Striped Bass, the condition of the fishery - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

steve · 01-22-2009, 11:38 AM

This is just ones fisherman's opinion, and certainly in no way scientific, but the state of the striped bass is in trouble, I think. I have been chasing striped bass almost 36 years now but for the past 5 or 6 years I have noticed a dramatic decline of the numbers of stripers I have encountered . During that period I have fished,in the surf, about the same number of times( 85 to 110 trips) and in the same places with exception of last season. In '08, I could not fish every location I generally do because of a physiscal problem, however, I did manage about 86 trips in alot of good striper holes.. Anyway, during the last few seasons I have landed approx. 150 to 250 bass. Previous to that, I would routinely catch that many by the end of May, and by the end of each season, catch and release anywhere from 600 to 800 bass. What is very disturbing is the lack of small fish, the schoolies. Save for the early to mid spring, I have not seen any numbers of this size fish for the rest of the season. The" Fabulous Falls " have been almost non existent over the last 5 to 6 years. School sized fish could even be counted on even in the so-called bad years before the moratorium. I don't know where they are now! Yes, ther are alot of big fish around for some, just like the late 70's and early 80's but look what happened back then! Moreover, talk to bass fisherman from Maine. Their season was an all out bust in '08. Charter Captains gave up the ghost and went smallmouth bass fishing I'm told. Something is wrong and as others have said, we need to get all the data we can and make some intelligent decisions, soon.

JFigliuolo · 01-22-2009, 11:56 AM

What really gets my nuts in a vice (and I'm not singling anyone out) is guys that in one thread (not necessarily this one) say the bass are in trouble... Yet post pictures of BIG dead bass they kill for a contest or sale...

I keep fish to eat, don't get me wrong. But if YOU think there is a problem how about changing YOUR actions as a first step.

-putting on my asbestos suit.

steve · 01-22-2009, 12:08 PM

Jay, you are correct. I do release everything, almost everything. It is sometimes very tough to release a big, big fish for alot of reasons, mostly self serving. I guess we all have to learn to put back, no matter what the cost. I released several large fish this year and it felt good.

Sea Flat · 01-22-2009, 12:51 PM

I too have read "Striper Wars". This was a very informative book.

It seams as though we are in agreement that the Striped Bass population is in danger. It also seams like most of us can also acknowledge that the bait fish being scarce is a huge problem as well. Striped Bass, in addition to menhaden, mackerel, squid, herring etc. need to have some stricter laws guarding them to keep the fishery on the East Coast safe IMO.

Finally, let's not bad mouth a well intentioned group like Stripers Forever. They work so hard and put tons of time in to protecting the fish we so dearly love. Is it possible that they are missing a couple pieces in their argument? Sure. But, I also consider them to be smart individuals that probably know some information that we don't. For example, if it would be smart to lump the striped bass in with all of the bait fish to be protected. It probably needs to happen one step at a time. First the bass, then the bait. Definitely an argument can be made for doing it the other way around, but either way at least they are out there fighting the good fight. And for that I say

to Stripers Forever.

JohnR · 01-22-2009, 01:07 PM

Sea Flat - I don't want to seem like I'm bad mouthing them, i'm sure they are smart people. I do ZERO commercial fishing and I am not an advocate of Commercial fishing - I'm neutral to it. I think the problem with the fish is a combination of pressure and more importantly, habitat/forage. What is going to fix the fish? Stopping Commercial fishing specifically for Striped Bass? Or fixing the Habitat and Forage?

I'm willing to bet the latter. For all of Striper Forever's ability to unite a tremendous amount of anglers, I would truly applaud them if they were able to do it more in the interest of the fish ~ Forage & Habitat ~ than who gets to fish for them. Deciding who gets to fish for them is kind of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, it does little to save the fish. Now if Stripers Forever was calling for a 35% reduction (arbitrary number) of fishing pressure by both Commercial AND Recreational fishers, AND making significant inroads to protecting FORAGE, I would be impressed. Otherwise it smells like is a grab that does not address the core issues, total fishing pressure AND habitat/forage protection.

BTW - good thread Art...

Until that happens - in my opinion

and until others can change my thinking

- Stripers Forever is missing squandering their tremendous potential...

inTHERAPY · 01-22-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

What really gets my nuts in a vice (and I'm not singling anyone out) is guys that in one thread (not necessarily this one) say the bass are in trouble... Yet post pictures of BIG dead bass they kill for a contest or sale...

I keep fish to eat, don't get me wrong. But if YOU think there is a problem how about changing YOUR actions as a first step.

-putting on my asbestos suit.

J, I agree that change will have to start at home. Problem being that as long as every angler is within their legal right to take an amount of fish, the amount of fish taken is not going to change. I do not think anglers are going to take less fish.
As of last year, I started to commercial bass fish in earnest. I will continue to do so this year. Please do not interpret the fact that as a commercial fisherman (albeit very part time) that I am not conservation minded. I think many comms are like myself. If the comm catch is quota based, that quota will be filled by someone.
I think, as many others do, that the fishery is in trouble, but we do not get that impression from the Managers of the resource. Therefore, what isn't broken doesn't need to be fixed.
The ASMFC has a meeting scheduled for early Feb. It is important to me to see what comes from the striped bass board and menhaden board in particular. Art

Back Beach · 01-22-2009, 01:19 PM

Lots of good points. Often times, we equate the quality of fishing with what we experience personally. This may or may not be representative of the big picture.

On one hand, you have to buy into and trust the managers judgement to a degree. Many of them are responsible for the great fishery we have right now. Yes, it seems there may be a few less fish, but I also believe its a distribution thing. Fish show in different places in different quantities each year. This is one of the things that supports the landings as a % of total biomass method of managing the population.
My last point/question is this.....how many(stripers) fish should there be in the ocean? Do we need to walk on the backs of 50# fish? Keep in mind populations of fish and wildlife will fluctuate even without harvest. What is the true definition of a healthy population?