Anyone around the water this past week has witnessed a very low water level. I’m calling it the “Great Blow Out Of Feb 2025”. There were many sand bars exposed, dry docks and some lagoons could be walked across. I posted a couple photos and shared details about it to inform. It got wings and the topic has trended, but many posts I see are loaded with jokesters and misinformation.
A tsunami is not coming. The NJ Forest Service did NOT pump the bay dry to water the Pinelands which are in a sever drought. It’s an epic time for clamming! Also a great time to inspect a bulkhead and clean up a dock slip. But I’m sure that cell phone you dropped in last summer is trash.
Why does Barnegat Bay has no – low water?
Here’s some information on the extremely low Barnegat Bay water level phenomenon that is rare this extreme but not uncommon.
Bill Purdy @fairwindsphoto captured this photo on the LBI bayside. It would normally be waist deep where his daughter stands. A “blow out tide” is a phenomenon as a result of extreme west- north/west winds.
Barnegat Bay Blow Out Tide
Plain and simple… It’s called a blow out tide! This low water event is primarily due to the wind…
The wind’s direction – West, North / West Winds
The wind’s speed – Powerful Gale / Tropical force winds
The wind’s duration – 36-48+ Hour Duration
The wind’s area/distance – Large Surface Area
It’s the recipe for a very large, broad and powerful fetch which pushed the water out. Just the opposite happens during coastal large storms when coastal storms create a very large fetch that pushes water in creating flooding events (and also generate large waves/surf).
Another factor is the barometer and barometric pressure gradients. Without getting too far into the weeds. Wind is created by pressure differences with air moving from areas of high pressure to areas to low pressure. But ALSO high pressure can cause lower water levels (and low pressure can raise the water level) compared to the predicted tides for a specific date.
Nearly Hurricane Force Winds
The evening of Sunday February 16th and most of the day Monday (2/17) were very windy. A powerful low pressure system with gale force (39-54mph) – tropical storm force west winds (39 to 73mph) moved through the area Sunday. Behind it was strong high pressure. The large gradient between the two created a board area of strong offshore winds. For clarification, west winds aka offshore winds, come from the west and blow in the direct of offshore.
Sunday and Monday the area had sustained 30MPH+ winds with gusts to 50MPH++!
Atlantic City Airport: 71MPH!!! 74MPH is Cat1 Hurricane!
Beach Haven peaked at 56MPH
Island Beach State Park 65MPH
These winds pushed the water out of the bay and each ebb tide only helped drain the bay. These same winds blocked the subsequent flood tides, preventing the incoming water.
What is tide?
Most all anglers (should) know about tides but or those who don’t… The tide is the vertical elevation of water, the rise and fall of seawater that is caused by the moon’s, and a less part the sun’s (further away) gravitational pull. The normal everyday water elevation tidal change is about 1.5′ for most locations in our local area.
Local Observations
Taking look at the USGS Tide Elevation Gauges in the area you’ll see the super low tide elevations recorded at both the Waretown and Barnegat Light locations. The water level was about 2.5-3.5′ below normal.
Waretown Tidal Elevation: The west side of the bay location recorded a low of -2.42′ on 2/18/25 at 8:30PM. Statistics based on two years of data from USGS share the mean to be -0.17′.
Barnegat Light Tidal Elevation: The east side of the bay, near the Inlet location recorded a low of -3.73′ on 2/18/25 at 5:24PM. The location’s 22 year mean is -0.23′. Looking at this chart you will see more tide range due to the location.
Some say the event, “is because of neap tide” or “it’s because of spring tides.” That is not the case. This blow out event occurred at mid moon phase ~50% so the moon had little to no effect. The moon’s effect on tides is greatest, most extreme at the new 0% and full 100% phases and weak at the 50% stage.
Neap Tides have the smallest tidal range, less extreme, resulting in lower high tides and higher low tides.
Spring Tides have the largest tidal range, most extreme, resulting in higher highs and lower lows. Spring tides have nothing to do with the season we call Spring! It happens during new moon and full moon phases of the lunar cycle.
