APRIL 

.......hello Striped Bass fans.  This edition is late, as usual.....so I would assume most of you have already beached some schoolie linesiders by now and perhaps even your first keepers of the year....ALL PHOTOGRAPHED AND RELEASED I HOPE!!!..If your gonna grill one..or take one for the BBQ as the saying goes, try a 28-30" one...you'll throw less in the garbage and I find them to be tastier than the large breeding cows.  Honestly , as you can imagine, I have tried them numerous ways.....the fact remains to me that although its my favorite fish to catch.....it has an aftertaste and a muddy/slimy texture to it. Ask yourself.....are you really going to enjoy this?..or is it simply "The Real Thing". instead of the photo, to show off with?. Read the Fraudulent Fishery. article that is in this edition. Perhaps it will make you think!!! If you keep all the keepers you get....and use the same statement I have heard so often......."Some one will eat it"......then you have missed the boat on what surfcasting for stripers is all about.  You are simply someone who keeps their knives sharp and their awareness at a minimum. There are extremes in angling for the Striped Bass,...from those who keep and kill as much as possible ....to those like myself that feel bad when a cow does not survive a fight........

     there are also some people who could care less about stripers.....or limits......or fishing......or anything to do with fishing.  How this could be has bewildered me my whole life......How could you NOT relish every moment of the excitement and adventure of surfcasting...or simply fishing??.....You know of course I am being sarcastic. dont you??  One of those people that likes the fact that I like fishing,is my wife , Susan....but fishings appeal to her .ends there.  She has seen it all....been there...done that....and on and on.  She STILL doesn't love fishing.........will some one please tell me WHY???............and so......

A GOOD SPORT

     I have been married for 117 yrs!......or some where around that long.  If you have read enough stories to have gotten to know me, than im sure you can well imagine that has been no picnic for her. One obvious constant in our relationship has been fishing........my fishing, not hers.  Susan has never really gotten it about how terrific and great and spectacular....fishing is.  She just has never gotten it! 

     One of the first times we ever dated was at a gathering of friends for a picnic at this nearby lake.  It was sunny and we all partied and swam and had a blast.  I brought a fishing rod. of course. and so I fished.  Susan took a picture that day of me squatting under a bush , stealhfully luring some nice small bass in.  To this day she has it next to the bed and from day one, till now she has never seen that passion falter.  She knows how much I like fishing. I knew  (assumed ...is more like it), that I would eventually lure her in as to the NEED to fish...and WE would love this sport together.  So on that very first day...while hooking up with nice small mouth bass, I figured no time like the present and I would begin to enhance her awareness, that first picnic date. "Now just hold the rod and the bass will bite and then you pull back and he will fight and you will be euphoric!!!!!"...."Ok?"  She held the rod....the smallie bit.....she set the hook....and reeled in a gorgeous 3-3.5 lb bronze back.  It jumped like a mad man and I was all juiced up just watching this.  If this doesn't sell her. nothing will.  She didn't even want to hold the fish for a picture.  She was mad cuz I did not immediately put it back.  She handed the rod back and said..."Thanks Mike..that was fun (said half heartedly)...Ill be over here, with everyone else..... ok?"....Hmmm, I guess the small mouth moment wasn't going to do it.

     I guess having red hair and Irish descent.....always kept me lucky.  When we first got married I won a raffle for alot of travel money...1500$..... something like that.  I gave a grand to my parents to visit in California...cuz they never had been there to visit some close relatives... and the $500 left , we used to go on a short vacation to key west.  You know what I had in mind down in that fishing Mecca!!!  Key West was a blast. and about 3 days into it. we conveniently walked by the Charter boat marina.  The next day we were heading out to sea.  We had a day of days. catching huge amber jacks and mahi and Wahoo...and on and on.  Maybe this would turn her into a fishaholic like me......lots of fish... and lots of big fish!. 

     Although Susan is thin. she is very tough and quite strong.  She has hiked the Appalachian trail with me ...full pack and all.....the entire way through CONN>>>MASS>>>>VT>>>NH>>>and some of Maine. That is hundreds of miles on foot....over the most mountainous terrain in those states.

