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I fish the northern most of the good striper grounds....Plum Island...and there is no lack of fish of any size here..... just because they are not feeding doesnt mean they are not there....
I've seen the cycle both ways,right now, the balance of small to large couldnt be better.... I see fish that obviously have been hatched in the river, conventional wisdom says that those fish dont migrate until they get much larger, teen sized fish, something we never had alot of in the 70's and 80's, it was either large or small... A good deal of the problem isnt with lack of fish, but with an abundance of bait, the fish are naturaly more selective, different tactics are a must, even when targeting schoolies,abundance of fish in a given area is cyclical, and one area may be giving up huge numbers of a certain year class, while others appear to be in a drought.... it's part of the cycle and like all other things in life,will eventualy seek a balance......
My personal feeling is that the state of the striper is in good shape,fisherman in general, are much more aware of conservation than they were 25 or more years ago when almost every bass caught got boxed , iced,and shipped to market, quoata's and fishing/no fishing days keep comercial anglers in check, something that wasnt available back during the collapse,sure,fisherman new to "the game" are killing plenty of large, but only when opertunity presents itself and when the fishing is easy,it's new to them, but in time it will pass, this is just one mans opinion, based on over 40 years of striped bass fishing,and a good deal of that time as a comercial fisherman... and IIMHO, the fishing now is as good as it has ever been, and with the amount of small, medium and large I see come over the rail of my boat( and released) on a nightly basis, I'm sure my grandchildren will be catching ( and releasing) striped bass long after grandpop is taking a dirt nap...
My .02
Roc
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