Striped Bass Management

[ivanputski]

While out and about during the season, I have come across multiple guys with the attitude of " hey, if its curtains for striped bass because everyone is killing em, I might as well take it ... Someone is gonna eat it anyway... might as well be me!!"

Its a shame when anglers adopt this "i might as well get mine if its over" attitude which only helps it become a self fulfilling prophecy.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by ivanputski

While out and about during the season, I have come across multiple guys with the attitude of " hey, if its curtains for striped bass because everyone is killing em, I might as well take it ... Someone is gonna eat it anyway... might as well be me!!"

Its a shame when anglers adopt this "i might as well get mine if its over" attitude which only helps it become a self fulfilling prophecy.

See this is exactly the additude a lot of guys had in 86 and 87, right before the moratorium. The rod and reel comms on the Back all said the same thing. "If this is the end of the Stripers then I'm taking all I can before someone else does."
The slaughter in the Canal, the slaughter on the SW Reef and the EEZ all have directly contributed to this. I fished the Canal with Mike L this past spring and I watched a guy put 3 30+# fish in his truck at the Sag. No DEM guys around, no enforcement of the regs.
We all saw this coming, as we did back in the first slaughter.

There is an answer and that's Game Fish Status. I don't want to hear about the C&R mortality. That's Bull crap. Game Fish Status worked fot Snook, Tarpon, etc. It has to be across the board, ALL STATES. It will have to start with a moratorium. CLOSE IT DOWN!!!!

[rphud]

I think the best path right now (well very soon anyways) is closing the fishery down for certain periods of time to prevent too many fish from being taken and to allow for easier enforcement. If we can't get there just start counting the days until an overall moratorium. Maybe this years young count will finally push that decision across the finish line if they realize size limits are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

[Got Stripers]

I think most of us old farts have fished through the lean times, the moratorium and the incredible fishing we had after the rebound. Technology, the internet, the juvenile mentality of the young guys getting into this sport a decade ago, all combined to add to the slaughter and disregard for the fishery. GAME FISH is the answer, but I won’t be alive if and when it happens. I’m grateful to have fished in some great years and that at 70, I have other passions now that fill the void.

[redlite]

Originally Posted by piemma

See this is exactly the additude a lot of guys had in 86 and 87, right before the moratorium. The rod and reel comms on the Back all said the same thing. "If this is the end of the Stripers then I'm taking all I can before someone else does."
The slaughter in the Canal, the slaughter on the SW Reef and the EEZ all have directly contributed to this. I fished the Canal with Mike L this past spring and I watched a guy put 3 30+# fish in his truck at the Sag. No DEM guys around, no enforcement of the regs.
We all saw this coming, as we did back in the first slaughter.

There is an answer and that's Game Fish Status. I don't want to hear about the C&R mortality. That's Bull crap. Game Fish Status worked fot Snook, Tarpon, etc. It has to be across the board, ALL STATES. It will have to start with a moratorium. CLOSE IT DOWN!!!!

Ha. I was hot to trot to post about this as an hour ago as I passed a squirrel cop doin a road detail again and was on the phone with my fishing buddy about it but you beat me to it
Typical politicians passing more restrictive regulations when they don't do their jobs to enforce the regs already on the books.
You are a better man than me cause I can't bring myself or my kid to deal with that #^&#^&#^&#^& show in the canal. All i have read about heard and witnessed over the past few years with blatant poaching down there is asinine. Dont get me wrong. They don't call me saint michael cause my halo is on crooked. I have toed the gray line plenty over the years. But what continues to happen at the canal/ RR bridge with no enforcement I am speechless about when it is well advertised everywhere and easy to enforce. Too many of these squirrel cops are afraid to deal with language barriers of poachers for fear of more hassle of opening a can of worms regarding legal statuses/ immigration / licensing. They would rather turn a blind eye to it. Just like the judges that try these poachers with the attitude of you are taking up precious court time for fish I eat for dinner when I have a lobby full of murderers. Slap on the wrist. Next.
I spoke with a young new squirrel cop to the Westport area 3 yrs ago (i out of the game now) in the middle of the nite about it and he agreed that most of them don't care about / see the significance of a few poached fish. This kid assured me he would never shirk his duties cause if one does it, so will their whole circle. Domino effect.
My buddy and I talked about how many more fish are probably killed in one good tide in the canal is prob more than the whole comm fleet does in a season.
Now I understand why what I felt was a yahoo that came out with "stars n' striper" sticker guy was about back in the mid 90's down the backside when I got after it hardcore. He had lived through the moratorium. I was too young to remember the lean years and it was a bonanza at the time. Now I'm getting ready to put that last one of those stickers I have on my truck
Sad
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[piemma]

Absolutely a super post Mike! We lived it when it was "of another world".
You can't explain what it felt to be on The Back at the Mission Bell at 2:00 Am with a dropping tide, a NE wind and a sliver of a Moon.

