Striped Bass Management

[Rockfish9]

a lot of hard fishing, common sense people have replied here..
My area, Plum Island (Mass) has always held big fish, even when there are none /few anywhere else. this past year, was very good early for large , the rain drove the fish out of the river and offshore, where all summer, a massive school sat out along the Isle of shoals NH.. every charter boat in the area pounded these fish, all summer, in late August, the moved inshore onto Coffin beach, where once again charter boats, and commercial "fisherman" pounded the school relentlessly, it was "stupid" fishing at it's best, any commercial boat that did not limit out on 25 -40lb fish just didn't try very hard, it lasted until the season closed and the offshore hurricane push the remains of that school south, I'm sure Block Island finished them off- 20 years ago, there would have been 4 or 5 boats in on it, now, due do to social media and a "bounty" on these fish, that massive school of breeders took a big hit.. the last night I fished them, I released ( boatside, none were removed from the water) about 30 fish( nothing under 25lbs, most were considerably larger) and left them biting all on single hook needlefish.. I hope it wasn't the last buffalo hunt. on a sadder note, I saw =very, very few fish under 30" this year- that is scary.

[hq2]

Very few fish under 30”. Wow that is scary. If you’ve read Frank Daignault’s books, this is exactly what things were like in the late
1970s, with nothing but 25 to 40 lb. fish. Folks, I hate to say it but I think we’re looking at another moratorium. And that will be the end of it for most of us on this board; (I’m about to turn 65) we won’t be around to see it recover. Enjoy these last years of SB fishing. It was fun while it lasted.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

20 years ago, there would have been 4 or 5 boats in on it, now, due do to social media and a "bounty" on these fish, that massive school of breeders took a big hit..

Same thing with Blackfish (Tautog), which grow exceedingly slow and have a very regional, non-pelagic population. I was telling my kid that in November out of Newport when I was his age, there would be a dozen boats and we'd know at least half of them. I don't think I saw a day where I counted less than 100 this fall, including numerous out of state head boats and 6-packs. Even with the slot and boat limits, I think that fishery is heading for a crash as well.

Gear up for sight-casting for sea robins. That is the future.

[MAKAI]

Same thing Rockfish saw.
This past season I got hundreds of bass Monomoy to Billingsgate.
Hardly any under 24”
I know what’s coming. Seen it before.
We will never learn.