Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

234.0. "Saltwater Fish Habits & Physiology" by GEMVAX::JOHNHC () Tue Nov 17 1992 10:00

    Well, there is a topic like this for freshwater, so maybe we could get
    some discussion going in this conference about saltwater fish habits
    and physiology.
    
    Here are three points that might serve to spark some discussion. Did
    you know that:
    
    * Bluefin tuna are warm-blooded fish of astonishing intelligence. They
    are able to recognise individual people, respond to different people
    differently, and are trainable. This is the only fish I've heard of,
    other than some of the large sharks, that maintains a constant internal
    body temperature. Its intelligence sets it apart from all other fish.
    It is reportedly a lot smarter than groupers, which are known to easily
    trained. (There is a grouper off one of the Caymans known as
    "Napoleon," who always swims over to the diver *without* the camera to
    pose for a photo.)
    
    * Striped bass exhibit standard gregarious bass behavior. Like
    groupers, they will approach humans and linger nearby like stray dogs
    waiting to be petted. This behavior has only been observed in solo
    adult stripers. In schools, they seem to hover just at the edge of
    visual range.
    
    * This year, with the water fairly regularly 8 degrees colder than
    usual in the nearshore areas, the water was consistently full of young
    cod and pollock (6 - 18 inches) in schools of a hundred or so fish.
    Sometimes several schools would be near one another, veering away when
    it looked like they might merge. There were also a lot more tautog on
    Boston's northshore than anybody I know ever remembers seeing, and the
    sand lances and herring were in close clear back in July. (This is
    behavior I associate with January.) It would seem that either the
    colder water made the nearshore more habitable, or so many of the
    larger predators have been "harvested" that nobody is left to feed on
    these smaller fish.
    
    
    Comments?
    
    John H-C 

    I do most of my fishing in Maine and the old salts up there are
    convinced that the predator fish have been depleted and thats why there
    are so many pogies, inshore herring etc. AS for training the strippers
    maybe they will recognize my catch and release flag and give me
    preference over the other boats in the area.  
    Bill B

    I have been fishing for Stripers for Approximately fifteen years now
    and have noticed some trends over the past couple of years that are
    very encouraging as far as the stock is concerned.  Two tears ago while
    fishing the Refuge on Plum Island, I noticed what I thought was a large
    school of Blues busting bait about a 1/2 mile away.  When I drove to
    this spot and hooked up, I reeled in a 30+ inch striper much to my
    surprise.  Since that time, I have seen many "Striper blitzes" like
    this and just hope that this is a sign of things to come. 
    

re: -1

	It sure was nice to see that stuff goin on.

	Last April a co-DECie and I took a day of and C&R 40 Stripers.
		His first time SaltH2O fishing and using Salmon lures got 30
		I managed "only" 10 but all were bigger (naturally)
			none legal (obviously) :-)

	We didn't see them bust-n-bait that day but on other occasions
	we have spotted "LARGE" swirls and those beauties playing with our
	large live pogy's.  Even if we didn't bang a lot that day it sure
	was fantastic to see those swirls and "KNOWING" they are from 
	my personal favorite game fish or any kind of fish The STRIPER

	Looking forward to the season to begin...
		last year 10-Apr this year ?-Mar :-)

	-< Tuna Tail >-