SNESA - Pogy Bill Proposed for Narr. Bay - Page 9

CaptDom · 05-18-2007, 07:54 AM

The recreationals very dramatized push for this bill has slowed substantially, as they now appear content to have Jerry from ARK Bait make some further concessions. Jerry fished yesterday amid absolutely no fanfare, and the status quo seems fine by me........The amount of pogies in the upper bay is staggering right now, and an awful lot of large pods are in very protected areas from harvest where ARK cannot fish(by voluntary closures)

There would be a huge problem with Title 20 if the legislature votes on this without going through the procedural guidelines first. I am glad that no back door run pushed these bills through, as I feel they really should study this sector of the RI fishery for a good while before enacting any further mis management........

CaptDom · 11-16-2007, 12:30 PM

I wanted to revisit this thread, as all the hype and drama died off completely with the arrival of hot summertime fishing.

Everything I said at the beginning of the year I still stand firmly behind. Just as I predicted, this year was even better than last for the sheer abundance of large adult menhaden in not only Narry bay, but the entire northern Atlantic Coastline. The pogies in Boston HABA were thick like they haven't been in many years,and some very large bass were picked off feeding on them.

Ark fished longer in narry bay than they have in a long time.... attributable to the major comeback of this important forage species. So I would gather that their continued efforts indeed had little impact on the numbers of fish and how long they stayed. We watched the boat make a set off second beach 2 weeks ago, and the size of the school they were on was nothing short of amazing. They were spilling out of the bay by the millions!

Just as I was worried about, there were no measures taken to insure some other company from anopther state or area didn't come in and fish....well, they did, and it was a massive boat that took 1.5 million pounds in a very short amount of time. It would take jerry from Ark 21 days of perfect limit catches to to equal that!!!!

Just like I was worried about, there were several fish kills due to low oxygen levels. There is no doubt in my mind that there would have been far more fish dead had not some of the millions of adults been culled out of the herd.

Iam on or transitting through the bay just about everyday from April through December, and I have kept very accurate and thourough fish logs for almost 13 years now. This was by far the very best year for pogies and bass since I was a small child over 25-30 years ago, in the late 70's before the stocks crashed. I cannot remember such abundance of large bait in recent years, nor the numbers and sizes of bass that were following them around like starving dogs. I know of too many googins to count who scored their biggest basses ever this summer when fishing on the pogies schools. I would venture more trophy bass from 25-55 pounds were klilled inside the bay than in many many years.

The amount of pogies we saw offshore in the shark grounds, and the amount of quality threshers caught, indicates that the forage species Menhaden is at very sustainable and robust levels: better than it has been in many years.

I would have serious doubts about any logical person who tried to say that the move to ban ARK from pogie harvest was nothing but a propaganda driven witch hunt.

I feel this major improvement in the menhaden stocks is directly correlated to the banning of the reduction boats from NJ almost 5 years back. They will continue to thrive and flourish and head further north in greater numbers as we move further away from that wanton destruction of the stocks by the perfume boats.

There is no doubt in my mind that the fishery of Narry bay can handle the sole bait boat working within its confines.

THANK YOU JERRY FOR NOT GIVING UP, AND PROVIDING ME AND THE REST OF THE SPORTY FLEET WITH QUALITY BAITS ALL YEAR LONG. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Anyone else with any thoughts/insights?

05-18-2007, 07:54 AM	#81
CaptDom User Gallery Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Blue Planet Posts: 955	No more sensationalism needed...... The recreationals very dramatized push for this bill has slowed substantially, as they now appear content to have Jerry from ARK Bait make some further concessions. Jerry fished yesterday amid absolutely no fanfare, and the status quo seems fine by me........The amount of pogies in the upper bay is staggering right now, and an awful lot of large pods are in very protected areas from harvest where ARK cannot fish(by voluntary closures) There would be a huge problem with Title 20 if the legislature votes on this without going through the procedural guidelines first. I am glad that no back door run pushed these bills through, as I feel they really should study this sector of the RI fishery for a good while before enacting any further mis management........ __________________ CAPT. DOM PETRARCA COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358 www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

11-16-2007, 12:30 PM	#82
CaptDom User Gallery Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Blue Planet Posts: 955	So season done, whaddya think??? I wanted to revisit this thread, as all the hype and drama died off completely with the arrival of hot summertime fishing. Everything I said at the beginning of the year I still stand firmly behind. Just as I predicted, this year was even better than last for the sheer abundance of large adult menhaden in not only Narry bay, but the entire northern Atlantic Coastline. The pogies in Boston HABA were thick like they haven't been in many years,and some very large bass were picked off feeding on them. Ark fished longer in narry bay than they have in a long time.... attributable to the major comeback of this important forage species. So I would gather that their continued efforts indeed had little impact on the numbers of fish and how long they stayed. We watched the boat make a set off second beach 2 weeks ago, and the size of the school they were on was nothing short of amazing. They were spilling out of the bay by the millions! Just as I was worried about, there were no measures taken to insure some other company from anopther state or area didn't come in and fish....well, they did, and it was a massive boat that took 1.5 million pounds in a very short amount of time. *It would take jerry from Ark 21 days of perfect limit catches to to equal that!!!!* Just like I was worried about, there were several fish kills due to low oxygen levels. There is no doubt in my mind that there would have been far more fish dead had not some of the millions of adults been culled out of the herd. Iam on or transitting through the bay just about everyday from April through December, and I have kept very accurate and thourough fish logs for almost 13 years now. This was by far the very best year for pogies and bass since I was a small child over 25-30 years ago, in the late 70's before the stocks crashed. I cannot remember such abundance of large bait in recent years, nor the numbers and sizes of bass that were following them around like starving dogs. I know of too many googins to count who scored their biggest basses ever this summer when fishing on the pogies schools. I would venture more trophy bass from 25-55 pounds were klilled inside the bay than in many many years. The amount of pogies we saw offshore in the shark grounds, and the amount of quality threshers caught, indicates that the forage species Menhaden is at very sustainable and robust levels: better than it has been in many years. I would have serious doubts about any logical person who tried to say that the move to ban ARK from pogie harvest was nothing but a propaganda driven witch hunt. I feel this major improvement in the menhaden stocks is directly correlated to the banning of the reduction boats from NJ almost 5 years back. They will continue to thrive and flourish and head further north in greater numbers as we move further away from that wanton destruction of the stocks by the perfume boats. There is no doubt in my mind that the fishery of Narry bay can handle the sole bait boat working within its confines. THANK YOU JERRY FOR NOT GIVING UP, AND PROVIDING ME AND THE REST OF THE SPORTY FLEET WITH QUALITY BAITS ALL YEAR LONG. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! Anyone else with any thoughts/insights? __________________ CAPT. DOM PETRARCA COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358 www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

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