captains charters and customers what are they saying

[jigfreak]

I think participation is down all over. If it wasn't for the bluefish a lot of guys would be out of business. Just read this today
"The lack of Boats and customers on the water makes it feel like October already."

[nitestrikes]

"Bass fishing is on a major decline the past 4-5 years and this year is the worst year by far.
Of course with effort and a little luck, you can run into some very good trips. But overall, the bass fishing has been terrible this year. Very spotty and very localized.
A 1-2 week bite at Montauk does not justify anything. That bite will be over in a week tops (already slowed down big time off the moon). Also, the lack of 10-25 pound fish, both in Montauk and in the Western South Shore is shocking and alarming. It is not normal for every tom **** and harry to go out and catch 40s and 50s, like it's nothing. The overall population is very unhealthy. PERIOD. I speak to long time captains + great bass fishermen in all areas of LI and the ENTIRE community agrees. Bass fishing is in trouble.
In my opinion, a slot limit of something like 1 fish @ 24"-28" per person is appropriate with nothing smaller or bigger allowed for at least 3 seasons. You can not allow it as is, because the majority of the fish falling right now are big breeder fish from 30-50+ pounds.


"People have different views of what's "average".
For instance, 5-10 keeper bass a tide is decent. 10-20 bass is good. 20-30 bass is very good, 30+ bass a tide is excellent.
Some people believe 2-3 fish is considered good, when in fact, it's horrible. The fishery, at least in the western LI sound is nowhere near where it used to be from 2001-2013. The peak was 2006-2010. Since then, there has been a steady decline.
Going out and catching 30 bass to 35+ pounds was normal (for those who know what to do). This year, I didn't even catch 30 bass the entire spring and I and my crew put in full effort. Last year was similar."



Just read these reports from the western sound. I fish there every may and june and I agree. There is usually a good bite in little neck bay. Then as the fish move west the locations change. You can at least find some fish. I have done very poorly there this year.

[rockhopper]

One of the BEST comments I have read on the net this year. X2!!!!


I'm old enough to retire & old enough to remember the mid 70's.

This whole discussion has gotten old and has been rehashed to the point of silliness. For my part, I never said there were no bass. I've merely used math to model the trends based on the available data. The data, the trends, the models, all say that the stocks are on the decline.
Not saying there aren't bass to be caught, just saying that the stocks are declining and because nature doesn't do linear, it's not as simple as a line on a graph, or a threshold switch. My main concern has always been the way the resource has been managed, which I will say without hesitation, is managed by idiots.

The annoying thing about these conversations is the limited scope and sample set that you guys use to justify your statements. You make arbitrary statements based on personal memory and selective data sources, like bucktails "comms fill their tags" statements.

Who cares if the comms fill their tags, they **** well should be able to. They could do it in the 80's also.
If you fish for a living, you should know how to catch fish otherwise you won't be in business very long. I never said there are no bass. There will always be bass to catch for those who know how to find them and are willing to put in the time.

So you still catch bass and as you stated, you maybe even enjoy the process more because you have to use your skills, or whatever the implication was. Who cares, it has nothing to do with the argument. If I still lived there, I could still catch bass, chase them up the island, beach / bite here, beach / bite there, inlet by inlet. So what, who cares, it would have nothing to do with the argument.

You guys wear your opinions like badges. You offer very little into the information pool on how to fish, or more specifically, what makes you guys such great fishermen, but as soon as somebody suggests that the fishing is not as good as it was, you ride in on your horses and tell them that they don't know what they are talking about. And the thing that I think everybody picks up on, and that rubs everybody sideways, is that your opinions (based mostly on personal observations and memories) are presented with a smugness that most find distasteful. It gets old fast.

So why not give everybody a break. If somebody makes a statement that there doesn't seem to be as many bass around (which is actually backed up by scientific data) then let them make their statement. Just do everybody a favor and let it pass. Use your superior fishing skills and go catch a bass, or something.
We've heard your opinions, many times, and honestly, nobody wants to hear them again.
Frankly, the arguing that goes on over these threads has basically ruined the quality of this discussion board. And that's sad, because this used to be a vibrant and interesting place.

