February seabass

[Jay]

Originally Posted by dales529

Thats correct. At a public meeting in November 2018 (very lightly attended as usual) it was discussed and NJ opted to NOT open Feb 2019 seabass as the harvest would have to be accounted for against either the spring or fall 2019 seasons which could have resulted in lost days on those seasons. There will be NO Feb season in NJ as decision was made in November

Thank you for the clarification. Makes sense, how many of those trips you think will sail in February? I'm pretty sure not many with this crazy weather pattern and to jeopardize our spring or fall season it's not worth it..

Happy, Healthy New Year Buddy!

[bigal427]

They already screw the guys that fish inshore for seabass by taking the best month away from us so the boats fishing offshore can have a longer season and kill everything they bring up.

[captnvinny]

Heres my .02: This is so pitiful to hear rec guys & captains ultimately being opposed to one another for a few days in February! Back in early 2018, I attended that BSB mtg and I feel the Wave 1 fishery answer was drawn up to put inshore boats vs offshore boats. With the BSB biomass ever so big, it was determined that NJ will have 186days spread over 4 waves. The biggest wave was July1-Aug31 w/2kpr limit..Ok so theres a by-catch pacifier in there for the lost SB chasing the fluke jig. But when it came to what wave 1 meant to all of this was deducting from that 186 pie. Again it pits boat against boat, and not NJ rec guys vs the ASFMC or MAMFC. I understand the need for the boat business to prosper and sail, but targeting the spawning SB to me made no sense.
We had a Jan&Feb SB fishery once, and its gone now. And the only way to get it back is unfortunately giving up a piece of the spring/summer days. Yet most of these days boats are targeting stripers & fluke with NO thought of SB but when the issue was brought to table, the few guys wanting a winter fishery were crucified!. GUYS, its not about a few boats having access, its about US, people from NJ, wanting to fish Jan & Feb! What nut job in their right mind takes their own boat out in Feb? For that matter, what marina is even allowing boats to be docked in Jan&Feb? I find it disappointing that NOT one party boat for AH or Belmar sails for OS SB, why is that? But yet some of these captains/boats shut it down for all of Jan & Feb. The BSB fishery in Nov&Dec is awesome and I believe sustainable. With the BSB stock rebuilt to 230%, per ASMFC, why are we locked out? Why can't we all come to agreement to fight for this to be OPEN? To all the captn's out there> I'm willing to open my wallet and spend a few dollars for GOOD TOP Quality fish in Jan & Feb and I know alot of guys on this board are game too. Lets get February BSB open and stop the petty bit#$-in!

[captnvinny]

Originally Posted by bigal427

They already screw the guys that fish inshore for seabass by taking the best month away from us so the boats fishing offshore can have a longer season and kill everything they bring up.

Fishing OS in Nov & Dec is not a given, as well as Jan & Feb. Safety is the #1 concern on every PB I sailed on during these months. Thus eliminates over half the days. Typically due to the length of trip 14-20hrs, capt's only schedule 3-4 trips a wk for OS SB then apply the 50% weather cancellation rule. Your issue with killing everything is far from the truth! BSB are typically over 14" during these months, if not I vent and release. Porgies - have yet,in my 20+ years fishing, seen one <9"...right to the cooler. One occasional weakfish kept, along with a stray cod, pollock, or ling. Those released and NOT KILLED: Bluefish, eels, congers, doggies, and any shorts. Try having a BSB dinner from the winter vs the summer, you won't ever look back!

