Well this sucks! No stripers for me this year.

[hhager23]

https://www.obxtoday.com/2022-fall-recreational-striped-bass-season-will-not-open-per-division-of-marine-fisheries/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=todays_top_news_from_the_outer_banks&utm_term=2022-09-27

[giant basshole]

I’m assuming you can still fish, just no harvest. I would be thrilled to see this coastwide.

[ProSkateFisherman]

2 hours ago, giant basshole said:

I’m assuming you can still fish, just no harvest. I would be thrilled to see this coastwide.

It would be nice. Stripers don’t taste that great anyway so it’s no big loss IMO. I’d rather catch and release than eat a striper any day.

[hhager23]

Nice fun for sportsfishermen. 

But I fish for food. If we can't eat it - it  swims

and yes we eat bluefish - but not skate. 

Spoiler

 

 

[stripedbassking]

6 hours ago, giant basshole said:

I’m assuming you can still fish, just no harvest. I would be thrilled to see this coastwide.

Sure would be great to see someday!

[jk20a3]

3 hours ago, hhager23 said:

Nice fun for sportsfishermen. 

But I fish for food. If we can't eat it - it  swims

and yes we eat bluefish - but not skate. 

  Hide contents

 

 

Not judging but you get no satisfaction or enjoyment getting that hit or little adrenaline shot when your line gets bit? 

[Joe Paranee]

Great news 

 

[adam42]

I think the real "this sucks" isn't that you can't keep em but rather there's so few left that they are worried about wiping em out

 

and meanwhile up north they are allowing commercial harvests...

[27conch]

Weird that the Roanoke River stock would be low?  There used to be tons of fish in that river.  In general, NC is horrible when it comes to fish conservation..Back in the day during the fall run, the 6 pack charter boats used to run at least two trips a day.  So do the math, I believe you could keep two fish per man.  The Captain and mate took theirs as well on both trips. So 32 fish a day and there were no small fish, all prime breeders, 20lb-50lb. This went on for at least a couple of months weather permitting. I wrote a piece about it called " the Killing Fields"...

[EricDice]

26 mins ago, 27conch said:

Weird that the Roanoke River stock would be low?  There used to be tons of fish in that river.  In general, NC is horrible when it comes to fish conservation..Back in the day during the fall run, the 6 pack charter boats used to run at least two trips a day.  So do the math, I believe you could keep two fish per man.  The Captain and mate took theirs as well on both trips. So 32 fish a day and there were no small fish, all prime breeders, 20lb-50lb. This went on for at least a couple of months weather permitting. I wrote a piece about it called " the Killing Fields"...

Is it really that different from Spring & Fall charters elsewhere on the Striper Coast?

 

I saw a pic from a boat out of Rarotonga Bay or somewhere up close to there of the Jets O line (I think) with dead stripers all around.

 

And my little brother was on a charter out of a well known island in NE. Minimum of 6-10 fish harvested from that one trip. Some of those guys don’t know about the state of our striper stock, but the captains do. I know it’s complicated for a business- just pointing it out as it made me nauseous. 

[The Fishing Nerd]

6 hours ago, hhager23 said:

Nice fun for sportsfishermen. 

But I fish for food. If we can't eat it - it  swims

and yes we eat bluefish - but not skate. 

  Hide contents

 

 

In all honesty - the skate tastes better than the striped bass.  

 

You take those wings, dry them off with a paper towel, a quick spritz of olive oil and then season with your favorite seasoning (I like Slap Yo Mama Cajun rub), then get a pan nice and hot with some butter just about browning and sear both sides.  A scallop-like texture and good flavor.

 

Not that striped bass is bad - but considering the PCBs/mercury and the fact that it's a mildly flavored white flesh fish, you could just as easily eat something similar (fluke, sea bass) and do without the contaminants.  

[27conch]

To reply to your question EricDice, yes to me its somewhat different, especially the once fall run in NC.

 

They killed all prime breeder fish, all females. There was no need for the captain and mate to take their allotted fish, twice a day.  Then they also had a commercial netting season and this was a cluster F*** as well.  The state should have stepped in as well and made changes to the regulations.  Now look what has happened.  They had fantastic fishing for a few years and now its over because of their short sightedness.

[ProSkateFisherman]

21 mins ago, The Fishing Nerd said:

In all honesty - the skate tastes better than the striped bass.  

 

You take those wings, dry them off with a paper towel, a quick spritz of olive oil and then season with your favorite seasoning (I like Slap Yo Mama Cajun rub), then get a pan nice and hot with some butter just about browning and sear both sides.  A scallop-like texture and good flavor.

 

Not that striped bass is bad - but considering the PCBs/mercury and the fact that it's a mildly flavored white flesh fish, you could just as easily eat something similar (fluke, sea bass) and do without the contaminants.  

That skate sounds pretty good. And you're exactly right about stripers. Some bodies of water I would never eat anything out of because of how polluted they are. Some places I fish have a warning that says you're allowed only one fish a year from that lake/river. But I don't think I could bring myself to kill a skate just to try it. I always hate killing fish. Any kind, even snakehead. I do eat fish I catch, only in freshwater, if I get a craving, they start bleeding out, or they're going to die anyway in the near future (from water heating up or lake getting drained, etc). But I still feel bad. Maybe I'm just wimpy lol.

[gary_mag]

Bummer, any idea why the population decline?  Here on the West Coast it is drought and water diversions in our main river systems.

[PSeggs]

Yes it sucks.  But drastic times call for drastic measures.