Fall out of Annapolis

[B-Faithful]

We have had a relatively slow fall this year compared to recent years. Most trips have only yielded a few fish and few have been citation size. We even fished the MSSA tournament and landed only 6 fish over 2 days and none were worth taking to the scales (with the exception of a mid 30"s fish we weighed in for my son in the kids division where he made top 10). Last Sunday we did get out for just a few hours in the afternoon and hooked up on 3 fish and my 10 year old son got a personal best striper of just shy of 41". However, yesterday I took my buddy Paul and his twin sons along with my son for a couple hours of fishing in the morning and we got our biggest fish of the fall at 38lbs. It was good enough for Pauls son to ge entered in the Maryland Fishing Challenge. The short and stocky fish of 44" with its 27" girth was a sight to see to the 12 year old angler's eyes. Despite the slower fall we have had, there has been a ton of bait in the region. Fish have had a lot of big bunker in the mouths and bellies. I hope to get out a few more times before the new years. However I am not sure if they will be off of OCMD out of PLO or even the CBBT.

Here is a shot of the 38lber from yesterday that was caught by a 12 year old boy with his dad. The second of me with the kids who made up our crew

 

[Sully]

NICE FISH :shock:
Its great being with the boys
Congrats

 

[Megabyte]

Chubby fish!

When I was running over to Matapeake on Saturday, I was surprised at the number of marks (and the size of them) that I was seeing.
Western side of the bay, in 40' of water was where I saw the biggest marks.

 

[Elvis' Dad]

Looks like a great trip. Memories of those type of trips will last those boys a lifetime.

Congratulations!

 

[dave-j]

Great looking fish! Missing them up here.

I know you are a good guy, responsible and incredibly generous with your time and knowledge, so please take this as a good faith question...

What do you guys think about limiting the fish you keep to around 34" or less? Anything bigger is certainly a female and probably a breeder.

Thanks, and again, just looking for points of view. NOT trying to start a flame war!!

Dave

 

[Megabyte]

What do you guys think about limiting the fish you keep to around 34" or less?

OK by me.
I do it anyway. Anything bigger is catch-photo-release.

 

[B-Faithful]

Our DNR tracks the harvest of migrant fish and the VAST majority are 34-38". It is a very small percentage of fish harvested that exceeds 40". I would rather see a no take slot of fish in the range of 28-36" or so (like VA has in the chesapeake). This would protect a lot more fish than an upper limit. It also would preserve records and ones ability to keep a real trophy.

Also, personally I would rather see the coastal fishery match the creel limit of the chesapeake bay first and go to only one fish 28" and above per angler per fish. This would cut the harvest of breaders along the coast by one half on the recreational side. I also wouldnt be opposed to a reduction in Marylands resident fish harvest of raising the min to 22" or 24" from the current 18" or even limiting us to one fish 18-28" and one over 28". I wouldnt mind seeing this along the coast as well. It would certainly provide for a better coastal bay fishery while reducing the harvest on breaders along the coast and juveniles in the Chesapeake.

All this is moot as I believe any reductions in the Maryland harvest should come from the large commercial harvest we have here first. (md makes up 1/3 of the entire commercial take managed under the ASMFC).

 

[Megabyte]

I believe any reductions in the Maryland harvest should come from the large commercial harvest we have here first. (md makes up 1/3 of the entire commercial take managed under the ASMFC).

Absolutely.

 

[DaleH]

What's the big deal? It's just a BIG minnow :roll: ! You Chessie fisherman astound me with your exploits of the biggest smallest fish I've ever seen caught .

 

[B-Faithful]

Dale, until some of you coastal guys direct the tuna to run up into the Chesapeake.. We will be minnow fishermen. . :wink:

BTW, you can keep the bluefish if you do :mrgreen: