04.02.24 Watch out this could be coming your way...

     Yepper. Recreational striped bass fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries is closed April 1st through May 15th. That's a statement right there. Don't be surprised if you see more things like that in and around New Jersey and the New York Bight. All of those pre-spawn waters like the Delaware River, the Raritan Bay and the Hudson River could be next. North Carolina has shut down their harvest fishery in and around the Roanoke River. Catch and release fishing is still allowed.

    And then we have the Delaware River and the three border states, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsy. Three states with three different sets of regulations. Last year I fought to find out the "real" regulations as the wording on the NJ Fishing Digest can be open for discussion. So this year I read in the digest

that, "Possession of striped bass in New Jersey is illegal during this time period". So I was told, "I guess to possess means you can fish and not kill a fish". I posed that question to one of the NJ Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers from that district who said "Tickets are issued for people taking striped bass (the harvest season is closed) not to those fishing the Delaware River". So there I have it, I think. It will be interesting what Pennsylvania does with it to be in compliance with the ASMFC. Currently they have an "Open" season for harvesting, two fish from 21 - 24 inches. This is a perfect example of

different regulations for the same body of water. Spin anglers with 11 foot rods and heavy plugs or lures can dam near cast to out of state waters from one side of the river or another. In this case it should be the same regulations with the same open and or closed seasons, and it should be open, closed, or catch and release only, and clearly stated in the law.