Coastal Angler Magazine | December 2022 | Boston Edition

UpSwitzerland

A watch that revolutionized timekeeping at a price equally as radical.

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Prior to Piezo watches, gravity-driven Swiss watches were the standard bearer of precision timekeeping. But all that changed when the first commercially available Piezo watch came onto the market.

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“[Piezo timepieces]...it would shake the Swiss watch industry to its very foundations.”

Foundation For Economic Education

With the Timemaster we’ve set one of the world’s most important mechanical advances inside a decidedly masculine case. A handsome prodigy in rich leather and gold-finished stainless steel. The simplicity of the watch’s case belies an ornately detailed dial, which reflects the prestige of this timepiece.

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Coastal Angler Magazine

The Angler Magazine

www.CoastalAnglerMag.com

TROUT TIPS FOR Wintertime

By Nick Carter

Trout like cold water, but there’s no denying the slow down that occurs on most wintertime trout fisheries. When water temps fall into the low 40s and below, insect life and other food sources are less prevalent. Trout metabolisms slow and they go into energy-conservation mode. They are content to hover near the bottom out of heavy current and feed only when an easy opportunity arises.

That said, fish still need to eat, and intrepid anglers will find joy in the seclusion of a wintertime trout stream. Here are some tips to raise the odds of a great wintertime trout trip. Dress warmly, wade carefully and savor the taste of the ice you suck from your rod guides.

1) Choose Destinations Wisely: Winter is not the time to explore high-elevation brook trout streams. Instead, float a tailwater, where water temps are consistent year-round, or go to lower elevation streams that are a bit warmer. For a target-rich environment, try out a delayed-harvest fishery. They are stocked heavily through the cooler months.

2) Fish Warm Spells: Two or three days of consistently warmer weather are primetime in terms of winter trout fishing. Everything in the stream, from the trout to the bugs and baitfish they eat, perks up.

By the same logic, the best bite is usually during the warmest part of the day. Sun warms the shallows, bringing out the tiny little midges, black stoneflies and blue-winged olives that are wintertime staples. Even if the action is subsurface, trout will take advantage of easy feeding opportunities.

3) Fish Meticulously: Unless trout are visibly rising, subsurface is the way to go. Turn your attention away from the riffles where rainbows pop dry flies in spring, and look to the deeper, slower runs. Pick them apart with nymph rigs. Keep in mind that most winter food items will be small, but fish a variety of sizes and patterns at the same time and cover every inch of each run vertically and horizontally. The idea is to hit a fish in the nose, and this is best achieved fishing slowly and carefully.

If you want to tempt a giant trout, it’s a good time to dead drift a big streamer with the same meticulous patience. Don’t hesitate to fish a heavy streamer deep under an indicator. Sometimes a big mouthful is enough to convince a lock-jawed bruiser to eat.

4) Fish Safely: Flooding your waders can kill you when it’s frigid. During cold snaps, consider fishing near the truck, where a quick jog can put you in a heated cab if you get wet. If you do go into the backcountry, take a dry-bag with fire-starting equipment, a towel and a change of clothes.

Wherever you fish, wade carefully, avoid stepping on frozen-over rocks, kick any snow off your boots before entering the water and avoid taking chances like wading deep water or heavy flows.

Nick Carter is the author of “Flyfisher’s Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.” Contact him at nsc8957@gmail.com.

Berkeley County, South Carolina

Berkeley County is a wonderland for outdoor enthusiasts, sports buffs, adventure seekers, and water lovers. From exemplary fishing for striped bass, or a trophy largemouth bass, to our hiking trails and water activities, along with scenic outdoors where you can catch a glimpse of white tail deer and gators, Berkeley County has activities to fit all visitors and families. Learn more about Berkeley County at: exploreberkeleycounty.com

Peacock Bass Luxury

Next stop Manaus, Brazil! It all started when my good friend Capt. Johnny Stabile called.

