what is biting in NJ? Haddock opens for NH on 4/1

[spc06]

Just curious, what's the bite like right now? We are still 7 weeks out before stripers come into the shore line up here. Haddock opens April Fools day, and the last few boats caught some nice ones b accident when targeting Acadian Red Fish. I was all set to go on Monday, but had to cancel for unforseen circumstances.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Spring Striper run getting into full swing and Blackfish opens up 4/1. We catch an occasional Cod or Pollack this time of year but not enough to target them specifically. Used to have some great Ling fishing this inshore time of year too but it hasn't been as good as they used to be…

[Broad Bill]

Winter flounder are coming out of the mud, dropping their eggs and should start feeding aggressively soon before pushing offshore. Ling are moving inshore to spawn in big numbers. Spring mackerel run is in full swing with loads of whiting and cod underneath the schools along with all the herring you want. Front runner bluefish are starting to arrive in the rivers chasing bunker and blackfish season as indicated opens within a week. And in two months, makos will be here in numbers as will weakfish shortly. Problem is, all those fisheries are either gone or a fraction of what they were not long ago.

So it's going to come down to bass, fluke, porgies and sea bass with two of those stocks already facing draconian restrictions. Sad to see what's happened to the most important recreational resources up and down the coast.

[Duffman]

Winter flounder are coming out of the mud, dropping their eggs and should start feeding aggressively soon before pushing offshore. Ling are moving inshore to spawn in big numbers. Spring mackerel run is in full swing with loads of whiting and cod underneath the schools along with all the herring you want. Front runner bluefish are starting to arrive in the rivers chasing bunker and blackfish season as indicated opens within a week. And in two months, makos will be here in numbers as will weakfish shortly. Problem is, all those fisheries are either gone or a fraction of what they were not long ago.

So it's going to come down to bass, fluke, porgies and sea bass with two of those stocks already facing draconian restrictions. Sad to see what's happened to the most important recreational resources up and down the coast.

LMAO. ya had me for sure. I was reading that thinking is this 1985:D

[spc06]

NJ’s fishery is truly is one nations finest!

[Gerry Zagorski]

NJ’s fishery is truly is one nations finest!

It sure is!

[Duffman]

And yet all we do is complain

[hammer4reel]

NJ’s fishery is truly is one nations finest!

It WAS one of the finest .
And while we still have a diverse fishery , it is just mere scraps of what we had even back 10 years ago .

.

[Broad Bill]

It WAS one of the finest .
And while we still have a diverse fishery , it is just mere scraps of what we had even back 10 years ago .

.

Exactly. We have a 1 fish slot for bass which is a seasonal fishery we have a shot at maybe 4 months out of the year. We have a 3 fish limit for fluke which at best is a 4 month season with probably 20% of the anglers catching 80% of the fish as the regulations continue to attack the breeding population. Sea bass is rebuilt but regulations don't reflect the health of the stock with an extremely limited inshore season to most and then there's blackfish, porgies, blues and ling which have all experienced recent declines in projected stock size and regulations. Our winter fishery of ground fish, mackerel and herring is for all practical purposes gone.

On the offshore front, we have our usual pelagics with makos shut down. On a relative basis, almost every fishery we have is a shadow of what it was and is facing serious issues challenging the future of these stocks.

Is it diverse, you could say it is but your stretching the definition. Is it the nations best, hardly.

[Capt. Debbie]

And yet all we do is complain



DITTO CAPT!

[Broad Bill]

When did stating the truth equate to complaining. It's a fact fisheries in this state have gone through massive changes for the worse. Is that a sad state of affairs, yes. Is it complaining, well if anyone equates stating what we all know to be true as complaining than I guess we're all entitled to our opinions. If stating facts is complaining, what should ignoring or distorting the facts be referred to?

I love NJ saltwater fishing but fisheries have become so restrictive and many stocks which have been around for generations are facing serious challenges.

[Capt. Debbie]

It's both ironic and funny. In the same post we complain about a reduced mass. The next line will complain that catch limits are imposed for unknown reasons. Mako's are a perfect example. Complaining one person needs at least 10 bluefish.

I don't remember an inshore tuna season except for handful of suicidal migratory fish in the 1980's and 90's. Nor do i remember drums in Raritan Bay back then. Nor inshore runs on tropical fish in the polluted coastal waters either.

And true, whiting Boston mackeral and weakfish are pretty much ghosts in north NJ. I'm sure you've seen people fill 5 gallon buckets with illegal undersized and out of season fish too?

It's definitely changed. Live long enough and you will see both good and bad arrive.


And yet all we do is complain

[Broad Bill]

Capt I wouldn't necessarily agree that's been the point of posts. Too many fisheries are shrinking but most aren't complaining about sacrifices made in the form of more restrictive regulations. They're complaining about decades of fisheries management mismanaging these stocks or waiting until it's too late to be left no choice but to adopt desperate measures. BSB is one example, rebuild thresholds have been met and regulations aren't liberalized. With stripers, we have regulations implemented that mandate the harvest of breeders and then management sounds the alarm the stock is in dire shape when recruitment tanks and implements a paper thin three inch slot coastal wide. Brilliant! Or fluke, Mark Terceiro from NMFS has been saying for over a decade recruitment is at historical lows and we don't know why yet NMFS continues to target the harvest of the spawning stock, primarily females, and offers no protection to the annual spawn which is ludicrous. And when are we going to realize blackfish stocks are shrinking at alarming rates and a completely different management approach needs to be implemented. If history is our guide, changes will occur after irreversible harm is done to the fishery. These are all signs of mismanagement whether you agree or not. If radical decisions need to be made to address dire situations with stocks it typically means the stock is radically being mismanaged.

Very few complain about the regulations themselves or the sacrifices we've been asked to make, most complain the results of incredibly poor management decisions never seem to change future decisions and how the stock is being managed prospectively. Case in point, the fluke biomass and regulations have decreased over the last two decades yet fisheries management employees the same management philosophy believing the fate of the stock is going to experience a different result. NMFS isn't managing the fishery, they're managing the economics of fisheries and until that ideology changes we'll continue seeing declines in incredibly important fisheries and further restrictions to regulations because quite frankly NOAA, NMFS, ASMFC and MAMFC aren't addressing the root cause of the problem. They're too busy playing politics, focusing their attention on spending and revenue generation and not making smart decisions to keep stock levels healthy which at the end of the day drives everything else.