Ocean Fishing / Striped Bass Report Card

[Michael82929]

Charter boat captain, headboat captains, old saltz.. lend me your ears.....

Get on your soapboxes and mail in your .02 cents....

Lets hear it.....Want to see if mind are thinking alike or if I can learn something new today...

As we all know the spring migration / ocean fishing has not meet the expectation for a majority of anglers who target fishing for striped bass along the ocean coast of NJ.

From my observations, weather has played an intrical part of this seasons bass fishing. The bait situtation has also not been to my liking based on past seasons.

Can't say the fishing pressure has been a major factor with a lot of boats still in dry dock.

Are we starting to feel the pinch of yrs of putting a beat down on these monster fish?

While I am not throwing in the towel, since we have another 30 days of evidence to gather, I feel like we are at the midpoint.

I would appreciate peoples feedback and theories on this year spring season. This thread is intended for mature audiences, let keep this objective and not intended to negatively impact people comments.

[Ol Pedro]

Bottom line for me is if you can't make live bait on the ocean side and there isn't a clam bite up by the hook then the Big Boats are out of the game . Also we have seen Sand Eels offshore outside of the line over the weekend. Weather has either scattered the bait inside the line or kept us in port . I had a Great Day and a good day in May but the rest has sucked .

[O'Connor]

Four years? It has been more like ten that these big fish/bunker bites have occurred. Before I left NJ the old timers said it was better then the 70's which was the "good old days" The old timers also warned of repeating the mistakes of their generation. People will tell you that rod/reel cannot impact overall bass stocks, but I do not believe that to be true. I remember one day going back about 8 years that the whole shark river inlet had 25lb-God knows how big bass stacked up from the jetty tips all the way back to the main street bridge. I estimate there were 250 25 plus pound fish taken that tide. Events like this must have an impact...and this is not the only example.


I am not a catch and release nut, nor am I a doom and gloom person. It could continue, but I believe the end is near....events like this just cannot keep repeating.. Striped bass are not supposed to be that easy to catch. The younger guys will be talking to their grand kids about the days of ten 30 lbers in an afternoon of fishing...

maybe it is time to learn how to plug the jetties again, fish shedder crabs in the summer, rig eels, jig bucktails on wire on the spots up north of sri etc. You will have less but better striped bass fisherman. in the process maybe the striped bass will gain it's respect back...right now it is a bucket fish like a porgy or ling...that comes because it was too easy.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I think we've been lucky and spoiled the previous 2 springs which was insane fishing. This spring has been a more typical one and I think it has a lot to do with the water temps and the path of the migrating fish.

I believe the fish we've seen in our area are the resident fish/Hudson spawners. The crazy fishing we had the past few springs well into June were the migrating fish that simply stop by and feed along their migration and this year they might have passed us by.

I'm certainly no expert so I hope others will chime in here.

[muskynut]

Think about it.....every day a multitude of party/private boats target these migrating fish. Most people keep their limit.....some are released but most are kept. You do this every day.....and you are in for problems. I've read that the young of the year index from samples is excruciatingly low.....if we don't change our ways we are headed for another stock collapse and a moratorium like in the 80's. Capt. Dave:( :(

[RnK]

Bottom line for me is if you can't make live bait on the ocean side and there isn't a clam bite up by the hook then the Big Boats are out of the game . Also we have seen Sand Eels offshore outside of the line over the weekend. Weather has either scattered the bait inside the line or kept us in port . I had a Great Day and a good day in May but the rest has sucked .

My sentiments and experience exactly. Terrible Spring except for Raritan Bay. It's always all about the bait. no bait, no fish.

Literally acres of bunker last year kept stripers here for a long time close off our coast as they migrated north. Actually, too much bait made them harder to catch, as they gorged every cpl days and as there was so much to eat that when they went on a binge it was over quickly too.

2011 was ideal, plenty of bunker, plenty of bass, always some bite happening somewhere north or south of MI. Very few bad trips, everyone caught.