J: I know what you’re going to say before I even ask.

G: What is it?

J: Do you want to go Peacock fishing in Brazil?

G: When?

J: We would leave 13 days after our Alaska trip.

Of course, my response was, “Ok, sounds great!”

That would give me just enough time to get back from Alaska, fulfill orders for my business, and get things ready to head south. We flew out of Miami, and with a layover in Panama City, Panama met up with several other fishermen on the expedition. After a very long night of traveling, we finally landed in Brazil and hopped on a quick seaplane ride to the Rio Matupiri for six and a half days of non-stop fishing!

We stayed aboard the Amazon Legend with a very accommodating crew of 14. We ate like kings and fished hard. Our typical day of fishing consisted of getting up before the sun for a quick breakfast and loading into skiffs to spend the day zipping around to the guide’s best fishing spots. We threw a variety of lures, mostly topwaters like big choppers and walking baits. Johnny’s favorites of the trip were a Rebel Jumping Minnow and a Borboleta Woodstock 10.5 cm. He wore out the peacock bass on that Jumping Minnow. I threw bucktail jigs, and they produced the largest number of fish, but for Johnny it was all about the BIG’UNS!

Johnny loves to fly fish, so one special thing about fishing in Brazil for him was catching several nice fish on the fly rod with easy-to-tie flies that he made myself. These fish are so much more aggressive than the peacock bass you find in south Florida. For a little perspective, we caught more than 350 peacocks and more than 50 piranha along with several other exotic species. The average peacock was 2 to 3 pounds, and Johnny’s biggest weighed more than 8 pounds. One person in our party caught a big peacock that pulled the scales to nearly 14 pounds.

After a long morning of non-stop action, sometimes we would take a quick lunch break and hide in the shade of a tree for a wonderful shore lunch. The guides packed everything for remote meals on land, where they cooked native fare on an open fire. While they cooked, we relaxed in hammocks with

plenty of cold drinks and the opportunity for a quick nap before lunch was served. Many of the fish we caught contributed to these lunches, and there were also steaks and chicken available with all the fixins. Homemade salsa and native seasonings complimented the meals perfectly. After a relaxing lunch, it was back on the skiff and back in the action!

After afternoons of fishing, we indulged in fivestar dining and the most important part of the trip, air conditioning! The crew made up our rooms, did our laundry and prepared dinner every evening. Specialty cocktails were also provided, if that’s your fancy, but Johnny’s favorite was the freshly squeezed juices. He’s already looking forward to the passion fruit juice when we return next year!

Johnny shot some great video of our trip. Check it out in the December edition of The Angler Video Magazine

If you are interested in a Brazilian fishing adventure, e-mail Johnny at captain@ SFLFishingCharters.com or Gary at gary@purgeright.com.

By Capt. Johnny Stabile and Gary Turner

For as long as I can remember, offshore bottom fishing is what we look forward to during the last half of November and the entire month of December. The week of Christmas has always been considered the apex of the bottom-fishing year.

You can see the move of the big snappers marching offshore on the edge of the colder water. This will pile big snapper and other bottomdwelling species up on certain staging areas, along with a clean water temperature line that also stacks up the kings and wahoo. Keep a light line bait out while you’re bottom fishing. There is no telling what you’ll catch and on what baits.

Of course, I love a pinfish, grass grunts or sailors choice for grouper and snapper baits for more than one reason. 1) They get bites from the target species; and 2) they eliminate most of the trash bites from grunts, pinkies and sea bass.

Yes, I love a live bait on a jig, but don’t ever forget that a big grouper also loves a big chunk of cut bait. We have seen a huge uptick in amberjack and almaco jacks in the past few

years for some reason. This is an excellent bait source! I like to keep one of the first, smaller, amberjacks that come up just for this cut-bait option. The big chunks of cut bait do

of my bottom-fishing strategy. This is also the reason I take a couple boxes of squid on every trip. I start every new post-up on a ledge or live bottom area with everyone firing down whole squid every drop. I don’t care what they are catching. It’s usually grunts, pinkies or seabass, but what is really happening on the bottom is the squid are being ripped to shreds and small pieces are swirling around and creating a chum slick. After several volleys of whole squid, I change it up to live pinfish, grass grunts or other live baits on a jig.

