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02/14/2018 11:00 PMFebruary is known to rear its wintry head, and it still might. However, so far, any dash of winter that started to play out has not lived up to its reputation. When the weather turned, Long Island Sound got ugly, thrashing the shoreline with angry seas and high surf. Generally, though, within a couple of days, the winds settled down and the sun popped out, before a repeat occurred.
Throughout these bouts with February weather, the seal population took it all in stride. They hauled out during calmer low tides to relax and stretch out on the rocky outcrops and beaches, lazily waiting for the tide to flood. It was then that they slipped into the cold Sound in search of herring or whatever school of fish was available. Without the fishermen’s army this time of year, there would be no free meals, no stripping hooks of a day’s catch.
Our pinnipeds are mostly harbor seals and primarily fish eaters, although they will be attracted to crab, clams, shrimp, octopus, and squid. Other species such as gray, hooded, and harp seals can also be found, however, the harbor seal population is the greatest at 75 percent. That being said, it’s no wonder that our marine fishers become magnets with their buckets of bait and a fish fighting at the end of the line.
Fishers are more inclined to meet up with a seal during the top half of an incoming or outgoing tide. That’s the time many predatory fish feed simply because much of the forage is readily available. It’s also the time seals hunt for their food. In season, harbor seals will eat striped bass, bluefish, flounder, herring, and assorted other fish—about five percent of their body weight or about 15 pounds.
Another favorite food is the black sea bass or Centropristis striata. The population of these fish within the Sound has recently increased dramatically, primarily due to the warming of mid-Atlantic waters. Since both seals and black sea bass have the ability to dive deep (sea bass to 430 feet), it is very difficult for these fish to escape those agile predators considering the average depth of the Sound is 63 feet; the deepest is The Race at 320 feet.
Black sea bass are also a favorite among fishers. This is why upcoming regulations for 2018 have been garnering so much attention. According to the latest data from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the stock size (as of Jan. 31, 2018, utilizing 2015 data) relative to the biological reference points indicate that the fishery is not overfished and is actually 229 percent rebuilt. Additionally, as indicated by a Northeast Regional Stock Assessment for 2016, fishing mortality dropped below the fishing mortality target.
At its winter meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission took up Addendum XXX, which has to do with management of black sea bass, for final action. It was decided to manage this species on a regional basis with the three regional allocation based on exploitable biomass and historical harvest. After much discussion, it was finally decided to allocate the harvest accordingly: 61.35 percent to the north, 38.65 percent to the south, and a split based on historical harvest between New Jersey (78.25 percent) and Delaware-North Carolina (21.75 percent). The vote was split with six to the south, four for the north, and two abstentions. A vote for “regulatory standard with conservation equivalency with the maximum deviation in the days allowed for season length waived” was passed unanimously. Based on this outcome, the north must reduce its harvest of black sea bass by 10.02 percent. Perhaps after everything is said and done, the season length may not be overly compromised.
On the Water
Turbulence in Long Island Sound is on again, off again with seas reaching five feet and winds gusting to 35 knots in some cases. Soon thereafter, conditions calmed down, but only for a brief respite. Visibility fluctuated from a foggy quarter of a mile to more than 12 miles, while inshore water temperatures stayed around 36 degrees.
Like most winters, there has been some flooding, perigee tides, beach erosion, and changes in the sea bottom. That should be of interest, especially to shore fishers, since new cuts and troughs develop as older ones disappear. Those bottom features often trap baitfish, which attract predators like striped bass and bluefish. Walking beaches at low tide can reveal these changes and they should be noted to effectively make fishing more productive during the season. For now, having a better knowledge of the immediate shoreline could yield a better Atlantic herring catch.
The recent weather, along with flash freezing as a result of overnight temperatures dipping into the teens, has enabled ice fishing to be cautiously continued. Hard water, in some cases, may vary on a given lake, but in others, there remains a good base. Northern climes still remain quite fishable. Milder weather has been the norm this past week, along with gaining about two minutes of daylight each day, creating varied ice fishing conditions.
Open water trout activity has been mixed in fishable areas, namely the catch-and-release zones. Expect to make several casts and then some with either slowly retrieved swimmers or flies. Atlantic salmon catches moderated with the weather and this season remains open through the end of March. Ice permitting, continue to anticipate average catches of largemouth bass, pickerel, blue gills, some pike, the occasional catfish, as well as white and yellow perch.
Note: Email us pics of your catches to share with our USA and international fishing friends who keep up with the latest fishing news and frequent social media.
For all things fishy including licenses, swing by the shop (203-245-8665) open seven days located at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison. Until next time from your Connecticut shoreline’s full-service fishing outfitter, where we don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better...
Tight Lines,
Captain Morgan
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