Horrible news out of Maryland today. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced that this years juvenile striped bass young-of-the-year survey index is 1.0. That is the second lowest since they have tracked the reproductive success of striped bass. The 2012 class survey came it as the all-time lowest at 0.9. Sadly, we missed it this year by 0.1. I found the below graph on the 1@32 Pledge Facebook book which shows either different reults or the same results ran through a different algorithm, either way, not good.
The naysayers out there see an "abundance" of striped bass, like what we now have swimming in the Raritan and New York Bays, the New York Bight, and along the shores of New York and New Jersey. Some don't see the whatever through the whatever and don't see it's the Hudson stock that is holding the line for the striped bass. It will be interesting if the ASMFC does anything with this new science.
Early this morning I took the ride and fished with Leif before sunrise and an hour or so after. Fishy water, maybe a even smell of bunker in the air, but no sign of bait, although I might have seen a small pod of white bait, and no signs of bass, not on the beach or off.
