Is Something Wrong?

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Pete_G

Any other long term fisherman who have seen far more ups and downs then me want to add some thoughts?

This is a good topic and it could use some additional insight from those who have gone through lean times from shore in the past.

Are there any other factors that are currently in place, especially relating to baitfish that parallel slower stretches in years prior? I tend to agree there's a lot of fish out there, but clearly surf fisherman in many areas aren't or can't cast to them.

Yeah Pete. Mike is right. Even at it's worse it doesn't compare to how bad it was in the mid to late 80s. I remember in 85 when I caught 3 schoolies at Deep Hole one morning and I told the guy who ran the old bait shop on Monahans in Narragansett. He told me I was lying. he hadn't seen any Bass for 3 weeks and this was in June.
When the moratorium was on and we went from 34" to 36". We would fish RI 5 out of 7 nights a week and get maybe 1 fish that was a "keeper". There were no peanut bunker and sand eels and silver sides were the bait to be found. We'd pray for the Mullet run around Sept 15th around Weakapaug because you had a shot at a decent fish...maybe one in a week worth of nights. And I'm talking fishing from 10 or 11 till dawn.
So around 87 or 88 we started to run back up to the Cape. We would run the Back all night and maybe find fish at the Mission Bell or laurias for an hour. If we found fish we'd drive home in the morning. Sleep maybe 3 hours, do stuff with the kids and head back up at 6 or 7. I put in tons of 600 mile weekends when the fish were on the upswing in the early 90s.

During this period of time RI surf sucked big time. Everyone would drive from Narrow River to the Sheep's pen to Poind Jude, Deep Hole, Green Hill, Charlestown, Quonnie, Weakapaug, and watch Hill in one night looking, looking and maybe you got a couple of schoolies.

I am firmly convinced that the huge amount of Bunker up in Narr Bay is having an effect on the fishing everywhere. I have never seen so many big fish concentrated in the Bay. I saw fish from the mid teens to the low 20s all morning yesterday in 74 degree water. You NEVER could find fish in water that warm before but there is so much adult Menhaden in the bay the bass are staying on them. The reason? They are easy pickings. I worked a school that was about 2 or 3 acres yesterday. There were probably several thousand bunker in that school all on top with bass and blues under them. High protein diet for the fish without expending a lot of energy.

Just my humble opinion.

Paul

[Pete_G]

Originally Posted by piemma

Yeah Pete. Mike is right. Even at it's worse it doesn't compare to how bad it was in the mid to late 80s. I remember in 85 when I caught 3 schoolies at Deep Hole one morning and I told the guy who ran the old bait shop on Monahans in Narragansett. He told me I was lying. he hadn't seen any Bass for 3 weeks and this was in June.
When the moratorium was on and we went from 34" to 36". We would fish RI 5 out of 7 nights a week and get maybe 1 fish that was a "keeper". There were no peanut bunker and sand eels and silver sides were the bait to be found. We'd pray for the Mullet run around Sept 15th around Weakapaug because you had a shot at a decent fish...maybe one in a week worth of nights. And I'm talking fishing from 10 or 11 till dawn.
So around 87 or 88 we started to run back up to the Cape. We would run the Back all night and maybe find fish at the Mission Bell or laurias for an hour. If we found fish we'd drive home in the morning. Sleep maybe 3 hours, do stuff with the kids and head back up at 6 or 7. I put in tons of 600 mile weekends when the fish were on the upswing in the early 90s.

During this period of time RI surf sucked big time. Everyone would drive from Narrow River to the Sheep's pen to Poind Jude, Deep Hole, Green Hill, Charlestown, Quonnie, Weakapaug, and watch Hill in one night looking, looking and maybe you got a couple of schoolies.

I am firmly convinced that the huge amount of Bunker up in Narr Bay is having an effect on the fishing everywhere. I have never seen so many big fish concentrated in the Bay. I saw fish from the mid teens to the low 20s all morning yesterday in 74 degree water. You NEVER could find fish in water that warm before but there is so much adult Menhaden in the bay the bass are staying on them. The reason? They are easy pickings. I worked a school that was about 2 or 3 acres yesterday. There were probably several thousand bunker in that school all on top with bass and blues under them. High protein diet for the fish without expending a lot of energy.

Just my humble opinion.

Paul

Good stuff, thanks Paul.

I've only been at it in the salt since the early 90's, and only VERY seriously since the mid 90's. A little over a decade or so just doesn't give you that much perspective, overall.

[Mike P]

Eddy, I think the cycle is a 3 year one, which is why they went with a 3 year moratorium--give the whole biomass from any single run a chance to spawn, and then re-assess the stocks.

I think Bournedale is in big trouble, and should stay closed until they hit the 250,000 fish count.

Of course, since the counter is broken, and the state seems unwilling to give Bourne DNR the money to repair/replace it, no one will really know how many went up this year

[NIB]

I am pretty sure it is three yrs also...
It doesn't matter between the seals an the trawlers they could give em 100 yrs..
I have seen a show on tv how seals have basically decimated herring stocks up north...