sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia

^ Striped Bass Are in Very Serious Trouble • . * / /

There is a hypocrisy which exists in some of our angler friends which is mind boggling. No matter what the hard evidence shows and no matter what the catcl} records show, they refuse to accept the fact that striped bass are and have been in seriobs trouble. So bad is the situation that the striped bass as we have "known H may totally disappear from the face of the earth as did the passenger pigeon. We have been a striper fan (actually fanatic) since the first time wefcaught one 35 years ago from Cold Spring Inlet Jetty. We have caught alot since. Our striper search has taken us from th£ tip of Cape Cod south to North Carolina. The striper safaris includ-

ed fishing for them in weather which would have turned aside all but a handful of idiots. WE FISHED IN weather which saw ice form on our rod guides We have fished in seas which would make normal people pale and panic. We have lost a lot of sleep, been wet, cold, hungry and tired. We spent 26 straight hours in waders in one stretch in a real test of stamina and a few other things. Lots of our time in pursuit of stripers was in the place where most of the east coast's stripers are born and bred. This striper nursery is the Chesapeake Bay. Today, that beautiful bay looks the same as it did when we first saw it nearly 40 years ago. But it has

changed. As man has progressed in scientific achievement, so has man's capacity to junk up the earth. The Chesapeake Bayis a classic example of what can happen. STRIPERS HAVE shown an amazing resiliency over the years. A six-year cycle emerged and the highs and the lows were charted with regularity for over 200 years by the commercial catch records. The highs and the lows were documented. Then in the mid-70's when we should have been heading for a new six-year cycle high, ' something happened. Few little fish were appearing. The poundage remairied constant in the catch records but the number of fish being caught declined dramatically. The big schools of little fish became little schools of bigger fish. The striper was clearly in trouble. Those of us who had watched it saw it coming. Bou Pond, who is better known as the inventor of the Atom fishing plug line of lures, saw the problem clearly. He has been a voice in the / wilderness, crying for more research, more hard data and more restriction on what is dumped into Chesapeake Bay. His was a lonely cause, and his plaintive voice was heeded by few, if any, of the people who should have been listening. BOBS CRY was that pollution had affected the striper. No matter how much breeding there would be, the survival rate was practically nil. The young stripers had been genetically affected by pollution and chemicals. The could not survive. The answer to the striper problem is and has been to stop the pollution immediately and to seek to protect those stripers which are left. This should have been done years ago when the problem first arose. Now, perhaps after it is too late, we are hearing calls for a striper moratorium or for a restriction on the catching. Only now when it has become a popular political issue, have some of the legislative leaders decided to call for strict regulation

of the striper. But, no one has really targeted in on polluters and made them stop their actions. SOON WE may see the passing of the striper. Despite the short supply and no matter what -the evidence to the contrary, stripers are still sought after by many anglers. It seems that there is a mad race to be the angler that will go down in history as having caught the last striped bass. Anyone who actively seeks out the striper and tries to catch one right now . is engaging in a hypocrisy of sorts. What few stripers which are around must be protected. One of the best ways to protect these fish is to stop fishing for them. A classic case in point is the annual Long Beach Island Fishing tournament, which is in its 30th year. We Fished the tournament for several years back about 20 years ago. Time, energy and competition from other things put that phase of our fishing life behind us. There were lots of stripers in those days. THIS YEAR 901 registered anglers fished 41 of the 44 days the tournament is scheduled to run. In the first 41 days, they totalled 71 striped bass. How many of these were returned to the water is unknown, but our guess is that none were. What makes this sad is that these 901 striper Fisherman were pursuing fish which really should not be under this pressure. Moreover, they convinced themselves that there really are stripers to be caught when catch records show the contrary. New regulations call for reducing the pressure on stripers by 55 percent all along the coast. It is really a shame that the framers of the rules did not go that extra step and call for a total moratorium for a few years to allow the striper to bounce back. CAPE MAY County's judges in the annual fishing contest have ruled out prizes for the striped bass for 1985 and subsequent years until there is a better outlook for this fine game Fish. The State of Virginia has also removed the striped bass from its cita-

tion list. One of the most restrictive laws — a two fish a day limit on bass Qver 18 inches long — was pas^etl by Rhode Island. Massachusetts has a 24-inch lenght limit, no maximum on numbers and no season. Commercial catches in the bay state au limited to rod and reel fr^p , June 1 to Sept. 30 and there is no limit on the numbers. New Jersey has an 18-inch minimum for Hudson River fish; the same size for those in theDelaware Bay and a 24-inch minimum for the rest of the state's waters. Limit is 10 fish per day with four allowed to be less than 24 inches. Striper season is closed from Jan. 1 to April 30. There is no limit on commercial catches at this writing. MARYLAND ADDED a 24-inch minimum for ocean fish but allows fish 14 inches and over for Cheapeake Bay. Creel limit is five fish per day and breeding grounds are closed for stripers from March 1 to May 30. Like it or not, if stripers have any hope of surviving, two things should happen. One is that the pollution must be halted and then, in turn, Chesapeake Bay has to be cleaned up. Second, what few stripers are left should be preserved for the day when the bay can reproduce them in good numbers in a healthy state. The answer, pure and simple, is to ban any and all catches of striped bass until both of the above take place. A selFish few will be sure that this does not happen. FISHING: Sea bass are still biting on the wrecks along with blackfish. Bluefish still are present in large numbers and weakfish are being caught from Sandy Hook all the way to Maryland. Warm ocean temperatures have kept good supplies of blues and weakfish around. Back Bay anglers are finding a few kingfish and lots of weakfish. Surf fisherman are catching some slammer blues, an occasional big weakfish and a few spotted weakfish. Clay Sutton of Court House, who has not caught a 3.3 lb. spotted weakfish for seven years, reported catching one in the Stone Harbor surf on a Mirrolure. Clay said the fish was not all that big but it sure was pretty. Street Hockey League Signs CAPE MAY — The city will register boys for the Youth Street * Hockey Leagues tonight at 6:30 p.m. 1 " for those from 9-13 years old and tomorrow at the same time for 14-17 year-olds at Convention Hall. Proof of age is required. All boys must have a hockeyhelmet and mouthpiece to play. The peewee and midget leagues will begin play in mid-January. Adults interested in coaching can call the Department of Civic Affairs at 884-8411. ext. 20 or 27 »

