2013 Striper run?

[sternline]

Originally Posted by Reel Class

3 mile EEZ "law" is ridiculous - agreed. It's been in place for several years (I really don't know how many years but for a LONG time) and up until recently, it wasn't really enforced with the vigor that we see in current times.

The enforcement of possession bass in the EEZ is a $$$ maker for our federal government, as it's a federal offense so the money they make from fines goes to the fed - hence the reason for the "initiative" by the CG to enforce it and why so much effort is going into enforcing it.


It would be nice to see the coast GUARD do it's real job, and that's protect law abiding citizens of this country, not enforce draconian laws on law abiding citizens that are reminiscent of the 1700's British rule LOL

!

So you think the big bad government set up the EEZ ban on stripers to make money? It was we recreational anglers and other conservationists who fought for this to save striped bass from virtual extinction. Read Dick Russell's great book STRIPER WARS to learn the true history of this great victory for recreational anglers and for the marine environment. Every time I catch a striper, I'm grateful for this victory that allows the bass to thrive in the EEZ. And I'm grateful to all of us in New Jersey who fought for the ban on commercial fishing for stripers in our waters.
Learn this history and don't forget it. Otherwise you may end up wondering what ever happened to all those stripers we were catching back in the first decades of the 21st century.

[Capt Sal]

If there was a nation wide ban on commercial landings of striped bass we would not need the EEZ restriction!NJ does not allow commercial landing of striped bass so we have to worry about the out of state boats.Maryland and Virginia are main offenders.I am sure we will read about another greedy netter taking tons of illegal bass in Chesapeak Bay.

[Reel Class]

Originally Posted by sternline

So you think the big bad government set up the EEZ ban on stripers to make money? It was we recreational anglers and other conservationists who fought for this to save striped bass from virtual extinction. Read Dick Russell's great book STRIPER WARS to learn the true history of this great victory for recreational anglers and for the marine environment. Every time I catch a striper, I'm grateful for this victory that allows the bass to thrive in the EEZ. And I'm grateful to all of us in New Jersey who fought for the ban on commercial fishing for stripers in our waters.
Learn this history and don't forget it. Otherwise you may end up wondering what ever happened to all those stripers we were catching back in the first decades of the 21st century.

Just an FYI - I'm fully aware of the conservation efforts that were undertaken 20+ years ago to save OUR striped bass and I'm also fully aware of why the regulations within the EEZ were implemented. I was born in the mid 70's and didn't see a striper until the early 90's - I DO KNOW WHAT WAS DONE TO SAVE STRIPED BASS from extinction --- Please don't insult my intelligence

If you re-read my post, I have no problem with conservation efforts to save these fish and I applaud the "victory" conservationists have created for all saltwater anglers who target striped bass. That has NOTHING to do with the EEZ.

I am also not complaining about regulations per se, my complaint is with enforcement of a ridiculous law that is still in place and should be lifted. This law was NOT enforced for over 20 years of it's implementation, now suddenly the USCG has decided to actively pursue any vagrant past the 3 mile line that MAY have a striper on board. Come on man. This is over-regulation and if this "law" was so vital to the survival of striped bass, why didn't the USCG and F&W enforce it in the early 90's till say, 2010? The EEZ was created to protect bass from COMMERCIAL fishermen(as YOU said in your thread above), and the intent was to ALLOW recreational anglers to catch stripers and keep their 2 fish.

Prior to the moratorium, yes these fish were virtually extinct, and yes, it took a great deal of effort to restore the stocks to where they have been, but let's not make my comments into something they are not.

And FYI #2 - Dick Russell is a great author, and Striper Wars is a great book and really does touch on some of the bigger issues that have surrounded conservation of striped bass in the last 30 years -- I've read it three times, cover to cover Feel free to continue to "educate" folks like me bud

[sternline]

Captain, take another look at pages 301-303 of STRIPER WARS. The ban on fishing for stripers in the EEZ began in 1990 and applies to everybody. The Coast Guard was not enforcing the ban until some RECREATIONAL anglers saw the slaughter by of soon-to-spawn females in the EEZ by recreational boats. Jim Price, a fifth-generation waterman (and one of the true heroes of the fight to save menhaden), saw about 50 recreational boats massacring these females 6 miles off the NC coast and raised hell with the Coast Guard--as he should have.
If that 3-mile line is not enforced, we will pay a big price. Now, thanks to the ban, we have lots of bass inshore where small boats, not to mention surf fishers, can enjoy these great fish. When the stripers are migrating they pour into our inshore waters except when the bait isn't here. The problem intermittently last fall and a lot of the time this fall was the absence of bunkers. Even when the stripers were here, they were often feeding on rain fish or sand eels and wouldn't look at a jig. To have those really great fall days, we need to save the bunker, which are in serious trouble.
BTW, I was born in 1934, and I'm thrilled by the NJ striper fishing we have, thanks to that great victory. So forgive me if I sound a little preachy.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal Cathy Sea Charters

It was great for some and terrible for others.The June ocean run of Chesapeak Bass was very disappointing to say the least.The spring run in Raritan Bay was the best in years.The bass started chewing in the bay in April and stayed thru June.Live lining in late May and June was just fine.Every year is different and a lot depends on the bunker population.We had a lot of bunker this year but not to many large spawner.That is why we did not have a great peanut bunker run.Although the hand sized bunker were perfect for live lining they were not spawners.
Many theories about why we had a bad ocean run.Did they migrate out past the 3 mile line?Was the water to cold?Did we have to much South wind?I thik it is all the above.The upcoming year will tell the tale.Our fall run was a sand ell bite.We had our moments on the bigger bass but again there were large schools of bass beyond the 3 mile line.The fish police were there and it is just not woth it to go beyond the line.Sure wish they would change that stupid law!Hoping for a banner year of striper fishing in 2014.How was your year for bass?

