I thought I'd open this can of worms. With all this talk about "striper of the month", perhaps we should give some thought to the relative merits of catch and release striper fishing at this time of year. Yes, it's certainly possible to find winter-over fish in many places around southern New England. But I think we would all agree that life is quite a bit tougher for these little guys when the water is in the 30's and low 40's and there is little to eat. Although lymphosystis is usually not fatal, it is a clear indication of stress. We saw our first "fresh" fish here on the Cape last year around the first or second week of April. That's really not that far off!! Perhaps our time would be better spent tying flies, scouting out new locations, reading about and discussing our sport, etc. Just a thought.....
Gene