"Without question there has been a big decline in bass numbers since the late 90's and earlier 2000's. The spring of 2013 was a case study in the state of the Delaware Bay spawning stock. There were essentially no bass in numbers at any of the usual spots in April, and there wasn't an appreciable number of bass in the lower bay until early May where you felt that you had a chance at a good catch. We did have some good catches in April, but mostly WAY up the bay in areas that we've only HAD to fish in the last couple years. A few good catches of fish in an isolated location doesn't redeem the state of the entire fishery.

If you don't think the bass numbers were lower this spring and the spring prior, I wish we could travel back in time to the late 90's and early 2000's when there were acres of bass spread from the upper reaches of the bay to the rips. I rarely even fished the bay in the late 90's through 2003 because the spring bass bite was OUTSTANDING in the rips. The reason for the fishing being so good in the rips during that period was that there wasn't room in the bay for all the fish so they had to stage throughout the bay from upper reaches to its mouth. You could pick your poison...bunker, clams, bucktails, or PLUGS and always feel you had a certifiable shot to smash them...not just catch a couple.

All that said, something needs to be done. This is particularly important in the spring when fish are making their yearly spawning run. Unfortunately, short term pain for long term gain may be NECESSARY. A moratorium would be devastating for a lot of business. Boats, tackle shops, gillnetters, marinas along with a host of other businesses would feel painful effects. A possible solution would be going to 1 slot fish in the spring. I know, I know...many will balk and rightfully so at cutting the bag limit in half. However, the house is on fire and if we don't call the fire department, we'll be calling the contractors to rebuild from the foundation. At that point, a moratorium would be inevitable, but it wouldn't make a difference. You can't take them if there is a moratorium, and you can't take them if there aren't any to be taken.

I hope that everyone can come to a solution that puts us all on common ground and allows boat owners to take home fish for dinner, charter and party boats to run trips and catch people fish, bait shops to sell bait, and keep everyone happy. To do all that...we need the stripers to still be here."






The above was posted by Capt Adam of the AdamBomb out of cape may. He is a local capt here and knows the area well. I agree with what he said.