I have to thank anyone that posts on social media. Most times it's all good and I use that intel to try and see trends in things or if it's go time, like when fish are near or on the beach. I try not to call people out, and do my best to get rid of faces or operations that have posted things that I may do differently or disagree with. Remember, the poster puts things out there and we all live, and fish, in public places.
So as I've been watching the big, like really big, fish being caught on eels and livies down in the depths of the channels I keep waiting for things other than that to break open. Well, this week they did. Guys on the head and small boats out in 80 degree weather with flat seas, now, are enjoying the bunker and sand eel bite. I happen to see the Big Mohawk post, but every boat and every forum is loaded with pics of big bass that have been caught on the troll, the snap jig, the regular jig, metals, live lining (legally), snag and dropping (illegally), squads, and plugs, and the three anglers out there throwing flies. Each picture shows the happy angler with boats all tightened up over a school of really big bass.
So as I ready for a season of bleeding and breaded striped bass from all happy and proud anglers out there so things do concern me. How much of a part do head boats play in the 10-50% mortality rate for the "recreational" releases. First, these are not recreational operations, in my opinion, fishing for money is commercial. But these big fish dragged through the water column, netted with a polypropylene net, plucked down, hoisted up and tossed back. Is that really good? And I'm not saying any one operation, all of them.
What concerns me more, and maybe I'm wrong, is, well look above. They boated 70 bass with the largest being 48 inches. Now that's good. We know the big fish push south first. But, we also know that it's not every big fish and there are smaller fish in and around them. Smaller males travel with the big girls, even in the off horny season, and smaller females learn from the big girls. But even with a 30 fish drift, and by the end of the day, the boat only found one 31 inch fish that surely was filleted and released into some Crisco.
I'm not saying it's because of the slot, but I kinda am. These big fish are going o get finger fu%$ed all fall as guys looking for meat have to pick through the most prized asset in the striped bass biomass all while paying $125 for nothing for the table. Catch and release is fine. Go fishing, catch a fish or two, go home. But that doesn't happen when you're on the hunt for meat, catch and catch and catch and catch until the Captain blows the horn to go home.
I'm telling you. How, when, and where we catch these fish is all going to change in the future.