FISHERMEN/Capt. Ron

[1captainron]

I can honestly say, I've never had to work so hard in my life to catch fish!!
Even with the best of conditions in the prime area's I have fished for 35 years the bite has been "tough" too say the least. When we do find a line of fish, like this morning, a nice pic of shorts and a couple keepers, we go back to do it again, and catch crap! Everyone asks, what do you think is going on? Was it Sandy, Water temps, lack of bait? For the first time in my career, I have NO answer.
I have fished rough bottom, mud, snags, channels any place that I thought would produce even with the best of conditions only to come home disappointed.
Yes, we have been catching some very nice fish, probably more quality fish on average than the past couple of years, just not enough. There have been times when we could fish the beach and always have action on the shorts just to keep the customers happy, that hasn't happened this season. Our beach has been dead. I thought with the 18 inch size limit this year, some of the old haunts I've fished on the NY side would be a home run only to find a few fish here and there.
What scares me is the lack of bait life on the bottom, the shrimp and readings we would see when the bite used to be on...what happened? Was Sandy that powerful that it killed off all the start of the food chain?
We started to see more bottom life in some area's this past week and a few more short fish but nothing like it should be. This time of year the Reach channel should be loaded with bait and it's not, with the exception of Bunkers, and we all know Fluke ain't eating those bunkers!
So what do we do? We go out everyday with the same passion to catch our customers fish, we look for the perfect drifting conditions, we wait for the change of tide bite and pray that today will be the day our customers will remember, and not for getting skunked!
All of us do the best we can do, we take pride in being the best at it but sometimes Mother Nature bites us in the ass and brings us back to reality. We are just fishermen, we fish, if they are hungry and here, we catch them, certainly not for lack of effort on my part, or anyone else's....

We are Chartered this coming "FRIDAY AND SATURDAY" Morning.
Capt. Ron

[fishingmortgageman]

Well said Ron. It is not just your boat that this is happening to. I fish with some of the best captains from Point Pleasant to Keyport and everyone is having a very tough time. Something has changed and no one can figure out what that is. I just hope that good fishing returns at some point, even if it isn't this year. I guess that we are being taught the difference between fishing and catching.

[1captainron]

Well said Ron. It is not just your boat that this is happening to. I fish with some of the best captains from Point Pleasant to Keyport and everyone is having a very tough time. Something has changed and no one can figure out what that is. I just hope that good fishing returns at some point, even if it isn't this year. I guess that we are being taught the difference between fishing and catching.

Thanks Eric, but it's a tough lesson to be learned, even after all these years!

[reason162]

Well said Ron. It is not just your boat that this is happening to. I fish with some of the best captains from Point Pleasant to Keyport and everyone is having a very tough time. Something has changed and no one can figure out what that is. I just hope that good fishing returns at some point, even if it isn't this year. I guess that we are being taught the difference between fishing and catching.

Numbers are off from NJ to MA. Sandy was a huge storm and changed the bottom for sure, but imo larger forces are at work. There is no way climate change doesn't affect every fish species in the ocean, from migratory patterns to predation habits and everything in between.

Hopefully I'm wrong and next season things will bounce back to normal, if any of us can even define "normal" at this point. Whatever happens I'm sure the pros will find a way to connect fish with fishermen.

[dales529]

Thanks Ron for the Honesty and nice to see a Professional Capt start the conversation most of us non professionals have been having. With your work effort if anyone will find them its you.

Possibly its a little bit of everything and cant argue the habitat was affected by Sandy. Another issue in a year like this is the lack of boats out on any given day from MI to the Hook. Some days you only pass 3 boats in 20 miles. the point being that in a year like this you figure someone even by dumb luck will stumble on a hot area but its a desert out there even on the nice days. maybe weekends excluded but weekdays for sure.

