Fishing has been very poor since the storm. A very few rockfish have been caught at the mouth of the bay and the tog bite has been nonexistent. On top of all that, the few brave souls who have tried to fish got a good butt kicking from the rough seas.

As of Wednesday the beaches were closed and surf fishing was impossible. When we do get back on the beach it will be a whole new ball game as what little structure we had will be gone.

Indian River Inlet has produced a few short rock since the storm. Most were caught on white bucktails with a white worm. Reports say the water is still dirty, but at least you are somewhat protected from the wind.

Thanksgiving week is upon us and I know many people plan on fishing over the holiday. My hope is by then the water will have cleared and the wind will die off a bit. If this occurs, fishing should be good.

I recently spoke with some friends in northern New Jersey and they had great striper fishing before the storm and that indicates more fish are on the way. While the water temperature did drop dramatically, it is still in the mid-fifties which is well above the minimum level for rockfish.

STRIPED BASS - I remain concerned about the status of striped bass along the Atlantic coast. While data from the population survey indicated the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, data from the Young of the Year Survey (YOY) in the Chesapeake Bay shows continued low numbers. There has not been a good spawning year since 2003.

Those of us who were around in the ‘60s and ‘70s remember how difficult it was to convince the authorities there was a problem with striped bass when everyone was catching plenty of fish. People like Bob Pond tried to tell anyone who would listen that stripers were in trouble; the problem was, no one would listen.

At the recent meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in Rhode Island the commission rejected a motion to give commercial fishermen the ability to carry over any unused striped bass quota from one year to the next. However, it did nothing to protect the large spawners who produce most of the eggs, and I believe this is where the problem lies.

During the ‘60s and ‘70s commercial fishermen in Maryland and Virginia targeted small stripers, and the larger fish were hit along the coast. You may think of commercial fishermen as men with nets, but in 1975 when I was on the State-Federal Striped Bass Management Board, we were told the state with the largest catch by weight was Massachusetts where gill nets are illegal.

Catching striped bass on hook and line and selling the fish was a way of life for most fishermen from North Jersey to Maine. This practice did not stop with stripers; it included everything from summer flounder to tuna.

Some of our most famous outdoor writers were pin hookers and learned all those great fishing techniques they passed on to us while fishing for money. It always struck me as funny when many of these pin hookers told me they were recreational anglers. Sorry Charlie, the manner of catch is not what distinguishes commercial from recreational; it is disposition of the catch. If you sell your catch it does not matter how you caught it, you are still a commercial fisherman.

Pin hooking is now restricted to people who have a commercial hook and line license, and they have to have tags for each striper sold. In my opinion, the biggest problem we have now is recreational fishermen keeping too many big fish. There is nothing illegal about this practice, but it certainly puts pressure on the breeding stock.

I would like to see a slot limit along the coast that would allow the angler to keep more fish and still protect the large females. Something in the range of 24 to 36 inches with the current two- fish bag limit. Even a 24- to 36- inch slot with one fish over 45 inches would be better than allowing so many big fish to be killed. This is not a new idea. In states where red drum are common, there is a 28-inch maximum size limit and all fish over that length must be released.

As for me, I have instituted a personal limit of not keeping any fish over 40 inches. Should I be fortunate enough to catch a big fish, I will measure and photograph it and then let it go.