THE weather finally turned, bringing cold temperatures and windy conditions, the elements for good fall fishing for big stripers and blackfish.
Last weekend’s brush with tropical storm Noel also got the juices flowing for surf jockeys off the East End.
Even with all the action around Montauk Point during the storm over the weekend, anglers still were talking about the 61.44-pound striper caught by Mike Milano on the Point’s south side early last week to take the lead in the Montauk Locals Tournament.
What’s even more amazing is Milano released a bass the previous week that was reported to be more than 60 pounds. It was released because Milano already had taken a 37-pounder that day.
That’s two 60-pounders in the surf by the same angler. Just amazing.
As we said, conditions last week kept fishing to the beaches. We hear those fishing the Breezy Jetty found good bass and bluefish action.
Further east there were a few bass taken at Democratic Point, Cedar and Gilgo Beaches.
The best blackfish action we heard about has been off the East End and in the western Sound were a number of togs over 10 pounds were weighed in at Jack’s Bait and Tackle on City Island. There were large numbers of blackfish taken near Orient Point last week.
íA recent report released by the Herring Alliance shows that river herring populations along the entire East Coast have been decimated to a fraction of their historic levels. Populations that once numbered in the hundreds of thousands are now in the single digits.
Ospreys, bald eagles, harbor seals, sea otters and striped bass are a few of the predators that depend upon this fish for their survival. Entire ecosystems could be in danger as these once abundant fish continue to vanish from their home waters.
Until now, restoration efforts have focused on protecting essential habitats and setting limits for the river herring fisheries. Those threats have existed for decades without a coast-wide crash, but something has changed. According to the report, the answer appears to be industrial mid-water trawlers, enormous fishing boats that drag nets the size of football fields behind them. While fishing for Atlantic herring and mackerel, these vessels probably catch millions of river herring each year, a development that has gone unnoticed by the public and has been ignored by fishery managers.
The extent of by-catch and its true impact on river herring populations is unknown because federal fishery managers at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have limited data on the problem. Because river herring and Atlantic herring look similar, especially in a catch composed of thousands of fish, mid-water trawl fishermen tend to list all herring in a single category, thereby providing unreliable catch reports.
Connecticut, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Rhode Island already have banned the taking of river herring from their waters. More needs to be done.