Little Fish

Gene, who is the fly guru at Eastman's, offered the perspective: "Just think what it was like ten years ago."

All of these smaller bass bode well for the future. The idea that one can go out in the morning and evening with the relative certainty that you will catch bass is pretty incredible. If you match your equipment to the size of the fish you are catching, you can have a ball. Of course, Gene is also concerned about the amount of forage fish available for all these bass, which is certainly something to think about. Finally, as someone introduced to flyfishing for trout, 18 to 24 inch are nothing to sneer at.

Captain Leslie Smith of Backlash Charters on the Vineyard responded, ``I LOVE seeing so many small fish. They can only foretell great years of fishing ahead, so I don't mind catching and releasing them at all. Anything is better than the the other option, meaning no fish at all, or just a few large fish with more anglers trying to catch them. As a light tackle enthusiast and fly rodder, I just scale back my equipment. I use my bonito gear for these small bass and find they're loads of fun. If I have customers who are convinced quality is better than quantity, I head for deeper water, where there's a greater chance of finding keepers during the daylight hours that I fish. The rips off Wasque are my backyard, and I invariably will hunt the holes, edges and mussel beds for those fish that just aren't around the shorelines on a sunny summer day.''

Another guide who specializes in flyfishing, Captain Kris Jop, added ''the presence of schoolies is a sign that there is a future for our fishery. The numbers of young bass demonstrate the effectiveness of efforts to preserve the population from overfishing and pollution.

Along the Eastern seaboard, anyone who has fished for striped bass during the last three decades has witnessed tremendous changes in the fish population. During the 70's and early 80's, overfishing caused the numbers of striped bass to plummet by 90 percent. Today, we are seeing a resurgence of the striped bass population from Chesapeake Bay to the St. Lawrence estuary, and recreational landings (catch and release) of striped bass often equal or exceed the commercial catch.

When the schoolies we see today reach a length of 18", they will start their reproductive years. Studies indicate that the greater the fish size the greater its fertility. The first spawning females lay only 14,000 eggs while those over 50 pounds lay 3.5 million. The largest bass that make the greatest trophies are actually the ones we should be releasing so that they can continue to reproduce over their thirty year life span.

In my experience, fly fishermen enjoy the action provided by schoolie bass.They don't expect to catch the "big ones" every time. Depending on the location, larger fish are usually attracted to bigger flies like Bill Catherwood Killer Flies. Since stripers are primarily nocturnal feeders, there is a greater chance of catching the larger ones at night.''

Outer Cape guide Andrew Cummings specifically recommended using big flies for big fish if the bait in the area is big, but noted that if it's four inch sand eels the bass of all sizes are munching, then you had best ``match-the-hatch.'' Another thing to keep in mind is if the bait is so thick that they won't look at an imitation, go to something larger or quite different and you might get their attention.While night fishing is often associated with larger fish, there are places where big fish come up onto the flats in the light of day, so local knowledge is strongly recommended.

Another guide from that neck of the woods, Jeff Smith, was also concerned about fish biology, noting that ``from my understanding, male striped bass rarely exceed 32 inches. Females on the other hand grow much larger. It has also been brought to my attention that females don't reach maturity or "spawning age" until they are in the mid 30 inch range. If both of these statements are true, then the present regulations do not help the fishery in any matter. I presently feel that there should be a slot between 20 and 25 inches. Anything under or over this slot must be released immediately. . . . If these regulations were "enforced", could you imagine what the fishing would be like in a few years?!?!?! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

I have mixed views on the commercial aspect of the fishery. I know several commercial bass fishermen, and the money they make from the commercial end is nothing more than gas and beer money. We all know that sportfishing brings in more money for the state and local businesses than does the commercialism of this great fish.''

The issue of when bass spawn is still open to conjecture, but one figure that is pretty well accepted is that by 28 inches, half of the population will have spawned. Clearly, the number of fish is unbelievable, but perhaps some thought needs to be given to maintaining the health of the stock. Sheer numbers can't be the only determining factor. We're sure to see peaks-and-valleys in the future, but we need to keep an eye on future year classes and keep pushing for more precise biology. Surely, we can't lock these fish away in a vault for future uses, but forward thinking and proactive management is clearly better than knee-jerk reactions if stocks tumble.

Dave Peros

Reel -Time

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