In Between Seasons

Nature seems caught between seasons. Last week a striped bass was taken off Block Island during a codfishing trip. A nine-pound blackfish was caught at the C.I.A. grounds, a spot not known as a blackfish haunt. Things are betwixt and between.

"We're hoping for an early spring to give us a target," said John DeMaio of Montauk, a charter captain, on Monday.

Unfortunately, cod were elusive over the winter. So poor was the fishing over all that several commercial setline fishermen, those who spool out baited longlines for the fish and whose landings serve as a barometer of the resource, looked to the bergal this winter to make ends meet.

Bergals, the bane of cod fishermen's existence in the past, have fortunately become a species valuable in the live-fish market.

A "Food Chain" Event?

"This is the crunch," Captain DeMaio said in explaining why codfishing has not been up to snuff. By "crunch" he means a low point in cod populations, caused by overfishing in the past. Cod is a valuable member of the groundfish fishery, whose decline and fall has caused economic ruin along New England docks.

Robby Aaronson, who didn't even keep his Oh Brother boat in the water over the winter, put it this way: "You can't catch 'em twice."

He said there were theories about why the cod didn't show this year after a passable 1995-96 season. One theory has the groundfish boats that were regulated away from their target species going after herring, a staple food for cod.

No food, no cod - "It's a food chain event," or so the theory went, Captain Aaronson said. "It looks bleak for the home team," whatever the cause.

Steakers And Smaller

That's not to say there were no cod over the winter. Captain DeMaio said his charter boat, Vivienne, usually found enough fish to satisfy customers, weather permitting, and some big ones to boot.

One recent outing yielded 44 fish, 23 of them weighing between 20 and 36 pounds. On Friday there were 15 fish in the 20 to 30-pound range, said the captain of the Vivienne.

Big fish, yes, but not enough of them, as evidenced by the price spread between the "steakers," as they are called in commercial fishing parlance, and the smaller "market" cod. The price climbed as high as $2.65 per pound for steakers and $1.50 per pound for the market size over the winter.

It was the spread between these two prices that showed, by the law of supply and demand, how few steakers were being caught. In times of plenty, the spread can be as close as 25 cents per pound.

Poised For Stripers

The sports are awaiting the striped bass, of course, the first of which was reported caught unexpectedly last week off Block Island. Scott Gaeckle of Dixon's Sporting Life in Wainscott said the shop's flats-type fishing boats - they are fitted with V-shaped hulls to weather the ocean swells - will be poking around for fish beginning around April 15. Chartering is expected to begin in May.

Also poised for the season is the Lazy Bones party boat and its sister, Lazy Bones II, the former Miss Gloucester II.

Capt. Mike Vegessi's old Bones is expected to begin fishing for flounder this weekend. Kathy Vegessi recommends calling the charter service today to see if it's a go.

The new Bones will begin fishing on Memorial Day weekend. Ms. Vegessi said Lazy Bones II would offer the same laid-back kind of fishing as her older sister: "We want to keep it intimate and family-oriented."