I think some NEW set of numbers for that said "hot" area or depth is going to have to be established through trial and error and be an area hardly ever fished or not fished in years for Fluke. the Fish have obviously moved somewhere to adapt to the new habitat, lack of bait etc and it may be new to all of us.

sad part is we probably overfished our quota already:rolleyes:

[CatchEmUp]

Everyone talks about Sandy and what it did to the bottom. But how about what we did AFTER Sandy. All this post-Sandy beach replenishment PUMPING AND DUMPING millions of cubic yards of sand into and onto the shore. Completely BURYING big jetties that formed the building blocks of so much ocean life, thereby OBLITERATING entire ecosystems. There is NOTHING to keep the predatory fish there because there is NOWHERE for the baitfish and all the other creatures to hide. The whole food chain, from bottom to top buried.

Vast stretches of our shoreline have become UNDERWATER DESERTS. If anything they should have extended the jetties. Hundreds of millions of dollars getting spent that gets washed away during any and every storm, big and small. Where does it all go? It coats, covers and fills in all the holes, depressions and other rock piles further off shore all of which used to attract and hold fish. It's a brutal cycle and the ACOE in their infinite wisdom is going to keep doing this every 6 years for almost the next 30 years. And all the beach goers, waterfront property owners, mayors and politicians have bought into it - jumping up and down saying look at how much $$ I got you to save your beaches!!! It's a massive money grab all at the expense of our fishery and all that lives (or lived) under our marine waters.

Believe it.

[tuna john]

nice honest report that adds to your credibility. I fish mostly Cape May and fluking has been pretty good so far, for the 1st time in years we are seeing a decent bite in the Delaware bay as well, but to agree with your point we wondered the same about the stripers here. While we see reports of N Jersey boats crushing we sit here and wondered the same as you. It seems Mother nature does what it does and we just need to adapt. Im sure things will get better soon. If I do get up that way to fish it would surely be on your boat..

[MikeyP]

Hradest working Capt out there Ron for sure!! Well said...Im a surf guy and dont get on the boat much but i will say from the beach aspect of it...With the exception of 1 spot i fish "kind of"in the backj the beach front has been dead for me this year...Even by the rocks has been slow were as a few years a go i couyld go out and catch 10-20shorts off the beach and a keeper...Not this year in the ocean...I agree with Catch'emUp i 100% blame the useless beach replenisment project...It killed the bass bite off the beach and now the fluke bite...they have literally buried all the good beachs that have alway held fish...Its a damn shame how much wasted time/money go into that and how much of the oceans eco system they have killed....I hope it changes but im not feeling good about it:(

[abbashaya]

Hi Capt Ron: whats happening with the night fishing with Capt dan?

[NoLimit]

Climate change?!??!!

Yeah, it changes just about every day and most nights too.

[reason162]

Climate change?!??!!

Yeah, it changes just about every day and most nights too.

That's weather. Climate refers to larger patterns. There is a difference.

[shrimpman steve]

Certainly one of the worst years I can remember!

[Blackfish Doug]

Everyone talks about Sandy and what it did to the bottom. But how about what we did AFTER Sandy. All this post-Sandy beach replenishment PUMPING AND DUMPING millions of cubic yards of sand into and onto the shore. Completely BURYING big jetties that formed the building blocks of so much ocean life, thereby OBLITERATING entire ecosystems. There is NOTHING to keep the predatory fish there because there is NOWHERE for the baitfish and all the other creatures to hide. The whole food chain, from bottom to top buried.

Vast stretches of our shoreline have become UNDERWATER DESERTS. If anything they should have extended the jetties. Hundreds of millions of dollars getting spent that gets washed away during any and every storm, big and small. Where does it all go? It coats, covers and fills in all the holes, depressions and other rock piles further off shore all of which used to attract and hold fish. It's a brutal cycle and the ACOE in their infinite wisdom is going to keep doing this every 6 years for almost the next 30 years. And all the beach goers, waterfront property owners, mayors and politicians have bought into it - jumping up and down saying look at how much $$ I got you to save your beaches!!! It's a massive money grab all at the expense of our fishery and all that lives (or lived) under our marine waters.