     I used to run and eventually did all sorts of wild running adventures. but in the early days....advancement came very slowly for me and after many months of training, my buddy and I were going to attempt this very long one which would end with a run a round this lake near us that is 7 3/4 miles in circumference.  Susan never jogged a step in her life. but decided to join in and when she got tired she would stop and meet us at the end.  She not only ran the entire 7 3/4 miles. but did it faster than all of us who had trained.  She has formally exercised at a gym for 20 yrs and  invented the term ...6 pack  abs.  This resume about her fitness is because she was more than able to handle the biggest and baddest of all those fish that day......and after a day like that...you think she could hardly wait to go again .right??......."What do you want to do tomorrow now that we got fishing...over with?"......I guess the back breaking amberjacks and rocket Wahoo didn't do it for her either. She did seem to have a thing for this handsome dolphin........

     Time passed and my adventures began to create the foundation for the many stories in Angling Lore , that I have written.  She would always say patronizing stuff like." Good for you dear"..."Im glad you caught that big one"....blah blah blah.  My next attempt to really and finally sway her ..was with class.  She is very classy and perhaps if she hung with the rich and famous,,,while I fished with the rich and famous,  she would suddenly love fishing too. I felt good about this approach. so while visiting in Destin Florida we went out with some veryyyyy wealthy guys who became pals and we gave the cobia run a shot.  Cobia are a great fighting migratory fish that are a unique angling pursuit...Reeling one of these cool fish in might change her tune about the her complacency toward this wonderful sport. 

     We were on a half of million dollar boat and in the lap of luxury.....and the cobia were there.  Cocktail in hand Susan watched the fishing dance that occurs in the back of a boat when big game fishing...These guys were not only rich....but were good at fishing as well.  We were spotting fish and casting to them in no time.  I reeled the first one in and it was a very game fighter.  Susan was engrossed in talking with some other people on the boat. so when they yelled." We are hooked up again, come fight the fish Susan...."......she replied....."oh no thanks.....im talking now..you guys can do it."  I was crushed, as only a spoiled , "I  wanna get my way" brat can be.  How could she say that?...How could she pass up such a chance???  How could she????  So I reeled it in.... and she talked.... and we all had fun.  Her closing statement that day about the fishing was...."Gee that boat sure was nice, wasn't it?"  It was clear that ungodly costly boats and great open ocean fish didn't make the light bulb go off.  I was bewildered.

     For many years I have been very fortunate to belong to a fish and game club that has a spectacular lake as a resource.  The trout are big and are holdovers many times. The small mouth bass fishing is the BEST I have EVER had.  I mean it.  Four lb smallies are very very common and 6-9 lb largemouth are also typical ....cuz catch and release has allowed that to occur.  On light gear, I challenge you to find better fresh water lake fishing , other than historic fisheries like Ontario etc, anywhere in new England.  Connecticut awards trophy pins for 6lb largemouth and above. and 4 pound smallies and above.  With getting both those pins being my goal .....for that day.!!!!!..I tried and succeeded in getting both qualifiers on the same day in each specie....Now that's good fishing!!  I have a small gamefisher boat and drifting alewives, on the right day, can bring schools of bass out into open water and it is the equivalent of a bluefish school on herring.  Big.Bossy.Bass......that's how it was on one of the many days Susan and I went out on the lake. The bass were biting that alewive every time I drifted one.  They were all big smallmouths.  The acrobatics were crazy and the drag went out so much the sound made my fillings hurt.  What more could I ask for. bright sunshine and an unbelievable open water bronze back bite.  "Susan , you have to reel some of these in...they are outrageous".."No that's ok dear, I would rather read in the sun "   Did I hear that right?  A once a season bite like this and you want to read?..Yes this book is interesting and I would rather do this.

    Trust me, it cant be lack of intelligence that causes her to make these choices.  She really is quite smart.  Susan has a master degree in special education and was once chosen as Teacher of the Year  for the State of Connecticut .  I was in the field for almost 30 yrs and I can assure you she takes on her job with intellect...and dedication.....

     Many of her  adventures come from the depths of great novels....so you think she would want to try more REAL adventure...Like Fishing. But on this day. as with all fishing days, my wife opted to enjoy the tranquility of a boat ride and a good book , while I howled more than Jimmy Houston, as the huge smallies came one after the other.  I just don't get it!!!!!!!

