MEAT MEN of New Jersey

[basshunter]

well hookset you talked about these guys the lagrossa brothers they weighed in more fish yesterday. Whats up with that is there a tourney or something going on now?

LaGrossa, Chris	Bass	40″	27.35lbs	Pencil Popper
LaGrossa, Phil	Bass	45.5″	29.9lbs	Pencil Popper

[storminsteve]

^^ Maybe they know a lot of poor people.

[jigfreak]

basshunter tourney is on its all about the points.

[porgy75]

Thats a shame why do they have to kill so many big fish? Why can't they take pics and measurements for the biggest fish and use the same brand of tape measure. Wouldn't that work?

[scubanut]

Awesome day on da meat!!!!

[basshunter]

Another troll on board! Wow that is fantastic nutsinmouth i mean scuba nut.
Did you join just to show us your picts and flex your internet muscles or do you have anything to say about the striped bass. How come you photoshopped your face out of the pic if it was such an awesome day why do you have to hide?

[dogfish]

The guy has no boat shoes on, no boots, nothing. Just bare toes. basshunter you have it all wrong. This is not a guy who wants us to look at his bass he wants to show off his pretty toes.

[basshunter]

Welcome to stripers and anglers johnny bucktails. I would have to very strongly disagree with your statement.

I do not mean to disenfranchise a new member here but thought I would share my perspective.
I have been fishing for over 50 years. I remember when weakfish were so abundant in the Delaware bay you could catch a hundred a day. We used to launch out of fortescue and it was easy to fill a garbage bucket or large tote with weakfish because they were that plentiful.

It is the same thing for the striped bass. I fished before and after the moratorium. I still fish now. At one time because I am retired I could fish 5 or 6 days a week. I fish less now because of health reasons. I can usually catch my limit every time. After 50 years of fishing it becomes quite easy. If I were to keep my limit every time I would not feel right because of all the opportunities I have to go out fishing. Because of how we decimated the weakfish, I am careful to catch and release now. I try to teach my children and grandchildren the principles of conservation.
Don't get me wrong, we still eat fish, but are more thoughtful about when and where. I love eating bass and it is very healthy for you except for the belly part which is laden with PCBs.

As bucket said you as a father are some one who your son looks up to. If you have lived through lean times when there were no bass, surely you would want to pass that knowledge on down to your son and teach him that harvesting just what you can eat today as a family, is a good way to keep the bass around for tomorrow.
I say this not to get into an argument with you but perhaps thinking you have not been fishing for that long and do not realize how bad things were for bass fishermen in the 1980s.

A lot of folks want to blame the commercial fishermen. Those videos are all over the internet and I believe I have seen some of them here, the bass laying all over after being discarded from netters.
What most folks don't realize is that even with the abuses, the recreational sector kille more striped bass than the commercial sector today. This happens all up and down the coast at every stage of the migration.

I am sure that you realze that the reason you folks are doing so well on them up there now in the raritan bay is because they are staging to go up the Hudson. If they were not doing that you would hardly be catching any at all. The southern waters have not had much consistent action for my Capt friends who have been looking for them. The Chesapeake and Delaware migrations are done and the beaches all along the coast should be filled with stripers now but they are not.

The reason for this is many have been over harvested, and many by folks who say "life is too short to worry about what everyone else is doing."

By not teaching your son a little about conservation and a little about the past you are part of the crowd that is condemning us to repeat the sins of the past. I say this not to provoke argument with you but to perhaps hope that you were not aware of how bad things were, and in reality how limited the numbers of stripers are now.

I hope these words have not tuned you off. If you are not aware of what has been going on, I was hoping to enlighten you and the others here by sharing my personal experiences. I look forward to your contributions here.
I am more looking forward to the possibility that you as a father, will teach your son something about conservation before it is too late and we find ourselves in another moratorium.

Best of luck this year on the water, Captain.

scubanut what would you have to say to clamchuckers post?

[Monty]

scubanut what would you have to say to clamchuckers post?

Clamchucker's post is one of the best posts I have ever read in any forum on any fishing site.

[cowherder]

The guy has no boat shoes on, no boots, nothing. Just bare toes. basshunter you have it all wrong. This is not a guy who wants us to look at his bass he wants to show off his pretty toes.

haha roflmao! What a chicken little!

Clamchucker's post is one of the best posts I have ever read in any forum on any fishing site.

Yes monty I agree. Thank you for all the help and sage advice clamchucker you really do have a deep understanding of this. I could read your posts all day and have learned so much from them.

[storminsteve]

haha roflmao! What a chicken little!



Yes monty I agree. Thank you for all the help and sage advice clamchucker you really do have a deep understanding of this. I could read your posts all day and have learned so much from them.

cowherder BA-Zing! Good one! scubanut we would like to see more of your pretty pics, but next time please paint your toenails pink to match your level of bravery.
clamchucker thank you for the informative and knowledgable posts here. You and guys like finchaser have taught me so much thank you gentlemen.

[buckethead]

I thought the folks who came here to bash or justify taking every bass they can might have some comments on this. It is from colin the average anglers site .http://theaverageangler.blogspot.com
I think he makes some good points. There is no need to take a bonus tag bass. Take your limit of 2 bass I am fine with that. The bonus tag has got to go there are too many abuses and we are overharvesting because of it.



"I am not getting tree-huggy nor am I comparing fish to people. All I am saying is that I should know better than to think that I would see anything different than what I saw. Several striper trip boats coming in with boatloads of happy anglers carrying heavy, sometimes very heavy, coolers.

Boy do these fish get hammered, and harvested. Just think of the pressure they got down south, then up along New Jersey, staging in the Raritan Bay, the all haven't gone up the Hudson, then they come down, summer near the Cape, then come back through this again?

