Stripers Forever, the conservation group seeking game fish status for wild striped bass on the Atlantic Coast, is seeking input into their 2013 stripers survey. Please take a moment to complete the survey by clicking here.
Read More >>
In 2013 I was fortunate to have some great days on the water — including one of my best ever. But all of this was marred by persistent bad news about the continued decline of striped bass (more on that later). What follows is a short summary of some key trends, trips, and events from 2013.
Read More >>
It feels like months ago that I washed down my salt water fly rod for the last time. The leaves fell, the gras was white with the first frost, and I put away my equipment, thinking I wouldn’t see it until the spring. Now, a video has me thinking I was wrong.
Read More >>
First, there were birds. And then, there were stripers. Lots of stripers. With the sun rising, we set out from a small harbor through a narrow channel with our guide. Safe from the harbor, we brought the boat onto plane and motored into Cape Cod Bay. The air was cold, the wind calm, and the boats sparse. It looked like a good day. But the recent news wasn’t great. Fish had been sparse. The Vineyard side wasn’t producing. Striper population levels have been down in recent years. If you followed the logic of the conversation, it was going to be a beautiful day for a skunking. And then we saw birds, and fish.
Read More >>
In a college course on pre-Socratic philosophy, a teacher summed up one of the teachings of Heraclitus by saying: “Through suffering comes beauty.” Tonight, as I saw the first stripers of my year landed around me, that certainly was the case. The night began promisingly: a good tide, aligning with the end of the work day, and light drizzles throughout the day — conditions which, according to one, had yielded fish in the past at this spot. At lunch, the same friend had walked to the Charles River waterfront and cast a line. The stripers that followed his fly to the shore were all the proof we needed to end speculation: Fish were going to be caught this night.
Read More >>
River herring, due to their size, are not a sport fish. But striped bass, like so many other predatory fish, feast on herring. Though of greater stature, herring, like menhaden, are the sometimes unrecognized bedrock of the food system. Their dominance is limited to the krill, small crustaceans and small fish on which they feed. Mostly, they provide are the feed to seals, whales, cod, stripers, blues and other migratory species. That’s why it’s a concern that the National Marine Fisheries Council has listed them as a “species of concern.” As their ocean and inland spawning habitat has gradually been eroded over decades, their numbers have plummeted. So they go, so go many fish above them.
Read More >>
In case you’re wondering: the striped bass are still not in Boston Harbor. As I wrote in a previous post, this is a hard time for fly fishermen. After a long, cold winter, a few months away from feeling the pull of a fish on a fly line can drive a fly fisherman to do things he knows are futile. And so, today, a few of us struck out to chase stripers in Boston Harbor.
Read More >>
This is a hard time of year for fly fishermen living in New England. At every turn, nature deceives: It’s warm, and yet the water is still cold; the flowers are budding, but the waters aren’t teeming with fish; the birds have arrived and are breaking the silence of the early morning more loudly, and more frequently, but the stripers aren’t breaking the surface. The land is bursting, but our water bodies? Still calm, still waiting the arrival of fish.
Read More >>
A few days ago, I got the below in the my inbox: an invitation to the Cheeky, the Boston-based reel manufacturer, for their annual Cape Cod schoolie tournament. I’ve yet to attend, but judging from the video, this is guaranteed to be a fun time, with decent prizes. Plus, the guys behind the company, Peter and Ted, are good guys. Go if you can — but don’t wait to enter. Space will fill up quickly!
Read More >>