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19" keeper striped bass.

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Just became aware of a change in regulation in the Chesapeake bay reducing the size of keeper striped bass From twenty down to nineteen inches.. heres a link for anyone interested. https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2018/05/14/new-striped-bass-regulations-effective-may-16/ The comments are equally ridiculous: "Why are these regulations not state wide? The bays surrounding Ocean City have a limit of 28". We've never caught a keeper striped bass. 19" would be wonderful....we'd even take 20"." God save the Fishery. Just felt like sharing hopefully I'm wrong and as the regulators say it will actually increase the population of bass by making people catch and kill less fish overall due to catching a limit sooner. I just don't see how you can complain about a lack of keeper fish and fix the problem by moving the goalposts and keeping even smaller fish. better than 18 inches I guess.

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God forbid anyone should check data before breaking out the Velveeta to serve with the quality of the W(h)ine here...

 

Realistically, shifting from the current 20" to 19", or even 18 & 17" for that matter, makes no difference since they're all 3 year old fish, and it's the age of a fish that fisheries managers use in their formulae.  Like the Chesapeake, the Hudson River has a "smaller" fish size limit, 18-28" or > 40".  I can't figure out why they allow the > 40" fish.  Taking a prime spawning female during the spawn seems unconscionable to me, but then again, why should logic be used in fishery management?

 

And yes, this 20 - 19" adjustment may relieve some fishing pressure.  I know many here don't consider keeping any striped bass, but there are folks that like bringing home some fresh fish for dinner.  If they get that fish more quickly on a trip, they may quit earlier, saving some fish from the trauma of C&R.  

 

LENGTH AGE WEIGHT CHART FOR STRIPED BASS.JPG

 

 

Edited by Roccus7

Shall I go to heaven or a-fishing? - H. D. Thoreau

 

Veni.  Vidi.  Cepi. - with apologies to Gaius Julius Caesar

 

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Interesting. The idea of lowering the size limit to decrease mortality is kind of a hard one for me to believe unless there are laws stating you need to stop fishing after u get your keeper. Meaning no c&r, your off the water after you get your keeper. It would also need to be enforced properly. Haven’t read the article yet and I’m not familiar with the regs...does a law like this exist?  Other wise it’s just speculation. Yes you would think some might catch a keeper faster and call it a day. But you can look at it the other way and guess a lot of people enjoy fishing and won’t want to leave after getting a keeper. In fact it’s not hard to imagine people keeping a second fish due to gut hook, or tossingback their dead 19” fish cuz they got a 22” a little later. I’d guess c&r mortality stay about the same with a way higher number of fish kept due to a lower size limit. Just my guess. I’m also curious as to why it wouldn’t matter if it was lowered down to even 17” because they’re 3 year old fish? Aren’t we hoping 3 year olds will grow to be breeders? If it was lowered ever more doesn’t that mean there would be thousands more fish killed? I’m thinking about it this way, if the limit is 20 then how many thousands of 19” fish get relseased and have a chance? Some willdie from wounds, some will die when they grow to 20” and some will grow to breeder size. How ever if it’s dropped to 19 how many of those fish that would have been released are now on the dinner plate? Just my thoughts, could be wrong. 

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It’s a joke, the fact that these fish aren’t regulated as a whole up and down the east coast is whacked... said it before and I’ll say it again burn the candle from both ends......

 

the bottom Tom line is the fishery caters to way to many clowns, should be one size fits all, and manage it as a whole, if you can’t catch a fish bigger then 19” then take up golf

GOD made my Mold different from the rest, Then he broke that mold so I know I'm Blessed.
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7 hours ago, Bmackerel said:

Interesting. The idea of lowering the size limit to decrease mortality is kind of a hard one for me to believe unless there are laws stating you need to stop fishing after u get your keeper. Meaning no c&r, your off the water after you get your keeper. It would also need to be enforced properly. Haven’t read the article yet and I’m not familiar with the regs...does a law like this exist?  Other wise it’s just speculation. Yes you would think some might catch a keeper faster and call it a day. But you can look at it the other way and guess a lot of people enjoy fishing and won’t want to leave after getting a keeper. In fact it’s not hard to imagine people keeping a second fish due to gut hook, or tossingback their dead 19” fish cuz they got a 22” a little later. I’d guess c&r mortality stay about the same with a way higher number of fish kept due to a lower size limit. Just my guess. I’m also curious as to why it wouldn’t matter if it was lowered down to even 17” because they’re 3 year old fish? Aren’t we hoping 3 year olds will grow to be breeders? If it was lowered ever more doesn’t that mean there would be thousands more fish killed? I’m thinking about it this way, if the limit is 20 then how many thousands of 19” fish get relseased and have a chance? Some willdie from wounds, some will die when they grow to 20” and some will grow to breeder size. How ever if it’s dropped to 19 how many of those fish that would have been released are now on the dinner plate? Just my thoughts, could be wrong. 