This year with the bunker very thin along our coast, except for in RB, and with sand eels very thick beyond the line, the migration moved fast past NJ-NY. Cape Cod seems to be having a very good striper run this Spring from what I hear.

[Michael82929]

Agree on the bait theory, if you have acres of baits offshore, why come inshore on limited bait access unless you get pushed off the bait by someone bigger in the food chain.. no????

The only silver lining to this spring was seeing a dramatic change in the fishing inside raritan bay...

[jigman90]

well I havnt fished for stripers this year as my boat is for sale but if you think the bunker reduction boats dont have a hand in this well your wrong and how about all the commercial boats that killed all the big bass down south!
Ive been commenting on the same thing for the last 3 years about loss of bunker mean loss of stripers and next it will be blues!
I didnt walk in Washington AND WILL NEVER WALK NEXT TO A COMMERCIAL GUY!

What you all dont realize is commercial fishing isnt like it was 15-30 years ago! high tech equipment, radar, use of planes are rapeing our oceans!
it sucks for the little guy that commercialy fishes, but until the regs and enforcement of the regs can be controled our fishing will get worse and worse! so you must lump all commercial fishing together!
as for the stripers I love to fish for them but our days are numbered again!

[paparalph]

Charter boat captain, headboat captains, old saltz.. lend me your ears.....

Get on your soapboxes and mail in your .02 cents....

Lets hear it.....Want to see if mind are thinking alike or if I can learn something new today...

As we all know the spring migration / ocean fishing has not meet the expectation for a majority of anglers who target fishing for striped bass along the ocean coast of NJ.

From my observations, weather has played an intrical part of this seasons bass fishing. The bait situtation has also not been to my liking based on past seasons.

Can't say the fishing pressure has been a major factor with a lot of boats still in dry dock.

Are we starting to feel the pinch of yrs of putting a beat down on these monster fish?

While I am not throwing in the towel, since we have another 30 days of evidence to gather, I feel like we are at the midpoint.

I would appreciate peoples feedback and theories on this year spring season. This thread is intended for mature audiences, let keep this objective and not intended to negatively impact people comments.

So here we go. I am 64 years old and have seen the complete story of our striped bass fishing. I raked calico's and shed them in my basement then into the icecube trays for a morning of summer bassing. I've plugged the coast from Martha's Vineyard to South Jersey. I hand tied my eels for the evening bites down the beach.
Four years ago as I started seeing and reading about the bunker slaughter of our breed stock I hung up my rod and reels and started freshwater fishing for Largemouth Bass. I think it's a crime how as fisherman we need to kill our breed stock for some pictures at the dock. It was great when an 18" fish went home for the table. It is probably to late to undo the damage done, guess we shall see the closure of these fish in the not to distant future.
As for me, I will stick to freshwater.:confused:

[Capt Sal]

Ten years ago we did not go ocean side until June 10 !!!!!We are one week late and the water is just approaching the perfect temp.We need more west wind and more bunker schools.It is hardly over.I am sure we will be catching stripers into July.I keep log books for this reason.Why are the bass still in the bay?The water temp in Raritan Bay is 10 degrees different than this time last year.It is not rocket science lol

[Michael82929]

Sal

I agree with you... I am going with my 2007 2008 2009 log formulas vs 2010 2011 and 2012...

Spanning my logs from previous years, thus calling it the midpoint.. The kind of ocean fishing we are talking about can start as early as May 15th and end July 31st.

We still have different bodies of fish on different moon phases yet to reveal themselves... I just hope the weather and bait cooperate....

[dfish28]

Ten years ago we did not go ocean side until June 10 !!!!!We are one week late and the water is just approaching the perfect temp.We need more west wind and more bunker schools.It is hardly over.I am sure we will be catching stripers into July.I keep log books for this reason.Why are the bass still in the bay?The water temp in Raritan Bay is 10 degrees different than this time last year.It is not rocket science lol

Yup... What this gentleman and clearly superb scholar said ^^^^!
Temps are always arguable vs migration time, I feel I could be locked up in solitary , just give me wind and water temp, and ill ask for my release date accordingly...

