MEAT MEN of New Jersey

[Monty]

The averageangler blog posted this today.

But what this new regulation does is pin surf fishermen against boat fisherman, well there was always a divide, but now it will get ugly. In this age of social media, from blogs to fishing forums to fishing report pages, readers are able to see, almost in real time, who is catching when and where and how.

Charter boats and Party boats should be considered commercial fisherman.
I think these new regulations fall solidly short of what is needed. Hopefully get rid of that bonus tag.



"The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) recently mandated a 25% or better reduction by all coastal states on striped bass harvest beginning in 2015, with ASMFC technical committee members approving New Jersey's proposal of one striper at less than 43 and one striper at 43 or greater as meeting that 25% reduction goal"

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has no balls.

[clamchucker]

I agree. The charter boats will be the death of this fishery. The ones who are most disrespectful seem to be the ones in the raritan bay. I don't like to name names because I am not from that area. These Captains do a disservice to others out there by claiming the health of the striped bass. It is just not true.
Back in the 80's when striped bass came back most folks had stopped fishing for them regularly. Even at Island beach there wasn't much activity outside of the spring and fall migration. The fish weren't there and most stopped fishing for them. Instead we targeted flounder, fluke, blackfish, and bluefish to keep it interesting. It was very difficult to catch a striped bass during that time. You could go for weeks without catching one. The interest started up again when it was heralded that they were recovered. The outdoor writers started publicizing it. Some bait shops were struggling and it was seen as a way to increase business. It worked and folks started to show up at the beaches regularly again. This was a good thing. The thing that some fail to see is that we need to manage these fish better. The folks at the agencies need to listen more closely to actual fishermen across a broad spectrum. If this does not happen the population will crash again. I have lived through it and seen it. The watered down regulations just voted on are not enough.

[fishinmission78]

I agree. The charter boats will be the death of this fishery. The ones who are most disrespectful seem to be the ones in the raritan bay. I don't like to name names because I am not from that area. These Captains do a disservice to others out there by claiming the health of the striped bass. It is just not true.

X2. Also keep up the pressure on the meatmen thread. I keep fish to but those guys in that thread are just greedy pigs. No other way to describe them. Most of them are charter capts. I forgot who started it but thank you Sir. Also thanks for keeping it open, dark. I hope you never bow to pressure to close it. There has to be something under the freedom of speech act that protects that. I sure hope so. Keep up the good work guys.

[hookset]

And so begins the 2015 striper slaughter. who will be the winner and claim the most meat laid on deck for the season?

Miss Belmar
Sunday morning, it was a full on striper slaughter! We fished just north of our inlet and caught monster stripers up to 35 lbs on anything you threw at them from jigs, to crocs to shads. At times, there were 3-4 on at a time. We ended up with close to 60 keeper stripers with only a handful of throwbacks. Some went home with their limits and their bonus tag.
Interested in an extra keeper? Get your bonus tag here.

[hookedonbass]

And so begins the 2015 striper slaughter. who will be the winner and claim the most meat laid on deck for the season?

Maybe tagged fish? that guy always advertizes catching bonus limits.
Report from yesterday

"This afternoons open boat crew put a bonus limit on ice in no time with the biggest weighing 30 lbs. "

[Monty]

Fisher Price IV 4/25 Excellent AM/PM STRIPERS!!!

AM- Had the Ron Schwarz charter out this morning. Started off clamming this morning with the last of the out going tide. Managed to land 1 keeper and 5 shorts. Got a call and picked up the anchor and put out the plugs. Had non-stop action right away and for the next few hours. Ended the day with 20 keepers only keeping our legal limit of 12 and around 10 shorts. Big fish weighed 20 lbs.

PM- Ran our open boat trip this afternoon. Told the guys we were going to pick up where we left off. Set out the trolling gear and in just over an hour an a half had our limit of 12 fish in the boat. Decided to change gears and try chunking. Managed another 3 keepers and a few misses. Trolled one more fish before heading in. Ended the afternoon with 16 keepers only keeping our legal limit up to 22 lbs with only one short for the afternoon.

[robmedina]

saw this photo posted on another forum. I think this takes bragging to another level.

[fishinmission78]

Thats a waste of bluefish. By the time they got them back home they would have all been baked in the sun. Ruins the meat. Idiots.

[basshunter]

I don't know why they would not have stuck those bluefish in a cooler with ice and I agree it is a waste of fish.
I hear the northern bay meat guys have started up with the bonus limits. From yesterday a 3 man limit which includes bonus fish. These fish look all close to the same size. I guess the new regs are not in effect yet?