Happy New Year Captain Sal! Enjoyed fishing with you this past spring. -Cuz-

[Reel Class]

Originally Posted by sternline

If that 3-mile line is not enforced, we will pay a big price. Now, thanks to the ban, we have lots of bass inshore where small boats, not to mention surf fishers, can enjoy these great fish. When the stripers are migrating they pour into our inshore waters except when the bait isn't here. The problem intermittently last fall and a lot of the time this fall was the absence of bunkers. Even when the stripers were here, they were often feeding on rain fish or sand eels and wouldn't look at a jig. To have those really great fall days, we need to save the bunker, which are in serious trouble.
BTW, I was born in 1934, and I'm thrilled by the NJ striper fishing we have, thanks to that great victory. So forgive me if I sound a little preachy.

Gonna respond to this and your other part re: Russell's book separately sternline.

I respectfully disagree with your bolded statement above. Are you referring to peanut bunker or adult bunker?

Whatever the case, we have had MANY falls when there were no bunker present; peanuts, or adult sized bunker and have caught fish on jigs and plugs from the boat, especially when these fish were feeding on sandeels. We had literally SHOALS of sandeels present this fall, and getting these fish to bite jigs was extremely difficult. Bunker are not the main reason why bass migrate inside the 3 mile line in the fall - there are other reasons.

Yes, they usually get finicky and border on going on lockjaw if the PRIMARY forage is rainfish, but most of these bass we had this fall were sandeel-fed. In recent years, especially 2010-2012, and in years like 07-09', we had the sandeels big time and caught the bass extremely well both from the boat and from the surf. This year? I just don't get what happened. Fish were there, sandeels were there, and getting them to bite a jig from a boat was difficult. FWIW, as soon as we put sandeel imitations in the water while trolling, we would double and triple up so it makes little sense.

As I implied above, sandeels are the primary forage for fall bass and their location is usually where the bass congregate and migrate to. Bunker have little to do with the fall migration.

Now why did a good amount of bass migrate well offshore of 3 miles? Simple. Their migration pattern changed again this year. Huge bodies of bass that set up off LI and gorged on sandeels for WEEKS usually stream southward along the Jersey shore, off between 8-15 miles (as they take a direct path from central LI) to their wintering grounds to the south. They eventually work their way inshore somewhere between Cape May and the Delmarva. It's like that in the fall, and it's like that in the spring when the smaller fish (not the hogs!) migrate back and forth. (FYI - Cape May boats that are still at it are destroying the bass right now!)

Years that those migrating bass don't set up off LI, we have similar fishing in our area (Fall of 11' is a prime example) that they had on LI this year.

Yes, there is bait offshore,, but these fish are taking a "highway" south and are using that offshore route (well past 3 miles, sometimes up to 20 off) to get where they need to go.

[Reel Class]

Originally Posted by sternline

Captain, take another look at pages 301-303 of STRIPER WARS. The ban on fishing for stripers in the EEZ began in 1990 and applies to everybody. The Coast Guard was not enforcing the ban until some RECREATIONAL anglers saw the slaughter by of soon-to-spawn females in the EEZ by commercial boats. Jim Price, a fifth-generation waterman (and one of the true heroes of the fight to save menhaden), saw about 50 recreational boats massacring these females 6 miles off the NC coast and raised hell with the Coast Guard--as he should have.

100% true and completely agree with this statement and what Russell mentioned here. You made a typo in your original and I corrected it for you in bold. The CG and F&W officers did what they had to do off NC and Virginia, put the screws to those guys, and got the job done. But why do we now have to pay the price?

We have no cows out 10-15 miles, those are the fish that do migrate up our beach, so again, why are we suddenly enforcing this law coastwide based on a one-time or one-incident (one meaning a string of incidents) that happened 500 miles away? Makes no sense to punish the majority if the minority is making the infraction. Yes I know this is FEDERAL law, but some sort of middle ground has to be met on a state-by-state basis regarding how stripers populate the area and migrate to and from the area.

The over-enforcing the EEZ is another knee-jerk reaction by our government, which speaks to bigger problems we have in this country nowadays. Sorry, just my $.02

[Capt Sal]

As we all know bait is the key to any fishery.The absence of herring does not help either.It is a crying shame that the younger generations may never get a chance to experience the inshore Bluefin tuna runs like we had 30 and 40 years ago.No whiting and ling in big numbers means no mud hole tuna run!When any fish migrates it is on a mission.Bait holds them for awhile but they will still migrate.Stripers are no different.They will migrate up the Hudson to spawn no matter what.If the bay is full of bunker at the time of there migration we catch.This spring will tell the tale of our bunker population.