Is this the end?
 

Will this Nor'easter be the end for inshore sea bass fishing? I sure hope not. The fishing was really good. I do know they head out to deeper water as the month continues. What are your thoughts?

Re: Is this the end?
 

Whoever conjures up and then implements the draconian "regulations", knows very well that those fish don't stick around inshore past mid October most years, and are often totally gone inshore by say Halloween . Some years due to storms[like the one headed here]. they move out quick, so really a lot of years you don't even get a month.. Lucky NJ gets 3 weeks of sea bass fishing inshore where short range charter/party/private boats can reach them.. Yes, large powerful fast head boats can run 50 miles out, but thats a tiny drop in a big bucket.... I find it sickening.. A 3 week ""season"" for a fish as abundant as Black Sea Bass??... Thats really what it amounts to usually.. Its simply, They DO NOT want recs taking them out of the water.. Ever see the price of a Sea Bass on ice???.. One look and you'll know why they don't want them taken by recs... bob

Re: Is this the end?
 

I agree with what you say 100%. It's a shame, a sham and a scam!

Re: Is this the end?
 

That’s the truth!! Why is there a two week period where you can’t keep fluke or sea bass? Extend fluke a week and start sea bass a week earlier. Wouldn’t change their “targeted biomass”.

Re: Is this the end?
 

I get side tracked by my annoyance sometimes. To answer the original question, I dunno really, but I suppose it depends on how long the storm lasts, and how long it takes for the ocean to settle down after the big blow. As stated earlier, the sea bass are already on the way off shallow inshore water by the time the season opens. The "regulators" know this very well. Probably wringing their hands in glee as we debate this, in anticipation of a week or so without guys fishing. Over the years I have seen very few sea bass taken on shallow inshore grounds after blackfish season opens and those I have caught or seen caught were typically little pin bass. So even in a good year without any big storms, the last week or so of october is close to the end really.. Always a few stragglers I guess, but think about this- Each year, almost all the bottom fishing specialists switch to Stripers as soon as they are around every fall.
Storms notwithstanding ,by 3rd week, Sea Bass are thinning out fast inshore. and the few boats that run offshore after them are gearing up for those long range bottom fishing trips/.... bob

Re: Is this the end?
 

This was a pretty good storm and it's not like it came and went in a few hours so I would say there's a good chance they moved out.

It is a shame about the gap we had this year when both Fluke and Seabass were shut down. Totally ridiculous with so many Sebass around :mad:

Lets hope we get some meaningful increases in Seabass this year to close that gap and give us more then 1 fish in the summer months too.

These regulations have to work for the fish but they also need to work for the fishermen..

Re: Is this the end?
 

Of course it would change the targets. If you want a longer season like NY has, vote for a larger size limit.

Re: Is this the end?
 

Well...we'll know Saturday. Looks like the weather breaks and we'll be able to get out. It's a long way off but....fingers crossed!

Re: Is this the end?
 

Then you could close it a week earlier. Most guys are out of the water by then.

Re: Is this the end?
 

NJ can make decisions on dates and bag limits to be whatever we’d like them to be subject to feds approval. Problem is with current quotas assigned to us by the Feds we’d need to horse trade days or bag limits from other dates to move them to another and we shouldn’t have to do that with all the fish around. The Feds need to give us more fish and then we at the state level can decide how to make best use of them. Having more fish is what we want and fighting within our own state council would be a nice problem to have.