Believe it.

This about wraps it up about why everything that we see going on. I have to agree with you 100%. It seems all our fish that we used to get here now is Jones Inlet & east of there.

[flyersnfluke]

I've noticed this when I've been on the boats out of AH, and on my buddy's boat. Long drifts along the beach at sandy hook, and not a bite, some of our usual haunts near west bank and the AC, a few fish here and there and then nothing on the return drift. One thing we're definitely noticing is the numbers of smooth doggies, we can't seem to get away from them, we'll get them all along staten island, and all the way down the beginning of the hook on the same day....are the hordes of dogfish gobbling all the baitfish?

I would think the sand replenishment isn't helping, but there's places I'm used to fishing where there's no dredging/sand pumping, and they're just devoid of fish.

thanks for the honest report Capt., that's why you have the reputation that you do.

cheers

[gghisalberti]

This year has been by far one of the worst I could remember in years. Thank you Capt. Ron for the honest report, like many others have said it is comforting in a sense to hear it from a pro. I have been fishing out of highlands atleast 2 times a week this summer working areas near and far and have almost nothing to show for it.
One thing I find strange is the ratio of keepers on bait vs gulp. For me at least I have seen most of my fluke come in on bait when in the past bucktailing tipped with gulp would be the golden ticket.
As many have already said this can certainly be attributed to post sandy event and in the heat of the moment many governmental officials and citizens alike wanted quick fixes which ulitmatley put a dent in the ecosytem which may take years to recover.

Guess I will be back at it tomorrow!

[flyersnfluke]

In addition to the fluking being tough this year, is anyone else seeing a lack of other bottom dwellers, such as clear-nosed skates and sea robins. I've yet to catch a sea robin, and I think I've only had 2 skates (generally get tons along the nude beach and south).

cheers

[bakayd]

I was convinced this was throwing everything off and was hoping to see it rebound in August

http://www.nj.com/weather-guy/index.ssf/2014/07/south_winds_cause_ocean_temperatures_to_plummet_ma ssive_plankton_bloom.html

[squan63]

Had to be sandy same thing south

[Reelman73088]

I agree with flyers, there's been a big drop in other bottom fish as well. I've been fluking once a week or so from SRIs jetties and I have yet to catch a single skate. In fact I can't honestly remember even seeing someone else getting any either. Robbins were thick in early June for me but that only lasted a few weeks and they were spawning at the time. Since probly mid June I could count on one hand how many Robbins I've caught. Fluking was pretty good in the inlet until Arthur passed by then it shut down and now finally seems to be coming back around. Seems like a weird year this year, bluefish, at least the bigger sized ones didn't stick around like normal and now the boats are chasing large snapper size blues and there's been Bonita around since the second week of July. I'm def no expert but I've never heard of Bonita this early in the summer usually not until mid august or September. I'm pretty sure I read a few reports of macks being caught too not that long ago, which again I never heard of in the summer. I'm 25 so im younger than a lot of the members here so maybe that's how it used to be before I started fishing but seems weird to me. No doubt in my mind that there must be a combination of factors that are throwing the fish off this year. Hopefully it only lasts for this year but who knows.

[bunker dunker]

just remember the good days ron.like when we used to fish the "magic" hour
trips on the old boat.all ya needed was a handful of Nordic eels in a few colors and you could catch all the fish ya wanted.;)

[abbashaya]

is Capt Dan doing the night fishing? i dont see any reports from him.

