Memories of our changing times

[Capt. Debbie]

It's funny. 20 years from now our kids will call this 2015 stuff the good old days just like out dads' told us in the 1970's and 80's.

Originally Posted by tombanjo

Reading post after post about how much better the fishing was years ago gives me an even greater appreciation of that epic month long run of monster bluefish to 25lbs we had last year. That was a true blast from the past back to the future moment. The first day we found them (on the Golden Eagle) my jig was biten off. Grabbed another rod, same thing. Didn't want to waste time putting another jig on so I grabbed my noodle rod with 12lb test and a bait hook. Boom! OMG, what a battle! 30 mins later up comes the biggest blue I ever saw, 24lbs!

[NJ219bands]

Before the Barnegat Inlet north jetty was rebuilt in the early 1970s, I caught many stripers, weakfish and blues while plugging the end of the jetty on the low tide and never saw another fisherman on the rocks. Now all of the local surf fishermen are jetty fishermen. Every time that I catch a fish, even on the darkest night, before I tag and release it, fishermen appear on both sides of me and spook the fish. On calm, sunny days, spear fishermen swim under my line now. Boats also anchor in casting range. The modern fisherman has no respect for other fishermen.

[NJ219bands]

Back in the olden days, I caught bonito, whiting, ling, pollack and mackerel on the Manasquan Inlet north jetty. I don't see them there anymore. Now its hickory shad or sundials.

[Karlo]

I remember when my Dad ran the party boat Man O War out of Brielle we used to chum for Boston Mackerel. My brother and I would fill up two garbage cans full of them.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by NoWorries

Yes times have changed but I disagree . Because of our changing culture less people are fishing during the year. When we had fish to catch and I mean tuna,whiting ,flounder,bluefish,sea bass, cod and others fishing was a year round thing. Now with seasons for everything catch limits and the dwindling economic times I think there are less fishermen. Boat registrations are way down since Sandy in NJ. I fish out of Manasquan inlet and have for over 30 years and Sandy Hook area before that since the 50's. Today fishing business is very different. Boats are bigger and coolers are generally NOT full of fish. And Marinas are NOT full of boat owners that fish !

No Worries.. I dunno, we'll have to agree to disagree.. I used to fish alone all the time out of Sandy Hook in the area we called "between the channels.. I would be ALONE there any morning I fished until around 9 am, and then a few boats would start coming around as the morning wore on.. In those days, there was plenty of room.....

Years ago, when "working the birds" a boat or two could follw them and be hooked up staedily, sometimes all day.. These days you find a pod, start working it, and within minutes there are 20 other boats there, half of which just ran right through the fish, and they are GONE...


I did nothing but bottom fish every fall for many years... We would consider 25 guys a packed boat.. Today, I regularly see 45-50 guys even on weedays..
The blackfish would sail even on saturdays and sundays with 15 guys.. Now during peak season most boats have double the crowds, and only a fraction of the fish..
I was out last year in Dec and on a freezing cold day all I coud see were hundreds and hundreds of party, charter and private boats, some just a yard or two apart all trying to fish the "prime" rockpiles... There were thousands of fishermen out there.. Years ago, there would be one or two head boats and MAYBE 10 or a dozen private boats in that same area.. The areas that hold blackfish haven't changed much, but the pressure they get sure has..
Jetties are packed with fishermen these days.. Years back we often fished them alone all day, or perhaps with one or two others...

I always drove up to Highland or Leonardo ramps, unloaded my boat and was gone and minutes. These days I wait in line.. Long lines during fluke season.. Returning to the ramp is even worse with an hour or more wait out in the water if you dare go on a weekend...
These things just didn't happen years ago..
NJ population has increased by about 3 million people since the early 60's.. thats a lot of increase each year for such a small land area.. Its population has increased 2% just since the last census in 2010... You say we have less recreational pressure today than we did decades ago, and I feel the pressure has increased a huge amount.. As I said, we will just have to agree to disagree... bob

[NoWorries]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

No Worries.. I dunno, we'll have to agree to disagree.. I used to fish alone all the time out of Sandy Hook in the area we called "between the channels.. I would be ALONE there any morning I fished until around 9 am, and then a few boats would start coming around as the morning wore on.. In those days, there was plenty of room.....

Years ago, when "working the birds" a boat or two could follw them and be hooked up staedily, sometimes all day.. These days you find a pod, start working it, and within minutes there are 20 other boats there, half of which just ran right through the fish, and they are GONE...


