Fish Report 4/21/2025
Reef Feast Fundraiser VERY Soon!
Opening Reservations For May Sea Bass with a new reservationist..
"Hey Monty! Where have you been?"
And a long letter I recently sent NOAA Fisheries Science & Managers....
From far below: Promise: Since sea bass management's beginning in 1997, the sciences of both spawning biology and habitat ecology have been trussed in a corner with their mouths taped shut.
The Reef Foundation's only fundraising event is just days away on Sunday, April 27th at Hooper's Crab House from 12 to 4. Tickets are available at ocreefs.org.
Maryland is the only state that builds reef w/o a state marine program. So, one might wonder, who funds our reef construction?
We Do!
Certainly was a terrible winter for deployments; never ending postponements! We still have two tugs headed to Jackspot mid-summer, plus a barge, a sailboat and a 50ft Navy boat that will be used much sooner.
Now too I've been contacted by a firm with a huge number of 3 x 5 x 4ft concrete riser boxes.
Oyyyy... They make really good reef. Fantastically toggy even if stacked in a jumble; where tog thrive so do all our other desired fish species plus lobster, white crabs & coral.
Project just unfolding; barging around to OC would be our most expensive tow ever - and well worth it!
Tickets for the Reef Feast are online at ocreefs.org.. It's being held again at Hoopers Crab House in WOC (where Royette and Michele have been so very helpful!) The xlong luncheon is on the last day of Springfest; Sunday April 27th, from noon to four.
We are racking up some serious donations for silent/live & chinese raffle winnings - including more rods than ever before. Follow along on FB as I post more prizes every day.
Opening Reservations for May 15th to June 1st sea bass trips. Size limit 13 inches - 15 per person. These reservations are non-refundable. Different date because of weather? Sure, we'll get you fishing. Promise!
But, & for these trips only, no refunds. It's the "no refund/reschedule only" I always do for May sea bass. Call it a 'spring maintenance funding party' if you will...(And boy does she need some luvin!)
First four days of season, May 15/16/17/18 will have hours and rates as Saturdays - 6:30 to 3:30 @ $165.00 - So too F/S/Sun Memorial Day weekend (May 23/24/25.) Memorial wknd Monday's trip (26th) and all other weekdays back to regular 7 to 3 hours at $145. All sea bass trips sell out at 18 anglers.
My long time friend and reigning Reef Queen (handles reef mail!) - Marisa has taken over the helm on my reservation line. Super sharp, she's catching on fast. Still, she too is a one person operation--with a toddler at that. I'm quite confident of many more live answers and faster voice mail/text responses though. She might be slammed when I hit send (I hope!)(or maybe not!) If perhaps she cannot pick up, (she might be putting her 1 yo future angler down for a nap or any other Mom duty!) ..leave her a message or text her.
Reservations at 443-235-5577 - The line closes at 8pm and reopens at 8am. Marisa won’t take reservations for trips that are not announced - but can note & pass along your desires.
If you want a spot for a May sea bass trip call the reservation line at 443-235-5577.. Emailing me is no good. I won't have real time info on what's available. I do check email for questions, however, & Facebook messenger too..
Nearly silent these past two months, many of you have contacted me to make sure I was OK. Have had my life suspended as I tried to reclaim the house I'd bought my Mom almost 15 years ago. After she passed just before covid hit, I'd leased it to a gal (with two lovely young daughters) and never dreamed the destruction and filth that would follow. I never ever -Ever- would have believed...
Began Feb 17 by filling three 8x20 dumpsters - haven't slowed down since - often working to 11/midnight; I've even worked to sunup a few times.
Lot of work.
Almost fully restored now - if you know a soul who can help scuff and paint porches? Joey busy with his wife's cleaning business; I know a guy that would love some help.
Will need another deckhand soon too. Will be full throttle on spring boat maintenance/CG inspections as soon as I can list the house. It'll be more boat maint than Joey & I can handle ourselves.
If interested in working deck email mhawkins@morningstarfishing.com - Not FB, not a message on reservation line - email a small paragraph.
Needn't have a lifetime at sea. Have brought many a youngster into the world of fishing and of professional mariners too. Hint - Email & Helping finish the house will definitely move you to the front of the line!)
And as ever:
*Be a half hour early! We always leave early
..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat. Seriously, with a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you overslept or had a flat.. If you’re reserved and the last person we’re waiting on - you’ll need to answer your phone. I will not make on-time clients wait past scheduled departure because of a misfortune on your part.