[AndyS]

Don't fish stocks naturally cycle up and down ? How can you judge any run when only fishing from the beach to 3 miles out ?

[hammer4reel]

Ten years ago we did not go ocean side until June 10 !!!!!We are one week late and the water is just approaching the perfect temp.We need more west wind and more bunker schools.It is hardly over.I am sure we will be catching stripers into July.I keep log books for this reason.Why are the bass still in the bay?The water temp in Raritan Bay is 10 degrees different than this time last year.It is not rocket science lol

Sal while some truth in that statement its still not based on whats actually happening oceanside. Guys fishing the bay have had great fishing until mid june so they didnt have to leave the bay and even try and fish oceanside.
Made no sense to drive pass thousands of bass in the bay to go to the ocean.

There def is a big difference this year with those fish oceanside. weather has had a harsh impact. the temps in the Chesapeke were ideal early. when those fish came off the spawn they were greeted here with very cold water temps.
I feel many of those fish have passed us by, as well as alot of the bait.
Temps were only good for a few days down here early and the fishing was good. Then the south winds came on for weeks chilling the inshore waters to Blackfish fishing temps.

Since we got a few days of west and North winds the water temps went up quick, there has been alot of bunker inshore with nothing on them, both morning and night.

were catching resident fish on structure, but seeing very little of the migratory fish we should be seeing heavy on the feed.
Usually by mid June there are GIANT schools of bunker just inshore of 17, where we go to catch brown sharks on. They are not there either. I believe this spring oceanside may see one more push of bass, but its not going to have the month long blitz's we are used to having

[Capt Sal]

Back then the bass did not show as early.The Hudson fish would be caught for a day or so then migrate to Raritan Bay then the Hudson River to spawn.Were you catching big bass in May and June every day in 1998 -2002?I agree some bass passed us by because they are catching them North of us.Still more to come and I would make book on it!A few nites ago Al Ristori did an afternoon trip and had 38 bass to 42lbs! They were not resident fish.When it goes west again they will bite but it could be an afternoon thing like a couple years ago.

[SharkHart]

Landings are down by far on big bass in ocean

Everyone quickly forgot there wasn't an April jig bite in Ocean too.

I had my best season on big fish but it was limited to 2 spots, LBI to Deal was dead water for weeks that should not happen. The past 12 years when they popped up in mon co they popped up in ocean county same days, until now.

Many Charters were saying they were spawning about 3 weeks after the spawn should be over then they quietly switched to Sea Bass fishing.

The Bass are thick as thieves offshore talk is also going on yet you dont hear of any accidental catches with all those clams going down for ling and sea bass.

I know someone else said cape cod was hot but I know 2 guys who spent about 12 days on 2 trips up there and only had bass on 2 or 3 days total.

Social media cell phones and advances and a very visible and warm happy hour bite has increased the amount of anglers from all backgrounds for the May June bite by a large amount.

It is time for the ones who care about the future to take measures and spread the word.

[Uncle Nicky]

I don't know the scientific reasons, but to put it bluntly, striper fishing sucked this spring.

I have to laugh at some of the reports I've read on here, from captains I fished with who said they had a "steady pick" of striped bass on full day trips.:rolleyes:

Here is what I experienced:

Early May/off Asbury Park- 4 guys fished, 3 stripers caught

Mid-May-Raritan Bay- 6 guys fished, 4 stripers caught

Mid-May- Raritan Bay- 2 guys fished, 3 stripers caught, 1 short

Late May- Raritan Bay- 5 guys fished, no stripers caught

Last Saturday-Raritan Bay (afternoon trip)- 11 guys fished, 1 striper caught

I realize this is "fishing", not "catching". Hopefully, the fall run will be better.:rolleyes:

[ruger1v]

not an expert here but I am a scientist. Lol. In my opinion it has more to do with the water temperature than anything. Then factor in the bad weather in rough seas with less boats being out to report any catches. All the bait i I have seen has been scattered and not balled up. I have seen a ton of bunker. haven't seen much bird play either. That's telling me that the Blues aren't even in chopping up the fish. the fish are not feeding and balling the bait up like the past 2 years. I have marked many big fish I just can't get them to bite. I've tried everything. Trolling, live lining, chunking, clam, and jigging. Its fishing. Ill just keep at it with a back up plan. Last year we hooked good numbers every trip out from mid april til the 3rd week of june. If I remember correctly the temps are now ehere they were in early to mid may.