The King Tide is the year’s highest tide. It’s the largest spring tide of the year. It occur when a new or full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee (closest to Earth in its orbit).
Additional Factors
An additional factor that did not cause but certainly didn’t help is the current drought. There’s little to low/no, flow out of the many creeks and rivers which drain into the Barnegat Bay. The entire Barnegat Bay watershed and broader area/state is in a sever/extreme drought. New Jersey and especially South Jersey is experiencing one of the driest periods of the 10-15 years. There has been little rain since this past August. If you read my end of year 2024 LBI Fishing Recap then you should know that this issue isn’t new, “October was BONE DRY, the driest since 1895!
Remembering Back
What a crazy blowout! One of the lowest and longest duration blow out tide in a long time! This event beat the last extreme blowout we can remember in early Jan 2108. Then we had a blowout in the frigid cold. The west wind blew out the tide and then it seemed like the hard freeze kept rom coming back in. Once it did a lot of pilings were lifted and docks damaged. Here’s a photo (below) from Jan 7th 2018.
Do you recall a super low extreme blow out tide? Share you memory.
Surf Day 2025 is quickly approaching this weekend -Don’t miss out on the year’s best surf fishing show!
Who: The Jersey Shore Surfcasters (JSS Fishing Club)
What: Surf Day 2025
When: Saturday Feb 15, 2025 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Where: Brookdale Community College at 765 Newman Springs Rd, Lincroft, NJ 07738
This pure surf fishing show run by JSS, a group of die hard anglers, is well known in the North East. Many have tried to copy the format and ideas however none come close. This original and long standing show is a must attend for surf casters.
The seminar schedule looks great this year with top speakers lined up… Dave Anderson, Jenni Ackerman, Nick Honachefsky, Frank Goncalves and Bill Wetzel! These will all be worth attending.
While the seminars are the backbone of the show, the special part is seeing the surf fishing community all under one roof. The networking and knowledge shared is second to none. Whether a rookie, novice or veteran Surf Day is for you.
The crew here at Fisherman’s Headquarters is looking forward to the show. We’ll be at the same booth we have had for the last ten years… located in the main room on the left side upon entering. We’ll have a full spread of surf fishing tackle, equipment and supplies from A to Z… all at Show Special Pricing. Stop by and say hello!
Two different “beach projects” caught my attention this past weekend. One I shared previously on Instagram 1/18/25 showing a before and after at the Lighthouse Jetty.
Dredge Spoils At Lighthouse Jetty
The Double Creek & High Bar dredge work wrapped up but the project is far from over. The dredge spoils were hydraulically dredged and transported via pipeline to the state park. But the situation there has turned into a public safety nightmare. I first shared information about the public safety hazard with a before and after video on January 18th via Instagram. I predicted a larger problem existed and thought it would play out overtime. I didn’t think it would happen so fast.
This is not the first time bay dredging maintenance was placed by the Lighthouse. It has been done numerous time over they last ten years. However, in my opinion, this time there was major oversight, failure of the plans and/or supervision over the shoreside part of the project. The failure to understand the dynamics of the area was negligent. Black geo-matting was used in the past and should of been used from the start. But this go around either no matting was used or not used properly.
There are very large sinkholes caused by the tide fluctuations sucking the sand underneath the concrete walkway and through the rock jetty. It has gotten worse with each tide cycle. Thankfully there is safety netting now to keep people away from the sink holes.
When filming this video I found large rolls of black geotextile matting (MIRAFI N-Series non-woven polypropylene geotextile) which looks to be staged and ready to use. This material allows for high water flow rates, excellent soil retention and long lasting durability. Hopefully this will be installed soon. But WOW! Talk about a waste of time, money and public safety risk not putting this down first. Now we have more sand shoaling up in the inlet that adds to the hazard. Are “they” paying to dredge the sand out of the inlet?
A little more info on the project is shared at the end of this blog post.
Barnegat Light’s New Piping Plover Beach Project
Here’s a first look at the second questionable beach project on Long Beach Island’s North End. How they are linked if at all is unknown to me. Is it just a coincident they occurred within a tight time window? Possibly but I assume the shoreside equipment and operators were used. More below.
