Stripers-Are you in or out?

[Capt Sal]

Will the new bag limit cut down the number of trips you do? If you are a true sportsman you are there for the rush. Stripers are a game fish and although they are good table fare the fight is what we all want. My motto has always been, a nice day on the water and a fresh fish dinner is a winner! As you all know to keep two bass one must be 43" or better. So what!!! One 28-40" is a big bag of fillet. There will be limits this year even with this new restriction. I would say in this day and age that most fisherman are out there for the sport rather than trying to fill the freezer.

Whether we like it or not the new bag limit is here and don't let it ruin the sport we all love. New Jersey will still have trophy tags available. This comes from the commercial quota. I will post more about this when I get more info in the upcoming weeks. Spring will be here soon so make your plans and book your favorite charter boat and frequent your pb also.

[hammer4reel]

Im glad to see the limit changed. even happier that Virginia went to only 1 fish.
The bass need somewhat of a break. and nothing says a day of memories cant be made releasing fish.

One big bass gives as much meat as a few fluke or blackfish. so there def can be some great meals still taken home.

I have said it a bunch of times, I hear alot more hooting and hollering while someone is catching a trophy bass, than I ever did seeing someone eat one .

I think its great we have a fish as hearty as a striper that can be released to fight another day.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Im glad to see the limit changed. even happier that Virginia went to only 1 fish.
The bass need somewhat of a break. and nothing says a day of memories cant be made releasing fish.

One big bass gives as much meat as a few fluke or blackfish. so there def can be some great meals still taken home.

I have said it a bunch of times, I hear alot more hooting and hollering while someone is catching a trophy bass, than I ever did seeing someone eat one .

I think its great we have a fish as hearty as a striper that can be released to fight another day.
Agreed it's all about the fishing not the eating. There are plenty of dead fish at the market. One nice size Striper plenty for the able.

[stevejordan]

id still fish for them even if it was c&r only

[mike1010]

In. I'm not fishing for dinner, though that's a nice fringe benefit.

[looneytuna]

I throw back more than I keep already. I would have rather seen the second fish be a slot, than a big one, but this will have 0 impact on the number of trips.

[FASTEDDIE29]

I'm perfectly happy with one fish at 28 inches. I'm never greedy and the bloody decks filled with females actually turns me off. Fresh fish is the best. Love it!!!!

Miss that slot fish, that was a real good dinner fish!!!

[joerosa1]

In. I'm not fishing for dinner, though that's a nice fringe benefit.

+1

[AndyS]

Haven't killed a striper in years. This year will be no exception. Days like these are over.

[shrimpman steve]

Will not affect my number of trips.

[Fisherman120]

I'll be fishing for em, but charters for me will need a 2nd species to go for if fishing is too good that day.

[NoLimit]

Never killed a second fish but they should have done the slot

[UglyStick]

Agree a slot fish for the 2nd would have been a better option but being 98% a freshwater guy who is all c&r in that venue, the limit change won't affect the number of charters my boys and I do.

[Bass_Appeal]

fishing alone is peace and serenity , fishing with buddys are laughs and good times, if ya catch its a bonus , if you dont oh well you have some stories to tell ! all in all fishing is just a way to let go of all the bs in your lives ....common spring !! i got about 5 months of tention to release !

[bassnblues]

The bag limit would not stop me but a poor fishery certainly would.

[slammer]

It wont have any effect on the amount of trips I go on. I only keep one for the table once in a while.I hope we have a good run this year.C'mon spring:D

[backbay]

ill probably be fishin for stripers more this year than i have in the past few years simply because i have a boat thats a little more capable of getting after them in the early spring when the weathers a bit iffier, i also kinda honed in on some new spots to try for them early last year that i want to try,

Ive eaten the big stripers before and they just dont taste good, im fine keepin one at 28", if i want to fill my freezer ill do it with white perch, fluke, tog, blowfish, kingfish, etc. all of which taste better in my opinion.

[bunker dunker]

I love fishing plain and simple and limits and sizes would not make me fish any less.my only concerns are that the states to our north and to our south and of coarse the commercial fishing.i would rather keep 2 a day then see them dead floating on the surface killed in a net.

[Duffman]

Will the new bag limit cut down the number of trips you do?

Nope. Out of all the bass we put on deck last season the crew kept exactly one. A 31" bleeder that wouldn't have made it.

