Is our striped bass fishery in jeopardy again?

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Striper anglers say fishing off in 2015

The results of the Stripers Forever 2015 Annual Fishing Survey were released last week and 84 percent of survey respondents described the striper fishery as worse or much worse compared to last year. The survey report said many anglers speculate “that most of the older, larger fish from the great year classes of the 1990s and early 2000s have been removed from the population.”

The survey report said “our members continue to believe we should not be harvesting large, breeding stripers and that members want to set aside a high percentage of the current commercial catch for conservation, and not harvest it themselves. Seventy-five percent of members said they are willing to buy a stamp to finance the buyout of the commercial fishery.”

In 2015, 657 Striper Forever members responded to the annual survey. Survey respondents were from states along the striper’s migratory range with higher numbers in Massachusetts and New Jersey as usual. Stripers Forever is a volunteer organization dedicated to making the striped bass a gamefish and advocates for the conservation and responsible stewardship of wild striped bass along the Atlantic Coast.

Visit www.stripersforever.org for survey details.

Vespe deserves our accolades

When Greg Vespe caught his 1,000th striped bass this summer at night off Block Island it was monumental.  Last week over 200 anglers attending a seminar given by the Tiverton resident heard how he was able to catch 1,000 striped bass.  And, I have to say he is one of the most disciplined fishermen I have ever met.

Greg shared photos of some of his first fish, and his first striped bass, dating back to when he was eight or nine.  And then it was a matter of discipline, logging and recording the conditions in which the fish were caught such as time of day, tide, depth, bait, wind and learning from his experience.

Greg fished with the ocean access he had. For many years he fished from shore and then, “I entered the big leagues and bought a boat, a 16 foot aluminum boat, and now I felt I was a fisherman who could get to the fish and compete.” Vespe did dial in on the fish; one of his favorite places is fishing under and around the Newport Bridge at night. He has won or been one of the top finishers in Aquidneck Island Striper Team tournaments and many other local and regional tournaments.

Greg still uses his boat to fish. He also fishes often and serves as mate on his good friends’ boat, Capt. B.J. Silvia of Flippin’ Out Charters.

A major striped bass fishing tip shared: “Striped bass eat squid, Atlantic menhaden, eels, and crabs. But what I have found over the years is that they don’t necessarily eat all this prey at once.  Looking at the stomach contents of fish we often find all squid, all crabs, all bunker, etc. So you have to figure out what the fish are feeding on as the bass often focus on one type of prey at a time and then aggressively seek it out. If you can figure this out early during your fishing trip you are going to catch more fish.”

Vespe was very humble and gracious and eager to share what he learned to help other anglers. Congratulations on your 1000th striped bass Greg, and it was great learning how you got there.

Workshop and public hearing dates set for recreational regulations

A public hearing on recreational fin fish regulations for 2016 will be held by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 6 p.m., at the URI Bay Campus, Coastal Institute Building, Hazard Room in Narragansett. Regulation options will be presented for 2016.

Recreational anglers are urged to attend this workshop (and subsequent public hearing on Feb. 16) as this is the time to learn about stock status and voice opinions on regulation options to meet new recreational harvest limits for black sea bass, tautog, summer flounder, striped bass and scup.

Visit www.dem.ri.org (Marine Fisheries) for proposed regulations options for the above species.

Summer Flounder (fluke) seminar slated for February 9

Capt. Dave Monti will present “How to catch larger fluke” Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7:00 p.m., at the Newport County Saltwater Fishing Club, Hibernian Hall, 2 Wellington Avenue, Newport. The presentation will include interviews with ten local and national fluke experts and address strategies, tactics, baits and rigs to catch larger summer flounder. Highlights will include instruction on how to make Capt. Monti’s “fluke cocktail” bait and those in attendance will have access to his top ten summer flounder fishing tips. Contact club president Dennis Zambrotta at 401/841-6505 with questions.

Where’s the bite

Fresh water fishing has improved slightly as ice melted this week. Cod fishing remains good off Rhode Island.  Winter storms of last week stirred things up and scattered bait and fish, however, fishing has improved as things are settling down. Party boats sailing for cod fish at this time include the Frances Fleet at www.francesfleet.com, the Seven B’s (with Capt. Andy Dangelo at the helm) at www.sevenbs.com, and the Island Current at www.islandcurrent.com.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Visit Captain Dave’s No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com or e-mail him with your fishing news and photos at dmontifish@verizon.net.

Dave Monti

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