An Important Meeting Coming Up, Followed By A Fishing Report
First, something serious…
Later today there is an ASMFC meeting that will be important to anglers who like to target striped bass in their fishing. It occurs Monday 3/14/2022 from 6:00 pm to 8:pm EDT. Among the potential management options being discussed at the virtual public hearing are time and area closures (a minimum of two weeks during the spring or fall season when New Jersey has the most directed trips) to help reduce the overall fishing mortality (F). The potential closures being discussed are aimed primarily at reducing the mortality rate on released stripers, thus any potential closure would be aimed at restricting the targeting of striped bass and not just a harvest restriction, meaning there would be no “catch and release” striper fishing during this closure.
If you care about being able to fish during the peak of the season, you need to attend the ASMFC webinar and let your voice be heard. There is a public comment portion where you can let them know we absolutely will not allow them to close our fisheries. There are dozens of other ways to reduce striped bass mortality and this approach is the worst we've heard of. Let your voices be heard!
To attend the virtual meeting, click the link below, fill out the information and click register.
Click Here to Attend the ASMFC Virtual Meeting
You can read more about the issue at the NJ Fisherman’s Web site.
Now on to our regularly scheduled shenanigans.
We had a few shop updates since our last fishing report. The biggest news is we got in some Van Staal VSX Reels. If you have been waiting for one, come get it.
We also added a new product line to the shop. We now carry Turtle Cove Tackle’s Boga Grip holder and 7” Pliers holder. They are selling fast in the shop. We will add them to the website during the week, assuming any are left.
Shimano sent us some Tranx reels, specifically the 301, 400, and 400 HG. These are fantastic reels for jigging fluke and for fishing for blackfish and seabass. They are also great casters, so they can be used for tossing plugs and jigs around backwater for striped bass, redfish, seatrout and snook. You may have to go a bit south of here for those last three though. They are an in-store only option right now, but this week, assuming any are left, well get them into the online store.
So how’s the fishing? I am glad you asked. We had some frigid, blustery, and at times icy weather this past weekend. That kept a lot of people home. It’s like winter came back around for a third punch. I think I figured out why. Blackcloud Bob saw a robin. His first sighting of the year. Now normally that would be a very good omen. But, immediately after seeing it, he ran over it with his truck. So, for those of you who hate this cold, direct all complaints to him.
The cold did not stop everyone though. Of course, George Miller has kept his hot streak going. He got a couple nice ones this weekend on Scabelly gliders. The photo editing was his own, so I assume he doesn’t want to tell anyone where he found these fish. That might be represented by his mouth being covered in the first picture. I can’t say I blame him.
For those of you who know Ray personally, you may have seen something strange happen on his personal Facebook page late last week. Blackcloud Bob and Online Store John may or may not have gained access to Ray’s account (because he may or may not have forgotten to log out of a computer in the shop). They may or may not have edited a picture of his forearm and hand holding a lure to make it look like he was holding a positive pregnancy test. They may or may not have posted it to his page on his behalf. And, they may or may not have had him like about 60-ish motherhood, childbirth and/or Lamaze pages on Facebook with his account (he may or may not still be cleaning that up). This may or may not have caused some issues, which, if it did, Bob and John may or may not be sorry about that. But can you blame them when Ray has been looking like this lately?
