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Different Thought On Keeper Size

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aglenn

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and sometimes the only thing they will bite is live (or dead) real bait.  at least on/off the outer cape - except for the schoolies - it's not uncommon to find the one artificial style/pattern that begs the bite - but its also not uncommon to go thru the entire gammet of topwater, swimming, jig, soft, metal, etc to find its only a live or dead mac they want.

 

to the op's question... i'd just add that i was fishing thru the entire moratorium and subsequent higher keeper limits.  whatever you say, argue, criticize or bash - you can't say it didn't work... the bass came back big time.  as the limits came down, the population of "keeper" fish shrank noticeably (at least to us) and i don't think its because there are "just more people fishing for bass after they came back in numbers"... maybe at some higher keeper length does add up to better ratio of kept breeders to # of fish (??)... it does not seem to even be in "balance" at 28".

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2 hours ago, robc22 said:

Many fishermen and anglers here show proper restraint and respect towards our natural resources but there are always those that just don't care and do what they want........

This happens pretty much everywhere & bottom line is if someone is hell bent on breaking the rules they’re going to do it no matter the size limits. It’s not that hard to do - we’re all out there sneaking around at night & it’s very easy to hide a fish. But I’m pretty sure the vast majority of fishermen follow the rules so getting the rules right is important. 

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6 hours ago, nicknotsebastian said:

and sometimes the only thing they will bite is live (or dead) real bait.  at least on/off the outer cape - except for the schoolies - it's not uncommon to find the one artificial style/pattern that begs the bite - but its also not uncommon to go thru the entire gammet of topwater, swimming, jig, soft, metal, etc to find its only a live or dead mac they want.

 

to the op's question... i'd just add that i was fishing thru the entire moratorium and subsequent higher keeper limits.  whatever you say, argue, criticize or bash - you can't say it didn't work... the bass came back big time.  as the limits came down, the population of "keeper" fish shrank noticeably (at least to us) and i don't think its because there are "just more people fishing for bass after they came back in numbers"... maybe at some higher keeper length does add up to better ratio of kept breeders to # of fish (??)... it does not seem to even be in "balance" at 28".

The was never a moratorium on the commercial or rec. harvest of bass in Mass......:read:

You guys cry about the numbers of fish harvested but now your sayin fishing effort don't count!..........:fire:

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6 hours ago, robc22 said:

You guys cry about the numbers of fish harvested but now your sayin fishing effort don't count!..........:fire:

who’s crying ?  i’m just saying we noticed less large bass around as the keeper legnth came down.  maybe sliding it back up a bit will find a balance.  the goal is to have “keeper” stripers around and gettable to all forever - right ?  i guess you want to catch them all sooner and be back to the 90s again ?

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31 mins ago, nicknotsebastian said:

who’s crying ?  i’m just saying we noticed less large bass around as the keeper legnth came down.  maybe sliding it back up a bit will find a balance.  the goal is to have “keeper” stripers around and gettable to all forever - right ?  i guess you want to catch them all sooner and be back to the 90s again ?

You guys are confusing me.

 

I fished from the late 80s. By 88 - 89 the word was out and a ****load of guys were fishing. 

The conga line at plum island on low tide rivaled anything seen today.

 

The difference was, it was very hard to get a 36 incher. Much, much less fished were killed while many more made it to multiple spawns.

 

There can be no (sober) argument. The fish came back in record numbers and 32 - 40 inch fish, average about 34, were far, far more common. 

As the limits were relaxed, it was easy to track the instant change in population. 

Less fish and smaller.

 

As to going back to the 90s, yes please!!!!

I KNOW I will never see better surf casting in my life than I had in the 90s.

Most of young guys bragging on 1000s of fish per season can't fathom how good it was.

 

To get back to that, we'd need 36" limit AND a way to bring the herring and bunker back.

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^^^This^^^

 

I fish from the boat too which has given me a broader perspective on the bass population over the years. During the era of the 36” size limit, fall runs were actual events - consistent & reliable with large schools of fish on bait. I haven’t seen a large scale situation like this in years.

 

For you younger guys - this fishery used to be really good. Catching a 36” bass maybe wasn’t a daily event for most, but it wasn’t close to uncommon. The 28” size limit has transformed this fishery into a shadow of it’s former self. Catching a 36” fish today feels like you caught a trophy. It’s a joke. 

 

In reality, we’re all to blame. We allowed too many fish to be killed by regulators who don’t really care about this fishery. We can go back & forth forever on what the “perfect” solution is but the bottom line is simple - we need to start killing less fish. Yes, it will be inconvenient, frustrating & even painful to some in the short term - especially with those content to catch the occasional 28” “keeper”.  But nothing worthwhile ever came without sacrifice. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, mikez2 said:

 

As to going back to the 90s, yes please!!!!

