The Guide Post

The Striped Bass portion of the ASMFC 2024 Winter Meeting is in the books. While the final results weren’t perfect, after five contentious hours on the webinar, we have an approved Addendum II in which conservation won on many fronts. The public comment summary for Addendum II was a landslide, calling for the most consistent and conservation-minded decisions to protect the future of this fishery....

A hearing to receive public comment on the latest Louisiana Redfish NOI took place yesterday morning. That hearing was not live-streamed, and it went off the rails rather quickly. In this Rapid Reaction episode, Capt. Bailey Short and Capt. Ty Hibbs, who attended the meeting, stopped by to provide commentary. #BetterBusinessThroughConservation This podcast is presented by Costa Sunglasses.

It may take the entire village to drive change, but every major campaign begins with a single voice. Our guest today is industry professional Nick Jones. Nick stopped by The Guide Post to explain how his unorthodox introduction into guiding opened doors for amazing work opportunities and his newfound passion for advocacy.

As many of our listeners already know, launching The Albie Project was a nerve-wracking process for our team. Nearly three years after the inception of this dynamic project, we're insanely proud of everything we have learned and what we're poised to learn in the near future. In this episode of the podcast, Ed Kim from the New England Aquarium stops by to provide insights on what we know so far, th...

Making a leap of faith from the stability of a corporate career to passion-based entrepreneurial pursuits is daunting. In this episode, Ben Whalley tunes in from Maine to talk about building his career as a fly tyer and striper guide. #BetterBusinessThroughConservation

This week, we're introduced to the "far from shy" Scotty Davis. Much more than just a great storyteller, Scotty is a great angler, retired guide, business owner (Low Country Fly Shop) and aspiring advocate for his local fisheries. We look forward to Scotty becoming a familiar guest on the podcast going forward. #BetterBusinessThroughConservation Presented by Costa Sunglasses

It's nice to take a break from the doldrums of fisheries science and management to grab a seat at the bar and simply talk about fishing, from tactics you've never considered to fish stories too absurd to make up. In our "inaugural" episode of SHOP TALK, fishing guides spread out throughout the Atlantic sit down with the ASGA team to do exactly that. Pour a coffee, take a seat on the bench and join...

Listen as Tony and Luyen take a deep dive into the first year of the GotOne App. Thank you to the growing community of over 1,500 data-driven anglers who contributed hundreds of thousands of data points during the inaugural year of GotOne! #BetterBusinessThroughConservation

What a year 2023 was. Recap the ups and downs of a rollercoaster year fighting to protect our wild fisheries with the ASGA team. Let's keep that same energy in 2024. #BetterBusinessThroughConservation

Capt. Kyle Schaefer tunes in from the Bahamas to talk about his summer business chasing stripers in Maine and the implications of the looming Addendum II comment deadline. Kyle shares experiences from this past season fishing for bass along Maine's coast as well as his developing business ventures that rely on abundant fisheries.

Chris Weiner from the Bluefin Collaborative swings by to talk about the methods, science and management of tuna fishing on the east coast. #BetterBusinessThroughConservation #BluefinTuna

After the Striped Bass Board approved this document at the ASMFC Annual Meeting, ASGA began reviewing notes, talking with partners up and down the coast, and drafting positions for Draft Addendum II. In the coming weeks, ASMFC will be holding virtual and in-person hearings from New England down through Virginia to collect public comment on this document. The deadline for public input is December 2...

After the Striped Bass Board approved this document at the ASMFC Annual Meeting, ASGA began reviewing notes, talking with partners up and down the coast, and drafting positions for Draft Addendum II. In the coming weeks, ASMFC will be holding virtual and in-person hearings from New England down through Virginia to collect public comment on this document. The deadline for public input is December 2...

In the face of historically insurmountable adversity, there is still a chance that conservation can win in Louisiana. These odds are directly due to the unification of a powerful community voice. We can’t quiet down now. Join us in calling on Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to VETO the decision of the Joint Oversight Committee and approve this NOI to rebuild this world-class fishery in a fair,...

Unprecedented news has been delivered from the primary spawning grounds of our beloved striped bass. 2023 is officially the fifth straight year of failed spawns for striped bass, as the newly released Chesapeake Bay Young of Year Survey reports the second-lowest YOY Index in the recorded history of stripers. The 2012 YOY Index still stands as the lowest on record, with an index of 0.9. Unfortunate...

Charlie Witek stops by the Guide Post to get striped bass followers dialed in on next steps for Addendum II and the upcoming ASMFC meeting where we will get a better look into the future of this fishery.

From building his first store by hand with his father to building the largest Orvis dealer in the country within two years, Brian Flechsig from Mad River Outfitters has delivered on his commitment to angling education and making fly fishing community more inclusive. In this episode, Brian joins host Blane Chocklett to discuss a range of topics including a current campaign to conserve redfish in Lo...

ASGA is joined by the New England Aquarium research team to discuss the latest findings from the Albie Project including telemetry tagging results from the first research season. #TheAlbieProject #BetterBusinessThroughConservation

On July 6th, the Louisiana fishing guide community flooded the LWF Commission Meeting and let the state know that the recommended reductions are not enough to ensure the stability of their businesses. To the surprise of many, the LWF Commission did something amazing: they listened and moved to protect the resource. Capt. Bailey Short was one of the guides in that room, calling for proactive manage...

Today, ASGA announced a partnership with the GotOne app (“GotOne”) to help expand the data collection for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries’ (“MA DMF”) ongoing study on release mortality of striped bass . This partnership will utilize the capabilities of the GotOne to enable volunteer recreational anglers to track and directly submit data on landings, harvest and potential survival. A...

There's something to be said about a man that follows his dream and earns it the hard way. Capt. Ron Ratliff of Marshdawn Charters is one of those guys. Nothing has been given to him. He's not polished, nor is he politically correct. From working on oil rigs to sacrificing family time to guide in Alaska, Ron knows what it means to work hard and earn your place at the table on your own terms. In hi...

ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board fails to advance Addendum II for public comment. The ASMFC Summer Meeting, which concluded just a few hours ago, was lengthy and convoluted. An enormous amount of time was spent talking about carve-outs for special interests and very little time was spent talking about the health of our striped bass fishery. This will delay any reductions to the commercial secto...

With information gathered over the last couple of days, we’ve come to the realization that a new dance from the mid-Atlantic is in the process of being choreographed. They plan to “kick the can down the road.” Our latest episode provides a breakdown of why a delayed Addendum II process could be a nightmare outcome for striped bass. In this episode, we address a pending historical moment for stripe...

ASGA firmly believes the story of the false albacore is still unwritten. If you’re new to the project and want a better understanding of the baseline from year one, head to our Albie Project Hub by clicking here . If you’ve been following along and supporting the project, we have some extremely exciting news for you. We received word that multiple spaghetti-tagged albies that were tagged and relea...

Several weeks ago, ASGA's Will Poston sat down with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ Mike Woods to learn about shoreline access initiatives in Rhode Island and possible legislative solutions to this persistent issue. Since that recording, BHA led a call to action that drove enough engagement to generate a major win. Mike graciously stopped by The Guide Post again to provide the latest update.#Be...