Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyS
"ROD AND REEL WILL NEVER HARM AN OCEAN FISHERY”, period, end of story."
I USED to be a firm believer in this until about 8 or 10 years ago a school of striped bass sat off LBI for about 2 months. And for 2 months this massive school of striped bass got pounded by recreational anglers by both beach and boat. This is when boat were flying out of Manasquan inlet at 40 mph at 5am to be "first on the fish". I swear in those 2 months 1/3 of the East Coast striped bass population was taken by recreational anglers, the runs haven't been the same since.
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Well stated Andy.. I do believe what the captain says is true, but only for certain species.. maybe fish like Blues, Fluke, Sea Bass, porgies, ling etc.. Fish that move around some, migrate, inhabit different types of bottom..
however, fish like blackfish, can certainly be harmed by relentless pressure from recreational fishermen, there no doubt about it..
I have related this story here before but its worth repeating, and is similar to yours.. back in the early 80's, there were massive numbers of the biggest of the big tiderunner weakfish sitting right off the sandy hook shoreline in between ambrose and sandy Hook channels.. The fishing was beyond description.. 2 guys drifting could catch 100 of them during a night tide - 7 to 12 pounders, and often did.. The boats knew they were there of course it was no secret, party boats and private boats both,, Those fish were pounded relentlessly.. Guys were going out each night with coolers the size of friggin' bathtubs, and filling them.. those fish were being sold to markets for pennies a pound, to help offset gas expenses mostly.. Within about 6 weeks of that craziness those fish were simply gone, never to return in similar numbers.. They were stacked up in a relatively small area that was well know, they were stupid and easy as hell to catch once the sun went down, and it was a summertime fishery which meant that guys went after them a lot because it was close to the ramps, and the weather was warm.. thousands and thousands of big potential breeders were taken when they were most vulnerable crowded together, then sold basically as dog food, so guys could get out the next night.. I was there, witnessed it all, living in Union beach during those years.. Personally I would take 5 or so myself when I went out, but looking back, even that was too much, and 2 of those huge weaks was plenty.. I must place some of the blame on myself, and I do..
many of us know better now, but few of us did at the time... The fish were ALWAYS there,, always.. Fluke/weaks/blues/sea bass/blacks/flounder/whiting/ling/macks.. Always there.. until they weren't.. I don't blame recs so much as I blame the draggers and pound netters, but we sports CAN put a big dent in certain localized ocean fisheries, theres no doubt about it.. those fish are in certain zones, they are NOT everywhere.. Once where we know where they live - which is easy in the modern age, we can inflict terrible damage... bob