Cape May County ALMANAC NOVEMBER

MOON PHASES/POSITIONS The Moon 's affect on the Tide u greatest when closest to Earth (in perigee) and when in direct alignment with Sun £ earth (full £ new moon phases) On and about these dates, tow pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direction) mayresult in flooding, and extremely Moon Phases First Quarter . .Nov. 30 Full Moon 8 l.ast Quarter 16 New Moon 22 Perigee.... a...-' ,....20 Apogee -V"-: « TIDE TABLE Computed for Cape May City beachfront, for other areas, see Correction Times DATE HIGH LOW 14 Wed 11:18- 4:30- 5:47 15 Thu 12:08-12:19 5:38-6:53 16 Fri 1:12- 1:24 7:01- 7 58 17 Sal 2:16- 2:31 8:17- 8:58 18 Sun 3:22- 3:39 9:22- 9:5i 19 Mon 4 22 4:42 10:20-10:42 20 Tue 5 17 - 5:37 11:14-11:32, 21 Wed 6:07- 6:26 -12:09 22 Thu 6 54- 7:15 12:21- 1 02 23 Fn 7 4A- 8 03 1 10- 1 52 24 Sat 8:26- 8:50 1:57- 2:39 25 Sun 9:13- 9:40 2 45- 3:58 26 Mon 10:01-10:30 3:30- 4:14 27 Tue 10:50-11:26 4 17- 5:02 28 Wed 11:44- 5:10- 5:55 29 Thu 12: 18— 12:35 6:06- 6:52 30 Fri 1:12- 1:27 7:13- 7:48

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high £ low water for your area by adding or subtracting 4he following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table COW HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Minus 12 pluslO Ocean City (9th St Bridge) 0 plus 35 plus 22 g Corson Inlet (bridge) 6 plus 21 plus 7 2 Sea Isle City (Ludlam Thoro Bridge) " plus 66 plus 43 Sea Isle City Beach minus 2 minus 21 Townsend Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus 15 0 Stone Harbor j (Great Channel Bridge) 3 plus 43 plus 40 1 Hereford Inlet ( Angiesea I I plus 19 0 1 Wildwood Beach ; Minus 2 minus 17 ^ West Wildwood > (Grassy Channel bridge) ! plus 46 plus 43 i Cape May Harbor ? 1 plus 1 minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus U plus 1 Cape May Point plus 46 plus 34 McCne Shoal plus 28 plus 22 Delaware Bay Bayshore Channel (Bay-Canal Junction) plus 31 plus 36 Miami Beacti^ plus 75 phis 71 Dennis Creek Entrance plus 96 plus 84 Brand ywine Shoal Light Plus 77 plus 52 % 7

yon Cm Help An Almkelic WltaVmii't Waul Help! 800-582-5968 Free Information Session Every Thursday At 2 30pm vf Seabrook House ~ s Seabrook 8. Atlantic City. New Jersey I r\ - „ j

Moose, Pirate's Den 'Pied , With 24 games com- , pleted, competition in the I Lower Cape Dart League is ' [ beginning to separate into the haves and have-nots, \ with two teams tied for first and the cellar dwellers winners of only three , games. The leaders are Pirate's Den 1 and Moose I, at 22-2 each. The median spot, 12-12, is held by Herald's Inn, and Villas VFW 1 is last at 3-21. LATEST reported results are: Pirate's Den 1, 4 - VFW 2, 0; Moose 1, 4 - Miami Inn 2, 0; Grande's 2, 4 - Miani Inn 1, 0; Crest 1, 3 - Herald's Inn, 1 ; VFW 1, 4 - Crest 2; 0; Moose 2, 3 - Knights of Columbus, 1; Grande's 1,4- Pirate's Den 2, 0. STANDINGS Pirate's Den 1 22 2 Moose 1 22 2 Crest Tavern 1 21 3 Grande's 1 18 6 Moose 2 16 8 Grade's 2 14*10 Herald's Inn 12 12 Villas VFW l 9 15 Pirate's Den 2 8 16 Miami Inn 1 8 16 Miami Inn 2 6 18 Knights of Columbus 5 19 Crest Tavern 2 4 20 Villas VFW 2 3 21 Deworming Clinic Set COURT HOUSE - The Cape May County 4-H Horse Council will conduct a Fall Equine Deworming Clinic for all horse and pony owners in the county of Cape May Saturday, Dec. 8. The cooperating veterinarian will be Dr. McAlonan of Bridgeton. The cost of Deworming will ^be $11 per horse or pony owner, payable at the time of worming. THERE MUST be a minimum of five horses per stop, so owners are urged to get together with friends and neighbors. Those who have not received a registration form in the mail and want • to participate in the clinic, are asked to call Louise A." Talarek, 4-H Program Associate, at 465-5115 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Registration slips must be in by Nov. 19, to permit time to organize the stops into a route for the veterinarian. Casino Trip CAPE MAY - The Greater Cape May Little League is sponsoring a bus trip this evening to the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City. The bus will leave the stop near the Acme here 6 p.m. and return at midnight. For further information call 884-4895, 884-4386 or 884-3488.