Summer Flounder proposals for 2010

[Noworries2009]

Thanks for all that you do Mr. Bogan 

[Capt -Jerry P]

18" option

Size limit is already on the breaking point of being to large. like others said you rarely get it back when it comes to size retrictions!!! look at ny.

[CaptTB]

Let me just add that I COMPLETELY understand the desire for the longest season possible! Fact is that it is tough to make money with restrictive bag an size limits, but it is impossible to make money in a given fishery if it is CLOSED!

I get it, believe me I do. However, if we can work the Sea Bass season to be open later in Sept., and the Fluke boats can "survive" with a season that encompasses Memorial day to Labor Day, we might (I say might) have a shot at being able to hold off extending the season to its max in Fluke and thereby hedge our bets for the future.

As I said before, for the businesses (I am not trying to speak for individuals here, I know what the anglers on our boats want, they want keepers more than more time to throw fish back) they need to determine what they feel their businesses can or cannot survive with. And, only they can decide that. I can give advice, I can tell people what has or has not worked and what has or has not happened before and what possible outcomes/consequences/benefits may come based on experience.

What I cannot do is tell them what works best for their business. As I said, only they can decide that and I will respect whatever they (meaning the various business owners) tell me. I might disagree with it, but I respect and understand all the various decisions.

I have dealt with this issue for so many years it gets frustrating to have to push for things that may help one group but will inevitably hurt another. Let's face it, since we had to lose our late September/October season a few years back, and with the size limits we are now at the shore guys are basically in a catch and release fishery, period.

The southern guys have always wanted their earliest possible season and many have told me the fall "exit" as it was put does not have the same fish available. I do not know, so I have to go by what the "experts" tell me they see in their neck of the woods.

It sucks, which is why I have spent so much time and energy with SSFFF the past 3 years. That group is the single reason we are not looking at far more severe cutbacks and /or closures in Fluke, period.

Quota had to be our number one concern. Once we get the quota back to a respectable level we need to continue fine tuning the rest of the system as it relates to Fluke.

We will continue to fight on all fronts to the best of our ability (we meaning SSFFF, UB and RFA, the ones who have always fought)

[Hotrod]

 

[Capt. Carl]

Well Said Capt. Tony
 

[brian8980]

Nicely Put. 

[bugmannj]

 

[Capt. Birch]

Dam CaptTB you did it again. Making statements backed up by pure facts and personal experience backed by many years in the industry.It kinda takes alot of the debate out of things. Thanks for taking the time to help us have better informed opinions on our fisheries. I do however find it somewhat entertaining when you try to better inform on some other sites. Kinda like educating a brick _:".  Thanks  for taking the time to post here. I think i can speak for most around here that we appreciate your opinions and post and time spent on here

[wb]

man I hope it's not 18.8", my laser micrometer is out at the shop for calibration  _:"

pretty soon you will need to be a rocket surgeon to go fishing

Heck why not make it 477.52mm while we're splitting hairs 

[Jeffish]

Rocket surgeon?   

Thanks for the info CaptTB, very informative!

[Tacklebox Joe]

 

umm..scientist?

[fathergll]

MY preference, without question, is Option 4 which gives me the second most number of days on the water, and runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend AND carries through deep into September when the larger fish are around throughout the state. It offers a fair number of fish per angler as an incentive for chartering AND I'll be Bassin' through all of May anyway. This allow me to take the least hit business wise and reduces the time in the fall from the end of Fluke to the startup of Bass again....NO BRAINER FOR ME!

As stated before the worst thing you can do is give up the size because we will never get it back. It much easier to get a longer season than it is to reduce the size limit. NY state is a joke with the regulations


#2 is the best but still stinks for myself since I fish only the inlets and 18" is VERY difficult to bring home fish. 17" is a fair but tough size for inlet but 18" is pushing it big time.  

