Seabass Slam Big J 01.06.13

[ParkerBoys]

Went out on the Big J for Sundays offshore seabass trip. It was drop and reel fishing at the start . We had our 5 man limit almost before the sun cam up and by 8:30 AM we were done. Small blues were around in the beginning and faded off after the first couple hours of fishing. No dogfish for us however there were some coming up but not many. The entire boat limited out by 9AM. All quality fish. Our smallest keeper was 16.5 inches. Our largest were at 22-23 inches. The boat limited out on the 1st drop. They made another stop for porgys and it was a little slow. We had a dozen large porgys and a ling to round out our catch. Then a 3rd drop at the end of the day produced a pool winner 25 pound pollack another large pollack and a good size cod to end the day. The pollacks took the pools. Excellent fishing!

[SaltLife1980]

Nice work!! sounds like a great trip

[Njmat567]

Hey Great catch guys it sounds like a blast. Just curious though, those quality size sea bass your catching on the Big J way off shore, are those fish the breeding size fish? Is there a maximum size biscuit you could keep? i am asking because all of the recent bans on sea bass season over the past couple years . Maybe there should be a sea bass "slot limit" for a few years. Instead of taking 15 22" fish, make it something like 15 fish 12" to 18"i think over the long run this would improve quality and numbers of sea bass fishing. Great trip, nice fish and a good friends.... gotta love fishing. let me know if u have any answers

[CaptTB]

Originally Posted by Njmat567

Hey Great catch guys it sounds like a blast. Just curious though, those quality size sea bass your catching on the Big J way off shore, are those fish the breeding size fish? Is there a maximum size biscuit you could keep? i am asking because all of the recent bans on sea bass season over the past couple years . Maybe there should be a sea bass "slot limit" for a few years. Instead of taking 15 22" fish, make it something like 15 fish 12" to 18"i think over the long run this would improve quality and numbers of sea bass fishing. Great trip, nice fish and a good friends.... gotta love fishing. let me know if u have any answers

The recent and previous closures for Sea Bass have nothing to do with problems with the stock, real or perceived. They have been a result of MRIP claiming the coast has exceeded its quota for a given time frame/landings one year vs. quota for the subsequent year, etc.

The stock is considered to be at 110% of its rebuilt level.

Nov and Dec were closed because sea bass are so numerous that we are supposedly catching way above our quota in a short amount of time.

Literally they are so thick we cannot help but catch them but the quota is at historic lows due to the precautionary rule despite the fact that the stock has exceeded its rebuilding target by a sizeable amount.

Also, Sea Bass are female to start. When the dominant male (they are known to have 'harems' of multiple females....lucky dogs) is removed from a group another will take its place. In absence of another local male they will change sex and become the dominant male.

[Tedward]

I was on this trip. ParkerBoys is telling it like it was. That bite at 4AM in the cold rain as soon as the anchor came tight was one of the most suicidal bites I have seen. I had 10 large and jumbos in the box as fast as I could drop and reel, and topped off my limit by just after sunrise. My biggest was 23 inches. If you want some BSB's get out there now. That last stop I jigged like crazy as the Capt kept calling out pollack marks but I never got bit. Glad a couple ppl did get them though. Biggest was 33 lbs apparently.

Ted P.

[ParkerBoys]

Originally Posted by Tedward

I was on this trip. ParkerBoys is telling it like it was. That bite at 4AM in the cold rain as soon as the anchor came tight was one of the most suicidal bites I have seen. I had 10 large and jumbos in the box as fast as I could drop and reel, and topped off my limit by just after sunrise. My biggest was 23 inches. If you want some BSB's get out there now. That last stop I jigged like crazy as the Capt kept calling out pollack marks but I never got bit. Glad a couple ppl did get them though. Biggest was 33 lbs apparently.

Ted P.

That was a savage bite in the dark. Nonstop. It didnt matter where you were fishing - big humpbacks were flying over the rail everywhere you looked. Lots of doubles too. No Pollack for me - oh well. I was guessing on the weight of the pool winner by eyeball. Would have been sweet to top off the catch with one.

[Harpoon]

Originally Posted by Njmat567

Hey Great catch guys it sounds like a blast. Just curious though, those quality size sea bass your catching on the Big J way off shore, are those fish the breeding size fish? Is there a maximum size biscuit you could keep? i am asking because all of the recent bans on sea bass season over the past couple years . Maybe there should be a sea bass "slot limit" for a few years. Instead of taking 15 22" fish, make it something like 15 fish 12" to 18"i think over the long run this would improve quality and numbers of sea bass fishing. Great trip, nice fish and a good friends.... gotta love fishing. let me know if u have any answers

Do u realize that if u bring up a jumbo and chose not to keep and then vent him/her there is still a chance they will not survive the swim back down. Not to mention there is a huge discrpency with sea bass stocks. This post was put up to share a great experience that he had on a very unique trip. I myself had the same experience earlier in the weekend. Please let us enjoy it without ruining it with this bs talk about slot limit size. Start ur own thread on the BB with this stuff... Heck u can even bring up a striper slot limit on that board. I'm sure u will be popular.

[Chico]

Originally Posted by Njmat567

Hey Great catch guys it sounds like a blast. Just curious though, those quality size sea bass your catching on the Big J way off shore, are those fish the breeding size fish? Is there a maximum size biscuit you could keep? i am asking because all of the recent bans on sea bass season over the past couple years . Maybe there should be a sea bass "slot limit" for a few years. Instead of taking 15 22" fish, make it something like 15 fish 12" to 18"i think over the long run this would improve quality and numbers of sea bass fishing. Great trip, nice fish and a good friends.... gotta love fishing. let me know if u have any answers

Captain Monty Hawkins, out of OC Maryland addressed this very subject when they raised the size limits. Science indicates that these fish have spawned several times before they have reached 11 1/2 inches. It is not the spawning stock that is in need of additional protection, it's the habitat, the reefs and structure that must be re-built and protected from the bottom draggers. As an analogy, You can implement all the limits you want on squirrels, but if you have no trees, they will never prosper in a paved parking lot.

[Angler Paul]

Sea bass are protogenous hermaphrodites meaning that they all begin life as females. By the time they are 13" virtually all have changed to males. At the current size limit of 12 1/2" the vast majority of females are protected. In my opionon that is why their biomass keeps increasing. Keeping the large males does not cause any problems. The only real problem with sea bass is the people who manage them. They have grossly underestimated the number of sea bass that are out there and have set quotas that are far too small for this fishery.

Paul Haertel
2nd VP JCAA

[the1jonc]

I love what CaptTB wrote:

"Nov and Dec were closed because sea bass are so numerous that we are supposedly catching way above our quota in a short amount of time.

Literally they are so thick we cannot help but catch them"

I am chomping at the bit to get out on the 17th.