Grouper and big snapper see the live bait as a smaller fish that was grabbed by a crab while feeding on small pieces of squid. It’s a winning technique that has been very successful for me and other Decoy Jig users for years now. It is also new to the fish, tackle-wise.

two things. They get bites and they also create a “chum slick” on the bottom right where you are fishing. When the cut bait gets pecked at, all the small pieces of flesh swirl around as it’s being eaten.

This is one of the most important aspects

The beauty of this cold water line moving farther offshore with every cold front creates opportunity for a variety of species. You never know; keep firing down cut bait and setting the hook on “strange feeling bites,” and you might even catch a big deep-water lobster like the one in the video below.

Check out some awesome bottom fishing videos at https://youtu.be/w1YmT6M0ObQ.

Tim Barefoot

K. Regan, Jr. Publisher

2022 Surf Season

By Jared Wood

tearing them up. These eels were being fished the opposite tide I must have been fishing.

them for the beginning of the fall run. The fish that had not migrated found them and made for a fun couple weeks.

This surf season was full of highs and lows up and down the coast. Spots regularly fished in the past saw a few good days but no consistency that a pattern could be fished. Lots of grinding it out to find fish was becoming a regular occurrence for some. Other spots had a consistent pattern that if you showed up under certain conditions you found fish willing to take your offerings. Keeping a log of your outings will help with nailing down a bite but some spots do become over fished as well as conditions out of our control force the fish to move from where you have caught them in years past.

This year I devoted a lot of time to a location I had been driving by for years. The first week in this spot I found some fish willing to play. I started to pick apart the structure to figure out where the fish were staging during certain parts of the tide. I had come to the conclusion after fishing it for two months this location was great from an hour into the incoming tide until slack. I had consistent action on metal lip swimmers with fish to 30 pounds not out of the equation. The homework I had done here was thrown out the window when I showed up for a week straight seeing a pile of dead eels just off the path. These eels had been fished and had the tell tale signs of large bass

I decided to fish both tides at this location for 5 days on the next moon phase. The first two nights I had the spot to myself. I had a steady pick of fish on the incoming danny plugs and darters. When the tide turned I had one slot fish for two nights of fishing the outgoing. On the third night during slack an older gentleman I had never seen before starts coming down the rocks and proceeds to an area in this location I had deemed not productive because of the lack of white water, current, and no visible structure. He makes his first cast and I hear the tell tail splat of an eel hitting the water. I am thinking to myself this is the guy who is fishing all those eels I had been seeing. On his third or fourth cast I can see he is into a large striped bass. For the next two hours every time I looked over he was tight to a good fish. At this point I know I just learned a valuable lesson. Do not write off any piece of water until you truly fish every aspect that will affect the outcome.

After the tide the other angler and myself started talking in the parking lot. He was nice enough to pass along some information that I had been missing about that location. The bass in that spot were staging in a pocket digesting their meal. They were not hitting plugs because they are getting a clean look at them but a live eel thrown in there got you tight. The next two nights we fished live eels together with fish from 30 to 41 pounds.

The sand beaches saw small sand eels earlier than years past. The larger sand eels did not show up until the middle of October. Years past the beginning of September we see an influx of 6 to 9 inch sand eels. That was a little disheartening not seeing

Bunkers were everywhere this season. They showed up early and in large numbers. Not every bunker pod had bass on them though. It was a game of chance fishing the bunker pods. If you did not hook up after 20 minutes it would move on to the next spot hoping the pod there had bass on them. In the surf finding bunkers that get trapped by the bass tight to shore made for great top water action during the day. These spots made for good fishing until the tides got weaker and the bunkers were able to escape the onslaught.