Moratorium, can you say moratorium boys? This fishery will shut down in a few years. There aren't many small fish. The big ones are still being taken no matter how many messages are sent out regarding protecting the breeding fish. Continue to take your two plus the bonus tags while you can.

This isn't a knock on just the head boats, but includes the small charter boats, the private boats, the kayakers, the surfcasters, the bait fisherman, the fly fisherman, everyone. It's the recreational fishery that's putting the big hurt on the striped bass. We, take three times more than the commercial fishery. That's not saying the infamous videos of dead striped bass last year in North Carolina isn't criminal. We need to just have a look in the mirror to figure out where the problem lies."

[jigfreak]

Moratorium, can you say moratorium boys? This fishery will shut down in a few years. There aren't many small fish. The big ones are still being taken no matter how many messages are sent out regarding protecting the breeding fish. Continue to take your two plus the bonus tags while you can.

This isn't a knock on just the head boats, but includes the small charter boats, the private boats, the kayakers, the surfcasters, the bait fisherman, the fly fisherman, everyone. It's the recreational fishery that's putting the big hurt on the striped bass. We, take three times more than the commercial fishery.

He speaks the truth but you're preaching to the choir buckethead. The ones that need to hear it most have blinders on. The ones who blame the head boats or use lame excuses like change the law if you don't like it. They don't realize that there is a time lag between what actually happens out there and what noaa will do in terms of taking action. I agree within 2 years there will be some kind of shutdown or restrictions. Hardly any small bass around anymore.

[basshunter]

Riddle me this batman - many of the pro capts are still out there banging bass. the meatman bucktails is focusing on fluke. Why would you be fluking when the cows are here?

[buckethead]

It seems when the going gets tough, the fluke fishermen go back to what they do best, fluking.
I hope this doesn't seem insensitive here. After all he is just a kid. The level of arrogance in his posts is a little disconcerting though. He has so much to learn at that young age. I am sincerely hoping that as he matures he will learn to understand the striper better and have a little more respect for the fishery. I think we all go through stages of arrogance and youthful exhuberance. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that as he gets older he will want to learn more instead of coming off like a veteran at the ripe old age of 17.

[SharkHart]

Even though I sense rethorical question - cause the pony played it's one trick, when they aren't schooled up in a designated area it is a different ball game.

I seen this same pattern before with Weakfish where the big fish kept getting bigger, on the surface it seems cool, but its like a bubble growing that eventually bursts.

Bunker fish used to be mostly 18-23 ish when this thing started now they are nearly all over 25lbs, with an avg about 27-30lbs.

Although though i have run into a fair amount of rats last 2 years, fish ranging 27 to 35" are the hardest to come across right now, I have three times the amount over that size then in that size this spring, cool but not cool!

[buckethead]

Although though i have run into a fair amount of rats last 2 years, fish ranging 27 to 35" are the hardest to come across right now, I have three times the amount over that size then in that size this spring, cool but not cool!

Agreed. There are huge gaps in numbers of fish that size. We would have more stability across the board if the fishery was not hurting. I have read it here where it is compared to a bowl of m&ms. Those who keep taking from the middle don't realize the bowl is shrinking. The lack of sheer numbers of sizes you quoted should sent out an alarm to fisheries managers. Fish that size are the prime breeders.

[clamchucker]

Clamchucker's post is one of the best posts I have ever read in any forum on any fishing site.

Yes monty I agree. Thank you for all the help and sage advice clamchucker you really do have a deep understanding of this. I could read your posts all day and have learned so much from them.

clamchucker thank you for the informative and knowledgable posts here. You and guys like finchaser have taught me so much thank you gentlemen.

Thank you all. I have seen the worst of it and don't want to see it repeated. Some have mentioned I was part of the problem. I will have to agree with that. Back in the 70's there was no value on saving fish. We took as many as we could because we did not know better
. Now, folks do know better but some are still behaving the same. I think it is because there are fishermen out there who really do not understand the big picture. You can try to explain and some will get it. Most will not because they cannot conceive of striper limits being changed or the fishery being shut down. They have not lived through it so it is a fantasy world of supposition to them. I cannot help those to understand something they are not willing to accept. The only way they will learn is when (note I said when and not if) the fishery is shut down. Raising awareness is admirable but I do not know if that is enough to save us from repeating the same mistakes.

[jigfreak]

If you don't like it, do something about it instead hiding behind your computer ranting and posting pics from Charters and Party boats here. Bunch of grown man acting like *******! LOL!!!

MEAT MAN IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You hyprocrite. I would love to run into you one day. LMAO!!!

run your mouth in person instead of hiding behind your computer. Put an end to all this drama.

I knew I had seen this style of posting before. Meatman unmasked, Jay Santiago or Jay from the other site.
Ain't it an ironic thing that someone who is most vocal about hypocrites hiding behind a computer - is the biggest one hiding behind his computer?

[DarkSkies]

** Jigfreak, one of the nicest things about this site, is that most of the members who join, want to be here.

If someone doesn't want to be here or contribute to this community, we don't want to burden them with membership priveleges either.
Banning someone isn't a decision I take lightly. I'm just helping those who aren't happy here, to find their path to go elsewhere.

However once someone is banned, they can no longer defend themselves. Therefore, I am asking all of you to refrain from bringing banned members back into the conversations, no matter how strong your feelings are about them. I have not had much spare time to devote to administering this site. I ask that you members continue to be on your best behavior.

This is a topic that will generate many strong opinions. I said I would allow it here, but please keep the posts, on topic. There are some valid points made on both sides. That's what you folks should try to continue doing, so I don't have to intervene.

Thank you.