I KNOW I will never see better surf casting in my life than I had in the 90s.

Most of young guys bragging on 1000s of fish per season can't fathom how good it was.

How about the 80s then - you know what I mean... "back when" when seeing any bass come into the Pamet - let alone a couple keepers - was a "wow" moment.  We knew ONE GUY that consistently found keepers in his secret spots (commercial) and he quickly became known as "The Bass King" cuz it was such a big deal.

 

I'm not a scientist, I'm a fisherman - I'm just going by what I know "action / reaction" wise.  There were very few bass, they raised the limit, there were a ****load of bass, they lowered the limit, bass populations (especially big ones) are shrinking fast.  Why not make everyone 34 or 36 again (?) - see what happens (?).  Most (serious/professional) comms I know often didn't get daily limits and (I believe ??) the 2018 quota wasn't even met it was so hard to find keepers.

 

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4 hours ago, nicknotsebastian said:

How about the 80s then - you know what I mean... "back when" when seeing any bass come into the Pamet - let alone a couple keepers - was a "wow" moment.  We knew ONE GUY that consistently found keepers in his secret spots (commercial) and he quickly became known as "The Bass King" cuz it was such a big deal.

 

I'm not a scientist, I'm a fisherman - I'm just going by what I know "action / reaction" wise.  There were very few bass, they raised the limit, there were a ****load of bass, they lowered the limit, bass populations (especially big ones) are shrinking fast.  Why not make everyone 34 or 36 again (?) - see what happens (?).  Most (serious/professional) comms I know often didn't get daily limits and (I believe ??) the 2018 quota wasn't even met it was so hard to find keepers.

 

Why do you attribute the quota not being filled to a lack of keepers? The 2018 comm. regs were very restrictive.......Only 2 days a week and for all intents a whole group of people that use to comm. fish bass were knocked out of the fishery( the shore guy). Much, Much less comm. effort.

Some years the bass just don't come here. They stay south of here. Doesn't mean there's less bass just less bass in MA waters. Long Island charter capts tell me they have been seeing nothing but bass for months but the fish are staying away from the beach.

Doing population analysis from a few fixed spots along the shore in one state is not really the best way to count fish lol

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31 mins ago, robc22 said:

Some years the bass just don't come here. They stay south of here. Doesn't mean there's less bass just less bass in MA waters. Long Island charter capts tell me they have been seeing nothing but bass for months but the fish are staying away from the beach.

Yup - we’ve been hearing this hypothesis  for the past 10-15 years also.  “There are plenty of bass - they just stay in deep water now”. So a coastal species that for eons has spawned in rivers & spent much of its adult life in estuaries & cruising beaches has decided within the past 20 years to stop frequenting these locations? Not likely. 

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55 mins ago, robc22 said:

Doing population analysis from a few fixed spots along the shore in one state is not really the best way to count fish lol

This isn’t how it’s done & the last stock assessment showed the population is down which is why the regs were tightened. Rumor has it that the next stock assessment due out in February isn’t looking good either.  

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1 hour ago, robc22 said:

Why do you attribute the quota not being filled to a lack of keepers? The 2018 comm. regs were very restrictive.......Only 2 days a week and for all intents a whole group of people that use to comm. fish bass were knocked out of the fishery( the shore guy). Much, Much less comm. effort.

Some years the bass just don't come here. They stay south of here. Doesn't mean there's less bass just less bass in MA waters. Long Island charter capts tell me they have been seeing nothing but bass for months but the fish are staying away from the beach.

Doing population analysis from a few fixed spots along the shore in one state is not really the best way to count fish lol

Yah, there's always that naysayer. Been hearing that "they're all somewhere else" for about 15 years.

Used to be a lot more popular back then. 

Most guys have come around by now. It's pretty much pro-commercial appologists only saying it these days.

 

Until the last one goes to market or freezer burn, there will always be pockets where locally fish are caught.

 

Many of us have been tracking this for a long time. 

I used to fish Maine alot and we noticed the change there first.

I brought it up on RT back then and pretty much got flamed.

I see many of those same guys today bitchin'.

We been discussing it with anglers up and down the coast.

SoCo RI was overrun with NY and NJ guys all fall. Everyone I talked to said they had to drive that far because it sucked down there. I talked to the same couple of guys 3 weekends in a row. That's alot crapload of driving for a bunch of schoolies.

 

I did see in another thread how the LI party boats pile dead bass in stacks on the deck.

That's gotta hurt.:hooked:

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