[Michael82929]

Love the tone of this thread, great insight details and information... Happy to see it that way..

Great points from everyone.. as we are all not genies, Im interested to see how the next 30 days will play out.....

[SharkHart]

What you have to remember is there are two classes of fish

the 3 to 18 lb class generally come first- Then the big fish in late may. Both seem affected.

I have heard a lot of guys say they water has been too cold, yet i was catching fish in Jan.

Caught my first Weakfish 3rd week of April which is right on time and there was a good run of Weakies then, a fish which usually prefers temps about 3 to 8 degrees higher then a bass.

In the past these fish would share water in April/May, most of those spots this season were generally barren of bass but holding weakies. I can't see how temps could be ok for one species but not another?

I had my first top water Bass 3rd week of May, also indicitive that the temps were on time.

Ive heard a lot of guys say there is no bunker, while it does appear to be down in qty, alot of the days I was out they were down deep but thick and not visible to the eye, sometimes that is quickly written off as "no bait"

[Ol Pedro]

We used to put a couple of rods out when we were drifting for Mackerel. (remember them ?) the Bass would be following the schools . A live Mackerel was like candy. I feel that Big Bass have always moved through and until recently they have either passed too far offshore or got on the Bunker and are real smart . Bait movement and water temp. is the key to whether we have a good Spring .

[AndyS]

Maybe the trawlers in Virgina caught them all ?

[Leif]

Please....

It is no suprise that the fishing for bass is not as good as it has been and it will be no suprise when it declines further.

I have no "sientific data" Only experience and what I call common sense.

This is just my opinnion. You guys should do and will do what you want. Some of my best friends fish for them and kill everyone they are entilted to. It is legal and I know it may be "your business" and I appreciate that but....

I am not impressed by the senseless never ending killing of these big fish. It does not teach the younger anglers a damn thing. Some of the methods being used requires no skill and diminishes a wonderful resource that "we" have rebuilt through years and years of sacrifice.

It is a game fish and should be treated that way so generation after generation can continue to fish for them. They are one of my favorite fish to catch and eat but I rarely fish for them now as I dread being associated with the gluttonous hordes of snag hook slingers and cow killers.

I will be content with fly fishing for them in the spring and fall and keeping a couple smaller fish to make some chowder and utilize the entire fish. I look forward to the next moratorium on the fish like we had after they were wiped out in the 70's and 80's

Leif

[CatchEmUp]

^^^
Big +1

[Michael82929]

Well its fourth of July weekend - 2 weeks since this thread has been posted...

Two weeks later and the bass fishing never improved - you had some hail mary spots in the ocean that produced some fish here and there - nothing consistent and never in the abundance than some of us are ust to.. Putting together a 3 - 8 fish catch from my experience is nothing to write home about.

No east bite to really speak of, heard of some little chatter but nothing to run down for..

Raritan Bay continues to impress, stopped fishing the ocean and had a one week of drop and reel fishing on a lump that I had all to myself... then they bigger fish moved out and the smaller fish moved in...

So as we rap up 2013 spring fishing I think the general consenious is, that Raritan bay was the big suprise with consistent fishing chewing for most of the spring like a typical early 2000's run and the first time in 4 -5 years lets say, the ocean fishing failed to meet expectation

Continued southerly / easterly flows have shut down the grounds for the most part and has made for less than optimal conditions. In addition the bait situtation in my opinion was very disappointing.. never had those 1/4 mile thick long school 20 feet deep in the column once this year..