The rocks fished really well this year. The water was cooler in the rocks which I think helped the bass. The sand beaches seemed to heat up quicker this year and stayed warmer longer. The water definitely was out of the striped bass comfort range. I think this is going to be a continuing trend with the ocean getting warmer earlier and staying warmer than normal later into the season. I found myself fishing in shorts a lot this season over wearing the wetsuit because of how warm the air and water were. The water temp played a factor into where larger striped bass were being caught compared to past seasons. I

record water temperatures in my log book and the water temp from 10 years ago for the end of August this year was one degree to three degrees warmer each day.

The size class of fish caught this season was a pretty good representation of the state of the fishery. There is definitely overfishing occurring up and down the coast. The smaller schoolies that normally show up all over the place were missing. These fish are the future and the numbers of these guys in the surf was a little discouraging for the future outlook. Stripers from 26 to 32 inches were abundant. They were willing to hit most plugs thrown. They were in their usual spots most of the season which made heading out for a day of fishing in the surf fun. The 30 to 40 pound bass seemed to move further north this season. Fishing productive spots from past seasons panned out really well for catching large bass in the surf this season. There were a couple 50 pound bass caught in the surf in proximity to areas I was fishing. As a whole the striped bass fishery is on the decline with size class and numbers in the classes represented.

As I sat down to write this I am still out there grinding out every bass I can catch before the season is over. I did accomplish some goals I had set out for myself this season and fell short on some. Going until the wheels fall off the bus this season whether it is the bass or me time will tell.

Jared Wood is a surfcaster who fishes from Maine to Connecticut. Targeting Striped Bass, Bluefish, Albies, and Bonito in the surf. He can be found on Instagram as surfcaster_jared. For any questions he can be reached at jaredwood25@gmail.com

George

Boston Edition

Julie Kahn President, Regan Marketing & Media

EDITORIAL

Early Rise Outfitters: December

By Patrick Barone

December is a transition month for me. Getting closer to fishable ice, it gets harder every day to convince my self to take the boat out. This was the scenario I was faced with when I decided to start fly fishing in the winter for trout. If you are considering trout fishing in winter, here are a few suggestions after hundreds of winter days on the water.

Fish flowing water. River cur rents are the waiters and wait resses of the river. They deliv er all types of insect life to waiting fish. When a trout is

looking to eat, they make their way to a section of river with good water flow. The highly oxygenated water of riffles, fast runs, and small waterfalls will hold populations of fish. This is a result of a concentration of food, and good water condi tions in a large area. Pay close attention to the seams where faster-moving water currents meet slower sections; these ar eas require minimal effort for trout to hold, but offer close proximity to the fastest water currents for both food and safety.

Fish the entire depth column.

With your area chosen, it is very important to search multiple depths. I always like to have the maximum num ber of flies allowed by fishing regulations tied on. I make sure that the bottom fly is dragging along the bottom, with the remaining selection spread to cover as much wa ter as possible. When using a dropper fly, use a top fly that is visible to you in the water when you can. This will allow you to see where your flies are going, and to adjust depth as needed to cover the water col umn better.

Dress warm. It sounds obvi ous, but remember it is always easier to take off layers than add the ones you don’t have.

FORECAST BY: Patrick is a lifelong fisherman, who has been bitten by the fly fishing bug. He is also the co-founder/co-owner of Early Rise Outfitters, a year-round catch and release fly fishing guide service dedicated to providing enjoyable angling adventures throughout Massachusetts, with an emphasis on education and conservation.

EDITORIAL

The Tautogs of Long Island Sound

By Dan Kenney

opportunity to make a video for Dexter Knives. I’m responsible for some of their content on social media channels and we were hoping to capture a filleting segment. Of course, our plan depended on actually catching those tautogs, but in the days leading up to our trip Captain Kerry was quite reassuring, telling us, “Don't worry, we're going to get out there and find them. You'll be getting your fillet clips in no time at all!”

from striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder and scup to hickory shad, black sea bass and tautog. As we would find out pretty quickly, there are also loads of false albacore; if I had known they would be jumping and swimming around us for the majority of the day, I would have brought my light tackle setup.

