Seabass Closure

[Billfish715]

Not to be a downer, but..............What are the sponsor PB's plans for fishing on June 23rd? I hope someone finds the fluke in the bay or ocean because a fleet of party boats drifting for fluke in the Navesink or Shrewbury might make those rivers a little crowded. Although, way back when, there were flounder in the river, it was not uncommon for party boats out of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands to anchor and fish for them in the rivers in the spring.

[Billfish715]

With all of the ling and some whiting coming over the rails, the signs on the party boats may have to come out of mothballs for next Sunday. Remember when the signs read " Ling and Whiting " "Magic Hours"? Imagine seeing those signs on the boats at the start of summer! Talk about climate change! Wasn't that a late fall and winter fishery? Go figure!

[courbeco]

Nice to see the ling and smattering of whiting being caught.....If a whiting fishery does develop it wouldn't be long before the draggers wiped them out AGAIN!!:(

[dakota560]

Nice to see the ling and smattering of whiting being caught.....If a whiting fishery does develop it wouldn't be long before the draggers wiped them out AGAIN!!:(

In the absence of regulations I couldn't agree more. Problem with the sea bass closure other than the obvious is the ripple effect it has on other stocks. With the fluke fishery where it's at, if everyone concentrates on ling how long before that fishery feels the impact especially since these fish right now are spawning and females are loaded with eggs. Years past there were any number of fish to target so the fishing pressure was spread over a much broader base. Today that's all changed.

[bulletbob]

Some of the boats will target Blues, even if they have to target 12 inchers for their fares.. Some will go whole hog Fluke, cold water and poor action be damned... This might be a really down year for fluke, but right now its too early to tell.. I hope not for the sake of the party/charter boat captains/owners..

With Ling and even Whiting and a few Cod still being caught in 50 FOW along with Sea Bass, it tells me there is still a lot of cold water out there.. We might have to wait another month or more for decent fluking the way its been shaping up so far.

I imagine some boats will just fish for Ling and a Cod here and there until the porgies show up in a month or so... Hopefully we get a good shot of triggers this year to help out, once the Porgies show up..


In any case, if its a dead year for Fluke, the boat owners will have to get creative, and simply go with the "hot hand" and target whatever is available for their fares.. Problem is, this time of year most weekend warriors want fluke, and if the fluke aren't there, they just won't go fishing... bob

[porgylber]

The past 2 years, the N.J. porgy fishing has been epic, both in quality and quantity. It’s been years since I caught so many humpback fish.
Fingers crossed for another special season!

[Billfish715]

In the absence of regulations I couldn't agree more. Problem with the sea bass closure other than the obvious is the ripple effect it has on other stocks. With the fluke fishery where it's at, if everyone concentrates on ling how long before that fishery feels the impact especially since these fish right now are spawning and females are loaded with eggs. Years past there were any number of fish to target so the fishing pressure was spread over a much broader base. Today that's all changed.

Great Point! It's always about the future. Despite all of the warnings by our fathers and grandfathers about conservation and preservation of the fishing stocks, when fishermen are given a chance to catch big spawning fish, all of the warnings go out the window. The same is true when it comes to limiting the number of easily caught fish that go into fishermen's coolers.

When the seasons close or are limited and the bag limits are reduced, everyone cries and complains. By then, it's too late because the damage was already done. Fishermen have to control themselves and their bravado. How many times do we see words like slaughter, coolers' full, drop and reel, epic, boat limits etc. to describe the fishing? History does repeat itself and we never seem to learn. I'm not just pointing fingers at the recs. but also at the commercial boats that also seem to have forgotten how the overfishing by their predecessors destroyed their industry.

Ling, filled with eggs (roe) that are getting ready to spawn will be the next targeted fish. When they are caught up during this time period, what are the chances for them to replenish an already depleted fishery? The posts on this board in the future will be about where have the ling and whiting gone?

Fishermen will always target the fish that are the most plentiful and the easiest to catch until those fish are gone. And the beat goes on and a another generation of fishermen come on the scene without having learned any history from their parents or grandparents.

With the record numbers of black seabass being boxed everyday this year, there is no doubt that the bag limits and seasons will be reduced next year.
If the ling get clobbered during the summer like the seabass did this spring,
expect restrictions on them too.

[pectoralfin]

Don't understand why the black sea bass quota and season should be reduced when the population is 250% above sustainable levels. Problem is that what is taken away for what ever reason is never given back.