[surferman]

Check this out full bonus limit roman round charter boat

[fishinmission78]

I guess the new regs are not in effect yet?

I think we are still under the old regs for now. Never keep 3 fish at a time so im not sure. Not sure that matters to those guys though.

[clamchucker]

Yes that is correct. The new regulations don't take affect until May4.
http://pub.eregulations.com/doc/jfgr.../2015042102/#2

[surferman]

Kudos to the guys who started this. In the Cape May area you don't see lots of posts with bass stacked up on the docks too much. You know when they do that they are just beating their chests trying to get you to book a charter. I don't know if anyone else noticed but you have a few meatmen who stood out. Capt derek fisher price. Capt chad tagged fish. And that Capt Johnny bucktails. Since you guys started this thread things have changed. fisher price does not post pics of dead fish on the dock anymore. Neither does that guy tagged fish. In a way this thread has been responsible for modifying piggish social behavior. Maybe they are still killing their limit but some of these guys are not posting the slabs of meat on the dock anymore. And capt derek is not going online talking about how many bass there are.

Also something interesting. Some of these capts are now posting pics of grilled and broiled bluefish and saying how good they are and sharing recipes on the internet. Do you think they would be doing that if striper fishing were that great?
Thank guys and ds for letting this thread stand. You really made a difference!

[finchaser]

With the new regs and far less fish which is from past years gluttony. These so called pro's can't put a catch together with out large bunker schools with fish big enough to eat them committing suicde. One of the so called self proclaimed expert Captains was in the shop the other day inquiring about how to troll spoons on wire. A hero to zero in a year pretty pathetic if you ask me.

[plugcrazy]

Is the concentration of bunker schools different this year.
Or is it that these captains can only catch stripers in bunker blitzes. If true that's pretty embarrassing for them. You would think a good captain can catch fish with all kinds of tools and methods. Guess they really can't be heroes without thousands of bunker in front of them.

[basshunter]

What about those guys loading up on the tilefish?
I checked and found out tilefish grow something like less than a few inches a year after the first 4years.
They can live to be over 40 years old and the info I found says they do not migrate. so if guys keep fishing the same areas for them its easy to wipe them out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_northern_tilefish

Also this recent news thing I read that says they will be limiting the catch on future trips. Is it a good thing or is it overkill?
http://www.examiner.com/article/inpu...ish-management

This is a pic I found from a recent 6 pack tilefish trip. All these fish for 6 guys.
Shouldn't they qualify as meatmen as well? They had 10 fish over 30 lbs. and filled the dock with all these slabs.The Russian Roulette out of keyport. Great fishing trip? Or bunch of greedy pigs? what do you guys think?

[basshunter]

you have a few meatmen who stood out. Capt derek fisher price. Capt chad tagged fish. And that Capt Johnny bucktails. Since you guys started this thread things have changed. fisher price does not post pics of dead fish on the dock anymore. Neither does that guy tagged fish. In a way this thread has been responsible for modifying piggish social behavior. Maybe they are still killing their limit but some of these guys are not posting the slabs of meat on the dock anymore. And capt derek is not going online talking about how many bass there are.

You really made a difference!

Awesome I agree you don't see those pics that much lately. Good job!

[bababooey]

What about those guys loading up on the tilefish?
I checked and found out tilefish grow something like less than a few inches a year after the first 4years.
They can live to be over 40 years old and the info I found says they do not migrate. so if guys keep fishing the same areas for them its easy to wipe them out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_northern_tilefish

Also this recent news thing I read that says they will be limiting the catch on future trips. Is it a good thing or is it overkill?
http://www.examiner.com/article/inpu...ish-management

Great fishing trip? Or bunch of greedy pigs? what do you guys think?

I think as long as the regulations say they can keep all those fish it's no one's business what they do with the ones they catch. I agree they are slow growing but so are tog, which are highly regulated with several closed seasons. My .02

[jigfreak]

The only problem with that statement is that some goons use that as something to hide behind without taking personal responsibility. And that's my .02

[hookset]

_ouchebag of the week award goes to:

"Here is what I think : You can march ,write letter and picket all you want and it's not going to change a G-d damn thing .So I don't give two ***** of what they think as long as it's legal given a chance I am going to kill as many of them as I can .I pay the fare to go kill fish !!!! And if I am good at it and the Cpt.is good at finding them then slaughter it will be .**** THEM !!!!!!!! 5 fluke ? 15 seabass? 1 striper?**** THEM TWICE!!!!"