     Humarock Beach has been apart of our entire married lives.  We rented there for 15 yrs in the summer and finally bought a house in 1995.  With me ....41 steps from the sand, you KNOW what I do all the time.  Since we live here. and its very easy to walk over to fish  and catch beauties, I cant see any reason why Susan wont EVOLVE into liking fishing , simply because of proximity to the beach.  Good assumption , right?  If you have read other editions, and I hope you have, you will see many many many, photos of great stripers and bluefish caught from that very beach. 

     One sunny day she finally peeked over her book and saw that I was in the midst of a school of slammer blues.  "honey, you have to come reel one of these in "....

"No thanks, but you have fun"..."Come on...these schools are only a few times in a lifetime......come on".  As you may have guessed by now. The title of this saga............. A GOOD SPORT....is not in reference to the sport of fishing...but to the fact that Susan is good sport about all this fishing madness,....so in keeping with her personality, she came down and reeled one in.  After landing it,  handed the rod back to me, and said...".Hurry and get the hook out and put it back. I don't like it when they are out of the water"  Her next move was a stride back toward the book and the chair.  How can that be??.....Eighteen pound bluefish and she isn't totally immersed in it??..How can that be?  I hope you realize this is all tongue in cheek.

     To this day, if I ask her to watch my rod and if it has bait on it....it irritates her!!!!  Does she know how many people would be honored to watch The Striper Mikes gear?????  She doesn't seem impressed.

     I have come to a slowww but sure conclusion...are you ready for this? I CAN'T GET HER TO LOVE FISHING!! God knows I have tried.  She has all the great traits..strength...brains...determination etc.  What a shame!  I am joking of course.  So my passion continues and once a year she will reel a nice one in, just to make me happy. Of course I am elated....and she remains what she always has been................ A GOOD SPORT.

      Sometimes it is impossible to convince people to like what you like or do what you do.....and that , of course, is what makes life interesting.  So instead of wishing Susan loved fishing like I do..Im just glad she Loves me like she does.  Appreciation is much more real than wishing....appreciate your life and those around it.......Striper Mike

AT LEAST SHE LIKES BULLDOGS!!!

Dear Striper Mike

Now im hungry after looking at all the recipes....This is my prize dish its so delicious...Hope you use it ....Thanks Michelle

                         Seafood Marinara
2 lbs of mussels
1 lbs of littlenecks
calamari rings(most fish markets have them frozen)
1 lb of scallops
1 lb of shrimp (uncooked, must devein)
boneless white fish fillets (125g)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 red chili, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
425g can tomatoes, crushed
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fish stock
30g butter
1/2 cup fresh parsley
spaghetti
1. Soak the mussels for a few hours in cold water, anything that is
   open discard. Remove the beards.
2. Soak the little necks for a few hours.
3. Tomato sauce: heat oil in a pan. Add onion and carrot over
    medium heat until lightly browned. Add chili, garlic, white wine
    sugar and cayenne pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, stir
    occasionally.
4. Melt butter in frying pan. Add calamari rings, fish, scallops and
    shrimp. Stir a few minutes, set aside..
5. Add wine mixture, parsley, cooked seafood, mussels & little     
    necks to the tomato sauce and reheat gently.
6. Cook pasta and serve with the seafood marinara.

                        

PLEASE NOTE THE AGE OF THE BIG ONES, THEY ARE THE PROVEN BREEDERS, LET THEM GO.

hi Mike
           Great web site I have them all printed and in a notebook a my little fishing cottage. As a matter of fact we are almost neighbors it
is just south of you on The Gurnet (Gurnet Point). I appreciate your
teaching of catch and release to save our beloved linesiders. I
myself use only circle hooks and release almost all my fish to swim and be caught another day. I am very concerned about the expansion of
the commercial fishery in MA. There is a group starting out called
Stripers Forever. They are working to get our beloved stripers to be
classified as a game fish. This would help our come back of this
great fish. The e mail address is bigbass@maine.rr.com   Maybe you
could mention it on your web site we need all the help we can get. The
gentleman's name is Brad Burns.

