captains charters and customers what are they saying

[DarkSkies]

Professional and Charter Capts find fish for a living. They have to find fish for clients, or they starve.
They also have to drum up business by bringing a steady stream of clients....clients are not inclined to book a charter if the captain tells them fishing is terrible...


So what's a Capt to do when the fishing is poor, and a potential client wants to book?
Many Capts appreciate the value of future business and will say so, outright.

Some know that they need the revenue, and will be more diplomatic. I want folks here to understand that you can't blame them for that.... but at the same time, you have to learn to read between the lines in a Capt's or boat's internet site reports....

[DarkSkies]

I thought it might be interesting here to see what the folks who fish every day for a living, are catching or not catching. Please remember if you post a report showing a Capt being candid that these guy work hard for every fish they catch.

There are some days where ya just can't find a fish.
This thread was not intended to single any one capt out, as I have tremendous respect for the hard work they do. However, there are some leaders of Fishermen Groups (groups that purport to represent all fishermen) out there who claim that fishing has not suffered or that fishing is better than ever, or that striped bass catches have not declined.....I think we need to counter these irresponsible statements with a real dose of what is happening out there, on a daily basis....

I think when a captain makes a comment about the state of the fishery, from his professional perspective based on his logs and catches, it's important for the folks out there to see this, in aggregate.

Statistical analysis might be a more accurate tool for this, but most folks don't want to read statistical analysis...they want to read first-hand accounts of how the fishing is....so this is the best vehicle I could come up with for presenting any stories you might have to share....


So thanks for your input in this thread, folks, and please give credit to the captains who made the reports. Remember that every one of these guys tries his very best to get clients into fish, and there are some good days, and bad days, out there...

[DarkSkies]

**** Robin report, sent in by Finchaser, thanks....

www.cockrobin.com

Hit the **** Robin today. Hadn't fished with these guys in a long time but still felt like a home away from home. We sailed with a good group of regulars and novices alike. We didn't bother looking up the beach as reports as of late have been very poor. Headed straight out east for the slammers. First drop produced a good jig bite which eventually turned to a bait bite. After it died, Capt. Jim repositioned us and we had decent bait fishing until we left. Overall, we had good to very good bluefishing.

[fishinmission78]

This guy threw everything but the kitchen sink. My logs show last year we were crushing them from MI to BI in mid october.


Left MI around 7 am this morn. Birds milling around the inlet so started the troll north right aways instead of running north to deal and rocks. MARKS down 30 feet. Trolled to the convention center. Trolled wire. Threw out the spoons, mullet rigs, tube umbrellas, etc..... snotty out. Wind couldn't make up its mind until noon when went hard west.
Trolled back and past MI. YELLOW EYES then tore up my mullet rigs. Brought them in quicklyand threw on b. Spoons again hoping to find the bass hiding under them.. NOTHING. just around noon about two miles south of MI THE BUNKER CAME UP. JIGGED AND ONLY BLUES. wasnt marking on bottom. Oh well. Still a great day with close friends.

[DarkSkies]

Some of this I may eventually reference in the StripersAndAnglers state of the Fishery thread......
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...of-the-fishery


A member called me today. This is a fisherman who has decades of experience and has fished for bass for many years before the moratorium and still fishes when he can get out there........He has a good friend who is a Cape May Charter Capt....I'm paraphrasing here, what his Capt friend told him about the 2013 Striper run in the Delaware Bay......





"The 2013 bass run in the Delaware Bay has been the worst Spring fishery in all the years I have been fishing that bay.
The bass just were not there in numbers. Some have blamed the cold weather and the winds which made fishing difficult. There has been some good fishing above the Commodore Barry. As for the lower bay it has been terrible.
We have had to entice our clients who normally want to bass fish, with wreck fishing trips, or we would have had no income. "

[hookset]

^^^ Nice to hear some honesty out there.

[buckethead]

Yes very nice there are capts in the rb saying the bass run is the best ever. Ask them how many bass there are and they will say more than ever. A lot of them can't think beyond this week. They forget that everything is later this year because of sandy, the colder winter and the longer time it took the bay to heat up. The fish are fattening up before the long trip up the hudson and could be gone in a day or a week. Then when there are no sustained spring blitzes for weeks like years past maybe the reality will sink in.
It's like what we use to call being ******-rich. Pardon the term I don't mean anything bad by it. When someone has no money they complain about being poor all the time. Then they hit the lottery and win 25,000. They go on a wild spending spree because they forgot what having no money was like. When the good times are over they are back to whining again. I think a lot of folks look at the striped bass this way. Pary now. Get while the getting is good. I call those types golfers because it's just a game to them. I agree with you hookset. It is good to run across the few capts that are completely honest even to a fault. Many will not allow their name to be associated with a statement like the one your friend made for fear of further regs on the fishery.