The Bay Is Loaded With Stripers

[Captblock]

We went out of Bidwell creek today and caught plenty of stripers off Reeds Beach in 8 to 10 feet of water. We caught and released all the fish and most of them were 7 to 12 pounds. The biggest one weighed 25.5 lbs. Also caught some shorts. No one out there accept one other boat.

It was a very nice day on the Delaware Bay with calm seas. Could not ask for a better day. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 03-25-2004, 07:50 PM: Message edited by: Captblock ]

[Darrin G. DGREENEMACHINE]

[img]smile.gif[/img] been waiting for that report thx capt

[DEL RIVER RAT]

sweeeeet!!!!!! nice job capt. what did you catch them on??

[Captblock]

I forgot to mention we were netting the stripers. Thanks to Russ Allen I had the privilege to work with the NJ Marine Fisheries staff today.

We netted 130 fish that we measured, weighed, and tagged today. It is much easier to catch these fish in the net. It sure showed me how thick they are in the bay. It also takes a tremendous amount of work for the people to collect all this data so we may continue to have a healthy fishery. It makes me appreciate all the work they do.

I expect to see more fish caught this weekend as the fish become more active as the temperature rises.

It was a great experience for me. I was glad to give back to the fishery that I enjoy and I hope to do it again. I did not mean to mislead you guys. I wanted to see if I could get some bites.

[ 03-25-2004, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: Captblock ]

[DEL RIVER RAT]

Originally posted by Captblock:
I forgot to mention we were netting the stripers. Thanks to Russ Allen I had the privilege to work with the NJ Marine Fisheries staff today.

We netted 130 fish that we measured, weighed, and tagged today. It is much easier to catch these fish in the net. It sure showed me how thick they are in the bay. It also takes a tremendous amount of work for the people to collect all this data so we may continue to have a healthy fishery. It makes me appreciate all the work they do.

It was a great experience for me. I was glad to give back to the fishery that I enjoy and I hope to do it again.

[wish2fish]

Gulp!...ZZZZZZZZZZZ Thats me after the first report Good job helpin out there Capt.Nice to read the fisheries building up. Soon their southern cousins will be upon us

[mg-ville]

Capt, We were the other boat out there on the Crazy Bill. We managed to capture a few using bloods, herring, and plugs. Dennis the Margaritaville

[Get it wet]

Steve

I was shure that they were there. You just showed me the way. Can't wait to get out and try now. I will be have myself some fun trying.

[TWIN D'S]

Good report Block. Sort of sounds like the old days with weakies......

[sunnydaze]

Nice report captn. It's good just to know they are there. Any pics?

[Partnership]

Steve:
When netting them, were they all released unharmed? Did any seem stunned or fins or scales damaged? Just wondering.....I mean, we're here talking about the damage that our own nets and lippers do to the fish, I wonder what being caught in a net and hauled in will do to them.

Did the guys you were with have any good comments about the fishery or anything else?

Thanks for the report.

[ 03-26-2004, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: Partnership ]

[Captblock]

Dennis, Reeds beach seems to be a nice place to fish. I have never been there before. I was just exploring a differnt spot to fish.

Tom, We had a crew of 5 people on the boat. Two of us would set the net and wait about 15 to 20 min. to pull the net back into the boat. Two other people would take the fish out of the nets and put them in a tank while the other person would be driving the boat. I can understand why shad fishermen hate the stripers in the nets. It is not fun getting them out of the nets.

After we get the whole net in the boat we start taking the fish out of the tank with a lipper to weigh, measure and tag. We also remove a few scales off the fish and put them in a small envelope. The scales will tell them the age of the fish. I can see they collect loads of data from these fish.

After we are done we release the fish unharmed. Out of 130 fish I did not see one fish floating in the water. The fish all appeared to be healthy.

After seeing what these fish go through I can only assume we may over react to how much harm a net does to the fish. We used the lipper because it is much easier to grab the fish and weigh it with the lipper.

After seeing how bad some these fish are tangled in the net I can only believe we do very little harm when using a net while fishing in the bay. Keep in mind these fish are taken out of the net with care. This is just my opinion.

The staff I worked with made me feel old. They were all young and full of energy. They were dedicated people.

[ 03-26-2004, 08:28 PM: Message edited by: Captblock ]

[BIGGESTJACK]

CAPT.BLOCK--VERY INTERESTING,WAS THERE ANY OTHER LIFE IN THE NETS??

[CaptG]

No Kiddin!

[BIGGESTJACK]

Originally posted by CaptG:
No Kiddin!

i sure hope you brought mary m. home mulgoon was waiting for her.