Lets legalize freedom!

[Capt. Lou]

Freedoms are already legalized but we do not respect them! Go to any fisheries meeting and see who shows up to voice an opinion!
We are the blame for a lot of what goes on regarding fisheries regs, most only talk, many do not even belong or donate a red cent to help offset expenses associated with fighting these battles,
Take a hint from Sierra Club ,TU & a host of others they get people to participate at all levels , come up with the cash & get a lot done.
We have a handful of guys that really understand what's going on & even they will not compare notes!
Good Luck, we got what we gave ourselves by sitting on the sidelines for years!!
Let me say it for you I "DID" not attend all the meetings I should have either ,but I've been at more than my share. There
s more than enough blame to go around I'll take my share. However until we all realize the need to participate at some level ,we have a long way to go to enact laws that we can live with fisheries wise,

[O'Connor]

Has anyone else noticed how difficult fishing has become? All of this stuff is more exhausting then work. Fuel prices, fish regs, intranets, secret tog crabs shipped in from Iceland, $1,000 spinning reels, 400 lb bluefins on push button zebcos, crowds, cheaters, fisherman that look like nascar drivers because they are "pro staff" everything, Same guys crying about commercials when they get paid to kill fish also??!! I feel bad for the guys in the business...my advice...for the young guys under 30, get the hell out! Don't be stupid! For the old salts...God help ya. It is an honest way to make a living, and it sucks the sport we love has become such a shit show from so many different angles. I love fishing, but it is getting harder to enjoy it without all the nonsense that goes along with it.


I long for the days of a night crawler, bobber and a cold beer.

[mickrazz]

Nothing or no one stopping you from fishing with a bobber and a worm. The power of choice is yours.

[bunker dunker]

its not just fishing,look around.

[Wilson]

Originally Posted by mickrazz

Nothing or no one stopping you from fishing with a bobber and a worm. The power of choice is yours.

A individual can partake in the sport of fishing or the business of fishing...the choice is yours and yours alone to make.
Pass the worms please.

[italianfisherman]

Originally Posted by Capt. Lou

Freedoms are already legalized but we do not respect them! Go to any fisheries meeting and see who shows up to voice an opinion!
We are the blame for a lot of what goes on regarding fisheries regs, most only talk, many do not even belong or donate a red cent to help offset expenses associated with fighting these battles,
Take a hint from Sierra Club ,TU & a host of others they get people to participate at all levels , come up with the cash & get a lot done.
We have a handful of guys that really understand what's going on & even they will not compare notes!
Good Luck, we got what we gave ourselves by sitting on the sidelines for years!!
Let me say it for you I "DID" not attend all the meetings I should have either ,but I've been at more than my share. There
s more than enough blame to go around I'll take my share. However until we all realize the need to participate at some level ,we have a long way to go to enact laws that we can live with fisheries wise,

I'LL 2ND THAT..

[Harpoon]

I hear Canada is always looking for a new resident! LOL

[Tony Cav]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

When it comes to some of the fisheries nothing could be further from the truth. Flounder was WAY over fished for way too many years when they were in small tight confined pockets , and the days of guys filling garbage cans and coolers def had a GIANT impact on them.

Too much greed on what everyone thinks they are entitled to on both sides of the fishing fence.

The IM going to get mine attitude alot of fisherman have today has def put more of a hurt on the fishery than we all want to believe.

sure a drag boat gets alot of fish in one haul, but 5000 boats fishing the same section of the coast , the numbers add up QUICK too.

Just think if every fisherman registered in NJ just caught one limit of bass , thats half a million bass
a limit of fluke a million and a quarter ,

and that can happen in 1 Day

Nice to hear a voice of reason to counter all the anti-commercial voices.

My Dutch and German ancestors have been in this country since 1640.....they were commercial and professional fisherman and market hunters in Long Island........I am not a commercial fisherman and am pro-conservation of our resources.

Too much regulation.....BAD!...Too little regulation....BAD! Somewhere there is a happy medium.

When you want to have lobster for dinner....who catches them? When you want clams, spearing, squid, crabs for bait....who catches them? When you feed your dog or cat or fertilize your lawn, when your wife buys make up, when you go to the sushi bar........

It is down right ignorant and short sighted to point the finger at the comms as solely responsible for the decimation of our fisheries.

As for conservation.........gotta have regulations.........reasonable, sensible, based on fact and fairy shared between all interests. AND that is not a simple as WE like to portray.

P.S.....Being pro-conservation does not mean "environmentalist"

[Kevin Bogan]

Originally Posted by O'Connor

Has anyone else noticed how difficult fishing has become? All of this stuff is more exhausting then work. Fuel prices, fish regs, intranets, secret tog crabs shipped in from Iceland, $1,000 spinning reels, 400 lb bluefins on push button zebcos, crowds, cheaters, fisherman that look like nascar drivers because they are "pro staff" everything, Same guys crying about commercials when they get paid to kill fish also??!! I feel bad for the guys in the business...my advice...for the young guys under 30, get the hell out! Don't be stupid! For the old salts...God help ya. It is an honest way to make a living, and it sucks the sport we love has become such a shit show from so many different angles. I love fishing, but it is getting harder to enjoy it without all the nonsense that goes along with it.


I long for the days of a night crawler, bobber and a cold beer.

I see what you are saying. There are loads of experts out there that have a different job, but on weekends they are expert fishermen. How often we bad mouth the commercial guys, and we have good examples of rod and reel guys breaking the laws. I was involved in Fluke fishery mangement when it first started. My recollection was it started at 14", I think it was 8 fish. What I remember clearly is how many guys said to me for the first few years, I had a few 14's on the boat, and after catching a few bigger fish, threw back the 14's. That's noble of them, but the fact is, the fish were already dead. <Many will deny this, but I have heard numerous times as well as other tackle shop and party/charter boat owners that I know.
Bunker said it best, "just look around". If they opened up every fishery and let you keep as many as you wanted, something else will take place, like fuel and gas costing twice the price, or insurance, or food. America is simply on it's last legs. I was fornuate enough to have grown up on party boats and see the best of most fisheries. Those days are gone, and unlikely to return. For anyone who says, "we can vote them out", that doesnt work, we have done that over several generations, and the BS continues.

[bunker dunker]

amen kevin,i to am glad i got to see the "good old days' and be part of a better way of life.