The striper bite remains slow at best. Fishermen with extensive local knowledge, coupled with over the top effort, are catching a few stripers, including a few 50 pounders. The large migratory school stripers should show up at some point. The lure of choice here in Cape May County this fall, is called patience… I have been able to find a few resident stripers in the back waters, how long they hold remains to be seen.
Today I was sitting on my couch looking across the sound, wondering when the migratory fish are going to show up. I have been fishing hard and often, so far I have not seen or caught any migratory fish. I made it out today in-between wind gust and rain, once again I caught resident fish. The pictures of red drum, stripers and specks that I have posted over the last month are resident fish. The fall migratory fish are not in Cape May County NJ waters yet. The last year that the migratory fish were this late showing up was 1998. That year turned out to be the best fall fishing in my lifetime, lets hope for a repeat of the banner fall fishing of 1998.
Those fish were all dead …”
MR. O’REILLY
requires states to implement a one fish recreational creel limit, 100 pound commercial trip limit, 100
pound commercial bycatch limit during closed seasons, and 100 undersized fish per trip allowance for
the finfish trawl fishery. All other management measures previously adopted to conserve the stock and
reduce bycatch remain in effect.
The Board’s action comes in response to the stock status of weakfish. A recent peer-reviewed
assessment found the weakfish stock to be depleted, with spawning stock biomass estimated to be three
percent of an unfished stock, well below the 20 percent threshold and 30 percent target reference points
also approved by the Board as part of Addendum IV. The decline in biomass reflects a sustained rise in
natural mortality after 1995, rather than fishing mortality which has been modest and stable over the
same time period.
“The Board received a significant amount of public comment supporting a coastwide moratorium. In
recognition of this, it chose to implement measures that would discourage directed fishing, limit bycatch
mortality, and ensure that critical sampling programs remain on track,” stated Board Chair Roy Miller.
While the decline appears to have resulted from a change in the natural mortality of weakfish in recent
years, it is further exacerbated by continued removals by commercial and recreational fisheries.
However, given the high mortality levels, the stock is also unlikely to recover rapidly. The Addendum’s
measures are intended to reduce the level of harvest without creating a large amount of discards.
Addendum IV will be available via the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org under Breaking News
by November 15. For more information, please contact Nichola Meserve, Fishery Management Plan
Coordinator, at (202) 289-6400 or nmeserve@asmfc.org.
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of coastal fishery resources. The Commission serves as a deliberative body of the Atlantic coastal states, coordinating the conservation
and management of nearshore fishery resources, including marine, shell and anadromous species.
1444 Eye Street, N.W. — Sixth Floor — Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 289-6400 (phone) (202) 289-6051 (fax) http://www.asmfc.org
I headed north today in search of speckled trout. The water temperature was 55 degrees. the wind was west at about 5. After four hours of casting I landed the first speckled trout of the season. I hope this is a sign fishing is going to pick up in the next week. The same guys continue to catch a few keeper stripers a tide from the beach. Hint stay far away from any dredging operation both on the beach and the back bay or at lest get well up tide.
I attended the ASMFC weakfish hearing in Toms River last night. The asmfc offered 4 options.You can view them all at the asmfc site. The only option that offers a real chance for the weakfish to recover is option 4 Harvest moratorium. The commercial fishermen’s rep was fine with option 4 moratorium. Mostly all the recreational fishermen that voiced their own opinion demanded option 4. I do not know how many members the RFA has I do know they lost at lest eight members last night. They did not support a moratorium! If you would like give the weakfish a real chance of recovery support option 4 harvest moratorium. You have until October 31 to make a comment. Send your comments nmeserve@asmfc.org 
Ken's Dock 