2013 Striper run?

[Capt Sal]

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?

[crabcake]

I live on LI and the Ocean Jig fishing that we had off of Fire Island for the entire month of October was the best that i've ever seen or experienced. On the other hand, the big fish on herring never really materialized in November off of Montauk which is unusual and disconcerting. I started the year with a banner trip in the NY bight in late April, but by mid May that fishing was also very inconsistent. I also made some attempts in LI sound, but aside from some shorts, the fish were scarce at times when they shouldn't be.

[Type R Teggy]

This spring from April 4/20 to 6/10 in the back bay raritan surf between me and my friend we had 413 bass 306 being keepers. we only fished 3-4 days out of the week. Out of those 400 only 1 was kept due to a gut hook well beyond the keeper size. The best fishing season of my life. Some days the bite was on all day fish after fish others at night. the bass were just there. Ive only been fishing for 5 years but boy did this spoil me. I couldn't get nothing going on at all this fall. Only got 1 26" inch bass of the surf in the ocean. Even on the days were the bass were biting at IBSP for that short span couldn't get nothing going on. just one of those seasons I guess you never know where the fish will be. There is plenty of fish out there just got to be in the right place at the right time. Hopefully we get a repeat of last spring run

[HydraSportsPT]

Spring clam bite was what I put into it....moving on.
Fall Run: Jig bite was great early am, when the pressure of the morning increased the troll was spectacular, every 200 yards take down. Plenty of keepers and 16 lb blues to keep it interesting
The night eel bite was good, 2-3 week span between the channels, wind kept it from being spectacular but thats the fall fishing
IBSP - disappointing

[Angler Paul]

I agree with Capt. Sal except about the 3 mile rule. You have to realize that the rule applys to the entire east coast and to commercial and recreational fishermen alike. The stock would be absoultely devastated if the commercial guys were able to net them while they are wintering over offshore of the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.

[tombanjo]

This guy captures the emotional state of striper fishermen.

http://www.angelfire.com/md2/fishing...s/bassrec.html

[Michael82929]

Agree with most of Sal's assessment... my sentiments exactly.

You didnt mention one thing which I wont - loose lips sink ships...

But overall was a very good 2013 season.. wish I got out more..

[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.

Choppers, cutters, little black inflatables, planes, etc. all go into enforcing this. Up until maybe 3 or 4 years ago, there was no enforcement and anglers didn't really worry about going past 3 with bass - but now, since the latest initiative in pushing the enforcement of the EEZ, I, as well as many other guys, are afraid to go off 2.9 or even 2.8 to look for bass!!!

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

In regards to the bass run, the spring bunker run sucked, the clam bite up off the hook was good when we could run up there, and the fall was ehhhh as about 75% of our fish were taken on the troll - jig bite was off and the fish were VERY picky!

[Legacy]

We had a great spring run in Raritan Bay averaging 12-15 fish in the 15-20 pound class on our home made bunker spoons during April,May and June never having to hit the ocean. Best spring fish was a 37 pound female released to spawn.

The fall was a different story with a wild November run averaging 30-40 fish a trip on tube rigs between the channels. Switching to spoons often put the larger 20 plus pound fish on the deck this fall. Had our best fall day on the Reach with 5 fish over 30 pounds when the large bunker made a brief appearance and the spoons matched the hatch.

Fishing weekdays and being one of the first boats out on the bait made all the difference in the world this fall. Weekends were certainly a circus towards the end of the run. Seeing so many short fish this fall bodes well for 2014 and beyond assuming the NC netters don't demolish the biomass. A great year with many of my friends' kids catching bass fever with us this season.

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by Michael82929

Agree with most of Sal's assessment... my sentiments exactly.

You didnt mention one thing which I wont - loose lips sink ships...

But overall was a very good 2013 season.. wish I got out more..

Not too many secrets about Raritan Bay.It is a large body of water with an average depth of 20 feet.You can catch bass in many places some spots produce every year.Great place for first timers,women and youngsters.The bay fishing has nothing to do with the ocean fishing.When the ocean reports are bad people assume the same for the bay.This not the case.We have resident bass as well as migratory bass.We also have hard fighting monster blues that can save the day.On another note we mainly chunk bunker.This has been a norm forever.Clams work but we prefer bunker and so do the bigger bass.April can't come soon enough.I don't burn spots either lol