The Barnegat Light dune excavation and removal of vegetation and maritime forest seems extreme. So much for the DEP’s protection of the dunes, fragile habitat of Seabeach Amaranth and other beach plant species! There was serious discussions as recently as last year that threatened shutting down beach access in order to protect this plant.
I heard about the activity a couple days ago and saw a couple photos from Tim Brindley and Joy Ludke. They blew my mind! It looked like somebody went a little crazy. Like a kid in a sandbox playing around with some Tonka trucks but on a much larger level. I was shocked and had to take a look to see it first hand.
Take a look for yourself as I walk through the 7/8th street beach access trail and pan through the area. I also show the erosion of beach at the Old South Jetty and the fish bowl cove leading towards the Sea King’s mast and “The Point” aka “The Bar” to the south.
Info On The Lighthouse Dredge Material Placement
A simple search pulled up this public notice from 2015 which details the purpose, location, activities and more about what I believe to be the same project. If that is the case, in my unqualified opinion, the recent activities grossly exceeded the designated 3.2 acre “sand stockpile area” shown below.
Wish I had more, but I’m not going through a public records request route.
More On Plover Beach
After I recorded the two videos I ended up diving in more to the topics. As assumed the two events are part of the same project that’s “made possible through collaborative efforts and funding from a number of partners, including Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.” Here’s a link on the collaboration…
Don’t miss the 15th Annual Fishing Flea Market hosted by the Lacey Twp High School Fishing Club. It’s going to be packed with great deals on all kinds of fishing tackle. We will have hot deals on best selling gulp, reels, braided line, lures and much more.
When: Sunday, January 19, 2025 Time: 9 AM – 2 PM Admission: $5 at the door Location: Lacey Township High School – Forked River, NJ 73 Haines St., Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734-2115
All proceeds support the hardworking student anglers of the club. See You There!
This year was an exciting year for Long Beach Island anglers, offering impressive catches alongside unique challenges. Both beach and boat anglers found rewarding opportunities during the year’s fishing seasons. Dive into this year-end fishing recap to reflect on the highlights, memorable moments, and key takeaways from fishing the LBI region in 2024.
Ya can’t say, “I fished hard all year if you don’t start on day one!” I kicked off 2024 with a good New Year’s Day tog fishing trip and landed this big white chinner in the mix of enjoyable (sweatshirt and jeans) winter tautog fishing. I tried to fish “late into the season” but pulled the boat before the January 9/10th mid-latitude cyclone that pounded the area with 68 mph winds and major flooding. I’m still in the water now so I’m hoping to score some action to kick off 2025 once the weather allows.
SPRING FISHING
March kicked off with hungry striped bass actively hitting bloodworms and small-profile lures in the back bays, rivers, and tributaries. White perch were also in these areas, eagerly biting on grass shrimp. The month started warmer than usual with high hopes for a promising spring. By mid-March, gannets moved up along the coast and WALLA! The season’s first surfside striped bass was landed by Jon Kelly fishing the Island’s south end surf. It was an exciting moment that set the tone for a strong start to the year. But the second half of the month deteriorated. Heavy rain (3rd wettest March since 1895) and stormy conditions disturbed and diluted fishing.
Stellar Spring For Bass & Drum
April ushered in better conditions and sparked up good fishing for tog, striped bass and black drum. Mid-April had more positive progression into the heart of spring fishing with warming waters. Mid to late month some bigger bass, bigger black drum and a few gator bluefish added to the excitement in the LBI surf. Also the season’s first kingfish and blowfish showed.
It all carried on into May with clam as the bait of choice! April and May delivered one of the best surfside black drum seasons in recent years, with phenomenal action in the bay as well. Striped bass fishing wasnt shabby with solid catches in the bay and surf.
On May 20th Jon Kelly had himself a stellar day in the surf… 12 black drum, two striped bass and a bluefish.