Curious to see what PB capt's think of the new reg? If everyone in this thread says it wont affect their fishing habits, I'm guessing customers are still showing up to fish.

[CCMPmonmouth]

If you are all just into just the fishing aspect, why do you all complain when you catch bluefish? They fight harder than stripers. Keep talking like this and you will get what you wish for C & R.(soon as the govt. can charge you for it).

[bassnblues]

Bluefish are awesome. Spent many days on PB's chasing them when there were no stripers around.

[SplitShot]

What really pissed me off was going down to Chesapeake Bay to fish Thanksgiving weekend and seeing all the boats just filled with 18" bass. :mad:

[PAMonger]

Just my 2 cents, but openly saying "you can take them all away and I'll still go" kind of gives the powers that be more power to say, "ok, that's next year". Might be a topic best shown by action, not recorded publicly.

[CCMPmonmouth]

Just my 2 cents, but openly saying "you can take them all away and I'll still go" kind of gives the powers that be more power to say, "ok, that's next year". Might be a topic best shown by action, not recorded publicly.

My point exactly. Civil disobedience is the only thing that works, and for gods sake stop " ratting" out your fellow man just because the govt. creates inequities.

[pgoins]

Will the new bag limit cut down the number of trips you do? If you are a true sportsman you are there for the rush. Stripers are a game fish and although they are good table fare the fight is what we all want. My motto has always been, a nice day on the water and a fresh fish dinner is a winner! As you all know to keep two bass one must be 43" or better. So what!!! One 28-40" is a big bag of fillet. There will be limits this year even with this new restriction. I would say in this day and age that most fisherman are out there for the sport rather than trying to fill the freezer.

Whether we like it or not the new bag limit is here and don't let it ruin the sport we all love. New Jersey will still have trophy tags available. This comes from the commercial quota. I will post more about this when I get more info in the upcoming weeks. Spring will be here soon so make your plans and book your favorite charter boat and frequent your pb also.

I'm confused...From everything I read they only changed the size limit. No the Bag. Although, I would agree that the new size range will limits 95% of all trips to one fish per man.

My answer is no. No change to how often I fish for bass.

[mike1010]

My point exactly. Civil disobedience is the only thing that works, and for gods sake stop " ratting" out your fellow man just because the govt. creates inequities.

I didn't think that was what PAMonger was saying, though maybe I am wrong. But I do know that civil disobedience means being willing to face the consequences of breaking laws, to bring attention to and overturn those bad laws. Not being public about law-breaking is something else.

[stevejordan]

I love fishing plain and simple and limits and sizes would not make me fish any less.my only concerns are that the states to our north and to our south and of coarse the commercial fishing.i would rather keep 2 a day then see them dead floating on the surface killed in a net.

i dont know about further north on the coast but i wouldnt worry about the hudson... we dont have pbs or commercial guys killing a ton of bass. we do have a bunch of tounaments but our regs are supposed to change sometime in the next week or so and im hoping it eliminates the catch and kill tourneys. theyre also talking about a making it mandatory circle hooks which id be fine with :D

[Gerry Zagorski]

For me, these regs will not effect my fishing one bit, but I'm a private boater.

As for charter and party boats, I think the fishery and not limits will have more of an effect on who goes or stays home. If the fish are there and some good reports are posted people are going to fish, no matter what the limits are.

[Dino]

all for the new regs. you get your 1 fish, with the option to take or release that trophy class 43+ fish if you are lucky enough to connect. we love our American Striped Bass on the east coast. lets do what we can to let them thrive. maybe the next goal is 100lb (65" fork) minimum on another iconic east coast species we love to catch and eat... its blue, fast, and has a pointy nose...

[Capt. Debbie]

I don't know about that. Some people NEVER go fishing. You could say that is where regulators are headed too. Let the commercial guys catch your fish you.. sort of like a closed union shop. :)
:)



Just my 2 cents, but openly saying "you can take them all away and I'll still go" kind of gives the powers that be more power to say, "ok, that's next year". Might be a topic best shown by action, not recorded publicly.

[Capt. Jerry P]

I dont think it will change the amount of trips( speaking of my business) ...The trohphy live line fisherie is just that and people really do enjoy catching them one giant is more than enough meat. Even if u couldn't catch a smaller one Or vice versa

Now even tho it doesn't effect me( bc I don't do it) I still thinks it hurts the for hire party n charter boat sector that clams bass. Not having a second small fish will hurt them. N there is no excitement in throwing back 28 in clam fish..

