Salt Water Sportsman – August 2019

E E For anglers, it’s an
exciting time as the
doldrums of summer
give way to fi sh on
the move.
Striped bass
head toward the
Chesapeake, while
kingfi sh move south.
And as we’ve cov-
ered this month, reds and trout move
in to intercept forage fl eeing the chill
for the warmer waters of the Gulf of
Mexico, tuna ride Atlantic currents,
and cobia make an encore appearance.
It’s a lot of action on the water,
whether as a fi nal act of the fi sh-
ing season, as it is in the north, or
the beginning of the best time of the
year, which we enjoy in warmer
southern climes.
This fall migration follows a shift
in weather and temperatures as the
sun drops into the southern hemi-
sphere, and it’s complicated these days
by a climate in fl ux amid a worldwide
change. Shifting ocean conditions and
currents, and warmer temperatures
alter the way fi sh move about their
world. The fi shing opportunities avail-
able this time of year are due to far
more than weather. Fish follow their
comfort zone, certainly, but they also
follow their food, wherever it may go.
For a ge fi sh are critical to healthy pop-
ulations of predators higher up on the
food chain, which our Conservation
column addresses in this issue.
The health and abundance of that
forage base is increasingly garnering

attention in fi sh-management circles.

It’s about time.

As anglers, we’ve understood that

for as long as we’ve been heading out

before sunup for a day on the water.

“Where’s the bait?” remains the

top-of-mind question fi rst thing in the

morning. If you’re fi shing artifi cials,

you know that’s the key to fi nding the

fi sh you’re after. If you’re live-baiting,

you know you can’t think of heading

out until you’ve made bait, even if it

takes you half the morning to get that

job done.

The health and abundance

of baitfi sh remains critical to

successful fi shing.

The abundance of this forage often

takes a heavy hit under commercial

fi shing pressure. But the resilience

of the forage stocks relies on healthy

spawning areas too, which calls for

attention to habitat and water quality,

complex issues that course back

through entire systems, from ma-

rine reefs and rocks to the headwaters

of rivers.

Ignoring that habitat component

to focus on bag limits, seasons, and

commercial versus recreational catch

in the ocean risks quibbling over the

remnants of diminishing populations,

while long-term abundance rests on

an entirely diff erent set of factors, en-

vironmental conditions as seemingly

far removed and unrelated as land use

along estuaries and rivers, and inland

logging and mining practices.

Too big a problem to solve? Too

much entrenched thinking and

damage already done?

The same was thought about dam

removal 20 years ago. In the 20 years

since the Edwards Dam was removed

from the Kennebec River in Maine,

healthy runs of alewives and blue-

back herring have rebounded, off ering

promise of the return of both salmon

and striped bass to the same liberated

spawning grounds.

Five years ago, two dams removed

from the Elwha in Washington have

prompted the return of nine species

of anadromous trout and salmon, a

revitalized migration. These are just

two of hundreds of similar success

stories. Attitudes can change, but the

work remains.

On the west coast of Florida, snook,

trout and redfi sh are in trouble,

blamed on the red tide that plagued

the coast for more than a year. No

one has proven defi nitively that this

bloom was supercharged by nutri-

ent runoff from inland agriculture,

but it’s a cinch it didn’t help the situa-

tion. Giving that web of life a fi ghting

chance is within our power.

It’s a fascinating natural world our

sport intersects, and migration is a

miraculous event. Meanwhile, get out

and enjoy it for all its complexity.

10 SALTWATERSPORTSMAN.COM SEPTEMBER 2019

Time of the Season

Once Labor Day rolls around, it’s a diff erent world. That’s the calendar’s cue to get back

to the serious stuff , perhaps, as the vacation-laden fl ip-fl op season falls behind us.

GLENN LAW

Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

EDITORIAL

Glenn

Law

Latitudes

and attitudes

change, but the

work remains.