Bunker Were Hard To Come By At Times
During April and May in the coastal waters of Long Beach Island, Barnegat Inlet and Island Beach State Park area bunker (aka menhaden) did not gather in large schools like they typically do. Bunker was hard to find for bait and tackle shops as well as striped bass. This situation was advantageous for surf anglers because the game moved into the surf zone rather than staging on bait schools off of the beach in deeper water. The migrating hungry striped bass had to rummage the suds and that is where they found anglers hot to trot us fishing the cuts and troughs. Clam and sand fleas were two hot baits in the spring of 2023 spring and it repeated in 2024. Now for spring 2025… ready, aim, fire!
Tuna Showed Early
April had some giant tuna in close off LBI. This trend played out all year. With regards to other early season offshore info, BHMTC Tuna Open (June 8-15th) had good participation and lots of fish with all five species of tuna hitting the scales; 5 bluefin over 100#, 8 big eye over 100# and 11 yellowfin over 70#.
TJ Johnson aboard the XYZ weighed in the biggest bluefin tuna ever brought to the Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club. This 92″ 462# tuna was caught in close after a three hour battle on an 80 wide.
Early Season Fluke Fishing
The fluke season started strong with an early opening date of May 4th. Right out of the gate, store staffer Paul had a nice limit of flatties fishing the Barnegat Inlet rocks, 19” – 21.5”. Other positive reports were common with fluke up to 26” and multiple limits of fish all over 20” on Gulp, live minnows and large strip baits.
Here’s Paul with a nice haul!
Spring Yellow eyes demons
Some gators were in the surf this spring with the best of it focused around the middle of May. Then for the most part cocktail blues in the 1-3# and 2-4# range, occasional 5# and larger frequented the surf, inlet and bay. Right into summer.
Store staffers Frankie (left) and Jared (right) got into some nice blues on the LBI surf fishing the mid-May time frame.
Diversity arrived in June
June started off with great weather as well as the year’s first showing of cow nose rays, cobia, sheepshead and houndfish. Early June had the Long Beach Island surf water temperature in the mid 60’s and it was gin clear. Anglers caught fluke, blues and occasional bass and drum which fizzled out from the May climax. The clean and warm inshore waters had bonito and Spanish mackerel activity spicing things up early in mid June. June also produced good black sea bass fishing on the wrecks and reefs.
Father and son Tony and Anthony Butch scored a limit of nice sea bass this trip.
SUMMER FISHING
An intense and unusually early hot and humid heat wave kicked off the 2024 summer season at the Jersey Shore. Meanwhile the Long Beach Island region was heavily influenced by upwelling events, which kept the nearshore ocean water temperatures unusually cold. It eventually broadened and escalated into a full-scale regional event. Even Monmouth County waters which rarely get extreme upwellings like LBI were dealing with the chilly summertime waters. While this cold water phenomenon posed challenges for certain fisheries, it boosted others.
Challenging Summer Fluke Fishing
Fluke which started off the season strong remained a worthwhile target; however, challenging. Most would agree, the fluke season fell short of the typically robust action anglers have come to expect. Tightlines were had by focusing on the tides and temperatures as well as adapting one’s approach. I found that fishing shallow (3-8’ deep) mud bottom areas in the bay with live minnows and spearing to be my successful strategy. It was common to have slow fishing or short lived bites as cold waters disrupted and depressed the usual patterns. Not only did I focus on the shallow waters that were warmed by the sun. I boxed some nice fluke working slowly in deeper areas which remained consistently. At times the surf was productive.
Consistent Bluefishing
The consistent bluefish bite which offered good fishing in late spring waned, but the yellow eyes in various sizes were caught all summer long in the bay, inlet and surf. Weakfish too made a showing as well as a boat load of spot in July and August. However the blowfish abundance was low this summer and not nearly comparable to the recent years past.
Summertime striper fishing
Resident striped bass enjoyed the chilly waters and it sustained some of the best summertime bass fishing the area has seen in a long time. The bass bite was good all summer long offering both surprisingly great quantity and quality. Some summertime linesiders were picked off the surf but for the most part the activity was focused around the bay and inlet. It made for a very productive summertime jetty season. Despite the radical water temperature swings bass, blues, fluke, weakfish, tog, sheepshead, triggerfish and kingfish were all on tap in August.
