Stripers have begun

[Capt Ahab]

I gotta so striper fishing and film the catch next time.

Can I come

[Bryan Young]

Sure. They are not running now though.

[OSIRIS631]

Nice work.  I went out one night last week, but got skunked.  I'll try again this week.  There are whispers of fish being caught on Long Island already....

Sacfly hit little neck bay.... all the way in the back.. by Bass beach.

fishing is hot right know.  Had  two keepers today.

John

[Alto Mare]

Nice john, post some pictures sometime, we like to see them. What gear were you using?
Sal

[thinket]

I'm here in cali & I've never experienced spiraling/rolling stripers.  I fish san luis reservoir & the delta. the bigger fish 18-25+lbs stripers are MEAN. they'll run hard and look to wrap you in structure.  in my experience, the only fish in that size range that fights harder is albacore tuna

[OSIRIS631]

Nice john, post some pictures sometime, we like to see them. What gear were you using?
Sal

Sal I was using that Penn Z that you worked on for me....its become my favorite spinning reel... cant believe its so nice and smooth.. I was using the white buck hair spro jig with white grub in 1 oz size.

John

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

CA striped bass' history;

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Resources/Striped_Bass/History.asp

Where I live, Inland Empire CA, you can fish for stripers in the reservoirs.

[broadway]

Nice fish! It's closer to 22-25 lbs ....if it's 38"
Keep it up, Capt.  Be safe on those rocks and make sure the Korkers are in good shape.
Stay well,
Dom

[Ron Jones]

ML B,
Where are you in the valley? I gre up in Cucamonga.
Ron

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

ML B,
Where are you in the valley? I gre up in Cucamonga.
Ron

Hemet, Diamond Valley Lake is my "backyard". Also Lakes Perris and Hemet are not that far...

[Capt Ahab]

I'm here in cali & I've never experienced spiraling/rolling stripers.  I fish san luis reservoir & the delta. the bigger fish 18-25+lbs stripers are MEAN. they'll run hard and look to wrap you in structure.  in my experience, the only fish in that size range that fights harder is albacore tuna

I'm confused.  Striuped bass were purposefully introduced to the Pacific?

Yes - they actually took them across the county in water filled Railroad cars and stocked them in Cali


Actually the bass came from the Raritian bay - same as many of the fish I catch today!


http://www.fishsniffer.com/species/details/stripers/

[Capt Ahab]

that is not too smart.  Just what you need is an invading fish in Pacific california waters.

I agree - but in 1879 I think this was viewed a little differently

In this case it worked - made for a huge commercial fishery and now a huge rec. fishery as well

[Ron Jones]

There weren't any steelhead in the Great Lakes before man had his way either. Now the fishery is huge.
Ron

[SacFly]

It is what it is, I guess.  It is weird for the east coast ecologists yelling that the stripers are going extinct when they seem to have been exported to fresh water and salt water environments nearly everywhere in North America.

I think it's more a matter that the people who fish for stripers really love the fishery and it was fished into the danger zone once before.  The Chesapeake Bay is in decline, the Hudson may be improving but that's only because it was such a cesspool previously.  Big breeders get pounded every year from Mass to North Carolina. 

I've only been fishing the salt for 7 years and I feel like I've seen a decline. Old timers say it looks similar to before the last crash.  Small fish, big fish, and not enough in between.  Last fall I talked to some guys in Montauk who have been fishing there 50 years, and it was the worst they could remember.

On a related note, last week I caught one behind Robert Moses with the worst myco/skin disease I've ever seen.  It's apparently a big problem down south, but I've seen relatively little of it on Long Island.  This fish looked unhealthy.  It was sad.

[SacFly]

If these fish die out of their Atlantic east coast habitat, it will be 100% because of pollution.

Sorry about referring to the Hudson as a cesspool.  I actually meant hazardous waste site.  NY blight indeed.
http://www.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html#quest1

The tone of your post is so adversarial I'm not sure exactly how to respond.  I would never draw conclusions based solely on my limited experience, but I fish with guys who have been at it on Long Island and the NJ coast for 30,40,50 years.  Some are meat fishermen and some are conservationists. Personally I'm a little bit of both. I don't think any of them would say the fishery is in great shape right now. 

You may blame this 100% on pollution.  I would say that given the problems caused by pollution, which are only going to get worse, managing the fishery properly becomes even more important.  I don't trust those currently in charge of this to get it right.

Please don't try to paint me as a PETA guy.  I had venison for dinner last night and am having porgy for lunch today.  I am, however, invested in this fishery as I've chosen to make NY my home and hope to be fishing it for the next 30 or 40 years.  I would support any rational approach that is geared towards a healthy, sustainable fishery.

What I would really like to see is unbiased science identifying the prime breeders and then slot limits that protect those fish specifically. Eat the eaters and let the best breeders breed.  Explain to me why that wouldn't work, and what would work better, and I'm all ears.