captains charters and customers what are they saying

[strikezone31]

Capt Jeff of Second Choice Charters. He is also author of the book "Caught- Montauk Capt" not sure of exact title.

"We got in on the same bight everyone else did. It is true: all fish were between 32 and 42 pounds. Everyone caught. EVERYONE! It was lock and load, We caught over 50 fish for sure, maybe more.

These are facts: in 79 when they had blitz like this but rec boats often kept them all, came in with 20 fish each. That is not happening now, for the most part. 2) The only thing that prevent a massive kill off was water temps being low, at 65. If the temp was 70. Most fish would have died, not having the strength to get back down to the bottom in the massive 4 knot current. Most people also do not know how to release fish.

While fishing is great , here , now..Still we should not celebrate too much: the commercial guys cant get a slot fish (under 36 inches) to save their lives out here. For me the canary in the cold mine, has always been Montauk Harbor in early June you usually here small bass crashing bait. The last two years the bait was there but no Bass, no splashes eerie!!"

[buckethead]

^^^^^ for Jeff Nichols.

[stripercrazy]

Def a good way to go. kudos!

[DarkSkies]

**This is the first time in years, that I can remember some Montauk Capts recommending their fares to only keep one each. This is extremely significant.

Montauk Capts are tough as nails. I have made friends with some Capts over the years. In my experience, they don't like to say something if they feel it will hurt their business,. and I don't blame them. For some Capts now to be publically stating on the internet and their websites, that they are encouraging less bass to be kept on each trip, could have the effect of turning business away from them to someone else,,,,,and yet you still have a few Capts doing it.......
This is a clear and compelling indication, of how much the level of activity, and robustness of the bass fishing, has sunk....even in Montauk....the famed Bass and Sportfishing Capital of the World.....

For Capts to take a financial risk of less business, and encourage fares to take less, is to be commended. These Capts have nothing to gain by stating what they are seeing, yet they are stating it anyway.
They see it clearly in reduced catches., particularly over the last 5 years. The most seasoned Capts know this. They may not be willing to talk about it on the internet, but the Capts I know, are most willing to talk about it when they get together to compare notes about the fishing......

Please let's try to post some of their reports, and see if we can give them some publicity. Some fares will not consider ever chartering a boat where a Capt is encouraging that.

It really does speak to how inconsistent the bass fishing has become, even at Montauk.

[cowherder]

Good deal this is great news. At least some one is trying to do something.

[dogfish]

http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/07/10...204d829cf5&r=1

Commercial Striper Season Off to Slow Start

• Mark Alan Lovewell
• Thursday, July 10, 2014 - 11:40am
  5 Comments
  Striped bass fishing is off to a slow start this year, with many fishermen reporting a poor catch early in the season.
  
  The commercial fishery opened June 23. New rules are in place for commercial striped bass fishing this year, with lower daily bag limits and restrictions on the number of fishing days.
  But lower limits appear to be a non-issue this year, at least in waters around the Vineyard.
  
  "Striped bass fishing has been really horrible," said Buddy Vanderhoop, a veteran Aquinnah charter fisherman who runs Tomahawk Charters out of Menemsha. "I only caught 25 keepers all season. I usually do that in a day."
  Scott McDowell of North Shore Charters out of Menemsha echoed the sentiment, calling it the hardest start in his 24 years of running charters.
  
  "Fishing is abysmal," he said. "This is the worst. And last year was bad."
  
  Early numbers from state fisheries managers confirm the news. Dan McKiernan, deputy director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, reported this week that so far this year fishermen have landed 96,274 pounds of fish, roughly eight per cent of the 1,155,100-pound state quota. Mr. McKiernan said fishermen are landing about 30,000 pounds a day. Many of the fish are being landed off Provincetown and in Cape Cod Bay. He said he is hearing from fishermen out of Chatham that the season is starting late because of the cold winter. "We know that a lot of the migration of other species were delayed by half a month," he said. "We hope that the striped bass are late."
  
  Mr. McDowell had another view.
  "Everyone is saying water temperature. They have to blame something other than overfishing," he said.
  