Summer Midshore Pelagics
On the midshore grounds, bluefin tuna as well as yellowfin tuna offered good content for jig, pop and trolling. The first half of August (before Hurricane Ernesto’s large swell rolled through on top of already higher than usual tides) there were bluefin less than 20 miles from BI. For the most part the tuna stuck around all summer with bluefin in the 20-25 mile range and yellowfin 40-60. The bonito were abundant with albies, spanish and chub mackerel in the mix too.
When the blackfish season opened on August 1st, the jetty fishing for blackfish was remarkable and it continued to deliver all fall.
September was full of onshore, easterly winds and cool, dry weather. The never ending blow did have a silver lining. It was a change in weather pattern which fixed the prolonged upwelling issue. And it got the bass and blues stoked up on the mullet that was moving.
FALL FISHING
Fall 2024 was New Jersey’s driest in 130 years and the summertime anomaly inverted. The weather patterns flipped from a semi-permanent Bermuda High (summertime south wind causing upwelling) to a semi-permanent high pressure to New Jersey’s north and northeast, parked over the North East United States and Canadian Maritimes with lower pressure to our region’s south. With this high pressure in command for six straight weeks the area was locked into warm and dry conditions with extreme drought in the area. October was BONE DRY, the driest since 1895!
Fall 2024 Mullet Run
The mullet run was sensational. What started in August poured all September, all October and into November. The whole time bluefish pestered and in the early to mid stages of the run fluke and striped bass were keyed in on the finger mullet.
Tog fishing was outstanding for land based anglers fishing Barnegat Inlet. But the traditional inshore hot spot snags (wrecks and reef) were not loaded. Some spots produced. Some days better than others. There is no doubt in my mind, tighter tautog regulations are needed NOW! Actually they were needed when I first tried to wake up the NJ Marine Fisheries Council five years ago. That fell on deaf ears. Tog fishing was extraordinary and lots of new participants joined the hot fishery. More participation and pressure, but moreover advanced technologies (specific tackle, precision GPS boat positioning trolling motors, HD sonar, HD bathymetric charts/ imaging, etc.) make our recreational efforts exponentially more powerful and effective! Managers have no handle on the status of the fishery and action is needed now before what is still good is gone.
The first week of November was really warm both air and ocean temp wise. Surprisingly the ocean water was warmer the first week of November than it was for most of June and July.
Boat bassing all November was exceptional. Phenomenal early month striped bass fishing was had by those that made a northern trek. Lunkers on bunkers and Jumbos on jigs was the mantra. As the month went on, the fish slid down making a short commute for local boats running out of Barnegat Inlet. Sand eels and bunker ranging from adults and juvenile lollypop to peanut bunker were present and harassed just about daily. Some days the gorging was spectacular!
But a big frigid cold front moved in around the 30th (11/30) and stuck around. For the most part this cold snap closed the door. The surf temps dropped fast and the fish that were staged up along the beaches seemed to move off towards deeper, more consistent temperatures. Some also headed to their local back water wintering grounds. December can be an awesome month for striped bass fishing but not this year.
It was not a good fall run on the beaches of LBI. However there were opportunities and successful catches. John Bonner was a stand out, winning the catch and release LBI Surf Master Division hosted by the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. His three fish stringer scored 141 points/inches; 50, 46, 45. All were caught waxing out of November’s new moon (11/1) during the month’s first week.
Tuna Kept Coming
The midshore / inshore tuna bite that kept going all summer exploded to biblical proportions in the fall! The bite rolled on month after month and rocked right to the end of the year. At times there were bluefin busting on bait along the beach. The consistent catches came from the Manasquan Ridge, down through the Separation Zone to the Barnegat Ridges. Hook ups came on lures and bait fishing, but trolling ballyhoo dressed with a Joe Shute pulled down on planers was the most dependable and consistent method. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s still rocking now at the end of the year.
Gio DeMarco scored this bluefin tuna fishing in mid November.