                     Thanks very much and keep up the good work.
                      Mike Caffrey Uxbridge MA     Let them swim
                      another day !

hi mike.

of course I will put that site in one of the editions.......the more of us that use our fish in photos and not the pan..........the more of these great fighting fish will remain.....We need to convince the world that all of these linesiders deserve to fight alot more than once.................I know you agree......thanks for the complements and email me if you wanna do the beach one of the tides this year...your a good man.............Striper mike

Mike Caffrey gave me your e-mail address and suggested that you might put in a pitch for Stripers Forever. I hope that you have been to our site and joined www.stripersforever.org <http://www.stripersforever.org/> .  If you have any questions that I could help you with, I’d be happy to try.  The Case under Why Gamefish is a summation of our arguments. I have attached to this a Word document that is also posted on our site that comes from analyzing DMF data. It shows what the Mass. commercial fishery really is, and who it benefits. We already know who doesn’t benefit from it. I hope you agree.

A Fraudulent Fishery

The commercial striped bass fishery in Massachusetts is an embarrassing example of abysmal public policy. A careful analysis of data provided by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MDMF) for 2002 indicates that this commercial fishery really does not exist!  At best, it’s a part-time bonanza for only a few dozen people; at worst, it’s a cover for those who sell striped bass under the table, or fill their freezers with fish that all the other anglers in Massachusetts are required to release.

The MDMF data compares the total number of commercial permits with both the number and pounds of stripers landed commercially in 2002 and provides a detailed picture of the catch distribution.  There were 4,587 commercial striped bass fishing permit holders in 2002, but only 1,184 of those permittees reported any “landings” at all during the 21-day commercial season. That means that 3,403 commercials, or 74 percent, had no reported catch for the entire season. Just as significantly, more than half of the permit holders who reported landings sold only one to 10 fish each! What is the worth of 10 striped bass -- perhaps $300.00 gross for the whole season? 

What level of gross income would it take to make commercial striper fishing even a reasonable part-time job?  Assuming a commercial bass fisherman gets out on the water for a total of 10 fishing days a season, his basic expenses alone would have to run at least $100.00 a trip, or $1,000.00 in total expenses.  High volume fishermen average about 15 pounds a fish, but this statistic varies, so let’s round off the average poundage to 16. At $1.50 a pound, he makes $24 per fish. Just to break even, this fisherman would need to harvest at least 42 fish in a season.  But the 2002 tables show that of the 1,184 commercial fishermen who harvested any stripers at all in Massachusetts, 81.93 percent took less than that!  Conversely, only 18.07 percent of the 1,184 commercials, or just 214 fishermen, harvested all the rest. 

To make a decent profit commercially fishing striped bass on a part-time basis in Massachusetts, let’s arbitrarily set a figure of $5,000 gross per fisherman per season, before expenses. To achieve that goal, each fisherman would have to catch 3,300 pounds of fish. Yet that production total was attained by only .012 percent of all permit holders, or just 54 fishermen out of a total of 4,587 permit holders.

So the  “commercial fishery” for stripers in Massachusetts is a farce.  Why would 74% of all commercial license holders have no reported landings?  These fishermen may simply have wanted a license just in case they decided to sell a fish or two.  But we believe that many of the 3,435 fishermen with zero reported landings are fish hogs who either want to use their licenses fraudulently to circumvent the bag limits that apply to everyone else, or make transportation of these fish legal until they can sell them --  unreported, of course -- for cash under the table. Which is worse?  One is illegal; the other is simply reprehensible. 

The MDMF statistics do not include illegally sold stripers or freezer-fillers, which means that those fish are not even considered in the striped bass management plan.  The combined fish hog and black market catch has a seriously negative effect on the striped bass population. Why? Because the legal minimum size limit for commercially harvested bass is 34 inches and all fish of that size and larger are prime breeding size females.  So the commercial fishermen in Massachusetts are really operating behind a convenient smoke screen of questionable regulations which allow them to be treated differently than everyone else when it comes to sharing the striped bass resource.  They provide a constituency to defend the concept of commercial striper fishing, which in reality offers real financial benefits to nearly no one.

From a different perspective, the fact that 54 permitees actually made some part-time income selling stripers is just as tough to swallow. According to the MDMF calculations, these commercial fishermen landed about 385,000 pounds of striped bass!  That’s about 24,000 breeding-size female stripers between 54 individuals.  Can anyone imagine a more disproportionate allocation of a public resource?   The quota for this fishery is made possible by depriving individual recreational anglers from keeping a small “schoolie” striper or two for the table.  And contrary to all the rhetoric, keeping an occasional bass for dinner is the real traditional fishery of the New England populous. 

So there is the truth.  As many as 98.98 percent of Massachusetts commercial striper bass permit holders are simply paying for their fishing fun by selling their catch – legally or illegally – or filling their freezers under the guise of providing for the public. And to protect this undertaking, many thousands of recreational anglers who would like to occasionally eat a fish that they catch themselves have been kicked out of their traditional fishery because they are not allowed to keep even one striper under 28 inches for the table. It’s time for a big change.

                                                                   *******

Do you worry about how few large, mature stripers you are seeing in the population?  Here are some very disturbing statistics that reflect the results of concentrating the fishery on all those large, mature bass:  

  During the 2001 and 2002 seasons, only a tiny percentage of all stripers caught commercially in Massachusetts were larger than 40 inches in length; and in both years there were no stripers caught commercially that were either 48 or 49 inches long.  None!  In 2001, only .57 percent of the commercial catch was 50 inches or larger; in 2002, that number had dropped to .339 percent, or just 130 fish.  In both years, only about 1.4 percent of all commercially landed stripers were over 45 inches in length.  By historical standards, 45 inches is certainly not a really large striped bass, yet in a commercial fishery totally directed at big fish, less than a thousand were taken during the entire season statewide. 

These statistics in themselves are not proof of any trends in the size or age distribution of striped bass, but they do appear to show that current fishing regulations are leaving very few large, mature stripers out there to catch.  There were many days and nights in the 1970s and early ‘80s when catching and releasing a number of 47-inch and larger striped bass during a single outing was possible.  And please, don’t say that is because we have to wait for successful year classes to grow older.  Ten years ago, New England waters were loaded with 36-inch stripers. They’d all be bigger than 45 inches now – if they were still alive.   

One last thought:  950,000 pounds of large striped bass – that number will be even higher in 2003 – at an average of 16 pounds in weight, rounds off to 60,000 fish.  Multiply the 60,000 by 36 inches or three feet each, and you have 180,000 feet, or 33 miles of striped bass in an unbroken line swimming head to tail.  That’s enough stripers to reach from Cuttyhunk all along Cape Cod’s south shore to Chatham, all killed for the market in just 21 days.  No wonder near-shore fishing for large striped bass just isn’t what it was even a few years ago.

STRIPERS FOREVER

thank god for guys like this........specially sense they upped the TAKE to 2.... 28".fish in mass

..

SHE WANTS A BIG MACKEREL CHUNK

..That a study was done on striped bass and their eating habits.....In the study...the size of their stomach opening (esophagus) was measured and compared to the girth of their prey.  It was found that bass. especially big ones......would almost always select prey that were only slightly smaller than the maximum opening of their stomach. the example they used. was that a 36" striper was consistently eating mackerel that were 9" long ......their girth was slightly smaller than his stomach opening.....  What does that tell you?????????????...Nothing more than what I have been always saying. BIG BASS EAT BIG BAIT..as with everything in life.....there are exceptions to the rule...but ask yourself this....Do you want to pursue your trophy with an exception or with a preferred and more tempting bait?..

This is the same tip I give this time each year..........get veryyyy familiar with your local tackle shop and its owner.........if you become MORE than just an occasional patron........you will soon have the inside info that ONLY a person in the business can give to you on a daily basis.  Mail order catalogs and computer send aways...........will only give you equipment...........not when and how to use it.....Belsans is a family owned business......its the real thing.......find a "Belsans" for yourself......Surf casting is a lonely sport........but you'll always find someone to talk about it with at your local Tackle shop........PLEASE SUPPORT THEM......................

..........Humarocks shop

Got a fishing tale?

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copywrite-Stripermike

Springs fine perfume.....meanders.

Salt licks the air.

Aromas combine.

Nature breathes slowly.

............Intake at will.

Susan ....April 30 2003