I feel in my heart of heart, that we have put a dent in the larger fish stock population of striped bass. 30pds and up from the last few seasons... and the last five yrs potentially has some effect of the future of our fishery in sometime future. I have no fact or data to support, just my gut feel.

Will continue to fish out the summer and see how the fall shapes up...

[rumster]

Please....

It is no suprise that the fishing for bass is not as good as it has been and it will be no suprise when it declines further.

I have no "sientific data" Only experience and what I call common sense.

This is just my opinnion. You guys should do and will do what you want. Some of my best friends fish for them and kill everyone they are entilted to. It is legal and I know it may be "your business" and I appreciate that but....

I am not impressed by the senseless never ending killing of these big fish. It does not teach the younger anglers a damn thing. Some of the methods being used requires no skill and diminishes a wonderful resource that "we" have rebuilt through years and years of sacrifice.

It is a game fish and should be treated that way so generation after generation can continue to fish for them. They are one of my favorite fish to catch and eat but I rarely fish for them now as I dread being associated with the gluttonous hordes of snag hook slingers and cow killers.

I will be content with fly fishing for them in the spring and fall and keeping a couple smaller fish to make some chowder and utilize the entire fish. I look forward to the next moratorium on the fish like we had after they were wiped out in the 70's and 80's

Leif
Right on point Leif. My 15 year old son and I were out fluking in the back of Raritan last week and saw 2 guys livelining bunker and catching 4 20lbers in about twenty minutes releasing all four. When they blew out of the spot my son and I gave it a shot, snagging some bunker and livelining them for 2 fish in the 25lb class. After all was said and done with a smile on my boys face from ear to ear we followed the previous boats lead and released our fish. My son said he never felt so good about doing something.

[Urban Angler]

Cathy I'm with you...this ain't over..no way...just landed a few a hour ago! had great bass this past weekend!...ps I should have followed you last Friday after netting buncker!

[Michael82929]

Its been pretty much thirty days since I wrote this report... and the ocean bite never materialized like we all were hoping for...

Charter boats moved off the bass into bottom fishing and had to throw in the towel..

Raritan bay continued to suprise with bass still being caught in certain pockets.

To sum up the 2013 spring bass run....

Raritan Bay did a 180 from years past with some excellent fishing inside Raritan Bay

The ocean bite fell off the chart with some disappointed bass fisherman looking for those epic once in a lifetime bass blitzes.

Onwards and upwards to the 2013 Fall Run - let see what it has instore for us.

[NoLimit]

Yes, no doubt about it. We recreational fishermen have killed all the stripers...and bluefish...and whiting...and bluefin...and flounder.

Its just a matter of time till we ruin everything. Maybe its time for drastic action against our oppressive nature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E_2PAyxl9c&feature=youtu.be&t=10m8s

[Gerry Zagorski]

I have no scientific data either but I don't believe this years Striper fishery, or lack thereof, was caused by recreational over harvesting.

The last 3 or 4 years we had unusually great fishing in the spring. I believe this was due to the cyclical nature of any fishery, our local conditions and the migration path of the Stripers. We simply got lucky these last few springs and all the stars to include bait, water temps and the path of the migrating Stripers aligned on the ocean side of NJ.

The fishing in the Raritan Bay area was pretty typical of what it used to be prior to 3 or 4 years ago... Most caught were resident fish or Hudson River spawners and the large mass of Chesapeake and Delaware bay migrating fish simply passed us by.

Having said all this, I support catch and release of Stripers and we only keep an occasional fish if someone really wants a few for the table. I also find it interesting that a lot of people don't seem to mind people keeping their limits of Fluke, Cod, ling etc but when it comes to Stripers they feel differently.

[Michael82929]

Gerry - I agree with your notion of recreational fishing and overharvesting vs the migratory path of game fish along the eastern seaboard.(striped bass in particular)

Striped Bass as we all know - isnt a NJ thing - its a cyclical migratory fish that spans from Maine to the Carolinas: so imagine the equation / science that has to go behind a biomass of fish that spans thousands of miles and shift from offshore / inshore (rivers tribs estuaries) etc...