I did nothing but bottom fish every fall for many years... We would consider 25 guys a packed boat.. Today, I regularly see 45-50 guys even on weedays..
The blackfish would sail even on saturdays and sundays with 15 guys.. Now during peak season most boats have double the crowds, and only a fraction of the fish..
I was out last year in Dec and on a freezing cold day all I coud see were hundreds and hundreds of party, charter and private boats, some just a yard or two apart all trying to fish the "prime" rockpiles... There were thousands of fishermen out there.. Years ago, there would be one or two head boats and MAYBE 10 or a dozen private boats in that same area.. The areas that hold blackfish haven't changed much, but the pressure they get sure has..
Jetties are packed with fishermen these days.. Years back we often fished them alone all day, or perhaps with one or two others...

I always drove up to Highland or Leonardo ramps, unloaded my boat and was gone and minutes. These days I wait in line.. Long lines during fluke season.. Returning to the ramp is even worse with an hour or more wait out in the water if you dare go on a weekend...
These things just didn't happen years ago..
NJ population has increased by about 3 million people since the early 60's.. thats a lot of increase each year for such a small land area.. Its population has increased 2% just since the last census in 2010... You say we have less recreational pressure today than we did decades ago, and I feel the pressure has increased a huge amount.. As I said, we will just have to agree to disagree... bob

Just a few observations looking back. Our winters were all about whiting and many party boats that targeted them. Even in the dead of winter they would sail and most trips we caught em till the 90's when there were only a few. Then the spring mackeral runs when the party boats would sail loaded thru April. Also the spring winter flounder in all the rivers. Shark river, Navesink ,Shrewsbury, Barnegat Bay and Raritan Bay would be loaded with small boats ,rentals and later the party boats too. The fish were there and plentiful . Many times we caught em by the bucket full and there were dozens of boats doing it. We'd follow em out into the bay out to the cedars off Sandy Hook well into May. Stripers were around but I rarely targeted them in the spring. June ,July and August fluke was my main target species.We fished in fleets of small boats,rentals and the party boats off the Navy pier. Literally hundreds of boats and everybody caught fluke. The late summer was about the tide runners ,weakfish. Every afternoon or magic hours you'd find dozens of boats at Chapel Hill Channel drifting worms. I moved to Brick in 1984 with my family and the fishing was different locally but still very good and there were plenty of private boats and party boats fishing. The rental boat fleets that were numerous started to disapear as MOST fishermen could afford a boat of their own and gas was cheap. I use to talk to some the old timers that talked about the bluefins of the 60'& 70"s when entire marinas would empty out on weekends and go out for them and catch em too ! I'm talking inshore fishing not canyons. Fall fishing for me was time for tog and stripers . My Dad and I would fish as much as possible when the weather would let us go in our boat. I'd stay in the slip till at least Thanksgiving maybe later if weather allowed. Fishermen would start disappearing when the the fishing dwindled as the cold set on us. Then I'd surf fish till the last stripers and blues could be caught. The beaches were usually somewhat crowded when the fish were there. The last 2 years with very poor fall striper and bluefish runs the beaches were empty most days in late November/December.Today I see less party boats fishing especially after fluke season. More offshore canyons,and off shore for the charters and more cancelled trips due to the unpredictable offshore weather. Rental fleets have dwindled and many private boaters locally that don't fish or go only a few times. Blackfishing is very popular but mostly because there's little else to catch . With the fate of seabass fishing and poor ling fishing the last 2 years how long can the party boats hold out. Yes fishing as I know it has changed but I still LOVE it and just got back into boating again with another boat. So it goes on . Last fall I fished around 25 boat trips from mid October till after Jan 1 . About half those were charter or open boat trips. Adding another 10 trips to the surf to fish. On most days my boat was the only boat out fishing from my marina .Only 1 or 2 other boaters got out the entire fall run.

[tombanjo]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

These days you find a pod, start working it, and within minutes there are 20 other boats there, half of which just ran right through the fish, and they are GONE...

You'd think in this day and age of hyper regulations....where you can fish, how many fish you can have, when the season ends....that the powers that be would throw us one positive reg like make blatant running through fish a crime punishable by a fine and/or up to 10 days in jail. That'll make 'em think twice. More then ever this year I saw boats do it on purpose, maliciously veer out of their way to run through and then leave the area at speed.