Looks like a bright fishing future in the Bay

[ronaultmtd]

Looking at all my trips this year, what I caught, how many fish, etc. it looks like we may be on the verge of a re-birth of the Bay- Redfish and trout are back, so are bluefish and stripers- lots of immature fish caught and released- one of the best year's I can remember for volume of young fish- is it strictly due to lower fresh water in the Bay? Don't know but it looks like a bright future for the Bay-

[dsiekman]

You're right, this has been an incredible year and I consider myself very lucky for being able to enjoy it. Let's hope it continues!

[chex]

Awesome! It's a lot easier to catch them when they're there.

[Fishinfool]

Lots of encouraging signs. Mother nature certainly cooperated this year, as opposed to last with all the monsoons we had to contend with.

Keep in mind that the E.P.A.'s new regulations regarding nitrogen loads went into effect in 2010. I am not marine biologist, but the new regs., plus state law requiring farmers to document all of the fertilizer they use on their lands, plus the flush tax enabling septic tank upgrades have all had their effect.

I would encourage everyone on this site to follow and support to the extent possible the efforts of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the local River Keeper alliances, and other like minded organizations. It's great to see these regulations to protect the Bay having a good effect, but the pressure must be kept up as the area population increases, and pressure on the Bay mounts.

[Bluegill]

Looks like I started this thing just at the right time, look forward to catching those redfish my brother lives in Louisiana he says there fun to catch even more fun to eat

[dsiekman]

The keeper fish finally hit the upper Severn. I got into them this morning. Fat and healthy! This fish, not me. Ok, maybe a little fat...

[Yak Fish]

I'm calling BS...you're just a better fisherman now because of our great MKF site!
That's why you're catching more

[dsiekman]

I'm calling BS...you're just a better fisherman now because of our great MKF site!
That's why you're catching more

I suppose that could be it, too...

[ictalurus]

I'm really hoping for another warm winter. It seemed to have paid off for specks and reds this year, as well as for little croaker and spot. The DNR juvenile striped bass index hasn't come out. I don't have high hopes for the 2012 year class of stripers, white perch, and herrings/shad, but the 2011 year class was the 4th highest for stripers, I think.

[MDFishin]

I don't have high hopes for the 2012 year class of stripers

Why is that??

I agree with all the reports except for some reason there has been no Croaker in the Choptank over 10" this year. Very strange.

[Fishinfool]

Crabs on the western shore were disappointing this season. Very small for the most part.

[ictalurus]

Why is that??

This spring was very dry, which creates unfavorable conditions for young-of-the-year (YOY) anadromous fish like stripers, white perch, and river herring. Also, we caught only one or two YOY alewives and no YOY stripers or white perch this summer in some of the research trawls we did in the Patuxent in Choptank. That makes me think very few survived to reach the juvenile stage. I'll be curious to see what the seine index is for this year. It should be coming out soon.

However, there were loads of big crabs in the Patuxent, at least where we trawled.

[chex]

The DNR juvenile striped bass index hasn't come out. I don't have high hopes for the 2012 year class of stripers, white perch, and herrings/shad, but the 2011 year class was the 4th highest for stripers, I think.

You were right Ictalurus... not a good year for baby stripers... http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/201...this-year.html

[ronaultmtd]

For every ying there is yang....more redfish, trout, flounder....but less baby stripers- nature's swings, have consequences and effects- what is our new normal? Are we looking at a Gulf Coast environment in our future or more of the weather swings from one extreme to the other?

[Memory Maker]

..... and lets not forget the acid oceans ............ sorry but I don't see a rosy picture .......... stripers have been declining over the last 15 years ........ the flats run is a small fraction to what it was ............ the winter run at Kipto is almost non existent ............ the menhadden are severly depleted ....... and the bay up here is just a giant cesspool ......... the crab population seems to have disappeared after the many millions of raw sewage that ran into the bay last spring ...... the water is still brown when you look at it from the bridges ........ before that the crab harvest was predicted to be generous

Sooo folks ....... get em while ya can