Herring ban lifted in 2012 ?

[PaulS]

Personally, I hope they all stay closed. I rather throw Pencils and rubber shads to imitate herring than not have the bass there b/c there's no bait.

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Personally, I hope they all stay closed. I rather throw Pencils and rubber shads to imitate herring than not have the bass there b/c there's no bait.

2X this sentiment.

I figure that if the herring are left alone, then the bass will follow them and feed, getting heavier and stronger throughout the season.
This will force us to become better anglers, and learn how to use the tackle we all acquire during our lives.

Or, we could just resort to plundering the bait that is sustaining (partially) the fish we seek.

I could only dream of a season where the bass have been feeding on an abundant supply of herring and bunker that hadn't been decimated by the fishing fleets, and hearing more and more reports , CONFIRMED reports, of people catching 50+ lbers.

Unfortunately, that will NEVER happen, and we are left to try and catch what nature now provides.

Remember when catching a 1000 lb. tuna was not uncommon in our area? I do recall a couple of rare occaisions when they were brought to the docks in Marshfield back in the early 90's.

Nowadays, catching a 1000 lb. tuna is impossible. If they do exist, it's only in the minds of those that remember what they were like.

The herring ban has helped somewhat, but a menhaden ban would also be beneficial.

[Mr. Sandman]

Tim,

Your right, the bass will follow the bait. Herring live in the ocean. Then, the bass end up like this!

Videos Posted by HonestByCatch.com: Suspected Striped Bass ByCatch East of Chatham [HQ] | Facebook

BTW, these fish were not part of any comm quota. Unaccounted for and dead.


This is the problem with herring, its not the guy at the run looking for a dozen baits. period.

[pmbrac]

Since the ban, I have taken more bigger fish than I've ever taken before,, most like because I now spend more time fishing now instead of chasing herring through the woods all night.. I really don't miss it all that much..

[Clammer]

I kinda agree with PS & TM ;

I personally hope they never open it again. let the population get stronger & stronger ...............creating more food for the bass /& their scent will pull the bass within fishing area,s / yet by not being able to use herring / it will dramatically reduce the slaughter of large at a earlier date / large will still be caught but on plugs or eels & the slaugher will hold off until>if & when the pogies arrive ;;

JMI MIKE

[angler229]

Here is another problem with opening it. While some runs are strong and doing well there a good number that are just starting to rebound, so what happens if you do open it. You can't just open a couple runs because the pressure on them will be immense and if you open all the runs the ones that are just starting to recover will be wiped back out and then we'll be starting from scratch again. So I say leave them close let the numbers continue to grow and keep restoring the fish ladders.

[FishermanTim]

I agree whole-heartedly. The waterways that herring would use should be restored to as pristine a condition as possible.
If the river has a dam that is not needed, then remove it.

Gee, I wonder how many rivers flodded their banks because of old dams downstream that were never removed when they no longer served their purpose?
I'd guess ALL OF THEM, since the state hates to spend money to do anything for the taxpayers, unless they can get something back in return.

[piemma]

The herring ban has helped somewhat, but a menhaden ban would also be beneficial.[/QUOTE]

RI has a new set of laws on the books, as of this year, for bunker in the Bay. I don't fully understand them but the jist of what I got from reading was that there can be no commercial havest of bunker until there is 2 million pounds in the Bay. When that number is hit, the commercial boats (read Arc Bait) can take a total of no more than 500, 000 pounds. Then it closes. In theory this means that there will be a constant sustained population of 1.5 million pounds of bunker in Narragansett Bay.
Now, I am not gullible enough to believe that the DEM guys can police the numbers so this will be an inaccurate science. How do they know when 2 million pounds are in residence? They will know when 500,000 pounds are taken as long as they keep a DEM guy on the commercial boats. I hope this works because last year was just stupid. You had these guys in a boat from Glouster MA (the Ugly Duck) s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g up every menhaden they could find, running offshore and unloading and then running back up to the Hurricane Barrier in Prov and doing it again and again. They finally got caught and, I heard, they are banned from fishing RI waters forever.