Another big point most always miss is : If we get cut seabass again (which again a monkey can see is a healthy fisherie) u will b adding more pressure to stripers... same goes with cod in northern states.

If the seabass goes any smaller of a bag or we lose any more of the spring or fall season. Most Boats ( prob all the for hire boats ) will now b targeting stripers after they catch a smaller bag limit in a blink of an eye.

If seabass is closed locally or cod is closed up north. Even that many more boats will b targeting stripers even if they can only catch one of the two fish or it is one fish in another state.

That will drastically cut into the # of the reduction and break everyone thinks the stripers will b getting.

Domino effect

So even of stripers were the only fish u cared about u should pay attention to all species especially ones with healthy stock n overlapping season.

[Capt Sal]

I dont think it will change the amount of trips( speaking of my business) ...The trohphy live line fisherie is just that and people really do enjoy catching them one giant is more than enough meat. Even if u couldn't catch a smaller one Or vice versa

Now even tho it doesn't effect me( bc I don't do it) I still thinks it hurts the for hire party n charter boat sector that clams bass. Not having a second small fish will hurt them. N there is no excitement in throwing back 28 in clam fish..

Another big point most always miss is : If we get cut seabass again (which again a monkey can see is a healthy fisherie) u will b adding more pressure to stripers... same goes with cod in northern states.

If the seabass goes any smaller of a bag or we lose any more of the spring or fall season. Most Boats ( prob all the for hire boats ) will now b targeting stripers after they catch a smaller bag limit in a blink of an eye.

If seabass is closed locally or cod is closed up north. Even that many more boats will b targeting stripers even if they can only catch one of the two fish or it is one fish in another state.

That will drastically cut into the # of the reduction and break everyone thinks the stripers will b getting.

Domino effect

So even of stripers were the only fish u cared about u should pay attention to all species especially ones with healthy stock n overlapping season.

With the bag limit of two winter flounder and crazy limits on blackfish and sea bass it does put more pressure on striped bass. Not everyone can afford to go on a charter every week. Party boats will still produce bass and I can see no reason for less patronage. Bonus tags will still be available in NJ .What size fish can the bonus tag be used on will be determined soon. I put in a call and when I get the info on the bonus tag I will post it.

[Capt Sal]

The bonus program striped bass quota has been reduced from 321,000 lbs. to 241,000 lbs. The meeting will be held on Feb. 26. At that meeting the size limit will be determined in regards to the bonus fish.

[Captain Ahab]

Chase is better then the dinner!


Same goes for striper fishing :)

[Capt. Lou]

I only C-R Stripers , so it won't effect me per se, however like Jerry Pointed out PB's can get hurt. Especially if other species R cut !
If u plan to fish cod in the GOM like I do , UR in trouble up there , closed areas & limit cuts will cripple the fleet for sure !
There is very little good news on the horizon anymore when it comes to R fisheries, no matter what the R&R guys do it's never enough! We didn't create these issues but we R surely paying the price !:mad:

[tunajoe]

Unfortunately, I think there will be a impact on the industry. Most of us here on the boards are respectful of the resource. However, for the average fisherman who is not that serious about it, they might be reluctant to go and opt for fishing for another species when they are around. Just look at what happened when the regs changed for bluefins. One per boat made it very difficult for many to even want to go on a trip. In the past, I just could not get enough guys together for a bluefin trip when the limit was 1 fish. All in all, there will be an impact on the stripers. They need to target those commercial fuc#ers.

[Capt. Jerry P]

I only C-R Stripers , so it won't effect me per se, however like Jerry Pointed out PB's can get hurt. Especially if other species R cut !
If u plan to fish cod in the GOM like I do , UR in trouble up there , closed areas & limit cuts will cripple the fleet for sure !
There is very little good news on the horizon anymore when it comes to R fisheries, no matter what the R&R guys do it's never enough! We didn't create these issues but we R surely paying the price !:mad:

Yup not enough winter flounder bag limit to target them in the spring even 5 fish for a month and party boats would fish fish em..... lose more n more n seabass bag n season... cod closing in areas up north... and it like winning the lotto that fluke didn't change this year ( even tho we shouldn't b at the size we are out now) So next year im sure we will pay. Pretty clear pattern...

This leads to more boats clamming bass in raritan... more boats jigging instead of cod fishing. And more boats livelining rather then putting in a day of bottomfishing.