Try to always leave a half hour early (and never an hour early!) I rarely get in on time either. If you have a worrier at home, please advise them I often come home late. It’s what I do.
Trips Also Sometimes Announced on Facebook at Morning Star Fishing
https://www.facebook.com/ocfishing/
I post after action reports (or lack thereof) (and sometimes detailed thoughts on fisheries issues) for every trip on my personal FB page and Morning Star page..
Bait is provided on all trips.
No Galley. Bring Your Own Food & Beverage.
If You Won't Measure & Count Your Fish, The State Will Provide A Man With A Gun To Do It For You. We Measure & Count — ALWAYS — No Exceptions!
It's Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine seems best because it's non-drowsy. Truly cheap & effective insurance.
Honestly - If you get to go on the ocean once a month, once a year or even less; why risk chumming all day? Similarly, if you howl at the moon all night, chances are excellent you'll howl into a bucket all day.
Bring A Cooler With Ice For Your Fish – A 48 Quart Cooler Is Fine For A Few People. Do Not Bring A Very Large Cooler. We have a few loaners - you'll still need ice. Should you catch some monstrous fish, we’ll be able to ice it.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.
Wishbone doesn’t replace backbone.. Have to keep a shoulder into reef building to make it happen. (Come to the Reef Feast!)
Reef Blocks - As of 4/27/25 we have 43,148 Reef Blocks & 2,343 Reef Pyramids (170lb ea) deployed at numerous ACE permitted ocean reef sites. There are also 1,336 pyramids deployed by MD CCA at Chesapeake Bay oyster sites working to restore blue ocean water. Counting those awaiting deployment cement plants have made about 6,000 pyramids since my crew and I fashioned a prototype mold in late August 2019.
Currently being targeted oceanside: Ryan & Shari's Bay Breeze Reef 208 Pyramids - Uncle Murphy's Reef 284 Reef Blocks; Rambler Reef 468 Reef Blocks & 13 Pyramids - Pete Maugan's Memorial Reef 136 Blocks & 14 Pyramids - Calder's Reef Improvement 224 Blocks & 12 Reef Pyramids - Virginia Lee Hawkins Memorial Reef 570 Reef Blocks (+98 Reef Pyramids) - Capt. Jack Kaeufer's/Lucas Alexander's Reefs 2182 Blocks (+57 Reef Pyramids) - Doug Ake's Reef 4,194 blocks (+16 Reef Pyramids) - St. Ann's 3,035 (+14 Reef Pyramids) Unnamed Spot at Jackspot Reef 280 Blocks & 12 Pyramids (many w/bamboo added) - Sue's Block Drop 1,810 (+30 Reef Pyramids) - Kathy's Cable 318 blocks (11 pyramids) - Rudys/Big Dad's Barges 140 Reef Blocks (+9 Pyramids) - Benelli Reef 1,552 (+18 Pyramids) - Capt. Bob's Bass Grounds Reef 5,034 (first reef to cross 5K) (+ 119reef pyramids) - Al Berger's Reef 2,018 Reef Blocks (48 Reef Pyramids) - Great Eastern South Block Drop 260 Reef Blocks (+10 Pyramids) - Cristina’s Blast 140 Reef Blocks & 2 Pyramids - Capt Greg Hall's Memorial Reef 362 Blocks (+2 Pyramids) - Kinsley's Reef 964 Pyramids - Bear Concrete Reef 512 Pyramids, 44 Blocks plus 16 pipes..
****
A bit of explanation then the letter. (Well, rant really.)
Greetings All,
Given the urgency of the home restoration I've struggled with for two months, below is my only effort at advocacy all winter.
I hope one day this concept of 'maximized spawning production in sea bass' sinks in. From 1992 to 2001 our sea bass along DelMarVa expanded fantastically - truly it was. There were no seasons. No bag limit. With only a much smaller size limit and anglers doing their very best to eradicate sea bass from along the coast - every spring their population only grew.
When the size limit hit 12 inches - despite both today's long closed periods and a diminishing bag limit - our sea bass population will contract again -further more likely- as it did from 2003 to 2015.
Hmmm...
NOAA announced their "if states fail to comply" coast-wide regulation a while back. ((This is highly unlikely! States will comply. However, it lit a fire in me: their draconian back-up regulation shows how far recreational catch estimate based management has carried us from the Magnuson-Stevens Act's idea of "Maximum Sustainable Yield."))