  In March of this year the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission lowered the daily bag limit for commercial striped bass from 30 to 15 fish per fisherman. Rod and reel permits are limited to two per day. The number of fishing days was also cut from four to two per week. Striped bass may be harvested commercially on Mondays and Thursdays. The minimum size for commercial fishermen is 34 inches.
  
  The recreational fishery, which allows two fish per day and a minimum size of 28 inches, is unchanged.
  The new rules for commercial fishing are intended to extend the season.
  Beyond the cold water, there are other theories as to why the striper fishing is slow. Jeffrey Canha, a Vineyard Haven charter fisherman who operates Done Deal Charters, said he believes the fish are bypassing the Vineyard.
  "It looks like the Hudson River fish [that spawn in the Hudson River] passed by the Vineyard, went through Buzzards Bay and into Cape Cod Bay," he said. He is hopeful that fish coming from the Chesapeake Bay are starting to move in.
  Nevertheless, he agreed striped bass fishing has been poor. "I made 200 drifts from Makonikey to as far east as West Chop and nothing," he said of a recent trip.
  
  Phil Cronin of West Tisbury who operates Capawock Charters, a light tackle flyfishing charter business, had his own similar story.
  "In June the waters are usually loaded with bass, everywhere you go," Mr. Cronin said. "I went out one morning at 6 a.m. in June. I started on the north shore and hit the regular spots, the Brickyard, Cape Higgon, Cedar Tree Neck and there was nothing. I went on my merry way. I went to Devil's Bridge [off the Gay Head Cliffs] on a falling tide, and there were no birds, no fish. Then I stopped at Sandy's [off Philbin Beach] and went to Squibnocket. I went to Noman?s Land, front side, and back side. I went farther out. I went to the Southwest Ledge, five miles south of Noman's Land, to Southwest Shoal. It was an exploration. I got back [at 3 p.m.] without seeing one striped bass. I did see bluefish."
• Mr. McDowell said a few stripers are being caught off West Chop. Alec Gale at the Menemsha Fish House said he is buying some striped bass from local fishermen, but not many. "It is not the best season in the world. We are getting some," he said.

[BassBuddah]

November Rain charter report


Fishing in Montauk continues to be good, with consistent bass, fluke and bottom fishing. Granted, some days are better than others, but overall, we've seen some excellent fishing. Most of our bass have been caught on eels, but the boats fishing with wire are just as productive.

Fish in the 30+ pound class are the norm these days. That said, let's not be greedy and take our limit of bass just for the sake of saying "we had our limit".
While it's great to show off some big fish, unless you really, really have a home for them, please consider not taking your 12 or 10 or even 8 bass if you book a trip.

At 30-40 pounds, one fish can easily feed 6 or 8 people. At the end of the day, it's the charter's call on whether they take their limit and most captains won't tell you otherwise. However, I personally ask all of my customers to think twice about how much meat they really want. In most instances, a few fish is more than sufficient. Let's fish wisely, or one day there won't be any bass left for any of us.

Capt. Jill

[DarkSkies]

I generally don't post specific names and exact posts from other sites and have encouraged you folks to leave that info out as well in case someone would object.
However, under DCMA and content laws I claim all my content posted here or on other sites. I believe there is also some leeway in quoting others as long as the source of the quote is referenced.

The following is from a BassBarn thread, where I duplicated my posts and will be copying some of the posts of members here in support of various arguments in case they should somehow disappear later.

Any contributing member here, who has an issue with me posting their posts here on another site, please let me know. Thanks for all the support and all you have given to this thread over the years, people......

(Please refrain from commenting on specific BassBarn posts unless that referenced quote is from a member here as well.
Thanks!)








**************************
2 very respected Capts in this forum seem to have the same opinion......

Capt Paul Goins:
http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/18-...rong-ever.html

3. Once again, the striper biomass doesn't need saving. It's as strong as ever. SAVE THE WEAKFISH!

Capt Derek Fisher Price:
http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/18-...ng-ever-5.html

there are more striped bass around than ever.

[DarkSkies]

I was going to try to post these in chronological order, but this thread about he 2014 rockfish shootout caught my eye....

