johnstevens5462
Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2014
- Messages
- 85
Numbers may or may not actually be down but the reason they appear to be down is because the fish are changing their migratory pattern coupled with the bigger ones are not coming in as close to land as much as before. Shore fishermen are catching less, boat fishermen are catching more.
I personally think the shoreline devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy has a lot to do with it. Folks are frequenting the normal spots that have historically produced fish and the fish aren't there in prior numbers and sizes and they conclude (rightfully) that the numbers are down. Structure has changed. Structural changes equal current changes. Stripers are creatures of current and what folks don't know is there are lots of fish showing up at places that never had many fish before and at times they shouldn't and in salt nobody posts a fishing report telling everyone where they can be found. This change of pattern seems to happen after major hurricanes. I remember after Hurricane Gloria in 1985 fishing changed. And the same thing happened after Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
As for fish being late, they are, and the degree of late is relative to your point of reference. The NE migratory pattern is fish first appear along the mainland oceanfronts and then move well into the inland coves, inlets and rivers before moving back out to the oceanfront and off shore "bass alley". Last year at this time the bigger fish arrived in the inlets around May 1st and had moved out by May 20th. This year the baby schoolies didn't start appearing until around May 15th with the first bigger ones arriving the last few days of May. The shrimp are still spawning in rivers and that is generally over by now. The silversides were all over at this time last year, they are just starting to show now. Sand eels were abundant, they are just showing in numbers along north facing beaches. It was a very cold spring and water temps across the board were running 5-7 degrees cooler this year in early May than the last decade. What is further deceiving is during the last decade the fish have been arriving early and this early arrival is now thought of as normal. It isn't per say, the fish this year were two weeks late compared to the pre last decade historical normal schedule but four weeks late compared to the "normal" schedule established by the last decade.
The moon cycle on tides has a tremendous effect. The full moon of April generally starts the spring frenzy in the coves when water temps are right but the water the temps were not right at the time of the full moon in April so nothing happened. The temps then became right but the moon cycle wasn't so things got delayed until the May full moon, which was around May 13th. Last year the April full moon was around April 24th, this year it was around April 15th. So what this means is at full moon in April this year water temps were 10-12 degrees cooler than last year at full moon.
Last fall, as an example, the stripers held in the Cape Cod canal a lot later than normal and typically when they will migrate south the RI and CT shoreline will get a nice run but they stayed off shore completely bypassing both states, had a brief appearance at Montauk, and then showed up on the Jersey shore in full force. By all accounts the fall run along the shore in NJ was one of the best in years. Fall fishing on the Cape was excellent. However, fall fishing along the shore in RI and CT was one of the worst in years yet off shore fishing in "bass alley" was one of the best in years.
Ones assessment of the the state of the fishery all depends where you fish. I do believe there is overharvest and I do believe the overall numbers are down but not to the extent most think. This spring I caught more twelve to fourteen inch schoolies than ever before, which is a great sign for future years.
I personally think the shoreline devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy has a lot to do with it. Folks are frequenting the normal spots that have historically produced fish and the fish aren't there in prior numbers and sizes and they conclude (rightfully) that the numbers are down. Structure has changed. Structural changes equal current changes. Stripers are creatures of current and what folks don't know is there are lots of fish showing up at places that never had many fish before and at times they shouldn't and in salt nobody posts a fishing report telling everyone where they can be found. This change of pattern seems to happen after major hurricanes. I remember after Hurricane Gloria in 1985 fishing changed. And the same thing happened after Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
As for fish being late, they are, and the degree of late is relative to your point of reference. The NE migratory pattern is fish first appear along the mainland oceanfronts and then move well into the inland coves, inlets and rivers before moving back out to the oceanfront and off shore "bass alley". Last year at this time the bigger fish arrived in the inlets around May 1st and had moved out by May 20th. This year the baby schoolies didn't start appearing until around May 15th with the first bigger ones arriving the last few days of May. The shrimp are still spawning in rivers and that is generally over by now. The silversides were all over at this time last year, they are just starting to show now. Sand eels were abundant, they are just showing in numbers along north facing beaches. It was a very cold spring and water temps across the board were running 5-7 degrees cooler this year in early May than the last decade. What is further deceiving is during the last decade the fish have been arriving early and this early arrival is now thought of as normal. It isn't per say, the fish this year were two weeks late compared to the pre last decade historical normal schedule but four weeks late compared to the "normal" schedule established by the last decade.
The moon cycle on tides has a tremendous effect. The full moon of April generally starts the spring frenzy in the coves when water temps are right but the water the temps were not right at the time of the full moon in April so nothing happened. The temps then became right but the moon cycle wasn't so things got delayed until the May full moon, which was around May 13th. Last year the April full moon was around April 24th, this year it was around April 15th. So what this means is at full moon in April this year water temps were 10-12 degrees cooler than last year at full moon.
Last fall, as an example, the stripers held in the Cape Cod canal a lot later than normal and typically when they will migrate south the RI and CT shoreline will get a nice run but they stayed off shore completely bypassing both states, had a brief appearance at Montauk, and then showed up on the Jersey shore in full force. By all accounts the fall run along the shore in NJ was one of the best in years. Fall fishing on the Cape was excellent. However, fall fishing along the shore in RI and CT was one of the worst in years yet off shore fishing in "bass alley" was one of the best in years.
Ones assessment of the the state of the fishery all depends where you fish. I do believe there is overharvest and I do believe the overall numbers are down but not to the extent most think. This spring I caught more twelve to fourteen inch schoolies than ever before, which is a great sign for future years.
