Something to THINK ABOUT

[finchaser]

I fished 3 trips with 2 other guy's

11 fish over 30# and 3 over 40# and 12 over 25# we released. Think of the thousands of boats, head boats, charter boats and beach blitz guy's that don't release anything.Then multiply by the entire striper coast. This is why the striper biomass is collapsing at an alarming rate. :scared: Bunker boats are not the issue.

People should be concerned about saving the bass not bunker. The bunker biomass is out of control they are everywhere from a 1/2 to 4 miles out. Many schools stretch for miles from top to bottom. In many places they are so thick the fish finder on the boat can't fire through them to reach bottom and give a bottom reading.

[basshunter]

No we must save all the bunker, and more bass will magically appear. Don't you read the websites?

[surfstix1963]

I'm not sure I want to think about that number it scares the hell out of me as does all the slaughters going on Fin, but I also feel the more bunker the better the water quality the amount of water a single bunker filters is amazing they do a excellent job at filtering the crap out of the water but on the flip side it gives to good of an indication where the fish are so I guess thats the negative side

[fishinmission78]

Bunker make everyone a bass fisherman. Half these guys wouldn't put in a few hours to catch a fish wihtout them.

[stripercrazy]

Think of the thousands of boats, head boats, charter boats and beach blitz guy's that don't release anything.Then multiply by the entire striper coast. This is why the striper biomass is collapsing at an alarming rate. :scared: Bunker boats are not the issue.

People should be concerned about saving the bass not bunker. ..

Yeah but what would you do if you were in charge? I absolutely agree with you, and think it's deplorable how many big bass come out of the mix when the fish are chasing bunker. With the exception of you and a small number of other fisherrmen, many the guys fishing are taking their legal limit. So not trying to argue, but how do you change that? The only way I see that happening is if you change the bass limits. My .02

[bababooey]

What stripercrazy said. If the law says folks can keep 2 (or3) fish, most of them are going to do that. I think you made some interesting points here finchaser, but if guys are doing what is allowed by law, how can we rant at them with a clear conscience?

[finchaser]

1 fish 24 to 28 and 1 fish over 36" no bonus tags so party boat people don't get to keep 3 fish every trip

1)24 to 28 great table fare
the 28 to 36" no fish can be kept protects the 32 to 36 most prolific breeders which was proven during the moratorium and brought fish back
1 fish over 36 allows keeping only 1 large fish which stops the killing of large breeders

[jonthepain]

1)24 to 28 great table fare
the 28 to 36" no fish can be kept protects the 32 to 36 most prolific breeders which was proven during the moratorium and brought fish back


it worked then; why not now?

and to me, more bunker = a good thing.

[bababooey]

Bunker are evil and spawn in hell where satan lives, then come back to earth when they are bigger. That is all.

[DarkSkies]

People should be concerned about saving the bass not bunker.
Yep, many people have the mistaken assumption that if there were more bunker here, there would be more bass. Just ain't true. They ain't like doritos, you can't make more (Direct quote from Finchaser)

Also, they blame the bunker boats for scaring the bass away and "ruining" their catches. :kooky:
As Fin mentioned, lately what we have is miles and miles of bunker, with few bass under them, as we near the end of the NJ Spring migration.

Most bass have gone N for colder water. What we have left is a few huindred fish that are holding to structure and moving among the hundreds of thousands of bunker.


1 fish 24 to 28 and 1 fish over 36" no bonus tags so party boat people don't get to keep 3 fish every trip
1)24 to 28 great table fare
the 28 to 36" no fish can be kept protects the 32 to 36 most prolific breeders which was proven during the moratorium and brought fish back
1 fish over 36 allows keeping only 1 large fish which stops the killing of large breeders

This proposal makes the most sense. I think the ASMFC should listen to the voices of the fishermen who have lived and fished through the moratorium, like Finchaser and others. These anglers have a unique perspective on what worked and what didn't.

Thanks for the thoughts, Fin, good thread. :thumbsup:

[albiealert]

I can't understand why people are so protective of the bunker. There are no shortage of bunker now in the Sound. As the water gets hotter, more of them will move East, but for now there are a lot of them.

[finchaser]

Was out yesterdau from manasquan inlet north we went for good eating fish (fluke) there were massive schools of bunker as far as the eye could see and no bass or blue fish. This was the same area area the bunker boats worked all week. The bait boats could never do the damage the reduction boats did when they worked inside the 3 mile limit.

I think these massive schools are keeping the smaller bait fish off shore,the big blues are content off shore feeding on the smaller bait and haven't moved in this year.

