THE STATE OF THE STRIPER PAST???

1081 Views 26 Replies 26 Participants Last post by sutton, Mar 17, 2005

BIGGESTJACK

Discussion Starter · Mar 14, 2005

I JUST READ MY "BOB EVER" SALTWATER SPORTSMAN.
RIP CUNNINGHAM HAS A GOOD ARTICLE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STRIPER IN THE PAST AND WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WE WERE BLAMED ALONG WITH THE COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN WHICH MIGHT BE TRUE IN PLACES. IN THE 50'S AND 60'S IN SOUTH JERSEY,FROM THE DELAWARE BAY TO ATLANTIC CITY WHO CAUGHT THESE FISH HERE AND WHERE WERE THE spots THAT WERE OVERFISHED.I WAS AROUND SJ IN THAT ERA AND NEVER SAW OR CAUGHT A STRIPER.I KNEW A LOT OF SPORT AND HEADBOAT CAPTAINS AND NEVER HEARD OF THEM FISHING FOR THEM.MY FATHER TOLD ME A FEW GUYS ON THE JETTIES FISH FOR THEM AND CATCH A FEW BIG ONES.WE TROLLED THE BAND AND INSHORE LUMPS FOR YEARS FROM SPRING TILL MID-OCT. AND THE BEACHFRONT WHENEVER THE BLUES SHOWED UP THERE.IF YOU THINK THERE ARE BUNKER NOW ITS NOTHING COMPARED TO THEN.
THEN AS RIP C SAID BY THE LATE 70'S AND EARLY 80'S THEY WERE GONE. WHAT I'M ASKING OR TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS WHERE WERE THESE FISH IN OUR AREA.
I HAVE TALKED MANY TIME TO OTHER OLDTIMERS LIKE CHUNKING WHO LIKE MYSELF FISHED THE AREA FOR YEARS AND DIDN'T CATCH HIS FIRST STRIPER TILL AROUND 1990 ABOUT A YEAR BEFORE ME WHEN THEY EXPLODED. WHAT AM I MISSINGHERE?? WHEN DID YOU GUYS OVER 35 START CATCHING THEM.

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NJAngler Bill

· #16 · Mar 15, 2005

Lou Rodia has told me stories of striper fishing "back in the day" in Cape May - in the back bays and from Cold Spring jetty - that would knock your socks off. I'm sure it wasn't as good as what we've got now, but it was pretty darn good for those few anglers who really targeted them.

However, I think that great run of big bass in the 60's and 70's happened primarily from Barnegat Inlet north to New England. I believe this was Chesapeake Stock. I still think many of the bass caught in and around the Delaware Bay estuary these days are local fish, and I don't believe the Delaware River produced many striped bass in the 60's and 70's.

Bottom line is that the success of the Delaware River as a spawning area for stripers is the primary reason why the striper fishing is so good year-round in South Jersey. That's the difference between then and now. My .02.

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NJAngler Bill

· #21 · Mar 15, 2005

I don't believe we lost our producer status because fisheries managers discounted the contributions the Delaware stock makes...to make decisions based on facts would be silly...there were political issues involved, as always.

Here's something to think about. I have friends who have told me that they discovered a tremendous striper fishery in the lower Delware River back in the early-mid 80's, during the moratorium. This was a spring and fall fishery. Not a lot of fish, but some absolutely huge ones, and the bite was on eels. Many fish around 50 pounds, and there were fish lost that some swear were record class. They didn't tell a soul about these fish for years.

Now, the world record was caught in South Jersey back in '82 in mid-September. I have always felt that this was a "local" fish. That time of year, the majority of the Chesapeake stock is in New England, and they haven't even thought about moving south yet. But the Delaware fish...some of those stick around.

This is why I think the next world record will come from the Delaware Bay area, just like the last one did. The genes are there!

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