I cant blame anyone for fishing for em... gotta fish for something...but one good weekend for the for hire fleet is alot of fish. Take 3 big party boats charter boats n the few private boats that would normally b bottom fishing. now take the guys who cod season is closed n lets say they jig a limit. That's a whole bunch of small boat guys season combined in a blink of an eye. Even if it's one fish. That seems an awful stupid way to say ur reducing mortality on anything.

Once stripers is all u can fish for bc the other regs are so screwed up u won't b saving anything or atleast it will def b cutting into the so called reduction. If u increase the amount of anglers who keep 1 or have less anglers who keep two it's a problem.

Cracks me up bc rather than most seeing that all the regulations effect the next ones. People would rather b mad n outraged over a party boat with 50 people and legal picture of their catch waiting to b filleted. When if u took a step n look at reductions in other species is just making a bunch more boats go do the samething

[Joey Dah Fish]

It's a terrible shame the with all the money given to the government agencies they still get this stuff wrong!!! The only so called success story they have is the return of the striper. Now they are treating that. The commercial ban in our area on stripers certainly has increased the population until this past year fishing had been great. Perhaps commercial bans on other species and increased habitat would do the job. In fact I'm sure of it. I don't want to put the commercial guys out f business but you know you have to call a spade a spade. They are certainly killing a lot more fish other than their targeted species and destroying habitat the holds fish when they bang the hell out of the bottom. If something isn't done properly , both the rec anglers and the commercial guys will have no fish to catch. I don't have any answers except for doing my part and C&R when it's possible. Good luck to all and practice conservation when possible. I just love to fish. I spent a few years over seas on the Island of Crete when I was in the USAF and I have seen the effect of over fishing first hand. The beautiful waters of the med were pretty much void of fish :(

[Capt. Jerry P]

It's a terrible shame the with all the money given to the government agencies they still get this stuff wrong!!! The only so called success story they have is the return of the striper. Now they are treating that. The commercial ban in our area on stripers certainly has increased the population until this past year fishing had been great. Perhaps commercial bans on other species and increased habitat would do the job. In fact I'm sure of it. I don't want to put the commercial guys out f business but you know you have to call a spade a spade. They are certainly killing a lot more fish other than their targeted species and destroying habitat the holds fish when they bang the hell out of the bottom. If something isn't done properly , both the rec anglers and the commercial guys will have no fish to catch. I don't have any answers except for doing my part and C&R when it's possible. Good luck to all and practice conservation when possible. I just love to fish. I spent a few years over seas on the Island of Crete when I was in the USAF and I have seen the effect of over fishing first hand. The beautiful waters of the med were pretty much void of fish :(

I dont have answers either but we should b able to see what works...Besides Stripers... Seabass n fluke are perfect examples of success. These are now nowhere near close to over fishing or anytype of collaspe. Both very healthy stocks up and down the coast. Why??? Bc we went along with strick regs to ensure it would b that way for the future. And the end of the day we are penalized for it. The result is where we are now bc they don't know what to do with a healthy stock.

Remember when every tiny pin seabass was a keeper.... remember when every person could fill a blue barrel of legal small blackfish from the canal. Remember when u stopped keeping fluke when u had a full cooler.

Bc these pratices are not common any more those fisheris have improved And it pretty clear for most to see.

I am the first to want to see the big bass around for for the future... If u force the for hire and recreational sector to fish for only stripers bc nothing else is available that will b one of the big down falls even if it was one fish.

At some point it works backwards...Now that we have loads of seabass around we will get cut. After years of cuts to get it where it is today

After all the years of cuts with fluke...Now the average guy just throw back gut hooked shorts all day long watching a dinner get feed to the crabs. And we put all the pressure on the bigger fish.

More winter flounder in the ocean every year - two fish - bc there wasn't as many where they were 20 years ago

Do we need to do something to protect stripers off course we do...bit If we didn't get the bunker we wouldnt get those big bass parked off central jersey for a month + u would get a quick shot jigging... they would trickle... or they would stay offshore/ Or go wherever there is bunker. The first thing everyone would say is its collapsed even if they were caught in record #s somewhere else. Happens every fall... sand eels inshore the bass park there n eat em. No sand eels they stay off shore ( loads seen there ) eat butter fish and everyone will say fall bass run was no good bc it collapsed overfishing. Bc u say fishing was great up until this year...although u make think it means nothing if guys from Barnegat or ny say it was the best season ever

Sad but true that the last paragraph above gets many people to belive things that r simply not true a form of ignorance bc it's supposed to a certain way in their mind.