[bulletbob]

My take is a little simpler and I know will anger some.. I personally thing we have caught and eaten too many,, Same with winter flounder,whiting, tog, sea bass, weaks... The pressure that fluke are subject to in the NY Bight is unreal.. Those fish are not everywhere.. They are in specific areas where they have the right conditions to survive well.. That includes food, temps, shelter, oxygen, and whatever else they require. Trouble is, these areas are well known these days, and are subject to intense commercial and recreational fishing..
Think about it guys.. Areas without the massive human population still have good fluke fishing... Rhode Island, Montauk, parts of Mass.. The bays and rivers down south are still loaded as well, although the fish are smaller... These fish in the NY/NJ metro area get hammered relentlessly.. On any given day there are thousands and thousand of guys catching fluke, and this is day after day, week after week, from May until the season closes.. then the commercial guys go offshore and get them... I have never seen anything like the masses of boats and anglers we are seeing these days, for just about anything that swims in salt water.. Its odd, at a time when I am seeing less and less fresh water fishermen, I am seeing ever increasing numbers of salt water fishermen... I usually fish on head boats on Monday or tuesday so i don't have to deal with crowds.. However even on a plain old Monday , I am going on bottom boats that are all railed up by 6:30 am.. Back in the 80's the same boats might have carried 15 people, or 20 tops, on a Monday.. I dunno, I just think the fish we seek are just under too much pressure.. More regulations???.. I think not, .. A little more self control among individuals?.. maybe... Wish I had the wisdom to solve the issue.... I'm not that bright however... bob

[lingding]

Captain Rn gets and "A" for honesty and the same for effort-thats why they call it fishing and not caching.

I think bait is the problem- grass shrimp, killies and even asin crab population is lower than normal. I see it, cause I have been walking the creeks my whole life. LI sound seems to have a better fluke fishery than I can ever remember, - and that body of water was largely insulated from Sandy. -something to think about.

[bulletbob]

Captain Rn gets and "A" for honesty and the same for effort-thats why they call it fishing and not caching.

I think bait is the problem- grass shrimp, killies and even asin crab population is lower than normal. I see it, cause I have been walking the creeks my whole life. LI sound seems to have a better fluke fishery than I can ever remember, - and that body of water was largely insulated from Sandy. -something to think about.

That might explain lack of fish in the rivers and estuaries.. I would think most fluke that stay in the deep channels of the open bays, and the fluke that stay in the ocean see and eat very few killies and grass shrimp.. When they are small sure, but the open water fluke probably eat stuff like sand eels, small herring like fish species, juvenile bottom fish,mullets, snappers etc.. again, I could be wrong, I am not an expert, but my eyes tell me that the pressure on all our inshore species is just getting insane... Every year we are lamenting the lack of consistency in all our inshore fishing, and every year there are more and more boats fishing the same inshore areas... bob

[reason162]

Think about it guys.. Areas without the massive human population still have good fluke fishing... Rhode Island, Montauk, parts of Mass..

Those sparsely populated areas you mentioned are off this year as well, but I think there's no denying that the two overarching causes of the downturn is overfishing + climate change. Bait, habitat, temperature, migration: any ecosystem is complex and fragile in ways we don't fully understand. I think it's myopic (but understandable) to attribute the weirdness we see this season to Sandy (or the rebuilding).

[SNAPS]

Those sparsely populated areas you mentioned are off this year as well, but I think there's no denying that the two overarching causes of the downturn is overfishing + climate change. Bait, habitat, temperature, migration: any ecosystem is complex and fragile in ways we don't fully understand. I think it's myopic (but understandable) to attribute the weirdness we see this season to Sandy (or the rebuilding).

Good points , every one has some good input for discusion , all the factors have to have an effect, like a chain reaction , Does any one think or believe that sandy had an effect on the currents, and actually caused them to change enough, so that the migrating patterns of the species have changed ? Or am i talking thru my arse.?

[bulletbob]

another thing.. I have fished for fluke for decades.. years ago,[ the good old days,lol] I NEVER remember ling being caught alongside fluke!.. Sea Bass yes, but Ling caught along side fluke?.. In July??... I think there are a LOT of shots of cold water out there this year that puts the bite down for days at a clip.. It rears its ugly head during those long spells of south wind.. Again, I am not a genius, but factor lower numbers of fish with a lot of cold water on the grounds and you get spotty fishing... bob