05.02.22 Now there's a little lull in the action....

     Been talking to my boys lately trying to figure out the striped bass' next move. I think we've hit a little lull in the various hot bites that we had come to rely on and enjoy. The bays and rivers, were, well, on fire. Solo anglers and charter captains were fishing in spots they normally don't looking for that early season bite. But it has slowed. Has the water temperatures hit that magical 65 degrees, or close to it, and they have went from staging and eating, to searching for love and getting their spawn on? 

     I don't know, anything, even though I think I do when I discover something new with these fish. They keep changing the game. Have they paused, moved, shut down? The ocean bite is getting better, lots of smaller fish around, with some better and just plain big ones mixed in. The Hook and down in South Jersey have been producing. Today opens fluke season for 2022, it's two at 17-17.99" inches and one over 18". That will work for me as last year my best fluke were 17-3/4" long. 

     Now these guys aren't doing anything wrong, just keeping legal fish. But I can't say enough how I think this 28-38" slot is bad for the striped bass. Yes the big girls aren't being harvested, but are we cutting off our noses to spite our faces? All these year class fish are being harvested as fast as they are being caught, it won't bode well for numbers in 5-7 years. 

     And with the slow down and me content with my recent catches this weekend we opened up our Cape May place. There's aways anticipation that something may had been damaged or the animals moved in for the winter, but luckily we escaped unharmed. It has been our third year down there and I have yet to break out the fly rods. This year I hope to, as I know there is a good population of summering ass there and weakfish are slowly making their comeback.