Maybe you don't care, maybe having that kind of impact makes your **** hard, the whole passive aggressive thing, I just don't know.

What I do know is that if everybody engaged in these discussions would put equal energy into providing information and insight on fishing the surf into this board, then it could be an interesting place to be again.

How's that for a suggestion.

[buckethead]

^^^^^^ I agree with the above. Most of us who have been fishing and seen the last decline feel fairly confident that the same conditions exist nowadays. Actually it is easier for them to decline because modern technology and fishfinders make it easy to find fish even when they are not blitzing.
I was going to also say that more folks are fishing compared to the 80's moratorium. That has changed recently. Fishing has gotten so bad I hardly see crowds. Even in the ocean most of the boats you see will be drifting for fluke or going offshore. Have seen quite a few drift the bunker pods this year but they soon gave up after finding no bass underneath.

[BassBuddah]

capt gene of montauk sportfishing. I read his reports every week and def think he makes a lot of sense.

I read his reports as well. A true gentleman and one of the most honest Captains out there. . I have a few friends who have been doing well out in the rips. Usually first light and late afternoon has been good. his latest report July 20.

The striped bass fishing has slowed down from the crazy state it was in. There are still enough big fish around, but they are getting a little harder to catch. The big tubes and chutes are working as are the eels, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. One of the problems is the bluefish. Catch a couple of bass and then a couple of blues and they start chumming and pretty soon you can't fish that spot for stripers anymore.

[nitestrikes]

Agree about Capt Gene. One of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Class act.
Latest report from the Viking last night, pretty sad.
"Night Striped Bass
Captain Carl reports an unfortunate night of bass fishing, we didn't have any bites, not even a blue. It was a dead night."

[hookset]

My vote for idiot of the year

Capt Sal Curci
"I believe our striper fishery is healthy and this run proves how many bass are around. Bass are rolling on top and are visible to the naked eye.Not only is Raritan Bay on fire but the ocean run is very good also.If there is no bait there are no stripers. It is that simple. I still believe in conservation and think it is a good thing to keep a smaller slot fish. It should be in the limit not by bonus tag. From Long Island the Hudson River to the west end of Raritan Bay to Asbury Park there are Bass."


Hey Capt if the raritan bay is on fire how come most of the numbers came from guys trolling. A technique used when the fish aren't stacked. Fish to asbury park? How come the belmar boats are still going out to the mud hole and sea girt reef fishing for bluefish if the fish are stacked to asbury park? What a clueless idiot!

[hookedonbass]

can't get guys out there unless they are bailing fish all over the place. You have to exaggerate. Then you will finally have 300 guys fishing and 20 will catch.

"Just beat on the STRIPERS today. People had 8 to 10 fish a piece but they had to release some. We had four fish between 40 to 50 lbs. each. There were many limits including bonus fish. It was crazy fishing".

"We fished south of our inlet this morning and it was a FULL ON STRIPER SLAUGHTER ALL DAY LONG! We caught all big stripers with only a couple throwbacks. Some customers caught over 10 fish, only keeping what's allowed. We also read them 40' thick at times. All were caught on crocs, shads and gold 47's. The stripers were up to 45 lbs and many of them were at least 25 lbs or bigger. If you've been waiting to catch the stripers like we have, now is the time! Get out and catch them while the weather is good! Interested in an extra keeper? Get your bonus tag here."


Does exaggeration also include captains on the party boats?
2 reports from yesterday-This pic was posted with the 2nd report. Does it look like there was 45pound stripers in the pic? What do you guys think? thanks

[seamonkey]

"The stripers were up to 45 lbs and many of them were at least 25 lbs or bigger. If you've been waiting to catch the stripers like we have, now is the time! Get out and catch them while the weather is good! Interested in an extra keeper? Get your bonus tag here. "


Does exaggeration also include captains on the party boats?
2 reports from yesterday-This pic was posted with the 2nd report. Does it look like there was 45pound stripers in the pic? What do you guys think? thanks

The recent Striped Bass bite has been EPIC in our area and we have mixed schools of Bass in our area. You can literally go out there and catch a 40-in fish on one cast, and a 25-inch fish on the next.. Since we need to respect this natural resource, I highly recommend only keeping what you will eat, and get a quick pic and release those fish over 40 inches as they are most likely our breeding females. I do have a few tags left for fish in the 24 to 28 inch lengths - Personally these are the best-tasting ones.
Recently, I had a charter with a telecommunications group on a 5hr Striped Bass trip, we only needed about an hour and a half. We had our 4 man limit by 9am, and released another 14 fish with our 2 biggest at 37 inches.