All good questions.  I can only speak from personal experience, but I usually quit pretty much right after I get that keeper because I factor in the time I'll spend filleting the fish and cleaning up.  And often I'll toss keeper fish back if I'm not in the mood to break out the filleting gear...

 

Personally I feel a slot limit that is set below breeder size is a better option, but that's just my opinion and one starting to gain traction with fishery managers.  As you mention, you never know how many fish die from natural causes so if you keep a 24" fish it's a fish that may or may not spawn in a couple of years, while keeping a 28+" fish means you've just removed a breeder from the ecosystem.

 

No easy answers, at least we're coming off a couple of sequential good spawning years...

Shall I go to heaven or a-fishing? - H. D. Thoreau

 

Veni.  Vidi.  Cepi. - with apologies to Gaius Julius Caesar

 

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On 11/26/2018 at 9:51 PM, Chiefer said:

All good points made here.  The thing I see in my experience is that whatever the limit is, whether it is 36", 28" or 19", I seem to catch a lot of fish that are just shy of keeper size.  Interesting correlation and no, I have no data to back it up.

That's funny because my experience is the same going back to when 36" = "keeper". When it was 36 I'd get 34s, at 28 I got a bunch of 26s. I didn't get that many under 19, but things seem to be worse every year...

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6 hours ago, Chiefer said:

To me, this indicates that people are keeping legal fish, resulting in more catches (%wise) of just sub legal fish. 

Interesting hypothesis.  We have to remember that the 28" and above fish have to run the entire East Coast's gauntlet to get up to us so the fish have been well picked over before they get up to us.  

 

There was no shortage of slot fish when we had the slot, probably because the other states with a higher minimum length were throwing these back.  Something that the above hypothesis would predict if it is correct, which I think it is...

Shall I go to heaven or a-fishing? - H. D. Thoreau

 

Veni.  Vidi.  Cepi. - with apologies to Gaius Julius Caesar

 

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I’m curious if all bass truly have to face the whole east coast gauntlet.  There is so much information of breading populations in Maine/New Hampshire and Maritime provinces.....is it possible that some fish just go to say Connecticut or Rhode Island for a couple months and come back north? Kind of a regional population....that’s probably even more fragile and susceptible to changes.  I swear I’ve caught some fish in the same places throughout the years that are very different bass.  They look different they eat different....I dunno call me crazy 

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13 hours ago, Plugger207 said:

I’m curious if all bass truly have to face the whole east coast gauntlet.  There is so much information of breading populations in Maine/New Hampshire and Maritime provinces.....is it possible that some fish just go to say Connecticut or Rhode Island for a couple months and come back north? Kind of a regional population....that’s probably even more fragile and susceptible to changes.  I swear I’ve caught some fish in the same places throughout the years that are very different bass.  They look different they eat different....I dunno call me crazy 

I’d bet it’s possible. I mean look at the numbers of holdovers in the CT rivers and in RI. What do those fish do in the spring? I also think certain schools know where they’re going and bypass a lot of the coast off shore. There’s been a number of years where there wasn’t a ton of time between fish hitting the cape and fish making it to Maine. Makes u wonder if our bass skipped the cape and just headed here? Maybe a couple pit stops on the way? Pretty hard to know what’s going on under the water. Would be interesting to see some tagging info

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Yep fascinating!  Regardless I got a bit off topic......I tend to think more of other issues affecting the fisheries other than over fishing.  Climate change?  The gulf of Maine’s crazy warming waters....and it’s the same case up and down the east coast.  Giant algal blooms....increased fertilizer in the waters.....all kinds of factors are hurting our beloved striped bass.  It’s s butterfly effect.....I understand how easy it is to point the blame at catch and release and commercial fisheries,  it’s easier for us to “control” but there’s a ton more to it.  Before striped bass were a loved sport fish they were an important commercial fishery...and still are.....I couldn’t agree more with shutting all harvest down for 5 years both commercial and sport....to really help rebuild the stock.....but doing that is not guaranteed....and what would we do to keep it healthy after?  

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