SPORTS

For auld lang syne, that was some year for fishing

CAPT. JACK RODGERS
DELMARVANOW CORRESPONDENT

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

— Robert Burns, English Translation 1788

Yep, it’s been some year. As even the most ardent striper denialists have, at the very least, hummed a few bars, we’ll take a quick look at the year past.

The winter saw some snazzy pan fish action with some large bluegills, crappies and yellow perch available in local tidal waterways. The fish weren’t all over by any means but there were some good catches to be had.  Anyone that has had a plate of sweet, winter chilled pan fish on a cold, snowy winter night with a nice glass of wine knows just what a hard earned and precious treat fish in February are!

The hot perch action actually stayed with us for much of the year. I must, however, add one cautionary note — given the dearth of summer fishing opportunities in the Delaware Bay, there has been an unprecedented amount of pressure placed on the white perch. I saw times where the numbers of Jon boats well out paced duck hunting boats in the winter, and were all lined up pounding the fish daily.  Often you hear recreational anglers decrying commercial catches — in this case the recs may well have no one to blame but themselves if the perch population drops.

Similarly, black drum catches for many dropped this spring. You can’t lay all the blame for that, perhaps, on angling pressure as the weather in the last few springs has been mercurial at best.  There is no denying that the average size of the fish has gotten smaller and the effort, for both recreational and commercial anglers combined, has gotten much harder.  Heck, no one over here even fished for the darn things before the trout collapse. Given the fact that there isn’t anything else, the big boomers have gotten quite a look as the only game in town each spring.

Speaking of trout, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to allow some of the spring effort to be sent their way.  Save a boomer and keep a weakie?  I don’t know if it would, but the sociologically based one fish limit on trout can be a tough pill for anglers to swallow as they are throwing back a bunch of trout.

Now, I’m in no way suggesting that the fish are “on their way back” or that we have the good old days right around the corner. Fact is, with the way we have treated the bay bottom and ecology (no matter how well intentioned) we may never again. However, it seems senseless to prohibit anglers from taking home a few trout because of the specious argument that it “worked for the stripers.”  Managers have pretty much showed that human predation has had little impact on the failure of sea trout to rebound in more robust rosters. It’s not hard to see the increased numbers of dolphin, sharks and decrease in forage species that all the predators feed upon to postulate why.

Summer flounder fishing remains pretty good if you're one  doing the catching, and if you are you are in the ocean. The good bottom fishing in Delaware Bay is a thing of the past, the mere shell of what remains centered around the only bottom that can’t be dredged. Still, if you fished in the ocean the fishing was good and the fish were certainly quality sized.

Many anglers flirted with double digit flatties this season. Hopefully our region with miss the more draconian regulations that seem to be in the offing for the coming year. Grumblings of a two-fish bag limit and a 19-inch fish have been heard in corridors.  Getting away from the year-round fishery could give fisheries managers some flexibility to help maximize catches when the fish are primarily here. They are, after all, called summer flounder.

Small boat anglers could score big on tuna close to shore early in the season. Massey’s was the place to be and the proximity to the coast allowed anglers with smaller vessels to get in on the action. Both yellow and bluefin tuna were in the offing for boats hitting the inshore lumps. While the action didn’t last long, it sure was nice to see some of the best tuna action our region has seen, at least nearshore, in a long time.

Finally, we all lost a dear friend in Joe Morris. No doubt they are biting where he is and the sea is always calm.

Happy New Year and let’s hope for a little more “Good Old Days” next season!  Have a safe holiday.

Capt. Jack Rodgers

Reports, comments or questions to captjackrodgers@comcast.net