Mass Striper decline numbers from NOAA

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by l.i.fish.in.vt

johnny,if you spent any amount of time on the water,you would know it isn't a few isolated schools of fish.personally i would base the health of the fishery on the expierence of guys like Kenny and others that i know who put as much time in as he does.

In my crowd, there are a bunch of guys who have been boat fishing the western sound reefs forever. I have only done it for maybe the last 9 years. Typical May from Hempstead to Norwalk, then later Milford, you would get your bunker, head out to the reefs and regularly catch bunches of nice fish. Chumming and chunking, swimming live, whatever. The last several springs, particularly so in the last two, there were dramatically fewer fish and many skunks. Miles of bunker, followed by miles of sand eels. Five years ago, a skunk was almost unheard under those conditions. The fish went out of Raritan and south or out east, and through the sound toward Rhode Island. To think that the poor fishing north and east is because the fish are hanging off Jersey or are offshore is probably wishful thinking. They used to be in all of those places. It isn't the seals in CT, RI, NH, NC, and most of MA.

[CowHunter]

Originally Posted by zimmy

In my crowd, there are a bunch of guys who have been boat fishing the western sound reefs forever. I have only done it for maybe the last 9 years. Typical May from Hempstead to Norwalk, then later Milford, you would get your bunker, head out to the reefs and regularly catch bunches of nice fish. Chumming and chunking, swimming live, whatever. The last several springs, particularly so in the last two, there were dramatically fewer fish and many skunks. Miles of bunker, followed by miles of sand eels. Five years ago, a skunk was almost unheard under those conditions. The fish went out of Raritan and south or out east, and through the sound toward Rhode Island. To think that the poor fishing north and east is because the fish are hanging off Jersey or are offshore is probably wishful thinking. They used to be in all of those places. It isn't the seals in CT, RI, NH, NC, and most of MA.

The western sound is a good indicator, guess good old greg meyerson had no problem just a few miles east, silver eels, on secret patent rigs and multiple 60's, release a few 70's and boated a world record!

[Pharmacyguy]

Originally Posted by zimmy

In my crowd, there are a bunch of guys who have been boat fishing the western sound reefs forever. I have only done it for maybe the last 9 years. Typical May from Hempstead to Norwalk, then later Milford, you would get your bunker, head out to the reefs and regularly catch bunches of nice fish. Chumming and chunking, swimming live, whatever. The last several springs, particularly so in the last two, there were dramatically fewer fish and many skunks. Miles of bunker, followed by miles of sand eels. Five years ago, a skunk was almost unheard under those conditions. The fish went out of Raritan and south or out east, and through the sound toward Rhode Island. To think that the poor fishing north and east is because the fish are hanging off Jersey or are offshore is probably wishful thinking. They used to be in all of those places. It isn't the seals in CT, RI, NH, NC, and most of MA.

I read this several times, big schools of bait this fall with nothing on them. I don't like to use anecdotal evidence but this fall during the derby we witnessed ridiculous amounts of bait on a rocky. "fishy" spot that had nothing on them. I mean bait so thick we turned on our headlamps to see what the noise was and nowhere along that half mile stretch of shore did we witness even some twinks assaulting that bait

[CowHunter]

Originally Posted by Pharmacyguy

I read this several times, big schools of bait this fall with nothing on them. I don't like to use anecdotal evidence but this fall during the derby we witnessed ridiculous amounts of bait on a rocky. "fishy" spot that had nothing on them. I mean bait so thick we turned on our headlamps to see what the noise was and nowhere along that half mile stretch of shore did we witness even some twinks assaulting that bait

Thats the problem..... "You Read" werent you there? wonder how many people who are complaining on here are actually fishing????

[Eric Roach]

Some people do not learn unless it is first-hand.

When anglers in ME and NH started voicing concerns a few years ago, some guys from southern New England and NY called us alarmists. I think many in those states have a different opinion today.

The menatality of some of the anglers in this thread is truly alarming. It seems some don't want to see beyond their own limited experience -- they could be one day tracking and pounding on the last school of bass in the Atlantic and their perception would be all is well, and their primary concern would be promoting their success.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Eric Roach

The menatality of some of the anglers in this thread is truly alarming. It seems some don't want to see beyond their own limited experience -- they could be one day tracking and pounding on the last school of bass in the Atlantic and their perception would be all is well, and their primary concern would be promoting their success.

The mentality of some is motivated by the all-mighty dollar. I'd bet 9 out of 10 people that say the bass are healthy and no new regulations should be made are also people that commercially fish, provide charters or both.

[l.i.fish.in.vt]

if people stopped living in the past and look what is happening now maybe they might catch a few fish.i have been fishing more than 50 years,so i have a little idea of what happened back in the ''day''not always as rosie as some of the old farts make it out to be. zimmy you ever think maybe those fish in the western sound decided to swim the other way around.pretty good fishing on the south shore of LI,though my favorite SS bay didn't load up because the brown tide keep the bunker from coming in,but my freinds with boats had no lack of fish a mile off the beach.

[Chunkah]

It's funny that the two guys in this thread that seem to be bitching and complaining the most (at least on the last few pages) about the proposed bills here in MA aren't even from here!

Why doesn't the NJ guy just keep on killing 3 a day along with his clients and V.T. can go fish a lake.....pathetic.

[CowHunter]

Originally Posted by Chunkah

It's funny that the two guys in this thread that seem to be bitching and complaining the most (at least on the last few pages) about the proposed bills here in MA aren't even from here!

Why doesn't the NJ guy just keep on killing 3 a day along with his clients and V.T. can go fish a lake.....pathetic.

Pathetic: The rich yuppies proposing the bills are from Maine!
And by the way I killed Plenty of bass in mass and am deserving of a break you know..... theres a lack of fish there??????

NJ Bonus tags, AKA Game Fish State, Happy Together!

[l.i.fish.in.vt]

Chunka,i actually spend as much time on the cape as i do in Vt.from may to late oct i am on the cape. i fish just about every night,and 3 to 4 days a week on mt kayak. i work in a tackle shop. hold a comm. license and build plugs i have more to lose than most if the fishery fails.you might want to take a reading compretention course, as i never mention anything against the bills.do i see a decline in the number of fishermen in the last 8 years most definitly,i would think this might have something to do with decreased landings. i i see a decline in the amount of fish caught from the beach,at times yes .i am seeing much bigger concentrations of fish and catching many more fish in an outing than ever before.i hear people talk about an area having no fish yet i never see them fishing that area.in the spring i talk to freinds in delaware,nj,li that are into miles of fish,with no one in sight until the word gets out.getting tried of hearing people moan and groan over their keyboards.if there is a problem it is where the fish spawn and maturelooking forward to another year by myself and a few freinds.

[bucko]

Fish are offshore and concentrated...ok but is there any data (science) that points to the size of the total bass population doing anything but shrinking?

The YOY index is trending down with the exception of 2011. We need to conserve...