[BugEye Chris]

Well said Vinny. It is a shame that this discussion
Has turned us against each other. I have for years
Done winter sea bass trips and always looked
Forward to the February trips in particular.
There are only a few party of charter boats
Out there that participated in the winter fishery
And with weather cancelling a lot of the trips
The impact to the rebuilt biomass is in my
Opinion in negligible. Just wish the fisheries
Management would let us have our winter season back

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by BugEye Chris

Well said Vinny. It is a shame that this discussion
Has turned us against each other. I have for years
Done winter sea bass trips and always looked
Forward to the February trips in particular.
There are only a few party of charter boats
Out there that participated in the winter fishery
And with weather cancelling a lot of the trips
The impact to the rebuilt biomass is in my
Opinion in negligible. Just wish the fisheries
Management would let us have our winter season back

Certainly a valid opinion.. Personally, I prefer allotted days to fall within the seasons when they can be reached by small boaters, as well as short range party/chater boats.. If we must have draconian regulations i would prefer to err on the side of access to the most fishermen possible..
Long,Mid winter trips offshore are not on the menu for many of us due to cost, health concerns, time constraints etc.. I would love to go, but its not in the cards due to my distance and time issues..

I would rather have expanded seasons/bags when the fish are inshore, and a guy in a 17 footer can catch them along with his fluke, or maybe his catch of Porgies, triggers etc..
I am already hearing rumblings of reduced seasons/bags on fluke in 2019.. It would be nice if we could go to maybe 4 seabass in summer instead of a ridiculous 2 to help mitigate any further restrictions on fluke... Just my .02/opinion ... bob

[dales529]

I am already hearing rumblings of reduced seasons/bags on fluke in 2019.. It would be nice if we could go to maybe 4 seabass in summer instead of a ridiculous 2 to help mitigate any further restrictions on fluke... Just my .02/opinion ... bob[/QUOTE]

Bob
Are these "rumblings" NY related as here in NJ I am hearing more of a liberalization AKA Increased Quota for 2019 Fluke. Please advise

[Joey Dah Fish]

I think it’s kind of important to understand the way they would count February against us. First and foremost they do not count the number of boats that sail nor do they count the number of days we would actually fish. That’s a fixed number. Second and more importantly when deep water fishing I believe they count the mortality rate as about 100% . When you look at those number and minus them of a warmer season I becomes quite relevant. If fact my understanding is it would reduce our normal in shore season by the minimum of 1 week on each side. Take into account how that would affect our fluke and tog targeting I think NJ made the right decision. I wish people would look at this whole regs thing as a big picture rather than a species by species cluster screw. That’s my 5 cents

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by dales529

Bob
Are these "rumblings" NY related as here in NJ I am hearing more of a liberalization AKA Increased Quota for 2019 Fluke. Please advise

dales,, After re -reading the latest NOAA data, I agree more with your assessment than mine -which was based strictly on hearsay.
Not a big increase, the number I read was 16%, but no indications I can see of reduced bag limits or season in NY or NJ for 2019. Not yet anyway.

The "rumblings" I alluded to were random speculation gleaned from a few other fishermen and a fishing related internet fishing article or two I read somewhere along the line.

The last thing I want to do is fuel negative speculation and erroneous hearsay. Best we all wait and see the actual regs for 2019 in NY and NJ, before posting anything regarding bag/season limits..
I know better, and should have thought that reply out better than I did.

Only thing I will say for sure, is I have grave doubts we'll see any increase in bag limits, increase in season length, or decrease in minimum size..

If they could keep the bag at 3, same season length, but a decrease in minimum size to 17 inches, it would be a major victory...
however, I won't hold my breath.... bob

[bigal427]

Originally Posted by BugEye Chris

Well said Vinny. It is a shame that this discussion
Has turned us against each other. I have for years
Done winter sea bass trips and always looked
Forward to the February trips in particular.
There are only a few party of charter boats
Out there that participated in the winter fishery
And with weather cancelling a lot of the trips
The impact to the rebuilt biomass is in my
Opinion in negligible. Just wish the fisheries
Management would let us have our winter season back

Nobody has turned one against one another. I would just like to point out the inshore fisherman gets the short end or the stick. You don't think we miss days because of weather. You don't think the majority of seabass fisherman fish inshore. Give us a break and don't take the best month for inshore seabass fishing away from us.