If you took two graphs over the last twenty years - from the late 90s to 2013 the scale has gone up in regards to the viablility to the striped bass species.

Now take a pie graph and slice up all the contributing factors that affect the harvest of the species spanning 12 states / slicing up recreational, commercial, gill netting, disease, natural causes, poaching, water deficienies misc, and what ever else you can think of...

Has all those factors outweighed the upward trend of the "species boom" verse all the factors that affect the harvest of the species.

Not to mention - the breakdown of the species(size, weight and procreation) humanity is effecting in all of this..

When you get to the root cause of all of that and weigh it all out at the end of the day - if those factor outweigh the biomass, then you will have a fishery on the decline, or it will sustain if distribution of outake and intake is equal or continue the upward trend of the species - if we are not effecting what we are taking out

I personally think the last 3 - 4 yrs of trophy hunting for stripped bass will have a serious affect on future generations of striped bass.

Simply the way you put it Gerry, the weather from past years brought those fish in.. Years past, those fish have always been there, just have never come in shore.. Kind of shed lights on the institution of the three mile line.

Imagine if we all knew that their was a fishery we could harvest over the last ten years 10 miles out... makes you think...

At the end of it all, it's been fascinating to watch year over year how this fishery in my opinion is one of the best species on the eastern seaboard and we will be speaking about 2008 - 2012 for decades to come.

[jmurr711]

I have no scientific data either but I don't believe this years Striper fishery, or lack thereof, was caused by recreational over harvesting.

The last 3 or 4 years we had unusually great fishing in the spring. I believe this was due to the cyclical nature of any fishery, our local conditions and the migration path of the Stripers. We simply got lucky these last few springs and all the stars to include bait, water temps and the path of the migrating Stripers aligned on the ocean side of NJ.

The fishing in the Raritan Bay area was pretty typical of what it used to be prior to 3 or 4 years ago... Most caught were resident fish or Hudson River spawners and the large mass of Chesapeake and Delaware bay migrating fish simply passed us by.

Having said all this, I support catch and release of Stripers and we only keep an occasional fish if someone really wants a few for the table. I also find it interesting that a lot of people don't seem to mind people keeping their limits of Fluke, Cod, ling etc but when it comes to Stripers they feel differently.

THANK YOU!

[hammer4reel]

The difference between harvesting limits of other fish is they are taking less years to replentish them selves. keeping 18" fluke does not take twenty years to replace the fish that was taken, not does it on blackfish and sea bass.
those trophy stripers took a LONG time to get that big.
Those fish have proven they can can handle the yearly migrations.
Problem is the striped bass are ALWAYS being fished for somewhere along the coast line and getting beat up at that.
Virginia all winter, here in the spring, ny and RI in the summer, and everywhere between all fall.

Other species get a break when they move out of the local areas, the bass dont

[jmurr711]

The difference between harvesting limits of other fish is they are taking less years to replentish them selves. keeping 18" fluke does not take twenty years to replace the fish that was taken, not does it on blackfish and sea bass.
those trophy stripers took a LONG time to get that big.
Those fish have proven they can can handle the yearly migrations.
Problem is the striped bass are ALWAYS being fished for somewhere along the coast line and getting beat up at that.
Virginia all winter, here in the spring, ny and RI in the summer, and everywhere between all fall.

Other species get a break when they move out of the local areas, the bass dont

I see your point but disagree about the Tog heck some people claim those live longer then Abraham

[hammer4reel]

I see your point but disagree about the Tog heck some people claim those live longer then Abraham

I used to think that also, I think the table showing their growth rate that everyone uses is flawed.
wish they would actually have someone do some tagging to find out

[Leif]

Having said all this, I support catch and release of Stripers and we only keep an occasional fish if someone really wants a few for the table. I also find it interesting that a lot of people don't seem to mind people keeping their limits of Fluke, Cod, ling etc but when it comes to Stripers they feel differently.

Gerry,

I think the reason why a lot of people don't seem to mind keeping their limits of Fluke, Cod, Ling, ect as opposed to Stripers is because those species are typically a "food fish". The biomass and range of some of those species are larger or could be larger and can sustain pressure if managed properly.

