Friday night Gambler

[Ol Pedro]

Almost the same scenario as Thursday night. Anchored up and caught some Seabass and a couple of Ling. Macks showed up then the Bluefish ran them out. Some bigger units in the mix and a small Hammerhead visited our slick. Had a couple of gaffers. The Bluefish were spitting up some small bait that sort of looked like anchovies. We saw more fish around the boat and under our lights than last trip. White tailed diamond jigs produced and just about any bait that you could put on your hook. Most had limits when the dust settled.
We are blessed to have this night fishery show signs of life and it gives me hope for the future. That we can regain some of the past. For the nights when there were 8 to 10 boats sailing for Bluefish. When we had to cut fish at the dock for customers and scrub a bloody boat well into the ams. To feel the electricity in the lot before we board. The smiles on children's faces when they land their first Bluefish. I pray that it continues to improve.
Conditions look good for tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Broad Bill]

Great post from someone who has obviously lived to see how good our fisheries can be when properly managed. What we're forced to accept today is a microcosm of how great these fisheries were, summer and winter, years ago. Great post and agree it's a reason for hope.

[FishingSinceIWasThree]

I was a mate on the party boats and charter boats for many years and I lived great bluefishing for many, many years. I also remember years with very few bluefish in the sixties. I read incessantly about fish and fishing and I read that bluefish are cyclical as many other fish like weakfish. The great bluefishing occurred with no regulations at all. I also remember when no one even knew what a weakfish was because they were so rare. That was also the sixties. They came back amazingly with no regulations at all.

I do agree that there should be some regulations but there are many other factors affecting fish populations. Winter flounder have been basically closed fir twenty years and the populations have not been recovered in most areas. I believe that all the private boats clean up with bleach which kills the flounder eggs and fry which are I the back bays.

What I have noticed is that the fishing business has been decimated by regulations as are so many other businesses. This is the biggest problem in the country right now. Regulations that don’t take into consideration of businesses at all.

Weakfishing is amazing on Long Island right now and you can only keep one. Who can spend $500 on a fishing trip and not even bring back dinner.

We need people who care about taxpayers creating the regulations. Fishing used to be for the poor and middle class. Now it is for the rich. I would not have been able to fish as a child with these mega expensive regulations. As a matter of fact, I can only afford to fish maybe 20% if what I used to. Let’s regulate elections and stealing of trillions of dollars of tax money. That’s where the real troubles lie. These criminals are destroying not only fishing but everything else as well.

[Skolmann]

Were the blues caught on jigs of bunker chunks ?

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by Skolmann

Were the blues caught on jigs of bunker chunks ?

White tailed diamonds, Smelt, Clams, Spearing, and just about any thing that you could put on a hook.

[Ol Pedro]

We had a couple of instances of Bluefish waste already. If you don't eat them don't keep them and leave them on the boat. Find someone to take them or release them. We managed to find homes for the fish in question.