7 fish
Today, we had a perfect, classic fall set-up: Light West wind, two hours until high, rising into sunrise, and the middle of September. Typically in years past, this is the recipe for an epic fall blitz in our bay…
Last year, we did not have a fall blitz on our bay in September. It was nearly void of fish. In October, a handful of big fish did come into the bay and also out front. A small quantity of big fish were moving down the coast. This year, September started out better than last year, but not by much. And today it bottomed out. We covered a LOT of water in search of structure and topwater stripers that just weren’t there.
Where are the fish? This month there have been public input meetings from Maine to New Jersey to discuss this exact question. In short, the fish stocks have been in a very slow, subtle decline for the past ten years, according to my records and other records from anglers and guides on the coast. The number and quantities of fish we saw ten years ago are long gone. Over-fished and under managed. But finally, people are listening to what guides and anglers have been saying for several years in our region: the fish stocks seem to be less and less each season. And now, a new management is being considered, and I for one, welcome it with open arms. For years, I have proposed a one fish limit, thirty-six inches or greater, from Maine to Chesapeake, but nobody has really taken it seriously. There are many, many facets to a striped bass management plan, with many, many diverse commercial and recreational interests involved, depending on what coastal state you live in. You can’t make everyone happy and the best management plan needs to do the most good, for the most people, for the long run. I don’t think we will ever see a one fish limit of 36″ inches or greater for the entire East coast striper population. But, we will see a new management plan in place, hopefully for 2015, that will start the fish stocks on the road to recovery in the northern waters regions.
A solid month of striped bass season on our bay is still left and we could see some decent fish come into the bay or out front. But it won’t be consistent in size and quanity of ten years ago. The new management plan will hopefully get us back there.
NE winds at 18 knots late tonight into tomorrow! I think we will be staying off the bay.
Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com