Fish Report 9/15/13
Still Fluke & Only A Rare Cbass
A Field Guide
MRIP In Hot Water
Management & Statistics – Please Comment
Sailing Daily
No One Could Guess When Flounder Will Slow & Cbass Resume..
Reservations For Flounder/Sea Bass Trips at 410 - 520 - 2076.
New-To-The-Boat Clients can see much more info at http://morningstarfishing.com
And, From Coastal Fisherman, See Our Latest "Show You Around The Boat" Video (many regulars have pics in it). http://www.coastalfisherman.net/charter-info.cfm?c=9861A6B2-3048-71C2-1762E62F1DFB4D0B
Bring A (not so big) Fish Cooler With ICE For Your Party.. We want to avoid keeping the chips & hoagies cold while fresh fish cook in a hot bucket..
Eight Hour trips $110.00 - 7AM to 3PM – Saturdays 6AM to 3:30PM - $125.00
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Be A Half Hour Early - We Like To Leave Early.
Clients Arriving Late Will See The West End Of An East Bound Boat..
Reservation Book's Open. Now Taking Reservations Through October 15th..
7,260 'Oyster Castle' Reef Blocks By The Rail. Now 2,135 at Jimmy's — 1,300 at Ake's. Have begun deploying the 7th truckload of reef blocks. Thank You To All Who Helped Buy This Truckload! George, Bob, Greg, "The Jug" at OCFC & Everyone Who Played The 50/50 Raffle This Year..
Already Have A Start, A Big $tart, On The Next Truckload From The OC Fishing Center..
See ocreefs.org if you'd care to help fund the next truckload. Snailmail a check – any check!
Its Reef Building Season. We'll get OCRF's barge loaded with scrap concrete pipe & junction boxes..
Check Out "A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes" Kells & Carpenter – Johns Hopkins Press.. Been looking at fish ID books a long time. This new one is the best. Information layout & artwork make it far superior to anything before..
Greetings All,
Keep flounder fishing I suppose.
I'm seeing cbass on the depth-sounder sometimes – catch fluke.
Has to break soon. Will with a big ground-swell. See some sea bass then.
In the two weeks since my last report we've had 4 or 5 boat-limits of flounder, once with a sold-out boat. That's crazy-good fishing.
We've also had days where clients had to work all day just to scratch up a fish fry. Had days where a small percentage of clients goose-egged..
Saw an old friend, Bob, limit out with nice fluke in 3 drops — a pretty keeper double and two good singles. First three drops – done. Helped others get dinner thereafter..
Saw Murray get skunked when the bite seemed fine: distracted perhaps.
Saw Murray outfish everyone on the whole boat during a windy Saturday's tough bite..
Others already limited, I saw a man catch a fish, at last, and drop it in his cooler. A flounder three inches too short; he said "Where I fish you can always keep your first one."
I laughed at him and threw it back. "You're on the Morning Star. We always count & measure."
Another fellow: "Mates clean short fish on boats that get my business."
I've never heard of mates that would. Guess he's gone back to wherever. Damn sure he won't enjoy fishing on my rig.
My concept of equality, that core American philosophy: "No Man Stands Above Another," begins at sea.
We follow regulations - equally.
Will fight regulation where its wrong though.
Plenty that's wrong.
Not everyone's fight. Its mine though.
Year to year & season to season, the biggest influence on new recreational regulations is the Marine Recreational Information Program, or MRIP.
This is the New & Improved system with refined statistical formulas that replaced MuRFSS..
I'd Shout November/December 2013 Sea Bass Reservations From This Hilltop If I Knew We'd Have A Season. However, several times over the last few years rec cbass catch estimates have been sky-high in Southern New England thus triggering "EMERGENCY CLOSURE."