Promise: Since sea bass management's fed/state beginnings in 1997, the sciences of both spawning biology and habitat ecology have been trussed in a corner with their mouths taped shut. Every bit of recreational regulation and indeed, sadly, the science of "how many sea bass are there in the ocean?" used for estimating safe landings for commercial and recreational fishers alike has MRFSS/MRIP absolutely ludicrous recreational catch estimates at its core.
Even though Absolutely No One believes that data anymore?
..it still carries all the weight of forming regulation and much of NOAA's population estimate.
**
From the Federal Register:
"If states fail to develop appropriate measures, then precautionary default measures would go into place; these are (1) a 16-inch (40.64-cm) minimum size; (2) a 2-fish possession limit; and (3) a June 1-August 31 open season."
**
After the incredible increase in sea bass numbers from 1992 to 2003, I worked several years on why they were then declining (seen obviously in 2004) before deciding in 2006 that shifting age at maturity was hamstringing spawning success - bigger male sea bass act as bulls do in every natural situation: "This is my harem and you'd better not even think about it little guy."
If that piques your interest?
Read on..
Notes & an email I sent broadly to Fisheries Science & Management 4/6/25..
******
Good folks concerned with ever diminishing opportunity and spawning production in black sea bass, please know the regs I'm discussing here are unlikely in the extreme. NOAA creates draconian "back up" rules for every species under federal management in the event Council and Commission's regs are not strict enough. Here I'm discussing NOAA's "Carrot & Stick" urging states to comply with federal guidance ..and most assuredly the states shall comply under "Conservation Equivalency" rather than have these regs as coastwide sea bass management.
**
From the Federal Register:
"If states fail to develop appropriate measures(for black sea bass), then precautionary default measures would go into place; these are (1) a 16-inch (40.64-cm) minimum size; (2) a 2-fish possession limit; and (3) a June 1-August 31 open season."
**
Here the proposed failsafe rule surely demonstrates how NOAA thinks black sea bass restoration is going very poorly owing recreational overfishing. This "two huge fish" backstop, in a time when successful regulation should have sea bass populations at immense highs; we instead see possible regulation demonstrating NOAA's unfounded fear of a collapsing fishery. It's an absolute shame to the world wise endeavor of fisheries science and management.
Again - actually having these regs is truly unlikely. That NOAA would ever consider such regs necessary, however, shows how far wrong recreational catch estimate based management has taken our sea bass fishery.
Even before my self-regulation began along the MD coast on sea bass in 1992, I had often landed 4 to 7 thousand sea bass in a day.
A day.
70/80/90 clients all catching in 'drop and reel fishing'? You bet we had big numbers. Bigger still in late fall..
Yet that era, just prior to any form of regulation, must be defined as the very bottom of US unregulated fisheries where sea bass are concerned.
All should wonder: "How on earth did sea bass spawning production in the pre-regulatory era allow such enormous catches?"
Told in 1991 by DNR biologist Nancy Butkowski that "all sea bass have spawned by 9 inches - some twice," I began self-enforcing a nine inch limit come 1992. Wasn't but a few years when we'd sent our DelMarVa population higher than even anglers from the 1960s could recall.
Simple self-regulation in the very bottom of true & unregulated "overfishing" had fabulously beneficial effect. From that first summer, 1992, we would see under 9 inch male sea bass with as many as five hook marks around their jaw. In coming years we'd sometimes catch and release even a thousand brightly lit small male throwbacks in a single day.
With only a 9 inch limit and no seasons or bag limit--just a size limit that had increased to 11in by 2001, the sea bass population shot to just unbelievable numbers. In 2003 my clients limited the whole boat at 25 sea bass per person more days than not. The biggest difference the creel/bag limit made, however, was in fall. Before 2002 it was not at all unusual for high man to be pushing 200 sea bass in Oct/Nov/Dec..
And, come spring, there would be even more sea bass on our reefs.
When spawning production surpasses fishing extraction and natural mortality - a population grows. Science & management should strive to achieve such a condition.
Instead?
They've taken recreational catch data well understood to be far too high and ground it through formulas that would work if given accurate catch data.
The result is failing management.
I've written endlessly about bad catch estimates. When NY Private Boats catch 2x all Commercial landings from NC to Mass?
Something's wrong.
When MD Shore anglers land more sea bass (averaging 1.5 lbs ea TYVM) in Sept/Oct than MD Party/Charter would land in 3.5 years?
There's a problem.
I've uncovered hundreds and hundreds of examples. Science and management's response? In 2018 they used grossly inflated rec catch to increase commercial quota by 69% on sea bass & 49% on summer flounder/fluke. Their thinking? "Gosh, if rec guys are catching sooo many fish, we must be underestimating safe harvest levels."