It's the biggure picture that all regulations and season effect one another and fisheries are always changing.

Everyone is quick to blame a commercial guy and what's there size limits quotas etc...ex with fluke. Everyone complains about commercial size limit for fluke...They should have no size limit... bc they get there quota either way. I would much rather see them keep the first 400 lbs of fluke they net rather then discard 800 lbs to get there 400 of one size. What they catch is documented very well unlike the bs Disney land make believe #s we catch rod n reel.

[Gerry Zagorski]

From the outside looking in, it appears that the commercial lobster fishery in Maine is very well managed.... They practically manage it themselves with very little government oversight. http://www.lobsterfrommaine.com/maine-lobster-management.aspx Seems to me that model is worth looking into.

Once the governemnt gets involved things get mis managed.....

[Dino]

Unfortunately, I think there will be a impact on the industry. Most of us here on the boards are respectful of the resource. However, for the average fisherman who is not that serious about it, they might be reluctant to go and opt for fishing for another species when they are around. Just look at what happened when the regs changed for bluefins. One per boat made it very difficult for many to even want to go on a trip. In the past, I just could not get enough guys together for a bluefin trip when the limit was 1 fish. All in all, there will be an impact on the stripers. They need to target those commercial fuc#ers.

to me that was a positive impact of the 1/boat bluefin regs... as a tuna fisherman.. can you imagine if it were 1, or 2 per person, you would have party boats, open boat charter boats, all kinds of bayliners and pleasure boats, all out on the bluefin grounds... everyone dragging the same rainbow spreader bars and raining down jigs like aerial bombardment :D. dont forget ...we used to catch school bluefins 5-15 miles off.. now you have to run 60 miles, and arrive before sunrise if its a weekend. was that due to rec fishing? no..no it was purse seiners..agreed. but purely for selfish reasons.. isn't it better to fish bluefins now than if there was a strong industry for them? been the to the atlantic princess in the summer on a flat day recently? its a parking lot as it is! .. 1 per boat is a common sense regulation... cutting down participation is sometimes the point.. i dont really want there to be a rec "industry" for bluefins at all.. in my humble opinion..

[fish643]

One at 28" is fine for me. I love to be on the water and the pursuit of the fish.
Whatever the limit is will not change how much I fish.

[NJ Dave]

I think the fares would be close to or the same. Most of us fish for the sport and filets just make it a better day.
It will be interesting to see what captains do once a boat full of legal 28 inch fish are caught.
How many will mix the day up such as running for blues drifting for fluke or sea bassing if its open or will they say no big bass are around to limit out so lets call it a day.
like said in previous posts we pay for the day not for the catch

[Capt Sal]

I think the fares would be close to or the same. Most of us fish for the sport and filets just make it a better day.
It will be interesting to see what captains do once a boat full of legal 28 inch fish are caught.
How many will mix the day up such as running for blues drifting for fluke or sea bassing if its open or will they say no big bass are around to limit out so lets call it a day.
like said in previous posts we pay for the day not for the catch

No captains are going to say "There are no big bass around and call it a day''. That was a different tread and that captain is the exception not the norm! Play cr and enjoy the day. If you fishing in an area were can switch over to bottom fish I am sure that will happen also. Remember it is easier for six guys on a charter to agree on switching over to fluke than a party boat were not everyone knows each other. Many times we did well on bass on Shrewsbury Rocks early in the morning and when the bite died we switched to fluke.

[Take a kid fishing]

I don't see this changing the number of trips I take. I do see it changing how long the PBs will stay on them if the fishing is poor. With these rules they should repeal the 3 mile limit.

[BCinerie]

I fished for them 1
Day last year! Thanks to the shrimp curse I did not catch, with the new regs may try it 1
Time this year too!

[Capt Sal]

I don't see this changing the number of trips I take. I do see it changing how long the PBs will stay on them if the fishing is poor. With these rules they should repeal the 3 mile limit.

Catch 22? Then commercial guys will wipe them out. Game fish status with no commercial quota at all would be a great thing. Wishful thinking. We don't have a clue what is out there beyond three miles. Niether does fishery management. When you reduce the area on the entire East coast to three miles out how could anyone possibly get any idea what so ever of what the biomass is of striped bass ?