02.22.24 Are the different early season openings good for striped bass?...

     I've always wondered if split seasons on the same body of water are good for the targeted species, like say striped bass, and even for the angler. I touched on this recently regarding the differences in the regulations between Delaware and New Jersey in the Delaware Bay. Soon March 1st will arrive and the shit-show on the Raritan Bay will begin. While there was talk of having some seasonal closures to protect the striped bass came up in various ASMFC discussions the idea was tabled for later discussion. 

     So, with all things changing in regards to fishing for striped bass over the last few years, things like climate "changes", an excess of different forage baits, and adaptations made by the striped bass, we have seen crazy-stupid spring fishing in the Raritan Bay. Before the Emergency Action was put into place harvesting these staging pre-spawn bass in the bathtub that is the Raritan Bay was not good, I would say, over fishing in that body of water, was occurring. And what fish aren't caught and harvested and or caught and released, the constant angling pressure, outside of a bad weather day, isn't good on the fish as well. They are plugged, trolled, flied, chummed and live baited, not all day every day, but just about all day every day. 

     In New Jersey and New York, outside of the Delaware River striped bass seasons and regulations, the seasons are different, even on the same waters. To be in compliance you have to abide by the rules if you fish in one state's waters but return to another. New Jersey opens up the bays and rivers March 1st, just a day over a week away. Anglers are getting ready, and a lot are getting the boats ready. The charter operations have been ramping up their social media posts advertising for Raritan Bay trips over the last 

few weeks. And let's be honest, these are all not operations that are in "business" to feed a family, although some are. Many are casual weekend six-packers that do it on the side to cover the costs of the boat and fuel, and maybe a little extra for some gear and beer. To each his own, but they all get thrown into the same conversation. 

     Now the open season for striped bass in New York, and in New York waters, opens on April 15th. That's 45 days later than New Jersey. Same pool, different rules. The Raritan Bay is only 108 square miles. So to be simple, let's say half of that is closed for the first 45 days. The amount of boat traffic and fishing pressure into, onto, whatever on the Jersey side has been, is, and will be, well, you know, ridiculous, especially on those later in the week days and weekends. And on nice days, well forget it. You can say, "We're not following the fleet", and "We find our own fish", well, there's not much space to do that in the first 45 days. Couple that with where the fish really are, and I won't say where, but let's say things stay tight as they wake from a winter's nap. 

       Before the New York opens on April 15th, and the fleet spreads out, the Jersey side will see an incredible amount of boat traffic coming from ports south, north, east and west. The Belmar, Manasquan, Brooklyn, Atlantic Highlands head boats will be on the hunt. Smaller six-pack charters will descend from New York and New Jersey's docks and boat ramps. They'll be kayakers and every type of watercraft (I'll be in there at some point) drifting around with super duper electronics lit up looking for those bass. Generally, we don't see that crazy and consistent bird action like we do in the fall, but there can be a decent top water bite, so screen fishing, and following the fleet, is part of the ticket to early season success. 

     Fishing legal is fishing legal. Period. It's like an open hunting season. So good-bye Bambi. But I think we need to use some common sense when targeting striped bass. It isn't good that New Jersey has the best fishing on the East Coast these days. Anglers get their blinders on when see all these fish in the spring and the fall. It would be better if these fish "chose" to spread out a bit. It would spread out the pressure. It would give anglers a wider range in order to catch them rather than running, or gunning, to the Raritan Bay and Jersey's beaches in the spring and fall. Targeting and catching basically the same fish every day. 

    I hope as anglers look at the bigger picture and realize that these fish are worth far more alive than dead they learn, or change their ways a bit, to enjoy the resource, and yes, even "take one for the table". Going out and limiting out "On our legal limit", shouldn't include taking fish for the Captain and mate, but I guess that's legal as well, and just my opinion. Having the cooler filled in the first 90 minutes of a four or six hour charter shouldn't mean , but it's legal, that it's okay to go and catch another 50 fish that you "safely" release. 

     If you're going to "play" with them maybe it would be good, or even fun, to challenge yourself a bit. If you're catching them with live bunker and it's like fishing in a bathtub, then maybe go and try, and work harder, to get them on top water. If it's stupid rubber shad or drop and reel spoon fishing then go to another method where it may be harder, and, where you may not catch them at all. It's called fishing and not catching. And after you have ripped off their lips or put that big hole in it, and removed their eyes, well it's usually a plug's belly or tail treble hook that catches and yanks out one eye, or send them back bleeding, maybe you'll remove

Plugs by Mike DiSanto- flags only off the back

that treble hook, and send a flag off the back of your plug, pinch down the barb on your fly, use a bigger hook, get rid of that stinger hook off your trolling contraption, turn off the electronics to level the playing field, and please take the boat out of gear when you hook up 600 feet behind your boat. Just think how much better off the fish, that we, collectively, enjoy and need to thrive and survive, will be.