i was wondering what peoples thoughts are about upping the min size of striped bass in
Rhode island
right now it is 28 inches, i have yet to catch a legal one yet but still a teen and i would
rather catch less"keepers" and have a stronger population for years to come
any comments welcome and by the way i have no knowledge of them changing it so
don't worry those who think it is too big
and if anyone wants to share some pictures of big striped bass, please do
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We have 28" min. also here in ct. I think it's plenty big enough for conservation. They need to stop the other states like NY, who allow smaller fish. I believe it takes 6 years for a striper to reach that size. Just as raiseing the fluke limit doesn't seem to help, nether would it work for bass. PUT A STOP TO COMMERCIAL HAULS.
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i'm just saying wouldn't you rather have more fish of that size and larger in say a year or two rather than being able to keep more
but commercial fishermen really are the problem especially for fluke, we have a 21 inch recreational min size but a 14 inch commercial size
this is frustrating its not our fault for smaller populations it commercial fishermen getting off easy
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A 28" striper is darn big enough for me. In NY you can buy 12" stripers at the fish stores and a few here in CT. Want to increase the number of fish, then this has to stop. Being migratory we have to pass laws up and down the eastern seaboard to make it happen. Striper fishing is very much improved from the 70's.
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if not raise then size limit from 28 then why not just make a universal size in all east coast states because a 12 inch fish....... i have used bigger fish for bait and you can get barely any meat off of something that size
im not saying 28 inches inst big already i just want larger numbers of fish that size and bigger in the future... maybe the answer is a temporary ban on commercial
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Remember too that you have to have the bait to feed all these bigger fish. Blue back herring are disappearing so does the bass thats feed on them. Bunkers aren't as prolific as they use to be as well. I'd like to see a size limit on all states that have stripers. But no more that 26" Check out the size somdfishing has posted. Not sure what the regs are for Maryland.
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[size 2]Absence of bunker story of 2009
By Charles Walsh
CORRESPONDENT
Updated: 10/31/2009 05:53:53 PM EDT
If there is a big story about the 2009 fishing season in Long Island Sound, it is this: no bunker.
All summer, the lack of large schools of adult bunker has baffled anglers who endured an almost total absence of surface bluefish blitzes and meager bluefish catches in harbors and river mouths.
As any bait dealer will testify, not so long ago, Long Island Sound had so many bunker huge schools would regularly become trapped in dead-end harbors and estuaries, perishing by the million from oxygen depletion.
"Long Island Sound is famous for bunker," says Jimmy Orifice of Jimmy O's Bait and Tackle in Bridgeport. "This year, there has been no bunker between the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook and Greenwich Harbor. It's a mystery to me."
In the spring, the bunker appeared right on schedule in Hempstead Harbor on Long Island, but the fish never made their usual migration across to Connecticut's harbors. Basically the bunker (menhaden) just disappeared.
A number of theories, none backed by many facts, have been batted around on the bunker shortage. Here are a few:
n The schools of porpoise that entered the Sound in the spring, and that were spotted intermittently through the summer, spooked the bunker off. Instead of following their usual route into the Sound, the schools traveled off Long Island's south shore toward points north. This is somewhat supported by observations that traditionally bunker-shy places like Block Island Sound and Cape Cod saw increased numbers of bunker this summer.
n Something is affecting plankton levels in the Sound. Bunker feed strictly on plankton and when it not available, they will go where it is.
n Over-fishing by recreational anglers who use throw nets to capture live bunker depleted the schools.
n It was not so much a shortage of bunker, but a dearth of the kind of large bluefish that normally "lock' the bunker in the harbors and drive them into rivers and estuaries; in other words, a bunker prison break.
n The elimination of commercial bunker boats in the Sound eliminated the most commonly heard reason for past bunker shortages. On the other hand, it is possible that improved technology for netting massive bunker schools far out in the Atlantic Ocean has devastated the bunker biomass.
n It is just a seasonal quirk. The bunker will return in usual numbers next spring.
There are those who think that the big bunker may yet arrive sometime in November. But others think it's over at least for this season. I would like to hear other theories on where the bunker went. [/size][size 2]
SALTWATER LICENSES -- Rhode Island lawmakers have voted to match Connecticut and other states in instituting a recreational saltwater fishing license. The license will cost $7 for Rhode Island residents and $10 for out-of-staters. The license will be required as of Jan. 1 for anyone fishing recreationally in the coastal waters of Rhode Island. Violators will be fined $10 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 each for subsequent offenses. The money raised by sale of the licenses will, according to a legislature spokesman, "fund administration." [/size]
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