Well, that's what they were told to think. Many rank & file fisheries biologists had deep misgivings about using bad catch data.
Although occurring in smaller steps all the while; 2018 was when bad data's GIGO took successful management (restoration of populations) completely of the table.
For sea bass, if tighter and tighter regs were having their desired effect, we'd have an incomprehensible population of sea bass by now.
Owing forever accusations of recreational catch exploding somewhere along the coast - where recreational fishers are accused of taking more than their quota, regulation must be tightened.
When MRFSS-based (Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey) which Congress ordered replaced in 2007; thus MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program) came to be in 2012 and, sadly, offered much worse - incredibly worse - estimates. Managers used to laugh at me when I complained about recreational catch estimates. Now there's not a single user of the data that has faith in it. Unfortunately, NOAA policy remains "use as is until repaired". Scientists & Managers MUST use catch data they do not believe. Ever heard of 'garbage in, garbage out'?
When science/management forced the size limit to 12 inches in 2002 the miracle of exponential population growth was shuttered and a population decline begun. In the fall of 2003 my clients had amazing fishing owing previous exponential production being jammed against the new creel limit.
But there was something missing that fall; the tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of small sea bass that should have been moving offshore were unaccounted for.
After deep consideration of many ills between late 2003 & 2006 - especially fishing pressure from com/rec and rec release mortality (which should not have be a factor given the new creel limit) - in early 2006 I settled upon the 'age at maturity shift.' Once many males on every reef were over 12 inches we'd thrown the switch where sea bass would retard spawning production to maintain resources.
Where previously all marine found sea bass were in the spawning stock biomass (SSB) - now only those pushing 12 inches were becoming male--and Those Newly Joined Spawners Were Our Target Fish - legal keepers were spawners & our throwbacks were not.
Trending always downward from 2003 & owing only ill-advised regulation via MRFSS then MRIP forcing smalls from the SSB, I had the worst sea bassing I'd ever seen in spring of 2015.
Ever.
That's measured from 1980 - the very. heart of true "over fishing." It was almost certainly the lowest population in all history since the region was colonized by sea bass.
We again saw exponential population growth, if in a smaller area, as the MDWEA recolonized. Then all sea bass within the previously evacuated wind area zone caused by three years of subbottom profiler surveys--regardless of size all sea bass again began spawning in earnest across the 525 sq miles (measured by TNC's chart folks) of newly colonized patch reefs.
Based on my understanding of spawning behavior in 2015/16 I predicted to science & management a coming surge in sea bass population centered on the wind energy area. In those same writings I also predicted the subsequent decline in sea bass by the low 2020s as all reefs became colonized at size limit and small males again became precluded either from switching to male or small males that did switch were bullied out - blinded perhaps as was described to me in an aquarium setting by Gary Shepherd.
Both sides of my predictions have now been borne out.
We're soundly in the decline phase now, except this time there will be no years of soundings causing another boost as those subbottom profilers retreat.
From fantastic population growth regardless of extraction in the pre & early regulatory era to a coming nadir that should be a red-faced shame to all who think themselves important to the fishery's health; basing regulation on recreational catch estimates no one anywhere in our regulatory process believes will cause the absolute worst outcome--both biologically & bioeconomically--in sea bass spawning production.
Promise - it's already well underway. I di not know where the bottom shall be.
Seriously - sea bass are going to trend downward until some manner of stasis is acheived - a population I think some 1/100th of what well informed science and management could achieve.
In fact, I believe when combined with aggressive reef building, management could (given an understanding of spawning behavior) create a population better than has EVER existed - with heavier & heavier commercial and recreational extraction all the while.
But y'all will never even consider my life's work in sea bass restoration so long as science and management are bound and gagged with bad, truly horrid, recreational catch estimates.
I might be dead and gone by the time a real scientist sorts it out, but twice in my 45 years at sea (years almost exclusively targeting sea bass) the species has proven to be the most simple fish in the Mid-Atlantic to grow exponentially.
My kingdom that you all would somehow experiment to see the effect 'all hands on deck' summer spawning has.
It's fabulous for all aspects of reef ecology - including sea bass as a prey species..
Regards,
Monty
Video showing complete absence of sea bass on reefs in Sept 2015 that had for decades (if not millennia) been loaded with sea bass. These reefs would become center stage for the sharp population expansion (now over) as small males were again allowed to spawn.