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.