Now It Seems The New & Improved Catch Estimating Formulas Have Run Afoul Of Reality. Louisiana Will No Longer Use Them — Period. The Uproar Has Locked The System. No Rec-Catch Data For Any Fishery For Wave 3 (May/June) Have Been Released, Let Alone Wave 4.. (July/Aug)
Management's Flying Blind.
No Matter: In Regards To Recreational Catch, They Have Been All Along..
If MRIP rec-catch estimate folks can't sleep at night; If they wonder where the next big bank payment's coming from & are hitting the whiskey a little too hard — at least their troubles are based on real problems of their own creation and not random statistical assertions of unbelievable catch found to be the "best available science' simply because its the only wild guess around.
Where catch-estimates close fisheries for no real reason, I bet Louisiana has very real reason to mistrust MRIP data.
We All Do.
Management's use of MuRFSS/MRIP catch estimates as hard data is only now beginning to soften. For decades they've used the centerpoint of an estimate. A streamlining measure; in early management Council members would argue endlessly over catch data. The only way to move forward was having everyone abide the centerpoint.
Now, owing fully to the Omnibus Amendment for Recreational Accountability Measures, (Thanks Maryland!) managers are at least made aware estimate centerpoints may not be 'science' at all, let alone our best science: The amendment calls for using the lower spectrum of PSE (Percentage Statistical Error or, a more familiar term, Margin of Error.) So, in the event Magnuson "pay backs" are called for because of recreational overfishing; If a year-long closure looms, as it most certainly does for sea bass in 2014, managers may now consider estimates' veracity.
Almost.. Now the Amendment is up for comment in the Federal System.
To illustrate "centerpoint vs PSE spread" here are a few estimates for the weight of Massachusetts' private boat sea bass landings that got the coast in so much hot water. A statistician will tell you the centerpoint has no special significance. Its just a number in the spread that has as equal a chance of being correct as any other number in the spread.
Massachusetts Private Boat Estimate - During 2011, a 20 fish limit. In 2012, a 10 fish limit...
Estimate Status | Year | Wave | Common Name |
Weight (lb)
| PSE | {PSE Spread or Margin of Error} |
FINAL | 2011 | MAY/JUNE | BLACK SEA BASS | 124,309 | 45.4 | 0 {10,000 to 220,000} |
PRELIMINARY | 2012 | MAY/JUNE | BLACK SEA BASS | 585,445 | 33.2 |
0 {180,000 to 980,000}
|
In May/June 2011 Massachusetts anglers had a 20 fish limit. In 2012 it was cut in half. Yet, statistically, they caught almost 5X more fish..
Managers need to be able to weigh-in with logic, especially when entire fisheries hang in the balance.
Delaware's Private Boat October Tautog Estimates.
Please note that regs in 2011 were 10 fish at 14 inches. In 2012 it tightened to 15 inches & 5 fish.
So Much Statistical Magic Defies Real Regulatory Outcome..
Estimate Status | Year | Wave | Common Name | Total | PSE {PSE Estimate Spread} |
FINAL | 2008 | SEPT/OCT | TAUTOG | 10,149 | 47.2 {Between 500 & 19,000} |
FINAL | 2009 | SEPT/OCT | TAUTOG | 57,931 | 39.4 {Between 14,000 & 102,000} |
FINAL | 2010 | SEPT/OCT | TAUTOG | 15,656 | 63.5 {Between Zero & 34,000} |
FINAL | 2011 | SEPT/OCT | TAUTOG | 3,918 | 70.0 {Between Zero & 9,000} |
PRELIMINARY | 2012 | SEPT/OCT | TAUTOG | 31,651 | 39.8 {Between 6,000 & 58,000} |
Having read this far you're well-qualified to comment.
I recently heard commercial fishers DEMAND recreational fishers be held accountable for statistical assertions of overfishing.
Recreational fishers need this monkey off our back. Managers need a far truer picture of restoration's needs.
Looking past the catch estimates; A path to creating new heights in reef fish populations is already lit.
Regards,
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
Partyboat Morning Star
Ocean City, MD