With the warm weather of this year continuing into November, I was lucky enough to get in some late season fishing off the shores of Connecticut, thanks to JB Sportfishing.

Based in Niantic, Connecticut, JB Sportfishing is the charter boat arm of J&B Tackle and the Douton family, which has been helping people fish the Niantic area since 1972. These days, it’s Kerry Douton that runs the show and Captain Kerry had invited me to go after tautogs, also known as blackfish, in Long Island Sound. Brownand dark olive-colored with

white blotches and plump, elongated bodies, tautogs can reach several feet in length. They were also a popular delicacy in the 18th and 19th centuries.

On many fishing trips you’re up at the crack of dawn and hit the water before sun-up. In this case, we were up early but we didn’t get out until a few hours later. Instead, we grabbed breakfast and coffee, then stopped by J&B Tackle to meet the crew and get our gear in order. With our leisurely place, we finally hit the water at about 9:30 a.m. The plan was to use this

Regardless, we knew we were in for a fun day on the DotE-Dee, JB’s sportfishing boat, thanks to the high temps and sunny skies. The only disappointment was learning that Kerry’s son, Kyle, had to stay on shore that day to take care of customers at the tackle shop.

That meant there were five of us—myself and Captain Kerry, plus Ryan, Justin and Evan from the JB team—on a journey that started from the Niantic River. A few miles later we were on Long Island Sound, where there are more than 100 species of fish,

Still, we were after tautogs and they didn’t disappoint. These blackfish are notoriously difficult to catch because of their tendency to live among rocks and other elements, but the crew knew what they were doing. Switching back and forth between jig heads and the six-10 ounce sinkers, we brought in several in the two to eight-pound range.

Then we were on to the filleting & skinning. With our Dexter Knives Justin prepared them in no time and i stacked them on ice. I was excited to bring this delicacy home to my family. Two hours later, I was back in Massachusetts, enjoying blackfish, rice and a side salad with my wife and kids.

So if you’re looking for a fantastic day on the water in southern New England, consider Niantic, Connecticut with its proximity to the Niantic River and Long Island Sound. The fish are plentiful, the guides really know their stuff, and those tautog can make it from the sea to your dinner plate in under four hours!

Until then, God Bless and Go Fish!

OF THE MONTH

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Enter to be next month's winner:

Option 1: Submit a photo of your catch at thesaltwarrior.com/giveaway

Option 2: Submit a photo of your catch on the Catch of the Month page (Bragboard). Contact: aboiardi@regancomm.com

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The question of lure size is o en pondered in the shing world. Di erent circumstance requires a di erent mentality, but one thing is for certain, the sh did not read any articles, attend any seminars or watch that YouTube video. ey eat what they want, when they want, but I have an approach that I nd useful in deciphering the riddle.

As winter approaches, it brings changes to our estuaries: cooler water temps, a change in the type and abundance of forage, less pressure from boaters, and in some areas, much better water clarity. ere are two trains of thought on lure size when it comes to winter shing in the bays. Should I go bigger or smaller? I know anglers who immediately upsize for the entire season, while others downsize for its duration.

Both can be e ective, but here is how I typically tackle early winter shing.

Cooling water temps and increasing frequency of cold fronts put the sh on both spectrums of the feeding attitude. Unlike more stable weather patterns, when sh are less a ected and feed more consistently, these fronts can make them, for a lack of a better term, moody.

Late fall and early winter can be some of the best inshore shing of the year. Schools of

bait ushed from the bays with the dropping tides are followed by hungry specks and reds. In these situations, I like to use a smaller lure. Generally, they feed on shrimp or smaller bait sh, and having a lure of similar size is a good idea. When they are following these schools, I like non-natural colors so the sh have something to key in on when bait is abundant. I like my lure’s color to stand out in the fall feeding frenzy.

