^ Thanks for your helpful thoughts.


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The surfer and jetty country.... I'll try to bring you more stories like this when I have time, feel free to comment whether you agree or disagree, and why.


I have a friend, who lives in jetty country in Monmouth County. He's a fanatic fisherman, dedicated surfer, and good family man. In between all that, he's found time over the years to devote a lot of his time to fishing access issues, and put political pressure on politicians to pay attention to surfers and fishermen.

He's mostly a C&R guy, catching fish for the thrill and the solace it gives him, out there in the middle of the night on the rockpiles.

20 years ago, he had nights on the jetties where he'd C&R up to 1000# of fish. Yes, people, that number is absolutely accurate, 1000 lbs.
When was the last time you or anyone else you know got into 1000lbs of fishing action from the NJ surf?

It was a true bonanza, and he was out there every chance he could, having a blast.

He knows those jetties like the back of his hand. Anyone who wanted to learn them would be lucky to have him as a guide. Not only does he know the jetties, he knows the fish behavior and food sources each one holds, as there used to be different feeding cycles during the year.

He can hop those rocks like a billy goat, and as a surfer, he knows when the fish are there because he's frequently swimming among them on his early morning surfing jaunts.

He's mentioned to me that he can't understand why the bass are NOW only in abundance at those jetties for a few short months in the spring and the fall. Each year that window gets smaller. Meanwhile, the jetties hold seabass, blackfish, porgies, small forage fish, and skates and eels throughout the year. They draw fish because there are clams, crabs, shrimp, mussels, small invertebrates, and every food type you could imagine to make fish happy.

Yet, a decreasing presence of striped bass.







Some of the things he said to me yesterday...

"Ya know, it's over...there are no more big fish or numbers of fish for us surf guys. We used to have the bass rolling around us when we were surfing, and that was only a few short years ago. Now, they might do that for a month or 2, and they're gone."

"Surf fishing at night used to be something really special. It was the one way to get out there, get away from the pressures of life, some solitude, get some nice bass, and have a sense of achievement as a surf fisherman. Now, it's a vast area of dead sea, with only a few rays of sunshine in between."

"Guys talk of blitzes for a few minutes, it's comical. We used to have all-night blitzes, which would sometimes go on into days, as the fish feasted on the trapped bait. I haven't seen that in years"

"I can't tell you how many times I am out there, night after night, hoping for a few fish. And I do catch fish, but sometimes I question why the heck I'm out there, with the little amount of fish around."





Thanks for your honesty.
No ego here, just a mature, experienced rock hopper looking at the decline of striped bass, and asking himself what factors brought the decline to this level. He knows how to catch fish, he's done it thousands of times before. Yet the equivalent of a marine buffet he's walking on every night, still can't draw enough fish so he can catch a few bass and have some fun.


Why? - possible answers
1. Migration patterns change. All the fish are offshore.
OK I'll buy that, but the jetties always held a few resident bass for almost every month of the year. Now they don't....no matter how you analyze it there are less fish available.

2. There are actually less bass around than a few years ago. The striped bass biomass is declining. This is partly because many who had the chance to hear about it, and make choices because they fish and catch every day, continue to take their daily limit of big breeders. They could excercise their option to take less fish, but they don't.