I know it would be almost impossible to enforce but I wish there were different size limits for ocean and bays/inlets(kinda of like how they do it for the Chesapeake Bay....16 1/2" for fluke and Ocean is 18")

[Capt.Rick]

Where do they come up with these proposals???  Who in their right mind would vote for # 2?  I would agree that history states we will never go back to a shorter minimum size and the longer we stay on the water the better chance "scientific data" will return that we have OVERFISHED yet again meaning tougher restrictions the following year.  We need to find the right balance with a choice that will not destroy our future.  Step 1 Stop the bleeding - No more minimum size increases.  Step 2 keep bag limit at 6 (There are a few times when we all get some luck out there)  Step 3 Determine best time of the year to fish.  Why can't we have a split season?  Target some spring fish close the season a few weeks in the dead heat of summer and re-open with a fishery into October?  This is certainly a better offer than # 2.

[Noworries2009]

I fish the surf and Manasquan Inlet a lot especially after Labor Day. Lots of fish all summer but a much better shot at the bigger ones in Sept & Oct.Catch and release is fun but all we need is 1 fish to keep us happy.Last Oct. we had fluke to 8# (estimated)all released. It certainly would bridge the gap till the stripers show up. Help out the local business too ! I'm for Option #1 18" and no more size increases period !

[Capt. Joe G]

none of the above  until the commercial size limit is change and overall deadloss is taken into consideration.  These regulations are pointless .. we are consistly be screw!!!
 

[Kensdock]

If NJ would have been proactive and had a saltwater license in place this year, in addition to the many benefits of a license, there was a chance that our 2010 flounder season could have been May 1- Nov 1 with a 17" fish, 6-8 fish bag limit.

[njdiver]

If NJ would have been proactive and had a saltwater license in place this year, in addition to the many benefits of a license, there was a chance that our 2010 flounder season could have been May 1- Nov 1 with a 17" fish, 6-8 fish bag limit.

You have got to divulge the source of that one!

[IrishAyes]

If NJ would have been proactive and had a saltwater license in place this year, in addition to the many benefits of a license, there was a chance that our 2010 flounder season could have been May 1- Nov 1 with a 17" fish, 6-8 fish bag limit.

You have got to divulge the source of that one!

Once upon a time...

[CaptTB]

If NJ would have been proactive and had a saltwater license in place this year, in addition to the many benefits of a license, there was a chance that our 2010 flounder season could have been May 1- Nov 1 with a 17" fish, 6-8 fish bag limit.

That is potentially the biggest LIE I have ever read on a message board.

This guy got censored for 30 days on one site, kicked off another, and now has infected this one with his BS rhetoric.

Kensdock, please PROVE the statement you just made. Show me EXACTLY how you came up with that calculation, and the EXACT references you used to determine that information. I am assuming you used the reduction tables the ASMFC uses, and inserted the number of angler that USF&W estimates for anglers in NJ vs. what MRFSS uses right? (adjusting for the different angler number of course)

Or, perhaps you took into consideration that ASMFC have traditionally used a Weibull Curve and NJ has started looking into a different method?

Did you look at the TC reports from past years that showed what our landings at 17" were with seasons far shorter than what you propose (even taking into consideration cutting our angler numbers in half) along with the projections of current and previous year classes in that size range?

I can't WAIT to hear how you came to those imaginary numbers  

[Capt -Jerry P]

If NJ would have been proactive and had a saltwater license in place this year, in addition to the many benefits of a license, there was a chance that our 2010 flounder season could have been May 1- Nov 1 with a 17" fish, 6-8 fish bag limit.

That is potentially the biggest LIE I have ever read on a message board.

This guy got censored for 30 days on one site, kicked off another, and now has infected this one with his BS rhetoric.

Kensdock, please PROVE the statement you just made. Show me EXACTLY how you came up with that calculation, and the EXACT references you used to determine that information. I am assuming you used the reduction tables the ASMFC uses, and inserted the number of angler that USF&W estimates for anglers in NJ vs. what MRFSS uses right? (adjusting for the different angler number of course)

Or, perhaps you took into consideration that ASMFC have traditionally used a Weibull Curve and NJ has started looking into a different method?

Did you look at the TC reports from past years that showed what our landings at 17" were with seasons far shorter than what you propose (even taking into consideration cutting our angler numbers in half) along with the projections of current and previous year classes in that size range?

I can't WAIT to hear how you came to those imaginary numbers  

Ya beat me to it lol... and your response was better than mine