I saw s hit at the canal that just pissed me off so much. I went because it's easier on my old body than Nathans Cove or Black Point or Deep Hole.
I will fish the Back,, again before I pass.

[afterhours]

[QUOTE=piemma;

There is an answer and that's Game Fish Status. I don't want to hear about the C&R mortality. That's Bull crap. Game Fish Status worked fot Snook, Tarpon, etc. It has to be across the board, ALL STATES. It will have to start with a moratorium. CLOSE IT DOWN!!!![/QUOTE]

QUOTE=Got Stripers;
GAME FISH is the answer, but I won’t be alive if and when it happens.


Been preaching that for many, many years...

[hq2]

I’m starting to worry about the togs too, RIRockhound. Had my own spot since the early 90s to go to, never saw anyone there until recently. Saw a couple of guys togging it this summer, and noticed a whole bunch of 15 to 16 inch fish, like they’d been picked over, which never happened before. And we didn’t come close to limiting this fall there either. So even my spot, where I’d never seen anyone for 30 years has finally been found. Used to catch bluefish near there too; not any more. In a few years there won’t be anything besides BSB and scup.

[bloocrab]

It's been echoed throughout this post, but yeah..It's the perfect storm...poor spawning-periods which we're all experiencing in regard to schoolies over a good number of years now, social media, much better technology for the boat guys, social media, no spot is secret anymore, social media, encyclopedias on how, where and WHEN to fish the Canal, social media, ignorant chest beaters looking for attention, social media guy catches a fish, he's on the phone before he even releases it social media lack of law-enforcement from top to bottom, perfect storm....Although we've all made some life-long friendships via the web and social-sites like this one, I remember telling some friends many years ago, this internet thing is gonna ruin what we have....

[PaulS]

Originally Posted by bloocrab

It's been echoed throughout this post, but yeah..It's the perfect storm...poor spawning-periods which we're all experiencing in regard to schoolies over a good number of years now, social media, much better technology for the boat guys, social media, no spot is secret anymore, social media, encyclopedias on how, where and WHEN to fish the Canal, social media, ignorant chest beaters looking for attention, social media guy catches a fish, he's on the phone before he even releases it social media lack of law-enforcement from top to bottom, perfect storm....Although we've all made some life-long friendships via the web and social-sites like this one, I remember telling some friends many years ago, this internet thing is gonna ruin what we have....

Yes, all of those. I don't blame social media as much as you but it certainly plays a part. We also hammer them all year and esp. in their spawning areas - you can't believe the big fish they catch in the Raritan. I think the tech. also plays a big part where boat guys can almost target individual fish. I even have a friend who has a bobber he throws out when we fish a river and will tell us the depth and where all the fish are.

We need a cold, wet winter for a good spawn and we haven't gotten that lately.

I agree, make SB a game fish but the comms. are too powerful.

[bloocrab]

Paul...I noted social media as often as I did because way back in the day...there were no cell-phones, never-mind social media. By the time you heard the fish were set up somewhere, they could have moved on by the time someone else got there.

Today, people aren't even keeping it between close friends...it goes viral almost immediately. People are more interested in getting "likes", comments of praise or hits to further their online ego or status without concern to consequence (because most didn't do the work themselves nor know the history of the fishery, NOR care). This is happening at every level, from the guy posting on any given social media site for his own personal gain, to the Charter guy looking to fill their boat with patrons. It no longer upsets me as it's become the norm and well outside my control...but it was definitely the turning point for the Canal. One can only imagine the mortality rate at that spot...from the stress the fish endure fighting current and fisherman, to the extended photo-ops when caught, to the poor release with minimal resuscitation. People think that when they release those fish, they all make it because they swim away...when a fish lays on its side or worse, belly-up 20 yards later, 90% die due to lack of bladder control or energy to correct themselves. Boating guys who frequent either end of the canal can vouch to how many fish they see float by belly-up ...and now with a 3" slot?? Who da fudge thought that would help the fishery??? So a normal guy goes fishing at the canal hoping to catch a striper to take home to eat...how many fish will he injure trying to catch that fish that has to fall within the 3" window?? Then add all the a$$-hats, regardless of ethnicity just plain stoopid IMO -

Not for nothing, but I've caught a few fish in my life-time, but rarely post a fish-pic, and even then, I've always tried to be inconspicuous, and yeah, specifically because I don't like giving up spots that I frequent...Sure, I love to see pictures of fish, especially caught by friends, so I'm not bashing guys who post pics, I just shake my head when I can tell where they are...but to each their own.