Why has the fishing from the Cape beaches declined so much? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

bart · 03-07-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe

Think about the Hudson River and how far north breeding/wintering stripers go in its upper reaches.
There is speculation that at one time that other rivers further north were natal rivers for striped bass, but those fish got over-harvested of dammed off.
If a large segment of the fish with a predisposition to a certain location are harvested, and if there is anything to a fishes' instinct to migrate to a certain place, then Numbskull's theory sounds pretty good. One thing's for sure - the Cape was a huge inshore fishery for a long time and now it is not.

thats kind of like Ken Abrahm's theory on different populations of bass. same fish migrate to the same places each year. once they're gone, they're gone....

WadingWill · 03-07-2008, 12:58 PM

I love how people blame this on seals and think they should be killed. The seals NEED to eat those fish to survive. We go fishing because it's fun and we enjoy it, not because we have to or we will starve to death. If we humans hadn't raped the ocean of all the fish that used to be in it, we wouldn't see these seals showing up in these areas. They're a part of the food chain and natural cycle of the ocean, we are not.

Slingah · 03-07-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WadingWill

I love how people blame this on seals and think they should be killed. The seals NEED to eat those fish to survive. We go fishing because it's fun and we enjoy it, not because we have to or we will starve to death. If we humans hadn't raped the ocean of all the fish that used to be in it, we wouldn't see these seals showing up in these areas. They're a part of the food chain and natural cycle of the ocean, we are not.

maybe so.....but don't forget who is at the top of the food chain of the entire planet....

The Dad Fisherman · 03-07-2008, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slingah

maybe so.....but don't forget who is at the top of the food chain of the entire planet....

Mosquitos

Slingah · 03-07-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

Mosquitos

silly me..I thought it was us humans...I'm just gonna stick to finding the perfect pair of loafers...

The Dad Fisherman · 03-07-2008, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slingah

silly me..I thought it was us humans...I'm just gonna stick to finding the perfect pair of loafers...

I used to think that too....then it occurred to me, who's feeding off of us?

eastendlu · 03-07-2008, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

I used to think that too....then it occurred to me, who's feeding off of us?

That would be the oil companies but thats another thread!!

Rappin Mikey · 03-07-2008, 01:28 PM

WW, this is "Striped-Bass.com" not "Seals.com". Obviously you don't fish out there, and I guarantee you would be singing a different tune if your fishing grounds were almost renedered useless by a species of animal that's population has exploded and started to spread like a disease. I guess people who complain about zebra muscles are morons too. After all, they need to live in the water.

WadingWill · 03-07-2008, 01:37 PM

I never called anybody a moron. I just think the train of thought is funny. We overfished the places the seals would normaly eat, forcing them to find other habitats. Now they come to your neck of the woods, and ruin your fishing(which is debatable) so they should all be killed so you can catch more fish and have more fun.

fishpoopoo · 03-07-2008, 01:39 PM

bruce,

funny, i was talking to dave m not too long ago about this. he thinks it's largely cyclical too.

-b

RickBomba · 03-07-2008, 01:48 PM

Go gettem Mikey!
Still gotta nother 3 weeks till fishing gets good!
Later,
Rick
Vice President Sealz.com

Rappin Mikey · 03-07-2008, 01:48 PM

What do you mean by "debatable" exactly? About the moron comment. I kind of picked up on some passive aggressive undertones in your first post and was just playing off of that. Honestly tell me you wouldn't get frustrated if a place you were fishing for years, all of a sudden became almost unfishable because of an animal that was never there before. If you can tell me that wouldn't bother you, I think you might be on the wrong site.

parker23 · 03-07-2008, 01:51 PM

ooops, did I say that out loud

WadingWill · 03-07-2008, 01:57 PM

I'm just saying you don't know for a fact the reason that you've seen a decline in stripers is directly linked to seals. I agree with numbskulls theory, but none of us know for a fact. That makes it up for debate.

I would be upset if one of the spots I fished was being taken over by seals, but I realize that they need to eat those fish alot more than I do and instead of killing the seals, I'd try to find out why it was happening.

And I guess since I'm not down with the extinction of the seal species, I can't be a real striper fisherman according to you.

saltfly · 03-07-2008, 02:10 PM

the fish are afraid of all the young plovers,terns,kites,oystercatchers,sanderlings lurking at the edge of the wash.

chris L · 03-07-2008, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltfly

the fish are afraid of all the young plovers,terns,kites,oystercatchers,sanderlings lurking at the edge of the wash.

so am I .

Its a cycle ! notice there isnt much bait . was that scared off by the seals ? I doubt it . seals need to eat food that is going to be filling . and bait doesnt fit the bill even for my little frame .

CANAL RAT · 03-13-2008, 10:05 AM

[QUOTE=WadingWill;572283]I never called anybody a moron. I just think the train of thought is funny. We overfished the places the seals would normaly eat, forcing them to find other habitats. Now they come to your neck of the woods, and ruin your fishing(which is debatable) so they should all be killed so you can catch more fish and have more fun.[/QUOTE

well i hunt for deer and i can tell you if theres too many deer it puts undo stress on the land and runins and desise runs ramped among deer. i would fully support a controled carfully reserched hunting season on seals with firearms only but we live in liberal lala land MA and uhaul deval and drunk ted kenndey wouldnt have it.... hell the liberals even runied trapping in this state.

point taken that we should conserve habitat, destroyed habitat is the main reason for species deciline but hunting,fishing and trapping licenses go to fund the purchase of wildlife managment areas where wildlife prosper.

Back Beach · 03-07-2008, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bart

thats kind of like Ken Abrahm's theory on different populations of bass. same fish migrate to the same places each year. once they're gone, they're gone....

That's a good theory and I buy into it. I don't think that's the case on the cape right now, but with some of the older classes of fish we caught, I believe that's exactly what happened.They either died of old age or were caught. I would call that scenario depletion/attrition, not genetics though. If it were genetic wouldn't the offspring of the missing fish return to take their place? It would be just like salmon. Who the %$%$%$%$ knows.

This used to be a decent day on the water. Pic is from 1990. My old 12' tin boat and 4 fish in the 40# class.The small one was in the low 20's just for scale. I took the fish right in front of highland light.