CONCLUSION
As 2024 comes to a close, it’s clear lots of great fishing memories were made. From early-season striped bass and black drum fishing to a phenomenal tuna run and surprising summer stripers, anglers have a lot to celebrate. Here’s to building on this year’s successes in 2025. Tight lines and a Happy New Year from all of us at Fisherman’s Headquarters! We wish you all the best in the new year.
In celebration of New Year’s Day the store will be closed, Wednesday January 1, 2025. On Thursday we will be back at the helm on our winter hours; 8AM to 5PM for now but that might be cut back another hour or two so stay tuned or call to confirm.
Today December 16th, 2024 the four and a half hours long ASMFC Striped Bass Mgmt Board meeting concluded with action but maybe not the action everyone wanted. Long story short, final action will take place at the annual 2025 meeting, to be in place for the 2026 fisheries. So the current regulations roll on for 2025…
One fish bag, a 28-31″ slot size and a back bay season open March 1 to December 31st (ocean state waters open year round).
Public comments submitted before the meeting were overwhelmingly in favor of board action in the way of reductions for 2025 regulations. That didn’t happen but management measures most likely will change in 2026. Since you can’t really have a smaller slot than 3” expect closures of no harvest and possibly no target.
More Info…
Striped bass are not in great shape; however, there is debatably not a crisis. Current regulations are very restrictive. But are they restrictive enough to meet the 2029 rebuilding deadline?
All three of the scenarios that were on the table are shown in this graph below detailing that SSB in 2029 would be close to the target in all of the options. It was presented by the Technical Committee and mentioned that a 10% change is nearly indistinguishable in the data. Also TC said an additional year of the same regulations helps them with upcoming assessments because of more consistent data.
I believe, the current one fish slot 28 to 31” management measures (implemented via emergency action in 05/2023 which NJ adopted in 07/2023) are working to control fishing mortality. The 2024 assessment indicates SSB (spawning stock biomass) is currently below the threshold so the stock is considered overfished but not experiencing overfishing.
It all boils down to two things…
Angler effort (F) – MRIP data gauges recreational angler effort and the estimated fish we catch, removals.
Recruitment – Young Of the Year (YOY) Data gauges success of natural reproduction, it’s complex and heavily influenced by natural and environmental factors which are out of the board’s control.
Marine Recreational Information Program
Recreational fishing effort is calculated by MRIP which has fluctuations and a great deal of uncertainty. The statistical model is notorious for big swings and NOAA Fisheries acknowledges issues with the methods, but it’s all we got.
An important answer will be, was our 2024 fishing effort within the estimated range? We will most likely have that answer in the final 2024 MRIP data which should be released in April, 2025.
What will be the board’s risk appetite come summer 2025? What’s the public’s opinion on their risk profile in order to balance the fishery and socioeconomics?
STRIPED BASS RECRUITMENT
The young of the year spawning data has been poor. The Chesapeake Bay has had 6 bad years in a row. It is considered and believed to be the primary producer responsible for 70-80% of the coast wide stock. Is it still? If a northern shift is occurring one would think the Delaware and Hudson would be booming. Maybe there is a shift in stock distribution but not spawning. Atleast science has yet to pick up, as the Hudson River Young Of The Year data had two bad years in a row. If the northern shift was happening we would expect to see an increased in the Hudson’s YOY numbers
The fish pipeline isn’t promising; however, history tells us that we can have successful strong spawns with critically low SSB. Thankfully we have a much larger SSB now than we had in the past which was able to pull us out of the moratorium.
Fortunately, the updated fishing mortality reference points took into account the period of low recruitment the stock has experienced in recent years. But for how long will these poor recruitment trends play out?
IN CONCLUSION MY TAKE
Without getting new news and fresh updated data. My take at this point is we must keep the current 28-31” slot, which we will have for 2025. As the TC presented, an “additional year of data under the same management regulations would inform a better estimate of selectivity for upcoming assessments.” My comments to ASMFC were published on the previous blog post but I’ll share a little more on where my head is at. Maybe you agree. Maybe you don’t.
