2020 NJ Bluefish and Striper Regs

[Gerry Zagorski]

It’s official this from NJ Fish and Wildlife

[bigfishy]

Well done !!! You know the deadline...thx fer sharing

[Gremlin2009]

Sounds like we got screwed

[cfish71]

Once again" Industrial fishing" wins. Not only with these two species but also the others. When it is going to be JUST ? Rod and reel guys again get beaten up. Honest captains who run party/charter boats take another hit. When will this end? Keep all industrial fishing vessels to harvest ( at least ? miles ) miles from shore. Allow the others to fish in that area.

I live in Pa and have been saltwater fishing for the last 5 decades. I feel so bad for the many boats , mostly charter captains , that I have had the experience to fish on. They all grind everyday to make their patrons have a great day on the water. Over the years I have seen the decline in number of adults fishing but esp. what concerns me is how few kids fish. I love my day on the water and believe it is magical . When are the powers above going to get tuned in?

[Billfish715]

Okay! Here we go again! The We vs. Them controversy. Let's all take a deep breath and relax. Everyone had a chance for his or her input. Let's face it. There was no 100% agreement among us. The fisheries people had an opinion and it did not agree with some of our thoughts. What is new? They set limits and regulations and we don't. Perhaps our arguments were not persuasive enough. Perhaps their opinions needed something more substantial to consider.

They did not ban us from fishing. They simply set limits. Most of us agree that there should be some kind of limits. We just don't all agree on what those limits should be. In fact, many fishermen always practice catch and release. They don't want any fish to eat for any reason. Many guys don't even know how to clean their own catch and throw everything back. They shouldn't even care about limits.

For those who like to slay and fillet, how many and how big should your catch be? That seems to be a major issue. While there is quite a bit of griping about the commercial regulations, they have been regulated too. Imagine if they were not! They have guidelines just like we do. They choose to follow the rules or not, just like we do.

It's over. It's done......for this year. Hopefully the bluefish populations will rebound and the stripers rebuild to more acceptable numbers. Let's hope we can learn from our mistakes once that all happens. No more wasted, rotting bluefish left behind by greedy anglers. No more boats loaded with breeder sized bass. No more need to impose more stringent regulations with the hope that we can regulate ourselves. There has to be some intervention with an emphasis on education about the impact overfishing has on fish populations. That has to start with the fishing industry, its advertising, video productions and public relations. Certain standards have to be set by the party and charter fleets as well so their customers are educated about the ideas of conservation and even catch and release.

Unfortunately, this is not the fishing that your grandfather knew. There is a new paradigm for today's fishermen. Many more anglers are fishing for the fun of it and not for the table. Many are practicing catch and release. They don't feel the need to bring home coolers full of fish. Actually, when you think about it, it's hard to fill any cooler fish anymore. Mackerel? Ling? Whiting? Fluke? Bluefish? There was a time when those fish would be overflowing from coolers and burlap bags. No more. Recreational anglers were not the primary reason for the decline of those species, but we did have a hand in it.

[Duffman]

3 blues sucks as far as snappers for fluke bait.

[hammer4reel]

3 blues sucks as far as snappers for fluke bait.

A bag of gulp will outfish those 3 snappers anyhow. And not effect the bluefish fishery .

.

[Skolmann]

3 blues sucks as far as snappers for fluke bait.

Switch to live peanut bunker

[MattMal88]

Switch to live peanut bunker

Thats definitely a good idea, only problem is you need a cast net for those. They wont take a hook and are too small to really snag unless you get lucky or theyre really thick. The nice thing about snappers is you get to fish for your bait, then fish for the bigger species. Sucks they couldnt use different regs for blues under/over a certain size to keep snapper fishing for bait or the table more feasible. Oo well maybe next year.

[reason162]

Thats definitely a good idea, only problem is you need a cast net for those. They wont take a hook and are too small to really snag unless you get lucky or theyre really thick. The nice thing about snappers is you get to fish for your bait, then fish for the bigger species. Sucks they couldnt use different regs for blues under/over a certain size to keep snapper fishing for bait or the table more feasible. Oo well maybe next year.

Keep in mind that snappers grow into bluefish. What other gamefish species do people regularly use for bait? Juvenile stripers? Fluke? Weakfish?

The only problem here is enforcement, as people will catch 3 snappers use them as bait then catch 3 more and repeat.