I saw the same exaggeration. The report above was posted today in LBI by a charter boat.
The charter captain is talking about how great the fishing and measuring his biggest fish in inches instead of pounds. That means that most of the fish they caught were small. The ones they released were small if you read between the lines. 4 guys catch 18 fish and it's EPIC?

[clamchucker]

You have to remember that some of these captains are young and newer to striped bass fishing. They have a perspective of 10 years or less.

Folks are different than they used to be. Many want a guarantee and don't realize there are no guarantees for a good day on the water. Captains also have to talk up the catches to get folks out there.

[buckethead]

A lot of the charter captains are fly by nights. Anyone remember the renegade and how popular they were a few years ago? They even named a plug after them, the RTW plug. Where are they now?

[fishinmission78]

Renegade sportfishing the one season wonder. Sure I remember them they took polish shads plugs that you could buy for $10, put their logo on them and started selling them for $25. rofl. Totally disappeared. The website got taken over by a guy posting freshwater fishing advice. Anyone can call themself a captain just go out and get a 6 pack licence.

[storminsteve]

When a guy sells a plug that you can purchase at $10, at $25 and with all the hoopla he created you have to give him some credit. Better than PT barnum! Sucker born every minute. He can't help it if boat guys are so desperate to catch they will believe anything. Kudos to him for exploiting the mindless lemmings.
Anything close to good surf fishing I have seen lately has been blasted apart by the boats jockeying for position. We think beach muggings are harsh. The boats mug each other without apology every weekend. I have seen some crazies at sandy hook coming so close on the drift they actually got stuck on the sand there! Some of these guys I think they're lucky they passed their motor vehicle drivers test let alone a boat license. Half of the ones I have seen in close this year don't even know how to work a bunker school. rant over, sorry guys.

[finchaser]

Renegade sportfishing the one season wonder. Sure I remember them they took polish shads plugs that you could buy for $10, put their logo on them and started selling them for $25. rofl. Totally disappeared. The website got taken over by a guy posting freshwater fishing advice. Anyone can call themself a captain just go out and get a 6 pack licence.

Mike moved away

[fishinmission78]

OK thanks for the info did not know that.

[williehookem]

I was following a discussion between 2 gentlemen on a forum page. The last thing posted was pretty interesting to me because it seems a lot of gents think the stripers are strong. The south shore was great this year, if you fished demo to breezy. A lot of my buddies who fished montauk every week had poor results. I agree with the statement below-

"we are going to have to agree to disagree then. what saddens me is when someone makes statements or claims like you have made here, there is not much factual evidence to back them up and other fishermen would tend to believe that you may have made some accurate points here. and then they think that the striper population is in fair shape, and there is no danger here.
anyone who wants to learn, look at recent articles by Captain John McMurray. your argument that the fish have simply shifted movement offshore does not hold water.fish have always moved offshore. And when there were more of them the overflow reached out to many areas where they cannot currently be caught. I can name you at least 25 areas along the striper coast that do not hold consistent amounts of fish anymore, particularly smaller resident fish.

some of the conditions we are experiencing now, great abundance in certain areas and extreme lack of fish in many other areas, such as Montauk, R strikingly similar to the conditions that existed right Pre-moratorium in the 80's.

the best way to learn in my opinion is to get out there and talk to guys in their sixties and seventies, who remember what it used to be like and will gladly draw parallels as to how things are now. I used to be able to catch fish at night in great numbers away from the crowds.some of the newer anglers out there, may not remember that or the days when we had blitzes of fish not only for minutes or hours at a time but for weeks at a time.