Stripers are more of a game fish. They can be caught from the shore, rivers and in a boat. People have the opportunity to catch a 50lb plus fish from the surf. Can't say that about Cod, Fluke, or ling.

Striped Bass are susceptible to water quality when spawning because of where they spawn and the availability of larger food like Menhaden and Herring.

Certainly all species are "cyclical" but this fact can't be used as a blanket reason for the mismanagement and overfishing for the species whether it is legal or not.

At this point, I can not tell people what to do. I can only control what I do. I choose to not pursue those big fish with live bait and snag hooks, not to fish for them when they are spawning and to keep a couple per year.

Everything has a way of working it self out in the end and this Striper situation is no different.

Alright enough rambling on about this....

Leif

[Gerry Zagorski]

Gerry,

I think the reason why a lot of people don't seem to mind keeping their limits of Fluke, Cod, Ling, ect as opposed to Stripers is because those species are typically a "food fish". The biomass and range of some of those species are larger or could be larger and can sustain pressure if managed properly.

Stripers are more of a game fish. They can be caught from the shore, rivers and in a boat. People have the opportunity to catch a 50lb plus fish from the surf. Can't say that about Cod, Fluke, or ling.

Striped Bass are susceptible to water quality when spawning because of where they spawn and the availability of larger food like Menhaden and Herring.

Certainly all species are "cyclical" but this fact can't be used as a blanket reason for the mismanagement and overfishing for the species whether it is legal or not.

At this point, I can not tell people what to do. I can only control what I do. I choose to not pursue those big fish with live bait and snag hooks, not to fish for them when they are spawning and to keep a couple per year.

Everything has a way of working it self out in the end and this Striper situation is no different.

Alright enough rambling on about this....

Leif

A good ramble Leif... I think civil and rational conversations about these subjects and leading by example is the way to get people to understand and respect your point of view.

[Michael82929]

Agree 100% Gerry - too many posts / topics where people just start flipping each other off when in the end of it, you post your opinion, articulate as best you can, show data to support or negate.. take what you need and leave the rest without offending other people.

Thats what I like about this site vs the other sites... You know how many times I see in a post, "that's why I dont post on here anymore" - I would hate to have that kind of feeling on here.... and I don't which is why myself and many others feel comfortable expressing thought and opinion.

You may not like people on sites and whatnot.. but you have to have some level of respect for individuals who are interested in the same sport hobby or passion as you do...

Leif - I really enjoy your posts, I have even gone on your blog and have looked at your photography and have actually seen your boy and his bud grow up through pictures throughout the years without even saying a word to neither of you. Who can miss that bushy top of his :D

Great kid.. and your an another example of how I want to raise my kids in this sport...

[Gerry Zagorski]

Agree 100% Gerry - too many posts / topics where people just start flipping each other off when in the end of it, you post your opinion, articulate as best you can, show data to support or negate.. take what you need and leave the rest without offending other people.

Thats what I like about this site vs the other sites... You know how many times I see in a post, "that's why I dont post on here anymore" - I would hate to have that kind of feeling on here.... and I don't which is why myself and many others feel comfortable expressing thought and opinion.

You may not like people on sites and whatnot.. but you have to have some level of respect for individuals who are interested in the same sport hobby or passion as you do...

Leif - I really enjoy your posts, I have even gone on your blog and have looked at your photography and have actually seen your boy and his bud grow up through pictures throughout the years without even saying a word to neither of you. Who can miss that bushy top of his :D

Great kid.. and your an another example of how I want to raise my kids in this sport...

Michael - we certainly do have issues from time to time but I'd like to think that on par, people tend to behave and control themselves a bit more on our site. That has everything to do with the regular contributors here like Leif and others, leading by example and what is or is not tolerated by them and our moderators.

The problem we run into most times is people are passionate about fishing, the fisheries and their opinions. When they differ that passion sometimes interferes with manners and good judgement.