FISHERMEN/Very Good Sea Bass Fishing Sunday!

[1captainron]

FISHERMEN/Very Good Sea Bass Fishing Sunday!

Had a Charter today with Mike Hettesheimer and the crew from Spartech.

Mike was very wise in letting me make the decision on how to make his crew happy as the Fluke fishing has been terrible so far this season.

We loaded up the Clams, Squid, Fresh Bunker & Spearing and were ready for anything today.
Sea Bass fishing was very good, had a couple Ling and some nice Flounder for the group as the action was hot all day. Everyone went home with a nice bag of fillets.

With that being said, we sail everyday looking to catch fish...does it matter what's in your bucket (or Not)? Seems the days of "Specialty Fishing" are over and I can't sit bye trying to cover the sign when I could be making customers happy! Joe, Joey and myself felt like we were reborn today after stroking it for the past week and a half.
So, come prepared for anything guys. I will be fishing Rock bottom, you can fish for fluke as we did catch a couple shorts today or you can bottom fish when the Sea Bass bite but we are going fishing.

When the Fluke do get here it will be game on but myself and the crew can't sit back and go through the motions producing Zilch....Not when there are REAL fish to catch!

Take what the Sea offers, Some days it's Stripers as Tuesday was proof of that, other days some Big Blues came through, today it was Sea Bass, ling & Flounder. Happy Customers, that's all that matters to me!

WE ARE CHARTERED NEXT SUNDAY...

Let's do this!!!
Capt. Ron

[tinknocker66]

I like the common sense out look. Fish for what's biting.

[Detour66]

Sound like the way to go! Put people on fish and they will be happy and come back for more!

[nutleysigns]

HELLO CAPT. RON
Do you need that Sign? I called you.
Frank

[courbeco]

That's good common sense fishing, that every customer should appreciate!:)

[1captainron]

HELLO CAPT. RON
Do you need that Sign? I called you.
Frank

Frank,

I replied back to your E mail last week. Didn't get the call. Sent you 2 Emails in the fall after we talked about the sign, didn't hear back.

[Solemate]

Was just wondering whether the fluke fishing is terrible or the keeping? Are there no 14-18 inch fish around? Do you not try areas you know hold them since you would not catch any keepers?

[1captainron]

Was just wondering whether the fluke fishing is terrible or the keeping? Are there no 14-18 inch fish around? Do you not try areas you know hold them since you would not catch any keepers?

If there were Good action on the Shorts, I would say so, I said the fishing is terrible which it is right now. I have tried ever area you could imagine my friend from way to the west out to the east and places that you could not imagine, so NO, I do not, not try area's that I think hold them because there are no Keepers! Right now, There are no Keepers!!!

Capt.Ron

[dakota560]

Was just wondering whether the fluke fishing is terrible or the keeping? Are there no 14-18 inch fish around? Do you not try areas you know hold them since you would not catch any keepers?

Capt Ron will run to the Flemish Cap if necessary to bend rods. Shame he and many others are in the same position of having to do so.

Don't want to hijack the thread but this needs to be said. The fishery is being managed the same way it has for the last ~20 years so why should any of us expect improvement when it's been on a decline the last two decades. Very basic problem. In the 80's and 90's, 90% of the commercial catch consisted of fish age 2 yrs. and younger. And since recreational and commercial size limits were the same back then at 14", both groups were harvesting the same size fish and had access to the same share of the overall biomass.

Scroll forward to today, the commercial harvest today consists of ~95% fish ages 3 yr's and older (a complete reversal) and the average weight fish being harvested commercially has increased 125% over the last thirty years. 2-yr and younger fish are no longer being harvested but they're being caught in nets harvesting the larger fish recreational anglers are mandated to discard. How many survive the trawl, look at the attached chart. Notice the disparity in discard percentages beginning around 2000, when size limits between commercial and recreational started changing, between trawls with observers on board (solid line) and discard percentages submitted by commercial operators on trip reports (light blue line). And then someone tell me commercial operators aren't significantly under reporting discard percentages on FVTR's (Fishing Vessel Trip Reports). Every year post 2000 except one observed discard percentages are significantly greater than vessel reports which is based on the honor system, they can report whatever they want. On observed trawls, discard percentage in 4 years were over 80%, two approaching 100% and one at a staggering 143%. All fish between 14" back then and 17.99 today for NJ or 18.99" for NY, Ct. and Rhode Island are now exclusively being harvested by commercial operators since recreational size limits prohibit their harvest and smaller less valuable fish are being shoveled overboard dead.

Result, we're killing the 2-year and younger biomass which in the 80's and 90's represented 95% of the overall harvest both commercially and recreationally. Largely due to smaller fluke killed in the trawl process but an increase in recreational discards isn't helping due to mandated size limit increases. Important to note a majority of these age class fish are sexually immature so it didn't effect current recruitment levels pre-2000. Larger fish were predominantly left untouched to perpetuate the future of the fishery, recruitment numbers (egg production) were strong and the biomass exploded higher. Everyone had what they wanted, commercial, recreational, party boats and for hire charters.

Today it's all changed. Recreational discards, in the ranges mentioned above, are subsidizing commercial harvest of larger year class fish as only they have access to that portion of the biomass which is not only significant but an extremely inequitable allocation of the resource. In the process they're now harvesting almost exclusively sexually mature fish with higher levels of fecundity. Why, market prices of those fish bring significantly greater value. If the ability for commercial operators to harvest 14" fish resulted in the harvest of smaller fish to protect breeders (which was the intention), I'd support it. But that's not what's happening, the data says so.

So kill all the young year class fish to harvest larger class fish commercially and recreationally kill only sexually mature fish with higher levels of egg production and someone tell me why they believe the fishery will ever rebound if we continue down the road fisheries management has us on. A blind man could see what's happening here.

Danny (my friend) before you post that the biomass is in better shape than ever because the commercial guys you know tell you they have to travel less or meet quotas faster, that's the illusion created when the portion of the biomass between 14" and 17.99 or 18.99 today is exclusively accessible to commercial harvest and not recreational. All we're doing is hurting the fishery and dedicating a higher percentage of a shrinking biomass to commercial harvest...........and they just received a 40% increase in '19 when the recreational community received I think I remember reading ...............ZERO! A 40% increase in harvest for '19 just gave commercial operators a $10,000,000 bonus which I'm sure party and for hire captains would like equal consideration of.

Regulations are killing the fishery and the recreational community is taking it on the chin subsidizing the commercial harvest while they kill off younger year class fish which should be fueling the spawning stock biomass and future of the fishery. Until NMFS / ASMFC change their entire approach to managing this fishery, there's only one direction it's headed which is the same downward direction since 2002. Expecting anything else is misguided hope.

[birddog]

when a Captain makes a suggestion why wouldn't you follow it? They are the professionals on the water. Or if you know that much go catch fish on your own.