Longing for the good old days

[Canyonfish]

I was looking back at some old family albums and came across pictures of my Dad, Uncle and Grandfather and me when I was 5 years old showing a heck of a catch of winter flounder. I am 51 years old so this would have been
around 46 years ago, early spring 1967 or 1968. My Grandfather passed years ago and more recently my uncle after a battle with brain cancer
may they both rest in peace. But the reminder of the times I spent with them as a kid fishing are priceless.

We would drive from NJ to a small marina in Mamaroneck, NY (can't remember the name).

We would rent one of those old very big heavy wooden rowboats. In the early years my Dad and uncle rowed, later on my uncle bought a
small hp Evinrude that they would lug and attach to the rental. We chummed with corn and I remember using droplines with spreaders
and catching so many fish (two or 3 at a time) that my dad could never keep his line in the water helping me pull fish off the hooks.

These were truly great times with unforgetable memories.:)

These were great days. I was only a naive kid but I felt the world was simple and the sky was the limit.

Quite a difference from the over regulated bearacracy that recreational fishing is burdened with today. And yes I understand that manging fish stocks appropriately is in all of our interests but crushing the recs out of existence is not.:mad:

Glad I got to experiece that great time, and glad I have had my kids fishing before it may all be a distant memory. :(

[bunker dunker]

X2 and some.i too miss those days.we would get a row boat in belmar and do the same.i miss the magic hour trips on the old fisherman when we would jig those tiger tales and catch just about
everything,stripers,blues,fluke,sea bass and those giant weakfish.
Truly much better times;)

[jmurr711]

X2 and some.i too miss those days.we would get a row boat in belmar and do the same.i miss the magic hour trips on the old fisherman when we would jig those tiger tales and catch just about
everything,stripers,blues,fluke,sea bass and those giant weakfish.
Truly much better times;)

i dunno this past years sea raven run was epic...

[PaBeerGuy]

I was looking back at some old family albums and came across pictures of my Dad, Uncle and Grandfather and me when I was 5 years old showing a heck of a catch of winter flounder. I am 51 years old so this would have been
around 46 years ago, early spring 1967 or 1968. My Grandfather passed years ago and more recently my uncle after a battle with brain cancer
may they both rest in peace. But the reminder of the times I spent with them as a kid fishing are priceless.

We would drive from NJ to a small marina in Mamaroneck, NY (can't remember the name).

We would rent one of those old very big heavy wooden rowboats. In the early years my Dad and uncle rowed, later on my uncle bought a
small hp Evinrude that they would lug and attach to the rental. We chummed with corn and I remember using droplines with spreaders
and catching so many fish (two or 3 at a time) that my dad could never keep his line in the water helping me pull fish off the hooks.

These were truly great times with unforgetable memories.:)

These were great days. I was only a naive kid but I felt the world was simple and the sky was the limit.

Quite a difference from the over regulated bearacracy that recreational fishing is burdened with today. And yes I understand that manging fish stocks appropriately is in all of our interests but crushing the recs out of existence is not.:mad:

Glad I got to experiece that great time, and glad I have had my kids fishing before it may all be a distant memory. :(

Were the dogfish as abundant back then as they are now? :confused:Maybe dogfish are poop eaters,:eek: that's why they are so prolific because we've been filling the ocean up with poop. Don't laugh, I might be on to something.....

[bulletbob]

I am 59, and remember those glory days as well..
I doubt we'll ever see them again.. Too much pressure everywhere.
The problem is simple.. too many people have eaten too many fish, and the prices for whats left keeps skyrocketing, adding fuel to the fire.

Commercials that kill anything and everything so they can keep their money fish... "bycatch'...my ass,,,, bob

[Blackfish Doug]

Here's a good old day picture Viking Cod on the nantucket wrecks. In the days with my Jim Morrison cut.

[Blackfish Doug]

Were the dogfish as abundant back then as they are now? :confused:Maybe dogfish are poop eaters,:eek: that's why they are so prolific because we've been filling the ocean up with poop. Don't laugh, I might be on to something.....
The problem is that this bread of dogfish can tolerate the cold water temperatures. Years ago once the Cod showed up in good numbers the dogfish were gone. They were around good numbers in early Nov. but by mid December there were very few around. By Jan you seen very few of them until the fall.

