Originally Posted by
DarkSkies
Fin:
He tells me on a daily basis how they used to catch bass by the dozens, large, and in all year classes. Bluefish used to be so abundant they would fill 110Qt coolers with them to the point where people got sick of catching them. There was no idea out there that either bluefish or striped bass stock should be conserved. People used to fertilize their gardens with unwanted fish.
Then the stocks declined, slowly at first, until there was a noticable decline, and you were only catching fish in the "middle areas" (M&M theory). The edges of the M&M bowl were empty, and they instituted the moratorium.
He sees that same thing happening to the stocks today because people refuse to acknowledge that there is greater participation in fishing, more fish are being kept, and people are wasting plenty of large breeder fish just for the photo ops at the tackle shops.
He has seen wasted 40# bass that were left out in the sun, dumped into marina dumpsters. He may seem like he rants and raves a lot, but that's because he's passionate about these fish he loves to catch, and doesn't want to see history repeat itself. Pick his brain anytime ya want, he has the stats and figures to back it up!
As related by Finchaser:
Fishing before the moratorium:
"There were so many fish back then, it would take 3 or 4 days for one body of fish to pass by in the spring or fall. If you missed those, there would be another wave of fish right after that. That's why when people talk today about how they had fish for hours, it maks me shake my head. Fishing today is nothing like it used to be before the moratorium.
Fall run, 1980's:
A fall run back then was like a sustained fishing dream. Blitzes lasted for days, not 22 minutes. You could go fishing in the morning, catch some fish, go to work, come out on your lunch break, catch some more fish, go back to work, come home and eat dinner, and still go out to catch more fish, until your arms were really tired."
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