Come 2026, based on updated data, necessary changes / reductions should be made to protect the movement of pre-spawn striped bass in the spring (Wave 1 & Wave 2) with seasonal no harvest closures at the many important spawning areas. During this time commercial harvest should be prohibited. SSB must get their best shot at spawning! Furthermore there should be a resurgence to make Striped Bass a coastwide no sale gamefish like it is here in New Jersey. I understand there are generational watermen who depend on striped bass. Those in NJ shafted gears. I feel the recreational tackle industry should subsidize these select watermen for five years so they can shift gears and not target striped bass. The Massachusetts open access commercial fishery must be reformed; limited access, lottery or close it all together. Ballers fun fishing and selling striped bass has gone on for far too long. Especially the out of state anglers cashing in on it.
Most of the environmental factors which plague striped bass spawning are out of the Striped Bass Mgmt Board’s control; water quality, flow, temperature, dissolved oxygen, zooplankton, timing (anglers anecdotal info report large females are moving into spawning areas a month or more earlier than a few years ago) and invasive species among a myriad of other factors. But what about bunker and river herring? I hypothesize the lack of river herring and the abundance of menhaden in the lower bays are keeping striped bass in these lower areas. Fix one and maybe the other improves too. I think these two anadromous species have an indispensable link. The starting point must be fish passage restoration removing old dams to restore habitat, research and possibly explore river herring hatcheries to help.
We can not lower the slot and target immature fish. These fish are not abundant and are very important as they are the few who persevered amidst poor environmental conditions.
We can not increase the slot limit and target larger female striped bass. Any fish that outgrew the slot must be protected as they are the lifeblood of the coast-wide fishery. The larger fish 34” are all breeding size (SSB) and the larger they are the better their fecundity.
If the spring no harvest closures suggested above do not meet the reductions necessary at that time… The next step would be more broad no harvest closures. I feel during this time, federally inspected for hire vessels (think party boats, not the average 6 pack charter) should be granted limited access. Explore creative ways to allow this dying sub-sector which gets a bad rap (however is accountable for a small portion of removals) to fish in a limited way. Spit balling ideas, maybe just give them two days a week, Saturday and Sunday. This will protect their business/boat as well as help reduce a large shift in effort to other target species which also happen to have their own challenges.
At absolute last resort we must accept and explore lower reference points and/or no target closures (hopefully in a very limited, not broad regional way). Done on a micro level, state by state would be best to focus on when and where the fish are and how to best protect.
The balance of new mortality vs new recruit uncertainty is critical.
Many striped bass anglers ask me… “The fishing is awesome, why the cuts?” Well yes, we have had some really good fishing in some areas and at some points during the season. So it can be hard for anglers to understand what’s boiling up. The recruitment data from Chesapeake Bay is bad and it’s been bad.Six consecutive poor year classes bad. Why? For a myriad of reasons and if you could fix each issue we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Also it doesn’t help that the SSB (female spawning stock biomass) Target is set at about 250 million pounds which is at a historical high. It will be challenging but it is everyone’s hope that the Chesapeake Bay (which is responsible for 70-80% of the Atlantic coast wide stock) is still capable of making the comeback.
Whether you agree with me or not, that’s fine. That’s fisheries management. To help encourage all saltwater anglers to participate in the process, I’m sharing my comments which I submitted via email, [email protected]. I encourage you to submit your own comments right away! The deadline is tomorrow Tuesday Dec 10th by 11:59 p.m. The Board will meet in-person and via webinar on Monday, December 16 at 10 a.m. to consider changing 2025 management measures to increase the probability of rebuilding the stock by the 2029 deadline.
Please keep the striped bass seasons and limit status quo for 2025.
The current narrow slot is VERY RESTRICTIVE yet still allows access to the fishery while all sectors take a fair and equitable sacrifice. Management measures are working to control fishing mortality. SSB projections which incorporate the impact of low recruitment suggest we are on the right path.
Do not support no target closures.
I acknowledge allowing catch and release ignores a large portion of mortality; however the recreational sector, more specifically the fishing tackle industry and for-hire sector can not take more cuts or closures. NJ is not willing to close Wave 6 (Nov-Dec) in the same way that MA is not willing to close Wave 4 (July-Aug). These waves are the cornerstone of the run which so many depend on.
