I recently had the opportunity to talk with two fishermen from the New York City area. It all started while riding the chair lift during a day of skiing at one of the local ski areas. It is amazing how you meet people on chair lifts with similar interests, but that in itself can be another story at another time. We discussed Hudson River fishing and how last spring was well below average when it came to catching fish. Anyone I had spoken to agreed the catch was well below what is usually expected for the Hudson and we all seem to have our own opinions as to what the cause was.

What I found interesting, and it tends to substantiate my take on the situation, was the fact that many large bass were being caught in the spring in areas south of the river such as Raritan Bay, the lower harbor and the waters around the western part of Long Island. In other words, the fish were there, and in large numbers. Large females were a good part of the catch which indicates they were not in the Hudson where one might expect them to be at that time of the year. The question then is why? Water temperature in the river last spring rose rapidly over a very short period of time and temperature is a primary factor in the spawning process. While fishing the river in the mid-Hudson area in early May we saw bass spawning! The temperature was inducive to the process and it was no real surprise. However, this was not a good indicator to a productive fishing season, at least what is normally expected. Fish would spawn and leave the river much sooner than anticipated and many would never come up river to spawn.

Perhaps we should take a look at other possibilities that might explain the low catch. Every population in the natural environment has its' cycles. The classical example is the predator-prey relationship or simply available food for a particular species. Last spring herring were abundant. Netters were hauling them in by the hundreds. Those that use herring as a bait fish had no problem procuring them on a daily basis. Whether jigging them or netting. Bait shops along the river always had them on hand. If, then, this prey was so abundant was the predator population (striped bass) down? Perhaps as part of a natural cycle, but, if the bass did not migrate into the river as they usually do then, it was not a dramatic decline in the overall population, but, instead a lack of the predator in the river environment. If you keep the fox out of the hen house the hen population will increase!

Let's get back to the guys on the chair lift. It all started when they told me they were still catching loads of bass in the Sound as they had all fall. I contacted a friend who fishes Montauk and he indicated that it was a good season for him. I suppose if I wanted to investigate this further I could contact fishermen all along the New England coast to get their take on the catch but my gut feeling (and I know as I scientist I should not go by it) is the Atlantic stock is well within a normal range and I would anticipate the potential for a good fishing season next spring on the Hudson to be excellent barring any extreme weather conditions - but, that's fishing.