Now, for the other end of the mood swing, the inactive period caused by post-frontal conditions. is is another situation when I favor smaller lures in early winter. When the bite is o , smaller o erings entice bites from non-aggressive sh. Using myself as an example, if I am not hungry, the chance of me driving to a restaurant for a steak dinner are slim, but I might grab a few peanuts for a quick bite just because they are on the counter.

e nal reason is clearer water. Some bays I sh will have 1 to 2 feet of clear-green water in the summer, but 6 to 7 feet of air-clear water in winter. ese sh are not accustomed to this transitional clarity. When I can see my lure bouncing in the sand in depths of 7 feet, a much smaller lure will produce more bites.

I hope these tips help you catch more sh this winter, and next month I will explain my transition to larger lures as we press deeper into winter’s grip.

Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Knockin Tail Lures®, Controlled Descent Lures™, and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

Photo courtesy of Knockin Tail Lures

Centuries

ago, Persians, Tibetans and Mayans considered turquoise a gemstone of the heavens, believing the striking blue stones were sacred pieces of sky. Today, the rarest and most valuable turquoise is found in the American Southwest–– but the future of the blue beauty is unclear.

On a recent trip to Tucson, we spoke with fourth generation turquoise traders who explained that less than five percent of turquoise mined worldwide can be set into jewelry and only about twenty mines in the Southwest supply gem-quality turquoise. Once a thriving industry, many Southwest mines have run dry and are now closed.

We found a limited supply of turquoise from Arizona and purchased it for our Sedona Turquoise Collection . Inspired by the work of those ancient craftsmen and designed to showcase the exceptional blue stone, each stabilized vibrant cabochon features a unique, one-of-a-kind matrix surrounded in Bali metalwork. You could drop over $1,200 on a turquoise pendant, or you could secure 26 carats of genuine Arizona turquoise for just $99

days

don’t

MONSTER SMALLIE IS GREAT LAKES RECORD

Ohio Angler Gregg Gallagher caught a 10.15-pound smallmouth bass on Nov. 3 that once certi ed should be a new Lake Erie record. e 23 ¾-inch sh is also the largest bronzeback ever caught from the Great Lakes.

Gallagher told In-Fisherman his was the result of his son’s extensive time surveying bait and bottom structure. With sonar, they were able to do what some call video-game shing and target individual sh with drop shot rigs. He was shing 8-pound test.

“With an abundance of bait sh and unique bottom composition located a er long days behind the graphs, we dropped down our forward-facing sonar and we were able to individually target these pelagicesque smallmouth,” he told In-Fisherman. “On what turned out to be the most memorable cast of my life, my bait got hit before it even hit the bottom and my rod quickly doubled over. I honestly thought I had hooked into a sheephead and not a smallmouth. We quickly learned we had just caught the smallmouth of a lifetime.”

e monster smallmouth is the only certi ed 10-plus-pounder ever caught from the Great Lakes. It should beat out the Canadian record of 9.84 pounds, which was set 68 years ago. It is also heavier than the Ohio state record, which weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces and was caught in 1993.

e world record smallmouth bass weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces. It was caught from Tennessee’s Dale Hollow Lake in 1955.

You raise the flags of the fish just caught to show you weren’t skunked.

Once onshore you can take it a step further showing your fellow anglers your catch of the day wearing “slippahs” from Scott Hawaii.

Hanapa‘a - Marlin

Hanapa‘a - Ahi

5 WINTERTIME FISHERIES

Instead of spending the next few months holed up inside, get yourself a good parka, nd a window of decent weather and go shing. Believe it or not, for some sheries winter o ers some of the best action of the year. Here are a few ideas to help you combat cabin fever.