Do not support closed seasons.
The environmental conditions which result in poor recruitment are out of the board’s control. Implementing closed seasons will not fix recruitment.
Do not increase the slot.
These fish are the lifeblood of the coast-wide fishery. All year classes above the 31” slot must be protected.
Do not lower the slot and put harvest on immature fish.
These fish are not abundant and are very important because they’re the few who persevered amidst poor environmental conditions. It’s dismal, but they are all we have in the future fish pipeline until the next successful spawning year(s).
TC Concludes (Page 99): Methods used to analyze slot limits below the current 28” minimum size in the Ocean recreational fishery result in an increase in total removals. Had a reduction been estimated in any of these options, the next step in the analysis would have been to perform a spawning potential analysis to determine the loss of spawning potential from the proposed new slot option.
Any commercial sector cuts must come from the landing, not quota.
Additionally the commercial gill net fishery must be prohibited during Wave 1 and Wave 2.
Postscript
While this is outside the scope of this comment period at this time… Fishing in NJ has been good but regulations continue to clamp all out of a great fishery. No one; commercial, recreational, for-hire, etc is willing to hang it up. We can not continue to dig our own grave, regulating all out of the fishery. At some point we must accept and explore lower reference points while maintaining a fair, equitable and healthy fishery. Furthermore, there needs to be more studies funded to get a better handle on young of the year failures rather than anecdotal topics in hopes management can find options in their control.
Early December Got Cold But The Striped Bass Fishing Is Hot!
Here’s our most recent Long Beach Island Fishing Report video update from yesterday morning December 4th…
The fishing on the beach of LBI has been slow with only a few fish reported. But the boat fishing out of Barnegat Light and Little Egg Inlet has been REALLY GOOD despite the cold weather.
I’ve been fishing everyday for the last week (had to take off yesterday attend fishing tackle show in Atlantic City). I had great fishing in various locations, including the Brant Beach Lump, Loveladies Lump, and the Harvey Cedars Lump as well as along IBSP and Seaside. I’m still seeing a wide range of striped bass size class with slots and overs.
The water temperatures have fallen with the ocean temps ranging in the mid to upper 40’s. There’s plenty of bait in the area, but it really has not pushed into the LBI beach. With the large mass off striped bass hanging around the inshore waters of LBI our fingers are crossed they crash the beach one of these days.
Yesterday store staffer Emmet caught a 10# bass off the LBI surf. Emmet shared he fished the surf for a few hours and didn’t see one other truck. “The beach was empty. I was fishing a Bill Hurley sand eel in some cuts. No bites. At one point, I saw some swirls on top. Clipped on a pencil popper and got the bite!”
Remember Amazon Doesn’t Fish!
Support local fishing tackle shops. Each and everyone is much more than just a store with expert advice and hands on help. They are generational fishing hubs and the lifeblood of the industry as well as communities supporting local fishing clubs, tournaments, charities and nonprofits.
Many big brands which independent tackle shops helped grow have lost sight of their roots and their dealers in pursuit of profit over the fishing community, the lifestyle and the activity we all love. Fishing deserves better! You fish! We fish! We fish together! Don’t let the posers invade! Support your local tackle shop today!
From all of us at Fisherman’s Headquarters… Happy Thanksgiving! We give thanks for friends, family and FISHING! We hope you have a great day!
The phenomenal fishing continues out of Barnegat Light. There’s lots of hungry striped turkeys! Yesterday was another great day and we heard that fishing was very good this morning in the rain. It simply doesn’t get any better. Here’s a short report update from yesterday. I included some striped bass fishing video showing the all new Quantum saltwater spinning reels, both the Strive and Benchmark is action. These all new reels from Quantum are in stock now at the shop. Stop in and check ’em out. Also don’t miss out on our weekend sales, Black Friday- Cyber Monday… Fishing Tackle Sale – There’s some great deals ranging from 15-50% off on tackle!
609-494-5739
