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December 2018 Fishing Reports

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Sudsy

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I am a life long fisherman and really only a year into surf casting but damn, I feel like I've seen three keepers reported on this site all fall. I'm sure a ton of guys catch and don't report but I follow party boats and charters and wasn't even that impressed. Feel like getting into this has been a let down. No big blues come through, not many large stripers, Albie's basically showed up twice...just a let down. God help our fishery. I actually had a decent fluke season though.

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9 hours ago, Pad_Crasher said:

I am a life long fisherman and really only a year into surf casting but damn, I feel like I've seen three keepers reported on this site all fall. I'm sure a ton of guys catch and don't report but I follow party boats and charters and wasn't even that impressed. Feel like getting into this has been a let down. No big blues come through, not many large stripers, Albie's basically showed up twice...just a let down. God help our fishery. I actually had a decent fluke season though.

 

I feel bad for those of you just getting into this fishing. It wasn't always like this.

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9 hours ago, Pad_Crasher said:

I am a life long fisherman and really only a year into surf casting but damn, I feel like I've seen three keepers reported on this site all fall. I'm sure a ton of guys catch and don't report but I follow party boats and charters and wasn't even that impressed. Feel like getting into this has been a let down. No big blues come through, not many large stripers, Albie's basically showed up twice...just a let down. God help our fishery. I actually had a decent fluke season though.

I think a lot of people get too caught up into the end result of a trip and probably never take time to take in the sights, sounds, and smells. As someone in my early 40’s who grew up fishing along the coast I can agree on your point of this lack luster season for most of everyone in my circle. Has it been better than latey? Yeah, you came in late in the game. Has it been worse? I remember seeing the picture of a striped bass on signs around inlets and tackle shops and wondered what they looked like in person. Hope your (and all of our) 2019 is a lot better.  

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Hit the surf SoMoCo yesterday evening on the outgoing for a few hours.  Dead sea.  Didn't see anybody else either.  Today looks like a washout.  This might be it for the year. 

 

All-in-all, a disappointing fall.  The spring opened with promise.  Caught quite a few shorts on sandworms in April, followed by 30"+ stripers on chunks.  Caught a few blues, too, including one over 30".  But things slowed down this summer.  The highlights were a couple of huge stingrays caught on chunks.  AndI had a few good days with the porgies in the bay in late summer.  But the fall has been a let down. 

 

I hope everybody has a good winter.  

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On 12/15/2018 at 11:18 PM, Pad_Crasher said:

I am a life long fisherman and really only a year into surf casting but damn, I feel like I've seen three keepers reported on this site all fall. I'm sure a ton of guys catch and don't report but I follow party boats and charters and wasn't even that impressed. Feel like getting into this has been a let down. No big blues come through, not many large stripers, Albie's basically showed up twice...just a let down. God help our fishery. I actually had a decent fluke season though.

I got one keeper on December 8 but even small bass were hard to come by this year.

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Hanging it up cuz of some beach buggy issues or else i'd still be grinding with the guys that understand this is when giants are caught.

 

All in all, this was a fall that forced the best of the best out of their comfort zones. My go to spots were strangely effected by the early Fall storms. The amazing beach structure that I saw in the early fall was washed away and never recovered as far as I saw. Bait observations: tons of rainbait, bunker, and mullet throughout the summer and into the second week of October. I did well in early fall with a bass to 38". As the season progressed it seemed as though I timed up every outing with dirty water and post storm conditions. The sand eels came and stayed but unfortunately there were not enough big bass to cash in on the opportunity. I'm leaving this season with two major lessons learned. First, I have to venture out of my comfort zone and fish different tides to see the bigger picture of a given spot. Second, its now or never to protect these fish and the ones that are left are being absolutely hammered off of VA right now as I write this post.

 

If you are still fishing for these rats that are locked in on the sand eels do us all a favor and crush your barbs. Im usually not a fan of crushing them, but when 99.9999% of the fish are under 32" its necessary and more fun.

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1 hour ago, DragonsLax48 said:

Hanging it up cuz of some beach buggy issues or else i'd still be grinding with the guys that understand this is when giants are caught.

 

All in all, this was a fall that forced the best of the best out of their comfort zones. My go to spots were strangely effected by the early Fall storms. The amazing beach structure that I saw in the early fall was washed away and never recovered as far as I saw. Bait observations: tons of rainbait, bunker, and mullet throughout the summer and into the second week of October. I did well in early fall with a bass to 38". As the season progressed it seemed as though I timed up every outing with dirty water and post storm conditions. The sand eels came and stayed but unfortunately there were not enough big bass to cash in on the opportunity. I'm leaving this season with two major lessons learned. First, I have to venture out of my comfort zone and fish different tides to see the bigger picture of a given spot. Second, its now or never to protect these fish and the ones that are left are being absolutely hammered off of VA right now as I write this post.

 

If you are still fishing for these rats that are locked in on the sand eels do us all a favor and crush your barbs. Im usually not a fan of crushing them, but when 99.9999% of the fish are under 32" its necessary and more fun.

Thanks for all you do for this site - enjoy your winter break!

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I just submitted a letter to my local congressman regarding this situtation. Feel free to read. I hope you respect my opinions and don't think I am too lenient or too harsh. I honestly think we are at a tipping point and if the situation isn't addressed our fishery will feel a world of hurt. Mery Christmas fellas..and ladies! 

 

To the Office of Congressman Pallone,

I am a life long recreational fisherman who grew up in coastal Monmouth. I fish from the surf as well as a family owned boat. One of the biggest thrills for a local NJ fisherman is hooking into a large striped bass. "Cows" is the term affectionaly used to describe a plus 40 lb striped bass. Landing one is becoming more and more difficult. Worse, finding bass over 10lbs is becoming an arduous task. Throughout the years I've watched my own numbers decline. Even as recent as the early 2000's, I recall classic fall runs with 20 lb bass schooling throughout our waters beginning in October and crescendoing in late November. That might has well have been 50 years ago because now in 2018, we are treated to sporadic "good days" with most fish being in the 16-24 inch range. Where have all the big bass gone?? Well here are some theories;

-The Army corp of engineers has decimated our beaches. Any structure that was left on the Jersey coast has been flattened. No structure equals no areas for fish to hide, for bait to be held.
- Too many breeders are being kept. Often times, the big girls are being harvested. This takes millions of eggs out of the ecoystem depriving the northeast/midatlantic of future striped bass.
-Storms. Noreasters, hurricanes, and days of 40+ mph winds are changing the structures of our beaches. They might also be disrupting our fall runs (see fall 2018).

What's the solution?

I think it begins with a cap on the keepers. Right now the current rules state that an angler without a bonus tag can keep one fish at 28 inches plus. I think it's time this get's updated. 1 fish at 28-36 inches. This will allow for the breeders to be released an ensure more eggs in our oceans and more opportunity to "land the big one." Plus, and this is subjective, I think the table fare of 28-36 inch fish is much better than 40 inch plus fish.

The 2nd, more complicated solution is this...the army corp of engineers has to back off. They are destroying the beaches. Ask any surf fisherman there opinion on dredging and you'll likely be met with a few dozen swear words. Every year, rigs are out there, dirtying up our water, turning structure into flat sand parking lots. It is undoubtly distrubing the ecosystem. We need to introduce some structure back into our oceans. Create new wrecks close in to give fish areas to hunt. Artificial reefs create a new trophic structure that can re-engergize the food chain.

I hope my suggestions don't fall on deaf ears. For many of us, this was the worst fall run in decades. A change needs to be made or else our thriving recreational fishing industry will be completely decimated. Thank you.

 

(Name omitted)

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