[clamchucker]

I think these massive schools are keeping the smaller bait fish off shore,the big blues are content off shore feeding on the smaller bait and haven't moved in this year.

There are great numbers of small bait, sand eels, etc, and big bluefish offshore. Interesting theory finchaser. It could very well be true.

[DarkSkies]

Great point Fin. Many scientists study the striped bass. However, there are not a lot of studies done on bait migration or bait behavior and how it adapts to different situations. Your thoughts seem to fit what's happening now. In any event, we have had miles of bunker before, but this seems to be the first year in the last decade that the bunker line has been unmolested by storms and weather that could break them up. After a stormy spring, we have settled into a relatively stable pattern. This is the time when the bait usually pours into the inlets, creeks, and makes its way northward along the surf, or in the case of the sand eels, makes its way West to sandy shores from the deeper water it has been holding in.

If not your theory, I ask what other one could explain the lack of consistent small forage among so many sectors of shoreline?

I've racked my brains trying to come up with an alternate answer, can't think of one.

Thanks for your input, Fin. :learn:

[hookset]

This is the time when the bait usually pours into the inlets, creeks, and makes its way northward along the surf, or in the case of the sand eels, makes its way West to sandy shores from the deeper water it has been holding in.

If not your theory, I ask what other one could explain the lack of consistent small forage among so many sectors of shoreline?

I've racked my brains trying to come up with an alternate answer, can't think of one.

Thanks for your input, Fin. :learn:

I didn't see any small bait today in the surf except for the bunker, which were at almost every place I stopped at, with nothing on them. Didn't see any small bait the last 5 times I was out either. Fishing absolutely sucks for me this year, I see the reports of these guys who are catching every day at Grumpys, and I have come to the conclusion that the only way they are catching is in the bunker schools when there is a blitz. There used to be a lot more fish around, even bluefish, and the shores are like the dead sea now. I know once the sun comes up it peters off, but I was there at 5am, and still nothing. Fishing sucks, and your theory explains it good as any, Thanks finchaser.

[DarkSkies]

Sent in by Fin, thanks.

From the APP....


http://www.app.com/article/20110624/NJSPORTS06/306240010/1017/SPORTS06&source=rss

[seamonkey]

This was posted at guppies site-

"Years ago we rarely saw bunker at IBSP because the bunker boats from Va. came up in the spring and took most of them. Since the boats were pushed farther out we now have tons of bunker and the bass stay with them. When we had no bunker we still caught bass. Every time there was a wet NE wind everybody was on the north jetty catching bass. Now when the bunker leave the bass go with them and there are no bass all summer."


I think he has a point here. Finchaser he is bassically saying the same thing you are saying.

[clamchucker]

Since the boats were pushed farther out we now have tons of bunker and the bass stay with them. When we had no bunker we still caught bass.

I agree, now when there are bunker the big bass and blues stay tight to them.

[plugginpete]

Was out yesterdau from manasquan inlet north we went for good eating fish (fluke) there were massive schools of bunker as far as the eye could see and no bass or blue fish. This was the same area area the bunker boats worked all week. The bait boats could never do the damage the reduction boats did when they worked inside the 3 mile limit.

I think these massive schools are keeping the smaller bait fish off shore,the big blues are content off shore feeding on the smaller bait and haven't moved in this year.


There are great numbers of small bait, sand eels, etc, and big bluefish offshore. Interesting theory finchaser. It could very well be true.


Good points. At Montauk it is a little different there are bass deep in the rips they feed on the porgies and smaller fish. They don't really get there by the thousands until October when white bait comes in. I also think the bass feed on the sandeels that are offshore so a lot of times there is no reason for them to come into the surf.

[DarkSkies]

From 2013, but some of these still hold true, or are even more evident. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.:HappyWave:

[buckethead]

I fished 3 trips with 2 other guy's

11 fish over 30# and 3 over 40# and 12 over 25# we released. Think of the thousands of boats, head boats, charter boats and beach blitz guy's that don't release anything.Then multiply by the entire striper coast. This is why the striper biomass is collapsing at an alarming rate. :scared: Bunker boats are not the issue.

People should be concerned about saving the bass not bunker. The bunker biomass is out of control they are everywhere from a 1/2 to 4 miles out. Many schools stretch for miles from top to bottom. In many places they are so thick the fish finder on the boat can't fire through them to reach bottom and give a bottom reading.

Very true. Hoping that there is some focus on conservation this year. and not just on the slaughter when the big bass show up. When people see striped bass highly concentrated and in numbers, it's hard for them to understand that's not the case in many of the old striped bass haunts.