I am sorry that you seem so convinced in your convictions. I really wish you would spend more time on the water, do some research and see that some of what you said is inaccurate, and possibly try to teach the younger anglers out there what is happening with the striped bass population. Block Island fishing, by anyone who has gone there regularly, was very poor this year. the MA canal bite, while good in the canal, has indicated concentrations of fish as I mentioned previously, with many areas of the Long Island Sound being devoid of a good bite unless you could get in the middle of Bunker schools at night.

I personally Know some friends who were fishing Fisher Island this fall and Phenomenally well. there was also a fantastic shore bite in the Hudson River where guys were catching fish 2 40 pounds every night for a three week Stretch. none of that indicates a healthy fishery, because the folks were doing that simply managed to put themselves in the middle of great schools of bunker and bait fish.

what is most disturbing is that the edge areas that held fish every year, consistently and in patterns, as part of a migration, do not hold fish consistently anymore.

if you or anyone else wants to learn more, do a Google search for "Yearly coastwide fish assessment, state of the fishery"

I am hoping that you will be able to get out and fish more times per week, meet some old timers, and get a better picture to counter some of what you believe. Thank you for all the good work you do tagging, and best wishes to you and your family for a happy holiday season. Jack"

[dogfish]

your argument that the fish have simply shifted movement offshore does not hold water.fish have always moved offshore. And when there were more of them the overflow reached out to many areas where they cannot currently be caught. I can name you at least 25 areas along the striper coast that do not hold consistent amounts of fish anymore, particularly smaller resident fish.

some of the conditions we are experiencing now, great abundance in certain areas and extreme lack of fish in many other areas, such as Montauk, R strikingly similar to the conditions that existed right Pre-moratorium in the 80's.

the best way to learn in my opinion is to get out there and talk to guys in their sixties and seventies, who remember what it used to be like and will gladly draw parallels as to how things are now. I used to be able to catch fish at night in great numbers away from the crowds.some of the newer anglers out there, may not remember that or the days when we had blitzes of fish not only for minutes or hours at a time but for weeks at a time.

I am sorry that you seem so convinced in your convictions. I really wish you would spend more time on the water, do some research and see that some of what you said is inaccurate, and possibly try to teach the younger anglers out there what is happening with the striped bass population. Block Island fishing, by anyone who has gone there regularly, was very poor this year. the MA canal bite, while good in the canal, has indicated concentrations of fish as I mentioned previously, with many areas of the Long Island Sound being devoid of a good bite unless you could get in the middle of Bunker schools at night.

what is most disturbing is that the edge areas that held fish every year, consistently and in patterns, as part of a migration, do not hold fish consistently anymore.

if you or anyone else wants to learn more, do a Google search for "Yearly coastwide fish assessment, state of the fishery"

I am hoping that you will be able to get out and fish more times per week, meet some old timers, and get a better picture to counter some of what you believe. Thank you for all the good work you do tagging, and best wishes to you and your family for a happy holiday season. Jack"

I searched to find the source of that quote. The gentleman id'd himself as Jack Bass. I recall his posts here a few years ago. From my state of Mass. Another fellow basshole.
well-said Jack, and well put. My fishing has been good only because I got a kayak. In MA we had a good run in the canal but the outer beaches did not hold a lot of fish during prime time. I got tired of running all over. In the past few years I have been able to get fish in some of the bays and harbors hear the islands. The nights of running to the Cape throughout the summer for a night of catching fish after fish are long gone.

[plugcrazy]

I remember him too, part of the stripercoast surfcasters group I think. I might not have as much experience as some of you guys here but a definite #2 on this. Good points made. I fish from cape may to island beach. This year has not been that great for my local beaches and have had to make the run up to island beach last week to try to get some numbers.

[hookedonbass]

Report I read from today manasquan area. guess not every boat is actually crushing the stripers ROFL. I would like to thank this Captain for his honesty.

Today, 05:14 AM
"We went out from MI and searched all the way down to Ship Bottom. Not a single bunker to be found. I was picking up a ton of marks just south of BI but they weren't touching anything. Pretty disappointing to say the least."

[williehookem]

Captains report from Captree

"Outgoing*

53 degrees

eels

only rats and outside

notta touch inside
I guess a few rats are better than no rats at all"