By CAM Sta

1) Wintertime Wahoo:

is time of year, wahoo pile up around the Bahamas. Some of the largest sh of the year will show up over the next couple of months.

High-speed trolling is the technique that allows captains to cover lots of water along rocky ledges, color changes, temperature breaks and dropo s. ’Hoos hunt in packs, so multiple hook-ups and double-digit days are possible. is shery requires some forethought and perhaps some exibility. ey bite best around the full and new moons, but you’ll de nitely want to avoid fronts and those wicked north winds.

2) South Florida Sailfsh: From

December

through February

the Atlantic Coast of South Florida becomes one of the best sail sh destinations in the world. Release ags will be ying along the edge of the Gulf Stream from roughly Fort Pierce down through the Keys.

For this bite, you’ll want to sh when the weather’s a little rough. With strong winds from the north, tailing conditions push sail sh high in the water column to feed. ey surf the swells and it’s possible to sight sh for them, which is about as exciting as shing gets.

3) The Outer Banks: In winter, North Carolina’s Outer Banks are the destination for several migrations which bring excellent shing to the island chain from Oregon Inlet down past Ocracoke.

Out of Hatteras, it’s a short ride out to the edge of the Gulf Stream, and this time of year tuna congregate there to feast on a bounty of bait sh. Big blue n tuna 200 pounds and larger are on the prowl, and anglers can also do battle with black n, yellow n and bigeye tunas.

At the same time, big schools of striped bass will be marauding bait sh on the beaches and in the inlets. Surf anglers can encounter them blitzing menhaden by looking for bait and birds. Charter boats do good business this time of year trolling while keeping eyes peeled for stripers herding and crashing bait balls.

4) South Padre Island, Texas: Way down on the Mexican border, South Padre Island is as far south as you can go in Texas. e winters are mild and the shing is good year-round.

When water temps drop, snook pile into the canals and school up. ese schools of sh can be giant, and they are suckers for arti cials. At the same time, the grass ats experience the clearest water of the year. Red sh, big trout and black drum cruise the ats, where anglers can sight sh them in shin-deep water.

5) Delayed Harvest Trout: On the East Coast from Maryland down to Georgia, most states have developed robust delayed harvest trout sheries which keep y shers on the stream through the winter. ese specially regulated sheries are catch-and-release only through the cooler months and most of them have single-hook, arti cial-only regulations.

Most delayed harvest streams are heavily stocked, usually with some largerthan-normal hatchery sh. Since you can’t keep them, they stay in the creeks and rivers all winter long. Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are some of the states with excellent delayed harvest programs. See the state wildlife agency websites for information.

TROUBLED ATLANTIC STRIPED BASS STOCKS TREND UPWARD

For the rst time in a while, sheries managers are reporting some good news about striped bass populations on the Atlantic Coast. In early November, e Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) accepted an updated 2022 stock assessment that looks good enough that no additional harvest cuts will be needed.

is stock assessment found that rock sh stocks are still over shed but they are not currently experiencing over shing. e female spawning biomass appears to have been on a modest upward trend for at least the last three years, but at an estimated 143 million pounds is still far below the 235-million-pound target for rebuilding.

Total mortality in 2021 from commercial and recreational shing was estimated at 0.14, which is below the mortality threshold of 0.20 as well as below the mortality target of 0.17.

What does this mean for anglers?

Currently, a reduction in catch is not needed, and the rebuilding program is on schedule to declare the striped bass stock rebuilt by 2029.

“ is 2022 assessment was the rst check-in point for progress toward stock rebuilding by 2029,” said Board Chair Marty Gary with the River Fisheries Commission. “It is extremely important shery removals and conduct regular stock assessments to keep evaluating rebuilding progress and stay on track.”

e next stock assessment update is scheduled for 2024, and the Board will review the 2022 removals as soon as the data are available to evaluate whether catch remains at sustainable levels.

The Return of a

For more information, visit www.asmfc.org.

NOAA Photo

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