Things Are Different This Spring, Real Different… Alright… I’m just gonna come out and say it. The striped bass fishing has kinda sucked so far…for me anyway. I guess it’s bad for business for me to admit that here, but I’ve never been one to hold back on the truth, whatever the consequences may be […]
Author Archives: John McMurray
What Does Recreational Fishing Really Mean?
Is “Limiting Out” Becoming Passé? Top photo: Releasing a bluefin tuna I’m not gonna lie, man. I kinda dislike the term “limiting out”… Actually, I hate it. Mostly because it implies a certain, perhaps outdated, way of thinking – that your fishing trip wasn’t really successful unless you killed the maximum allowed under the current […]
How Fishing Ruined My Life
What do marine resources mean to you? Sometimes, a LOT of times, I kinda wish I was a normal person… That I could be content, happy, or maybe just be okay with, ahem, existing… That I could be good with sitting behind a computer screen all day. That I could find meaning in meaningless tasks. […]
The Science is the Science
Is the Science Perfect? No, But Without It, We Got Noth’n’ Hey, man… I’m gonna admit here that sometimes I have a real hard time understanding the science behind fisheries management decisions. What I mean really is not just the nuts and bolts on how fisheries scientists get to the numbers that they do, but […]
Real World Striped Bass: Part II
Read Part I of this series. Top photo: striped bass with a catch-and-release scar On and Off the Water Observations of 2023’s Fishing Season Last go around, we detailed some relevant on-the-water/real-world observations regarding last season’s striped bass fishery. Primarily how the new 3″ slot limit likely increased dead discards, ahem, a LOT. This go-around […]
Real World Striped Bass: Part I
Read Part II of this series On and Off the Water Observations of 2023’s Fishing Season There aren’t many anglers around who wouldn’t agree that the striped bass run in the New York Bight this fall was downright EPIC. And the spring/early summer? ‘Twas really good too. Indeed, I said similar things last year, but […]
JUST GO!
Get Out from Behind Your Computer, and You’ll Find That the Glass Ain’t Half Empty… Man… I hate social media, and…I love it. If you are in the charter fishing business, one-hundred-percent, you get what I’m say’n’. Folks see you’re catching fish, they book charters. I mean, the truth is that I built a business, […]
Thoughts on a 28 To 31″ Slot Limit for Stripers
In a Move that Caught Many in the Fishing Business Off-Guard, ASMFC Takes Emergency Action I run a light-tackle charter-fishing operation in New York, so let me start by saying that the striped bass fishing right now is good… I mean, really good! As is generally the case with recreational fisheries, abundance drives participation… and […]