Now I have nothing against the commercial guys. Don't take this as a knock on them. The problem last year was that they netted EVERYTHING swimming in the upper Bay and by June you couldn't buy a bunker for $50. They were just all netted or vacumned up. There needs to be equality so all of the fishermen (recs and comms) get to use the resource.

[Adam_777]

Originally Posted by piemma

The herring ban has helped somewhat, but a menhaden ban would also be beneficial.

RI has a new set of laws on the books, as of this year, for bunker in the Bay. I don't fully understand them but the jist of what I got from reading was that there can be no commercial havest of bunker until there is 2 million pounds in the Bay. When that number is hit, the commercial boats (read Arc Bait) can take a total of no more than 500, 000 pounds. Then it closes. In theory this means that there will be a constant sustained population of 1.5 million pounds of bunker in Narragansett Bay.
Now, I am not gullible enough to believe that the DEM guys can police the numbers so this will be an inaccurate science. How do they know when 2 million pounds are in residence? They will know when 500,000 pounds are taken as long as they keep a DEM guy on the commercial boats. I hope this works because last year was just stupid. You had these guys in a boat from Glouster MA (the Ugly Duck) s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g up every menhaden they could find, running offshore and unloading and then running back up to the Hurricane Barrier in Prov and doing it again and again. They finally got caught and, I heard, they are banned from fishing RI waters forever.

Now I have nothing against the commercial guys. Don't take this as a knock on them. The problem last year was that they netted EVERYTHING swimming in the upper Bay and by June you couldn't buy a bunker for $50. They were just all netted or vacumned up. There needs to be equality so all of the fishermen (recs and comms) get to use the resource.

They blamed the weather wasn't allowing the spotters to fly and get a good count.They never closed it until it was too late.That and the guys fishing for them with the wrong nets and others exploiting the laws made it a bad year for bunker.There was a few shops paying guys from out of state for secret shipments that were paid for before they even arrived and at crazy prices.I'd like to see them keep the pogie boats out of the bay for good.They offer nothing good to the state,the health of the bay or any fishery.I'd rather get my own bait.


Herring should stay closed until they are healthy in every run and so thick you could walk on them.Even at that point we should wait a few more years and just observe the patterns and use the highest point as a baseline for numbers.

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Personally, I hope they all stay closed. I rather throw Pencils and rubber shads to imitate herring than not have the bass there b/c there's no bait.

Thank you ... throw a plug ... leave the herring for the bass ,,, no herring, no bass ,,. it will only get better and better .. Don't be so eager to stomp on them .. Everyone is doing fine without lobbing herring ..

[WadingWill]

Originally Posted by Tagger

Thank you ... throw a plug ... leave the herring for the bass ,,, no herring, no bass ,,. it will only get better and better .. Don't be so eager to stomp on them .. Everyone is doing fine without lobbing herring ..

I agree with you guys. This will only be my 5th season surfcasting, I've never used a herring and see no need to now. Considering how fragile Herring stocks can be, they'd be better leaving them alone.

[MAC]

Originally Posted by Tagger

Thank you ... throw a plug ... leave the herring for the bass ,,, no herring, no bass ,,. it will only get better and better .. Don't be so eager to stomp on them .. Everyone is doing fine without lobbing herring ..

It was fun though..... even if it was a lot of work.

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by MAC

It was fun though..... even if it was a lot of work.

I did it ... Took the day off from work to get my herring permit every year .. I see it as glorified shiner fishing .. Between spawning , dropping back and then the fry dropping out the herring do enough to get us bass .. When the run is dead so is the bass fishing .. Can't believe we're even talking about this, with the slightest improvement .. Plus live lining is cheating ... No bonus points ..

[Clammer]

Tagger ....you need all the bonus points

[robc22]

It would be nice to harvest river herring for lobster bait again......

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Personally, I hope they all stay closed. I rather throw Pencils and rubber shads to imitate herring than not have the bass there b/c there's no bait.