[Duffman]

X2 and some.i too miss those days.we would get a row boat in belmar and do the same.i miss the magic hour trips on the old fisherman when we would jig those tiger tales and catch just about
everything,stripers,blues,fluke,sea bass and those giant weakfish.
Truly much better times;)

Brings back some great memories!!! Jigging Nordic eels on the 3-9 trips! Like you said, catching everything you can imagine, and the tiderunners were monsters!

[bigal427]

The 70's and 80's where great . No regulations all the mackerel and whiting you wanted. I use to do the Big J offshore wreck trips always came back with a dozen cod and Pollack most over 20 pounds biggest 55. Miss the good old days. What ever happen to the whiting?

[RBC67]

64 reminiscing of days that will never return :mad:

[SplitShot]

My first day ever fishing.... my dad starting me freshwater with bobber and worms catching these bluegills, in Howell, back in 1959... I was hooked with a great 1st day of "catching". Soon after we would go out for fluke in the Manasquan River and I would catch them on an old Bamboo rod he gave me.
54 years later and it's still fun!!

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd450/lawcat1/firstdayfishing1959AldrichLakeHowell_zps974a74f1.j pg (http://s1220.photobucket.com/user/lawcat1/media/firstdayfishing1959AldrichLakeHowell_zps974a74f1.j pg.html)

[MVP]

Here's a good old day picture Viking Cod on the nantucket wrecks. In the days with my Jim Morrison cut.

Who is that guy. No Jets hat so it can not be you

[tombanjo]

Yup, I remember that epic 30 day run of giant bluefish up to 25lbs at the mud buoy way back in the fall of '13. Those days are gone for sure.

[bulletbob]

Yup, I remember that epic 30 day run of giant bluefish up to 25lbs at the mud buoy way back in the fall of '13. Those days are gone for sure.

I understand the sarcasm, but blues aren't in much danger right now..
Overexploitation is more common with good tasting groundfish.. There is just not that big of a market for blues, and a lot of them are left swimming in the water where they belong.. Give it a few years, maybe some world famous sushi chef will start making delectable creations from fresh bluefish, all the other sushi chefs world wide will copy him and get in on the craze, and before you know it, a 15 pound bluefish is a $500 fish... Instant"overexploitation", and 1 bluefish bag limit..

Stranger things have happened.... bob

[tombanjo]

A few years ago I saw some Korean guy on the top deck with a circle of people around him watching him chowing down with gusto on the side of a big bluefish fillet like a bear on a salmon. Bluefish blood & gore all over his face. Didn't even seem he was aware of us. Whole thing was very primal.

[bulletbob]

A few years ago I saw some Korean guy on the top deck with a circle of people around him watching him chowing down with gusto on the side of a big bluefish fillet like a bear on a salmon. Bluefish blood & gore all over his face. Didn't even seem he was aware of us. Whole thing was very primal.

Yikes.. lets pray that sort of thing doesn't catch on, and become a new seafood eating fad... Mowing down on large slabs of fresh greasy bloody bluefish,,,,


I can see it now...

NJ Bluefish regulations-
1 fish per day..
Season June 1 to July 30...
Size limit 25 inches.....

[kmaty]

I only wish people can read what goes through my head when this stuff comes up! One day il sit down and right it all down and blast it with a ten pg post! Not directed personaly at this post just the topic of overfishing regulations and so on! We need to put some footwork in and thats the bottom line not just us comercial guys to. But us rec guys aint no garden of roses either! The oceans like if you gave me acess to a bank account with a hundred billion dollars in it...sure it grows with iinterest...but i know and you know dam well it would come out faster than it would grow! Amd eventually there's none

[HerringKing]

Everybody talks about the "old days" where they had no regulations and you kept a dozen 20 lb fish or 3 at a time. Doesn't anyone realize that's part of the problem? Stripers were wiped out before regulations in the 70's and 80's. Everyone has heard the stories about keeping dozen of big tiderunners in burlap bags, now my generation can't find a 5 lb weakfish. Winter flounder aren't around ( except offshore in the summer) even it we had a bigger bag limit.

I think you old timers need to stop bragging about the "old days" and realize that you are part of the problem. You can't keep 20 big reproducing fish in the 1970 and then complain about there not having fish 30-40 years later.

