Quote Originally Posted by Tom Farrell View Post
All of these issues become even more important in view of poor recruitment in the Hudson stock in recent years. Although the 2007 young of the year index suggest a large successful year class, that has been little evidence of that year in the catches of anglers in the region.

Historically, a large year class is manifest in substantial catches of 10-14 inch fish in the western Sound and south shore estuaries several years after the spawning year. However, only modest numbers of fish in this size range have been noted. Furthermore, the process that leads to the formulation of the young of the year index although helpful has proven to be unreliable at times due to the limitations of the sampling process and the influence of the weather conditions at the times the samples are taken. This uncertainty simply reinforces the need to prohibit commercial fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River. Historically, initial reports of large index numbers have been reduced when further evidence indicates the index number was inflated. This has happened on several occasions for both the Chesapeake and Hudson stocks. [/SIZE][/FONT]


Tom, this is an excellent point, and very credible.

4 million bass allegedly spawn in the Hudson every year. I have contact with anglers who fish that river religiously.
They aren't catching anywhere near the numbers they have been catching in 2005-2008. In some cases their yearly catches have gone down by almost 50%.

When I try to tell some of them that 4 million bass allegedly spawn in the Hudson every year, it provokes a strong reaction. Most folks who fish regularly don't believe these stats. If they were true, they argue, their catches wouldn't be down. They feel that the figures are lies.

Additionally, there were less trophy bass caught/ reported in the Hudson this year than in the years prior to that. With the downward assessment of the YOY and lack of bass from 10-14" (which has been noted on several websites in this area), this is starting to show a disturbing downward trend.

There are also anglers who fish the edges of the river from piers and docks. In the past they have done very well with fish up to 45# caught during the season. This year is the 2nd year that they are doing poorly overall as a group. We are not talking about 1 or 2 anglers here, but a network of dozens who fish both sides of that river regularly when the bass come back down after the spawn. They are all grumbling, getting nowhere near the numbers they used to.

I believe the science will show this in a few years. Right now there are not many cold hard facts other than the YOY stats. The fishermen who fish more than a few times a year, not just in the tournaments, they already know the truth. They don't need gov't stats to tell them their catches are down.

Some of this downward trend may be attributable to the diminished herring in the upper river, and inconsistency of bunker in the lower river.

I'm also doing a Coastwide Stock Assessment, relative to fish and bait migrational changes.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...of-the-fishery.
Notwithstanding those variables, I hope to prove over a multi-year period, that the numbers are still down. No matter how you look at it, something is wrong with the numbers in the Hudson. I'm hoping to prove that to the doubters, over time.






Thank you and Willy for all you have done.
Some don't see the necessity of your work, shame on them. They will be among the biggest whiners when hard facts are published proving the numbers are down overall. And any inroads your group can make against the Comms. is worth the effort. The netters slid that "striped bass bycatch" provision by so quickly that I doubt many recs understood its largest implications. We must be vigilant to try top prevent inrooads like this in the future. I'll be sending my letter out this week as well.

I encourage all who read this, and care about striped bass fishing in the Hudson, to do the same. It only takes a minute or so to print it out and put it in an envelope All the writing has been done for us. All we have to do is sign, stamp, and send.

Give my regards to Willy, and thanks for all you guys do!