New Long Branch Fishing Pier

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

I don’t expect to see either of those fish there .
But there def has been more whiting and ling at the mud hole than in years .
A commercial friend of mine usually lets me know when to go .
We get enough whiting for one good smoke
And the whiting have been pretty decent size .

Those are some beautiful whiting. If regulations are put in place to protect these fish from small mesh netters, I believe the fishery will once again expand in very decent numbers to the Mud Hole and NY Bite. But the regulations can't allow unabated netting with tens of thousands of juveniles left floating on the surface. If changes were made in fisheries management, which I have little to no faith there will be, to honestly manage stocks instead of managing commercial catch values, there'd be enough to go around for everyone. And in the case of ling and whiting, you'd see another world class fishery for bluefins in the Mud Hole in the Spring and Fall during their migration past our coast.

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by Togfather2530

Living in the past reminiscing, I get it. The fishing isn’t comparable today.

You cant' steal my memories . Fished it in the Fifties with grand pop and my dad.Roy's smoke house .Give them a hundred and they give you fifty smoked!

[Broad Bill]

As many fish as recreational anglers kept, which was significant, it didn't put a dent in the fishery. Every year the biomass was solid. Reason being whiting and ling were primarily an inshore winter fishery with some bottom fishing boats targeting them during the summer in deeper water. Both stocks had tremendous spawning strength. As soon as foreign factory ships and domestic small mesh netters targeted them, both stocks virtually disappeared in a few years, something no one ever thought possible. Shows just how destructive commercial netting can be when there's no boundaries or closed seasons.

[Togfather2530]

Good thread and information from everyone. Thanks

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

You cant' steal my memories . Fished it in the Fifties with grand pop and my dad.Roy's smoke house .Give them a hundred and they give you fifty smoked!

With the sad state of today's whiting fishery, if you give them one today they'll give you back half a smoked fillet. Hammer those pictures on your post sure do bring back great memories. And they're some beautiful baseball bat sized whiting. Your dog looks ready to chow down! It wouldn't take much, in my humble opinion, to re-establish that fishery but the fishery needs to be managed for it to happen. Won't happen by itself. Plus the economic impacts to commercials, party boats, for hire and recreational angler spending would be significant.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

With the sad state of today's whiting fishery, if you give them one today they'll give you back half a smoked fillet. Hammer those pictures on your post sure do bring back great memories. And they're some beautiful baseball bat sized whiting. Your dog looks ready to chow down! It wouldn't take much, in my humble opinion, to re-establish that fishery but the fishery needs to be managed for it to happen. Won't happen by itself. Plus the economic impacts to commercials, party boats, for hire and recreational angler spending would be significant.

The part no one will want to believe is those whiting were caught in the first week of May , not the typical time they were fished for .

Seems ling fishery that also was a favorite wintertime fishery even only back 12 years or so is also a much better spring fishery now

All the talk of everything moving north doesn’t fit that timeline .

So next question is why such a shift of seasons .
Is it because they are here more than we think ? And actually left alone by the commercial guys who are usually targeting a different species then .

And is the amount of ling and whiting around in May, June really why the giants have been back here at that same time frame .

If no one targets them , no one knows they are there !

.

[Broad Bill]

I've hammered cod in April and May on the SRR. Depending on what's coming out of the Hudson will have substantial impact on water temps in the hole. These fish have such tremendous reproductive strength if they're given a chance the stock will rebuild. And if there's ling, cod and whiting in the MH area, giants and mediums will be sure to follow. That's the way it was for decades, don't see it being any different today if the regulations took some pressure off the stock commercially.

[dales529]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

The part no one will want to believe is those whiting were caught in the first week of May , not the typical time they were fished for .

Seems ling fishery that also was a favorite wintertime fishery even only back 12 years or so is also a much better spring fishery now

All the talk of everything moving north doesn’t fit that timeline .

So next question is why such a shift of seasons .
Is it because they are here more than we think ? And actually left alone by the commercial guys who are usually targeting a different species then .

And is the amount of ling and whiting around in May, June really why the giants have been back here at that same time frame .

If no one targets them , no one knows they are there !

.

Good point about no one targeting them often enough. Hard to say why the seasons changed but nature has a way of taking care of itself regardless of what we do as recreational / not always in the case of huge exploitation by commercial.
Trying to find an interesting article I recently read about the lower levels as in the prey for most species: Sandeels, Sardines, Herring, Shrimp, even Krill and how they have changed their patterns based on water quality, temps etc.
Not always about the target species we go after and their habits but the habits of what they eat.

[cukes]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

You cant' steal my memories . Fished it in the Fifties with grand pop and my dad.Roy's smoke house .Give them a hundred and they give you fifty smoked!

Back in those days it was great, two dollars got you admission to the pier plus they supplied the bait, people bunked out for the weekend sleeping bags and all, good life

[SplitShot]

Originally Posted by Fishfulthinkin

I like this!!! We used to fish off the old pier in the 70’s catching whiting, then have some cocktails in the pier bar. Good days!

I can't believe it's almost 50 yrs ago but I used to do the same thing!! Feels like just yesterday