never mind pogies or peanuts or sand eels or even silversides.

I'm still enjoying myself on the water, but it's awful funny that I've been doing a lot better in the less scenic spots up in the Bay on little rat schoolies than out in the open (SC PJ or 'Gansett/J-Town/Nport). Was very disappointed with Brenton Reef this year.

My most productive trip this year was down in the OBX.

-WW

NIB · 10-17-2004, 03:36 PM

2 yrs ago NJ Banned the bunker reduction boats in NJ waters.the last 2 spring runs have had many huge inshore buner schools with thousands 30# an hundreds of 40# fish taken.Fishing the likes many old salts have never seen.The fishin from boat is automatic frequent inshore oppurtunities have yeilded many large fish for the surfcaster also with NJ's 2 fish(with a bonus tag) law many big bass where taken for the scales an photo's.primarily a summer flounder fishing Scene the whole rec. fleet became big bass men see it every week in the fishing weekly's.It's a catch 22 situation for me.I'am glad to have the oppurtunity for large fish but the #'s of large bass taken leave me wondering how the stocks will manage.From what I understand the large fish oppurtunities up north the last 2 yrs have been off.More than just a coincidence?????Ur guess is as good as mine an probably as good as the ones who figure these things out for us.

fishweewee · 10-17-2004, 07:55 PM

Does this mean I gotta fish NJ?

Nebe · 10-17-2004, 08:25 PM

NIB you mention one downside to having lots of menhaden around.. the big bass will be on the bunker, so if you find the bunker you will find big bass... Its a tough call which is better for the bass.. when theres alot of scup around, the big ones are on the bottom, but with the pogies, they are on top, which makes them easier to find

reelecstasy · 10-18-2004, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eben

Where is this rumor of one fish a day coming from?? I would love to see a one fish at 24" to 34" then release anything below or above. If we did that, and also saved the adult Menhaden, i believe things would be alot better. [/B]

I am with you on this Eben...I am all for it...

spence · 10-18-2004, 08:42 AM

I don't think you should able to keep a fish that doesn't fit on a reasonably sized grill

-spence

Duke41 · 10-18-2004, 09:25 AM

I got a late start this year. The first trip was to block in mid June and did great it was the best trip I ever had. 22 fish in 5 hours with 3 guys. I thought it was going to be a awesome season. I kept the boat in Newport this year and fished Brenton Reef and Cliffwalk, The Fountain, Beavertail, Fort Weterall, Second Beach and Narragansett. And I will tell you straight out the fishing was awfull. I got 14 fish the rest of the year. Brenton Reef was a grave yard. I caught one 12 pounder all season. Last time I went out the reef was holding scup and bluefish. I have not seen loads of bait like in past years. Either the weather or pollution of over fishing has hurt the stocks. I think next year will tell the tale. Unless the fall run starts soon. Surfrunner is going into hibernation until the spring. Go Redsox.

RIJIMMY · 10-18-2004, 10:17 AM

I’ve been reluctant to post on this topic but figured I can put my 2 cents in.
I remember catching 100+ bluefish over a two week period on the Cape when I was a kid and then the next season 5 bluefish. Was it because the population was suffering? Truthfully, I have no clue what it was, but it was not due to a decline in the fish.
Last year on this site I remember guys posting about all this fish they were getting in So Co. I was fishing hard and getting skunked. I abandoned my spots and began exploring new areas, soon I was into fish.
This year, the areas I abondoned last year have been producing a lot of fish. I have seen more bass blitzes this year than ever. Not huge fish, but consistent fish. I have not been skunked once since August and I fish 1-2 nights a week, that’s not a bad record. My Dad fished RI from 87-94 and I speak with him each week after fishing and my experiences are similar to his, except he put in many more hours than I do and he has a few 50+, I don’t have anything close. Just look at the number of bass caught this weekend for ten MDA tourney? Imagine how many were caught and not weighed in?
I think the factors affecting the fish are too numerous to mention. Weather, wind, currents, bait… Frank Daignult writing’s seem to downplay the existence of menhaden and states that the bass were doing well before the menhaden even arrived.

From this site, it appears some people have done very well this year, I just think its premature to think that you’re having a bad season thus the fish are in decline. I think the fish are there, you just may have to alter your strategy.