Striped Bass Report, Jersey Shore

[BrookieChaser]

I only had about a half hour or so to fish in DE, or I should say practice double hauling.

 

[marcq]

imo I would only take the betty and nicks report with a grain of salt. It has become a love hate relationship with them. As a store great they carry great plugs some fly fishing stuff and friendly staff. But those video weight in right after fish start biting really annoy me. Every time there is a decent amount of fish in the area eveyone flocks to seaside and ibsp. I get that it brings business but god every time I went this past fall it was a zoo. You look silly if you even tried fly fishing. I also think he blows the fishing up. You get days where they have like twenty videos of fish. Ive been there and have seen it. But there are thousands of people fishing like every fifteen feet form one another pretty much from seaside to area 22.

As for me havent been out much. The fishing is spotty at best. Kinda glad to hear about all the bunker around but when the heck are the sandeels gonna show up. Now I just fill the time I would be fishing with learning to master the banjo.

 

[vcregular]

10 years ago today - got on the beach - and found this. Peanuts in the trough and bass pushing through them for hours. Turned out to be a day to remember and unfortunately one I feel we won't be repeating anytime soon. 2004 was a good fall.

For the beach guys, anything happening?

 

[Mike]

Errata and update: The striper regs up and down the coast could vary considerably from state to state based on the most recent actions by the ASMFC. While I too thought that 28"and 1 per day was going to be the standard reg, such is not necessarily the case. Each state may pick from any of the "B" group of regs in the document provided earlier in this thread. This could complicate things for anglers, but we'll see what really occurs within about a month or so.

 

[Fredrick]

Mike wrote:
Errata and update: The striper regs up and down the coast could vary considerably from state to state based on the most recent actions by the ASMFC. While I too thought that 28"and 1 per day was going to be the standard reg, such is not necessarily the case. Each state may pick from any of the "B" group of regs in the document provided earlier in this thread. This could complicate things for anglers, but we'll see what really occurs within about a month or so.

I'm hoping most states stay at the one at 28 which I believe equals to a 31% reduction . But some sort of a slot limit would be good also for the cows . I know the reps from NY,NJ and Chesapeak area were not happy with the changes so lets wait and see what how they try to spin it .

 

[vcregular]

Fred, You are being too optimistic. It appears the pro kill states have found a way to continue to kill. So while we thought we would see meaningful action to recover the stock I guess we will have to wait and see, and if it does not we will maybe get a real action plan in the future. Anglers spoke up, but the Council did not listen.

 

[marcq]

I knew this would happen. No one can just agree that there is a problem. Its like they are trying to hurt the population even more. If this past fall wasnt enough evidence that we need to make a change then I guess we need to have a fall run where no one catches a single striped bass. I will say that it is partly because the sandeels never showed up but still. I usually good for at least ten bass a fall run I think I have half that number. And going off size and location they were probably all residents.

 

[geebee]

when was the last good fall run from a fly guys perspective i wonder - i'm thinking 2009 ?

 

[afishinado]

geebee wrote:
when was the last good fall run from a fly guys perspective i wonder - i'm thinking 2009 ?

For me, 2011 was decent, mostly shorts but a few decent fish mixed in from mid November thru December and into January. In fact, one of my best days fishing was the day after New Years Day (Jan 2nd).

The beach (and the fish) were stuffed with sand eels that year. The weather was mild through the period and the water temps hovered near 50* into January.

In 2012 Sandy blew things away

2013 the run was over before it started

2014 - pic of my fish caught on the beach, below

 

[marcq]

I agree with 2011. ibsp had a ton of sandeels. It was kinda a transition period for me form spin to fly but earlier in that year had a few bass in September and came across a awesome bluefish blitz. Like 8 to 10 pounders.
Post sandy I still caught fish but nothing great.

2012 was good made the total switch from spin to fly caught around twenty fish. Saw my first weakfish blitz in the surf. Caught two that were questionable keepers and one at 33.

2013 I think it got really cold and shut things down. That's when serious talk started about population.

I'm done for this year. It was a joke how bad it was for me. September there was tons of bait but no fish. and bunker till thanksgiving bazaar. Not one sandeel.

 

[Mike]

Striped bass fishing was great after Hurricane Sandy went through once you found a place where you could still launch a boat. We did quite well between Belmar and Sandy Hook and on most days saw only a few other boats. A lot of beaches were inaccessible but the boat fishing was excellent.

 

[BruceC2C]

MANY THANKS, to all who contribute to this NJ STRIPED BASS thread.
It helps me stay informed and connected when my rare trips to the salt are frequently deferred.

 

[Fredrick]

I can't wait to see this one
SIFF14 - Trailer from Peter Laurelli on Vimeo.

 

[Fredrick]

Good news for bait

Mid-Atlantic Council Initiates Action to Protect Unmanaged Forage Species
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted at its meeting last week to initiate an action that would protect unmanaged species of forage fish in the Mid-Atlantic. This action would place restrictions on the development or expansion of directed fisheries on these fish.
Forage fish are small, low trophic level fish that play a central role in the marine food chain. These species facilitate the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels by consuming very small prey, such as zooplankton, and then being eaten by larger predator fish and other marine animals. Forage fish also serve a broader role in sustaining the productivity and structure of marine ecosystems.
Given the importance of forage fisheries to the productivity of many commercially and recreationally valuable species, the Council has become increasingly interested in management options to protect unmanaged forage species. “The Northeast region has previously experienced rapid expansions, and subsequent collapses, of fisheries that were not managed or assessed,” said the Council’s Chairman, Rick Robins. “In some cases this resulted in a suite of economic, social, and ecological consequences.”
As part of the Council’s ongoing development of a Guidance Document to support Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management (EAFM) the Council is preparing a series of policy white papers on a range of issues. The Council has identified forage species and their management as a key area of focus, and during last week’s meeting the Council received a presentation on forage species and recommendations on management approaches that the Council could consider.
After extensive discussion, the Council voted unanimously to initiate a regulatory action to prohibit the development of new, or expansion of existing, directed fisheries on unmanaged forage species until adequate scientific information is available to promote ecosystem sustainability.
“This initiative recognizes that forage species play a uniquely important role in marine ecosystems,” said Chairman Robins. “We recognize that the potential development of fisheries for forage species will require a proactive and orderly management approach to ensure the sustainability of these ecologically important species.”

 

[Fishidiot]

Good news - thanks Fredrick! Please keep us posted.

 

[marcq]

He is always doing some crazy new stuff every year. The SUP part looks crazy.

 

[geebee]

cool.

where ws he fishing for stripers ? - NY Guide Randy Jones used to take a stepladder on the Monomoy Ferry (RipRyder) and haul it across the flast so he could spot fish for his clients, but i never saw anyone fish from one.

 

[marcq]

My buddy pmed him on another forum and he said mostly NY CT and RI. I think he fishes block based off other video ive seen. Not sure where the ladder stuff is filmed. Generally he always gets a few shots from breezy point in each video. Most of his spring stuff is around the Hudson.
Geebee they do a lot of ladder fishing for giant cutthroats in pyramid lake.

 

[geebee]

yeah i've seen the pyramid lake stuff. big fish !

i watched one vid and saw point Jude in RI.

perhaps the sight fishing is up inside Narragansett Bay - i didn't think NY had clear enough water for sightfishing.

 

[ebroesicke]

some guides are sight fishing LI sound.