Thursday, September 17, 2009

Fish Report 9/17/09

Fish Report 9/17/09
A Limit of Cbass
Hi-Def U/W Video - Link Below
No Statistics - Promise!
 
Hi All,
I last wrote that sea bass had gone off the 'up in the water' plankton/krill feed - they were biting.
Still are.
Or were..
Had a guy limit out on Wednesday. No rookie; Arrie worked mighty hard to bag 'em up - kept 1 in 7 or 8..
I do not anticipate that limits will be ordinary. Looks like one could count on a fish fry though.
Predicting anything in fishing is dangerous. Still, all those cbass I watched on the depth sounder this summer...
Lot of weeding through regulatory smalls required. That is, with the new 12 1/2 inch size limit and our region's spawning production ramping back up - lot of acorns in with the oaks!
It can be painful to throw back cbass fattened up from a summer season of feeding.  
Man are they plump.
Had our first victim of the flounder closure too. Fellow I call 'Uncle John' caught one 24 inches on clam.. tagged it.
When the weather settles we'll have to wipe a tear or two as they go back by the rail in numbers.
Going to get some good tag data if that's a saving grace.
 
Been writing in opposition to the statistics that supported closures over the last few emails.
A rest...
 
Back in August I invited scientists on a drop-video 'research trip' to view natural, not-so-deep coral reefs in the region. After a couple false starts it came together. Thirteen hours; the day was likely the calmest of the year..
It was my sincere pleasure to also have Nick Caloyianis and Clarita Berger along on that trip.
Not too often you meet a couple that have photographed sharks under 10 feet of ice - filmed feeding orcas - great whites..
Oh no, I'll stay in the boat please!
They have decades of underwater video experience with National Geographic, Discovery Channel, recently an excellent resource guide with Dr. Greg Skomal, "The Shark Handbook" & produced many of their own works.
Awe inspiring stuff - really.
They shared a short clip of their work that day. Starts with stills taken inshore and transitions to video offshore.
When you see the triggerfish pic look at the orange sea whip, a soft coral, in the foreground. See any rock there?
We have no idea what the mid-Atlantic's seafloor looked like 70 years ago..
 
Whether your interest is: fishery management, marine ecological services restoration, modeling, geology, or simply conservation-based consumptive use with a graphite rod you'll find food for thought. In 2009 we still haven't "found" these habitat remnants yet.
Do see a day though.
 
Thanks to Larry at Coastal Fisherman for hosting it on his site. If the link doesn't work, google Coastal Fisherman and look under 'viewer videos'. There will soon be a link to it on my site as well.
 
 
Bit of wind coming - ought to get the 18th in.
Fishing 7 days or whenever weather permits!
Regards,
Monty
 
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/
 

Blog Archive