State of the Fishery 2016

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by spinncognito

Another North Shore perspective (from a surf guy). So far we have been getting plenty of bass but 90% have been micro bass. I am talking fish as small as 6-8 inches long. No way these came from the Chesapeake, so where else are they being created(Thoughts Joe?) There was one 50 inch bass taken on a live mac from the local river this past week but that is really the only big fish I have heard about.

While the parker and Merrimack rivers both hosted spawning stocks many years ago( way before my time) I believe that the sheer number of that year class forced those young fish to migrate looking for food... they joined their brethren on their migration north and now they are here.

Another interesting side note is the size of eels I am seeing in my pots... I'm seeing an unusual amount of 6" and smaller mixed in with the larger bait and meat eels... I rail dumped one pot last night because it would have been too much trouble to sort them... it's a promising sign.

also last 2 nights we have pogies in the Merrimack...something we have not seen in numbers in decades.

[nightfighter]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

While the parker and Merrimack rivers both hosted spawning stocks many years ago( way before my time) I believe that the sheer number of that year class forced those young fish to migrate looking for food... they joined their brethren on their migration north and now they are here.

Another interesting side note is the size of eels I am seeing in my pots... I'm seeing an unusual amount of 6" and smaller mixed in with the larger bait and meat eels... I rail dumped one pot last night because it would have been too much trouble to sort them... it's a promising sign.

also last 2 nights we have pogies in the Merrimack...something we have not seen in numbers in decades.

I need to find that post you did years ago on how to catch your own eels.... Then figure out what an eel pot looks like and where to find....