Just my 2 cents

[bulletbob]

Everybody talks about the "old days" where they had no regulations and you kept a dozen 20 lb fish or 3 at a time. Doesn't anyone realize that's part of the problem? Stripers were wiped out before regulations in the 70's and 80's. Everyone has heard the stories about keeping dozen of big tiderunners in burlap bags, now my generation can't find a 5 lb weakfish. Winter flounder aren't around ( except offshore in the summer) even it we had a bigger bag limit.

I think you old timers need to stop bragging about the "old days" and realize that you are part of the problem. You can't keep 20 big reproducing fish in the 1970 and then complain about there not having fish 30-40 years later.

Just my 2 cents

I understand your consternation,,, Let me say this however... Recreational pressure does not collapse salt water stocks... Simply not enough hooks in the water.. On a local level, say in a bay or river I can see it happening during any given year, however most of these stocks were wiped out by massive commercial fishing, much of it from foreign fleets, with factory ships the size of small towns.. Massive exploitation... We could NEVER do this sort of damage to stocks with a few baited hooks..

Until the advent of gigantic foreign fleets, inshore fish stocks were robust decade after decade after decade... Blackfish were everywhere, and easy to catch forever, UNTIL they became a commercial species of high value.. Same with winter flounder, same with whiting etc etc..

Yes we should have been more conservation oriented, and used some self control back ibn the "good old days"... However, the outcome would not have changed one iota...
Whiting are gone even though anglers catch none..
Flounder stocks are miniscule compared to 30 years ago,, even with a limit of two..

Did recreationals catch all the Bluefins? Swords? Sharks?.. We catch vey few of these large predators in the grand scheme of things.. Its the commercial longliners that have decimated those fish..
Do sport fisherman take too many Menhaden??. Those stocks are down as well..

No thats a strictly commercial only effort...


Eels??? Nope, most recreational guys don't want them, however, they are way down in numbers in recent years.. How could that possibly be?

Horned Dogs?... Pout?.. These species are stressed as well if you listen to the NMFS... whats next, sea robins in peril??..

I agree with the fact that the days of full burlap sacks are at an end and should have been years ago.. However thats NOT why so many food fish are in trouble... Be kind enough to read this article i posted, and then get back to me on where the BIG pressure comes from... bob

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_ship

[HerringKing]

I do agree with you Bob

[bulletbob]

I do agree with you Bob

we're on the same page... taking a hundred flounder, or 50 10 lb+ weaks, or a hundred fluke was stupid, we didn't know any better, but yet the fish were there year after year, until the commercial fleets both foreign and domestic got out of control... Things like sushi/sashimi became worldwide lusts, and people would pay any price for it... One and 3/4 MILLION bucks was paid for a single Bluefin in Japan last year.. With that kind of money on the line, I fear for any and all fish in the years and decades to come... bob

[bigal427]

Have to agree with you Bob. I don't think keeping a dozen cod is what really hurt the ground fish

[bolt]

I remember:
bamboo poles and dragnets. I remember saving for my first sidewinder lure. I remember backlashes in nylon line..I remember Captain Bills in Whitestone..But my favorite memories are of Captain Wilson Hubbard out of Maderia Beach..In those days you left on Friday and came back Sunday..When the boat pulled in there was a cube van parked with a scale hanging from it..You sold all your amberjack and large groupers and kept the small sweet ones for eating. Wilson Hubbard had his spot on the local television and if you won the pool or had a good catch you got on television..It was on at four in the morning lol..I remember having my whole family up early in the morning to see me on tv...I remember andy pink lol

[SaltLife1980]

My great grand father ran a charter boat out of PP in the 50's.. Tillie Sport Fishing.. it was a wooden 35 footer cabin cruiser that he built by hand.. My grandmother tells me stories of him taking people out fishing... Catch and catch until the boat was full of all kinds of fish..

[kurtisb]

I only wish people can read what goes through my head when this stuff comes up! One day il sit down and right it all down and blast it with a ten pg post! Not directed personaly at this post just the topic of overfishing regulations and so on! We need to put some footwork in and thats the bottom line not just us comercial guys to. But us rec guys aint no garden of roses either! The oceans like if you gave me acess to a bank account with a hundred billion dollars in it...sure it grows with iinterest...but i know and you know dam well it would come out faster than it would grow! Amd eventually there's none

kmaty I like your analogy. We have to keep the withdrawals below the interest. Nicely said.