Fluke Options - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

TwoDDs · #1 03-05-2021, 08:08 AM

Does anyone know what option the State went with?

dales529 · #2 03-05-2021, 08:52 AM

Was on the webinar last night. After some back and forth they went with:
Option 1) May 22nd – September 19th 121 days (the same as last year)

The email comments were overwhelmingly in support of option 2 (the longer season) but the the phone calls started coming and somehow the board went with option 1 unanimously. Go figure!

There was some talk for 2022 about a slot fish and splitting the state but we will see.

hammer4reel · #3 03-05-2021, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dales529

Was on the webinar last night. After some back and forth they went with:
Option 1) May 22nd – September 19th 121 days (the same as last year)

The email comments were overwhelmingly in support of option 2 (the longer season) but the the phone calls started coming and somehow the board went with option 1 unanimously. Go figure!

There was some talk for 2022 about a slot fish and splitting the state but we will see.

Because option one makes more sense STATE WIDE .
Lots of fluke back bay and in the rivers mid may , and lots of those fish leave as soon as waters warm .

Since Sandy almost every year the fluke push out the first bad storm , which Has usually been the first week of September .
Giving up days early when fish can be caught , to have a few day longer season that probably has over 2 weeks of unproductive time makes ZERO. Sense .

Southern input more than likely would like to see an even earlier start ..

.

frugalfisherman · #4 03-05-2021, 11:00 PM

Party boats will be seabass fishing that first week so early fluking is a waste for them. Then they loose 9 days at the end making a longer wait for fall seabass open. Yeah that makes real sense.

At Last · #5 03-06-2021, 08:23 AM

So I assume we are still looking at 18” fish? How many fish? Would love to see a slot fish but I’d say the chances are slim.

hammer4reel · #6 03-06-2021, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by At Last

So I assume we are still looking at 18” fish? How many fish? Would love to see a slot fish but I’d say the chances are slim.

You will more than likely see a slot bag next season.
Some people at fish and game were really crunching numbers .
Lots of input also asking for it .
They just couldn’t get it accomplished this year , but I know they worked towards it .

.

hammer4reel · #7 03-06-2021, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

Party boats will be seabass fishing that first week so early fluking is a waste for them. Then they loose 9 days at the end making a longer wait for fall seabass open. Yeah that makes real sense.

Enough with the BS show me how many fluke you caught the last 2 weeks of the season .
Betting not crap .
Some of us actually have log books for many years .

The last 5 years fishing up until Labor Day has been GREAT that week the fish push out hard . Following week it’s a super spotty pick

Adding NON PRODUCTIVE DAYS to a season doesn’t do crap for the industry .
Captains aren’t going to steal your money if the fish aren’t there . So giving them days to sry tied to the dock doesn’t do anything for them .

.
Smarter thing would be to adjust the season on sea bass that are here and availability to catch greater,

Secondly to base each fishery on a party boat schedule which is about 1/5 of the fishing community is senseless ..

And NOT all boats are targeting sea bass , many fluke specific boats during the season while others are sea bass fishing .
No need for all fishing pressure on one fish at a time .
.

.

Gerry Zagorski · #8 03-06-2021, 09:14 AM

Disappointing to say the least. Not sure what happened here but seems like Public Opinion was ignored. Going to be interesting to see what the council and has to say about this...

One thing is for sure, the council is stacked with Southern NJ people who tend to favor an earlier season.. I have no issue with that since it works best for them..

What I do have an issue with is the obvious lack of representation on the council from Northern NJ. Based on our states population distribution, the northern counties of our state represents 75% of our population so shouldn't the council reflect that in it's members?

Total NJ Population 8.8 million
- Southern Counties Population 2.2 = 25%
- Northern Counties Population 6.6 = 75%

hammer4reel · #9 03-06-2021, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Disappointing to say the least. Not sure what happened here but seems like Public Opinion was ignored. Going to be interesting to see what the council and has to say about this...

One thing is for sure, the council is stacked with Southern NJ people who tend to favor an earlier season.. I have no issue with that since it works best for them..

What I do have an issue with is the obvious lack of representation on the council from Northern NJ. Based on our states population distribution, the northern counties of our state represents 75% of our population so shouldn't the council reflect that in it's members?

Total NJ Population 8.8 million
- Southern Counties Population 2.2 = 25%
- Northern Counties Population 6.6 = 75%

.

There def are more northern fisherman , but all our back bay stuff here is VERY good in May.
We aren’t losing productive days here .
Fishery CURRENTLY is based on whole state .
As you know our Oceanside bite isn’t good in may , but the back bay bite us just as bad in July when the Oceanside bite is off the charts .

All meetings so far south show the council make up .

I’m being told FG is really trying to get stuff adjusted that meets the majority .
But their hands are partially tied .

dales529 · #10 03-06-2021, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Because option one makes more sense STATE WIDE .
Lots of fluke back bay and in the rivers mid may , and lots of those fish leave as soon as waters warm .

Since Sandy almost every year the fluke push out the first bad storm , which Has usually been the first week of September .
Giving up days early when fish can be caught , to have a few day longer season that probably has over 2 weeks of unproductive time makes ZERO. Sense .

Southern input more than likely would like to see an even earlier start ..

.

Hi Dan
The main point here is that if the council thought Option 1 made the best sense state wide than they should have come out with that opinion last month and stated they will still take public opinion anyway. Instead they went through the procedural process and made recreational anglers think that public opinion matters. State wide public opinion favored Option 2 by 73% albeit a small sampling (under 1000 responses) but it covered: Shore based, For Hire, Private boaters and all Counties in the state. They even provided graphs in a slide show which showed overwhelming support for Option 2 and then flat out ignored all of it.

I get the back bay fishery and its need for an earlier start but we were only given Options 1 week on average less or more. Within these options the few more days in option 2 in my opinion was best. If the south was asking for an April start then we have a whole different conversation and a "split the state" talk.

Yes I book trips 2nd and 3rd week in September and YES they are with one of the best bottom capts in the area but still we always find enough fluke to make the trip worthwhile and for 3 years running got a 10 man boat limit so there are fish around then.

Also YES F&G amongst all the other groups that support recreational fishermen / women are engaged in Slot Fish among other possibilities to make our fishery better and YES all of our hands are / were tied this year but at least there is some traction. It will not happen with just one Agency / group, its going to have to be collective including public support

On a side note I think If I supported Option 1 you would support Option 2 LOL: but thats a different story!