Bigger fish are still being caught because the ones that are left tend to congregate in certain spots where forage is plentiful, and everybody knows where those spots are. The numbers of cow stripers being caught today are pathetic compared to 40 years ago. When you talk about 60-pound fish, try to remember those fish came out of year-classes that were spawned close to 20 years ago, when things were looking up. That story about the main body of fish staying offshore is the same crap we heard when the cod, pollock, whiting, flounder, etc. populations were crashing. The whole ecosystem along the NE coast is a mess, starting with the forage. It's a complicated situation, and there are a lot of reasons why it's happening, but make no mistake, it's happening.