Started by Mr No Mojo! How ironic.
http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/5-s...shoot-out.html



I'll just post a few of the comments....Barn members feel free to look at this as but one example......Yessir the bass population is very strong. There are more bass around than ever!

These are your fellow Barner Capts,....... your peers... making these comments, folks.....
1. .is it possible they are all delusional?
2. or it possible they are honestly discussing what they are noticing?

One weigh in last year and none this year. Tough times ahead for the bass?

Greg, pretty amazing. We had our finger on the trigger waiting and waiting to make the trip but with the reports we were getting we bagged it. Two years in a row very interesting and not just luck in my mind, something is changing.

Those that do not believe bass are in trouble are lying to themselves.

The runs are being affected everywhere. Check out this video

http://vimeo.com/42129694

I agree with Supafly.
It's easy to look at the periods of hot action like off Fire Island this year(where party boats just slaughtered big fish by the 1000's),
but in the grand scheme of things these fish are just not around in numbers like they were. I have seen more and more sand eels every year, and weakfish catches are increasing significantly. Two things bass love to eat... It's been a slow decline for years now and I think it's coming to a head.

1. "They are offshore,
2. their migration route changed,
3. water temps are off" All that is just kicking the can down the road.
Just my opinion on an internet forum

OnTheBanks, I have been saying that for years. I agree, Capt.
The "offfshore migration" argument is not valid because there was a certain % of bass that ALWAYS migrated offshore, and another % that migrated inshore. What sometimes changes that is the available food. There have been plenty of times in the last 2 years that we have had acres of bunker from Island Beach to Sandy Hook, Spring or fall, with few or no bass on them.

Bunker are among the easiest prey for striped bass to eat - if striped bass numbers were truly strong there would be a lot less happy bunker pods inshore.

I have fished Virginia Beach in January for the last 8 years. 3 days of fishing has always yielded 85 to 225 stripers from 10 to 55 pounds. This year we got 1 fish on the last day. What does that tell you?

I bottom fish in the fall in this popular summer time spot bout 15 miles out of south jersey and every year there has been loads of giant striper and bluefish schools out there,but also used to be good fish inside too.
I have changed my feelings after som research and my records that the fish didn't change patterns to outside the 3mile zone they are always there but less fish so the inshore has suffered.

Thank you for the honesty Pelagicfish64.
There's nothing wrong with having an opinion, Capt... or even one that differs from others, That's America.
IMO the real measure of a mature man, is having the willingness to change his opinion when he finds out that what others are seeing, may be more accurate, than what he believes.

Everyone keeps saying
1. theyre offshore. They keep reading and hearing this but its not true.
2. Theyre was a small body of fish offshore of va but nothing crazy.
3. Theyre was also a small body of fish inside the chesapeake but very small.
4. The last two years were very evident that the stocks are hurting.
5. Every year it keeps getting worse and this year was really bad down theyre.
6. Got a bad feeling we are in for a cycle of bad fishing til this next good spawning year grows.

Lucky Stripes it took a lot of balls to say that. I completely agree Capt.
Thank you Sir.

[dogfish]

Sounds like you have some really obtuse Captains down your way Rich. Even the Commercial guys had trouble finding fish when the season began. No one here is saying there are more striped bass around than ever. If they did they would get laughed off the dock. I don't know how you put up with it.

[ledhead36]

X2 what dogfish said. I would put your knowledge up against any internet capt. You found tapeworms for us one spring when we couldn't and love bait so much you ate that clam soaked sandwich that time. Don't pay attention to these losers. Striped bass used to be all over. Keyport, Union Beach, the mud flats by the raritan river in back of the go go bar all held bass all summer. I hope people don't think this is spot burning because there are no fish there now you can check.
You got some real street cred in the RB, Rich, just like Swiss and Davey.
Oh - you do smell a bit rank sometimes in case anyone is wonderring about the rumors theyre true. Just trying to keep it real, brother.

[DarkSkies]

1. You found tapeworms for us one spring when we couldn't and
2. love bait so much you ate that clam soaked sandwich that time. Don't pay attention to these losers.
You got some real street cred in the RB, Rich, just like Swiss and Davey.
3. Oh - you do smell a bit rank sometimes in case anyone is wonderring about the rumors theyre true. Just trying to keep it real, brother.

