Raritan Ray, Raritan River, Twin River System, and NY Bight
Raritan Ray, Raritan River, Twin River System, and NY Bight
Lord, I'm so behind on this thread,, time to get crackin before it's time to write the assessment for the 2nd half.
Raritan Ray, Raritan River, and the Twin River System
It's well-known among fishermen that Raritan Bay and the deeper channels leading to NY Bight are staging grounds for a lot of NJ/NY resident fish. Some small ones don't make the yearly migration till they reach a certain size, feeding on the crabs, shrimp and mollusks off the piers, pilings and rocky structure.
These resident fish, while fluctuating in number, are cause for concern in years when they are not abundant, because they can be either --
anecdotal supporters of NMFS YOY figures, or show that the figures are incorrect.
I'm mentioning this because for 2 years in a row, the smallest bass have been absent from the Raritan Bay area, compared to the numbers we are used to seeing.
I know they are there, I can catch them in a yak from places you would not think of looking. And the hundreds of bait fishermen along the banks can confirm as well. However, the numbers are dwindling, I don't have a scientific reason why.
Early Spring Raritan Bay fishing is temperature dependent. This year it got off to a late start because we had a harsh winter with a lot of runoff.
Early season bass fishing in this bay is primarily a bait fishery.
By several accounts of those who fish for bass regularly, the numbers of bass were down.
The "bright spot" was the bunker.
Those who know how and where to find the bunker in their usual places managed to find bass up to 25lbs, a few larger, but most from 10-20lbs. These were mixed in with bigger bluefish, as is usually the case.
Bridge fishing for big bass
I'm going to do something here I don't usually do, to prove a point, and hope it doesn't backfire....
Some of the biggest fish come from the bridges, because they are the highways the fish must use to traverse the rivers. Traditionally, when the clubs have their spring tourneys, the biggest tourney winning bass will come from a bridge deep in the night when bait is present.
That didn't happen this year.
Why?
In part because there were access issues caused by some selfish people, who were warned by the police, and then allegedly proceeded to file a formal complaint alleging they were racially discriminated against.
For the most part, bridges had less fishing access, and less fishing man-hours, put into them this year, unless you fished from a boat near them.
Even with all that drama, I know some folks who still managed to put in some serious bridge time, whether on foot or by boat. Live eels, rubber, bunker, the standard presentations that get it done from those bridges and have given them trophy fish in the past.
Hardly any trophy fish (any fish over 30lbs and up) was caught from a bridge area in the spring.
Ask most hard-core bridge fishermen how good their Spring catches were,,,, and if you can get an honest answer out of them, they'll say.... "This Spring at the bridges sucked, where are the fish??"
The rest of Raritan Bay and the NY Bight, up to Breezy Point
Many bass winter over in the deepest channels. Unfortunately, there is limited access. A guy who can pull a 20lb bass regularly from a deepwater area during his lunch hour, because he has access in that restricted area, is not going to talk about it with the NMFS or on a phone survey. But he will talk to me, and scores of folks do as long as I promise their anonymity.
They are not getting the big bass from the deepwater channels like they have been. They are still catching, but the best stories I've heard happened 3 years ago, and longer.
In the areas where there is public access, Great Kills, for example, the lack of larger, fat healthy bass this Spring over 20lbs was dismal.
There are always exceptions. I know of a few 55+ class bass that were caught right off Great Kills this year in a channel. I would assume there are some more, unreported, every year. There are a few "sharpies" who target and catch big bass in this area every year, and you will never hear about it. There are also a few kayakers who have gotten in the middle of the schools at low light and landed some fish up to 30#.
However, the numbers are not there.... not like in previous years.
Without trying to overwhelm folks reading this, Great Kills and the NY Bight is a very special area to me. It's the area where the world record weakfish was caught in May 7, 2008 by Dave Alu with Rich Swisstack guiding.
If you fish a lot, it's definitely one of your early season hotspots.
In 2008 and the years prior, almost every night there would be a few fish landed on the beaches from 25-40lbs.
How many times did this happen in Spring 2009?
2010?
Spring 2011? Virtually none
Where have these big bass gone?
If they are not overfished, why would they not be there feeding on the bunker, which are never too far in the Spring from Great Kills?
Schools in the thousands, plenty of food for the biggest bass to eat, and yet not many bigger bass to be found under those schools.
I bring this up because it's a crucial rebuttal to folks like Tom Fote and others from the NMFS and ASMFC who say there is no evidence of overfishing for striped bass......gents, feel free to take yourself to any of these areas for a span of 2 weeks deep in the night around high slack tide.
See for yourself, the guys just aren't catching any numbers of fish or big fish from them anymore....
No scientfic data is needed for this assessment. Those who fish a lot just know it to be true, because they see it happening in front of them. They are out on the water more than most, and it's plain as day to them.
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Originally Posted by DarkSkies
Cranky Old Bassturd.
who have been the inspiration compelling me to undertake a project this size. 
