2 Guide trips for auction to benefit Stripers Forever
We are excited to announce the start of an auction for two great guided trips. As a non-profit conservation organization all proceeds go to helping Stripers Forever reach our goal to secure game fish status for wild striped bass on the Atlantic Coast.
Please visit our live auction page for complete details and instructions on how to place your bid.
Merrimack River and Plum Island, MA Charter with Joppa Charters guide Capt. Dave Rimmer
Join seasoned fisherman and guide Dave Rimmer for fly and light tackle fishing aboard his 22-foot Pathfinder bay boat on the legendary and picturesque waters of the Merrimack River and Plum Island area in northeastern Massachusetts. Fish fast moving river currents with varied structure, steep cut marsh banks, mud and sand flats as well as open ocean with rips and sand bars along the outer beaches. Target striped bass of all sizes throughout the season and bluefish mid to late season. All gear available if needed or bring your own. Trip departure location will either be Merrimack River or Parker River.
Duration 6 hours starting around first light. 1-2 anglers.
Montauk Trophy Stripers with noted author & guide Captain Tom Mikoleski
Fish in style and comfort aboard The Grand Slam, a custom 35’T-Jason Down East hull. Great dates are open, and Captain Tom suggests moon-tide, night trips in July or September for your best shot at Trophy stripers. Bring your friends or that big customer!
As a special bonus a copy of Captain Mikoleski’s latest book Bass Buff a Striper Fishing Obsession Guide is included for every angler in the party that day.
Check out the websites for Grand Slam Charters, and the Bass Buff book for more information. If you can’t make the trip don’t forget to order the book. It has all of Captain Tom’s secrets!
http://www.grandslamcharters-ny.com/ | http://montaukstriperfishing.com/
1/2 day trip. up to 6 anglers. (upgrade to a full day for $300 flat)
Bears Den (Taunton, MA) Annual Show & 25th Anniversary
The Bear’s Den in Taunton continues to be a great supporter of striped bass conservation. Their annual show and 25th Anniversary is coming up next Saturday the 22nd. Stripers Forever will have a booth there, so stop by, say hello and pick up a new hat. This show features some of the top names in fly fishing including Lefty Kreh and saltwater fly innovator Bob Popovics. For full information check out this link to the Bear’s Den show.
2013 Annual Angler Survey results
The results of the Stripers Forever 2013 Annual Fishing Survey are attached below. In 2013 we received a near record 1020 responses to our annual survey. 752, or 83% of the respondents, have fished for stripers for more than 10 years, and many of these people fished through both the last striped bass collapse and the recovery of the late 1980s and 1990s. This is a very experienced sample of the angling population. This year’s survey has again produced a good representative sampling of sentiments from fishers all along the striper’s migratory range, and as usual MA and NJ vied for the greatest contributions with 227 and 222 completed surveys respectively.
Without a reasonable doubt the fishery is continuing to decline. 78% of fishers report catching fewer fish compared to 4% reporting catching more. Also, 60% said they were catching smaller fish compared to only 18% claiming they were larger. Most of the older, larger fish from the great year classes of the 1990s and early 2000s have been removed from the population leaving us with smaller fish and many less fish from the poor year classes that have generally characterized the fishery since 2003.
We had survey results from 89 guides, which is one of our best years. Without a doubt the decline in striper fishing is hurting this valuable industry as well as the related fishing tourism and tackle businesses. The guides know how to fish their areas, though, and can usually produce the best results possible from their home waters. If you are thinking about a guided trip please check out the guides and tackle shops listed on the Stripers Forever website.
We will send this information to the press and to fishery policy makers everywhere. We hope that you will use this information personally to help us advocate for the goal of coast-wide striped bass game fish. Please share the results with your local fishing club, home town newspaper, and elected officials that you may know.
The PDF contains both survey totals and the questions and the responses, the answers have not been edited. Another PDF is entitled Key Comparisons and graphs out the answers to some particularly important questions. The questions that we use have been the same for the ten years we have been doing the survey.
Massachusetts to circumvent ASMFC tagging program…
OUTRAGE AT THE ATTEMPT BY MASSACHUSETTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE INTENT AND UNDERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW ASMFC COMMERCIAL STRIPED BASS TAGGING PROGRAM
In February at the 2012 ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board Meeting, the Board moved to incorporate recommendations by the Interstate Watershed Task Force (IWTF) and ASMFC Law Enforcement Committee (LEC) on reducing illegal commercial harvest of striped bass.
It was the unanimous recommendation of the IWTF and the LEC that all fish harvested for sale be required to be tagged immediately upon possession. The LEC presented the persuasive argument that the longer the fish remain untagged, the harder it is to enforce harvesting rules and the easier it is for illegal activity to occur.
Unfortunately the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is proposing that in Massachusetts commercially caught stripers need not be tagged when harvested but later when they are sold. Doing so will effectively undermine the intent of the tagging program as outlined by the Law Enforcement Committee of the ASMFC. The purpose of tagging at capture is for law enforcement to quickly determine harvesting compliance, to avoid tag sharing and high grading and to reduce the under-reporting of both fish and weights.
If the Law Enforcement Committee recommendations were adopted a commercial fisherman in possession of a fish that is not tagged would be breaking the law. The proposal by the MDMF to not have to tag a commercially harvested fish until it is sold – if it is ever sold – is an open invitation to circumvent harvesting rules and contradicts the intent and goals of the ASMFC recommendations.
This is an outrage that we must do our best to correct. There are two public hearings coming up soon that will give each of us (you) an opportunity to express our (your) feelings on this proposed rule change. Please attend the hearing nearest you and speak up in favor of tagging at point of capture. Stripers Forever will submit organizational testimony. Each of you should write/speak as an individual, interested party. If you can’t get to a meeting then please email: jared.silva@state.ma.us and ask the MDMF to follow the ASMFC tagging recommendations. Insist that commercially caught stripers be tagged immediately when they are caught.
MDMF Public Hearings
Feb.11, 2014 6: PM Feb. 12, 2014 6: PM
Plymouth Harbor Radisson Gloucester High School Auditorium
180 Water Street 32 Leslie O. Johnson Road
Plymouth, MA Gloucester, MA