Thanks so much for the love, bro....
I'm trying to reinvent myself and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
When I put my resume together I'll be sure to mention these 3 specific things. Surely they'll guarantee they hire me!
Thanks as always for the kind words and the ball busting led.

[williehookem]

Capt Gene sept 22 report not many stripers yet
Striped bass are finally getting ng into shape with more of the charterboats bringing back full loads. The key is getting through the bluefish which are also plentiful.

But so far there has been no sign of the real fall run with birds all over the place on top of bass getting fat.

That also applies to the falsies. They’re here but it isn’t the wild scene of past years. Mid-day Sunday I took a drive around the Point and saw a bunch of the light tackle boats hanging out under the Light. But no birds and none of them were maneuvering around trying to get a cast to some fish – just hanging out, waiting for something to happen.

[lostatsea]

Reported by the average angler today-

" Yes there's a catch of bass here and there but it is really scary slow out there. I talked to my buddy who guides in Montauk and he said the albie bite is still hot but the bass haven't showed as of yet. It really is sad that we haven't seen a consistent arrival of bass as of September and now October when a fish or two a day is usually the norm. "

[plugginpete]

from today

ERI to JI where are the fish????
Ok finally had a fishable day. Was at it just after High tide with water cooling down to 63/64 degrees. Got outside and trolled spoons and a deep diver from West of ERI all the way to Jones from 50-30 feet of water, with just one knockdown. There was bunker everywhere along with a few whales spread out around ERI. Radio chatter suggested everyone else was doing the same whether trolling, chunking or live-lining. There were a few bass around early supposedly but most people had nothing going on. Couldn't even find any birds working. I'm starting to get worried whether these fish will ever show up in decent numbers I would think we should be in the thick of it by now as we just passed the october full moon

[Monty]

from today

ERI to JI where are the fish????
Ok finally had a fishable day. Was at it just after High tide with water cooling down to 63/64 degrees. Got outside and trolled spoons and a deep diver from West of ERI all the way to Jones from 50-30 feet of water, with just one knockdown. There was bunker everywhere along with a few whales spread out around ERI. Radio chatter suggested everyone else was doing the same whether trolling, chunking or live-lining. There were a few bass around early supposedly but most people had nothing going on. Couldn't even find any birds working. I'm starting to get worried whether these fish will ever show up in decent numbers I would think we should be in the thick of it by now as we just passed the october full moon

Hard to show up if they are dead

[porgy75]

This was the Jamaica report from Fri Nov 8 Capt Bogan-
"Friday was a tough day. We read plenty of stripers but they did not want to bite."


Maybe this sounds stupid. I just wanted to know if there are a lot of stripers around and a big boat like the Jamaica is fishing for them with lots of bait,bunker, clams or jigs that make it look like a big school of bait in the water, how come they are not catching? Thanks

[rockhopper]

Report from Jones I read. I hope it's not over.

Went out for a three hour tour today, trolling spoons and deep divers. Bunker are gone seems like the bass went with them. Only huge blues to 34 inches caught. Not bad for sesame style bluefish but bass would be better . Hopefully the sand eels will show up before the next body of bass do or they will pass right by now that the bunker are gone

[rockhopper]

Karen Ann today. this has me worried these guys always catch big fish. Time for the death rats already?

Another good shot at blues and bass fishing all sight casting and jigging. Keeper ratio probably 10 to 1 on the bass, trying to cull out keepers in the mix.

[nitestrikes]

Same for no time charters. out of SB. 60 bass and only 4 keeper size. Looks like we may be seeing mostly small fish from now on.

"SATURDAY WE HAD GABE AND THE BOYS OUT FOR A BASS EXCURSION. WE HAD NON STOP ACTION FROM BEGINNING TO END. UNFORTUNATELY A BODY OF SMALLER FISH MOVED IN AND WE ONLY MANAGED 4 KEEPERS WITH OVER 60 SHORT FISH RELEASED!"