2025 Fishing Thread

DW357

DW357

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Figured I’d start a new thread.
I got my commercial striped bass permit last week so I’m good to go. Really pumped. Just need to get another reel to throw on a new rod I have. Maybe get another rod and reel rig too for a total of 4. There’s been several times we had 3-4 rods on fish at the same time 😆
Then I’m getting sidescan sonar, spotlight on hard top and a second Garmin display installed in the spring. Found an electronics guy out of Wilmington (AMG Marine Supplies) who’s like a fraction of the local guys here in Gloucester. He was waaaaaay cheaper and has good reviews.
IMG_7150.jpeg
 
DW357 said:
Figured I’d start a new thread.
I got my commercial striped bass permit last week so I’m good to go. Really pumped. Just need to get another reel to throw on a new rod I have. Maybe get another rod and reel rig too for a total of 4. There’s been several times we had 3-4 rods on fish at the same time 😆
Then I’m getting sidescan sonar, spotlight on hard top and a second Garmin display installed in the spring. Found an electronics guy out of Wilmington (AMG Marine Supplies) who’s like a fraction of the local guys here in Gloucester. He was waaaaaay cheaper and has good reviews.
View attachment 954784
Click to expand...
Awesome- congrats!
 
DW357 said:
Figured I’d start a new thread.
I got my commercial striped bass permit last week so I’m good to go. Really pumped. Just need to get another reel to throw on a new rod I have. Maybe get another rod and reel rig too for a total of 4. There’s been several times we had 3-4 rods on fish at the same time 😆
Then I’m getting sidescan sonar, spotlight on hard top and a second Garmin display installed in the spring. Found an electronics guy out of Wilmington (AMG Marine Supplies) who’s like a fraction of the local guys here in Gloucester. He was waaaaaay cheaper and has good reviews.
View attachment 954784
Click to expand...
I typically bring at least 6 rods for bass fishing
2 trolling setups for xraps
2 topwater/snag setups
2 yo-yo setups
But we have a troll bite that transitions into a snag and drop bite where I prefer to yo-yo my hook bait rather than use a live pogie
 
CMEBoston said:
I typically bring at least 6 rods for bass fishing
2 trolling setups for xraps
2 topwater/snag setups
2 yo-yo setups
But we have a troll bite that transitions into a snag and drop bite where I prefer to yo-yo my hook bait rather than use a live pogie
Click to expand...
Nice! We use live eels at night in shallow water. Just cast onto them as soon as we mark them on the sidescan sonar
 
DW357 said:
Nice! We use live eels at night in shallow water. Just cast onto them as soon as we mark them on the sidescan sonar
Click to expand...
I did a lot of eeling 10-15 years ago. I had one of the first Simrad Side scan sonars up here (I sell and install electronics when I’m not commercial fishing) and would absolutely crush them. It was deadly. The salesman in me wanted to tell everybody but the fisherman in me waited till the season was over. Sold a lot of units that offseason.

I also commercial lobster, tautog and seabass fish, the structure you can find is amazing and the technology has come so far.
 
Another great day on the ice although today I was solo. That trout magnet jig is absolutely deadly FYI

My legs are sore from chasing flags all weekend

The tip up in the picture was given to me by a dear friend who made them when he was a teenager 68 years ago.
He gave them to me in the hopes I do the work and he may come out on the ice again in his life 😝
6AD18364-9EEE-4664-8C77-80BD4C94FDDF.jpeg 0D0E879C-112E-4E49-AC6A-A2A731B6FC20.jpeg 93FE54F2-5C7A-4AA7-A547-E3EC6A5AEA80.jpeg
 
Been 3 years since i got on hard water. Felt great to get out there. My brother and I andbhis 2 kids made a day out of it. More like ice eating not ice fishing. Venison chili, venison sausage sandwiches and venison steaks. He got a really cool propane stove with an oven and everything.


Got 20 dink pickeral and one trout.....the trouts coming home with me for tomorrow's dinner.

20250201_072807.jpg 20250201_094511.jpg 20250201_100204.jpg 20250201_101320.jpg 20250201_114128.jpg
 
Non commercial fisherman here. I rarely have more than one or maybe 2 rods in the water. Maybe it's because us non commercial guys limit out with one fish per person (slot striped bass). I used to really kill it with live mackerel but in the last 3 or 4 years we've been doing really well with yozuri plugs. Faster, cleaner and more effective. Whats not to like
 
Just my luck they’re proposing to change the commercial striped bass regs for this year. 38-44" slot for commercial fish. Such bullshit. So many fish we catch are over 44"
I went to the public hearing tonight at the DMF in Gloucester and it was getting pretty heated

If it’s anything like public comment for the gun bills, this is already a done deal. So annoyed
 
DW357 said:
@CMEBoston the last public comment meeting is tonight. Don’t you live down that way?
Tuesday, March 11, 2025—Maritime Academy, Admiral’s Hall, 101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay
5:00PM – 6:00PM: Striped Bass
Click to expand...
10 min down the road I may go, but our MLA rep will be going as well.

The Bass cuts are inevitable, either this year or next year, but what I would suggest isn’t even on the table and would have 80% of the bass fleet at my door with pitchforks lol
Typically they have their minds made up and the meetings are just formalities. The only times our input is considered is drying mid season changes for seabass and the like WRT open days and daily trip limits to best serve the industry and the price

This is a huge meeting cause they are meddling with just about everything this season.

Striped bass just isn’t that high on my priority list these days. But I do support a commercial fishery, they eat lobsters 😉

I think the slot limit is going to cause a lot more mortality in the stock that’s for sure
 
CMEBoston said:
10 min down the road I may go, but our MLA rep will be going as well.

The Bass cuts are inevitable, either this year or next year, but what I would suggest isn’t even on the table and would have 80% of the bass fleet at my door with pitchforks lol
Typically they have their minds made up and the meetings are just formalities. The only times our input is considered is drying mid season changes for seabass and the like WRT open days and daily trip limits to best serve the industry and the price

This is a huge meeting cause they are meddling with just about everything this season.

Striped bass just isn’t that high on my priority list these days. But I do support a commercial fishery, they eat lobsters 😉

I think the slot limit is going to cause a lot more mortality in the stock that’s for sure
Click to expand...
They don't even wait for the real data to play out. Don't tell me they can get a pulse on an under 12 mo change
 
grey said:
They don't even wait for the real data to play out. Don't tell me they can get a pulse on an under 12 mo change
Click to expand...
I think the concern is that there supposedly hasn't been a good spawn in several years in the Chesapeake. Not sure if it's catfish, weather changes, or government BS. I really don't know what to believe, but I do remember the striper situation being not good for a chunk of the 80's. Personally, I'd like to see stripers go to catch and release at least for awhile. But I'm admittedly biased. I'm not a commercial fisherman and only do catch and release for the last few years.
 

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