I AIN'T NO TREE HUGGER BUT !

[megabait]

 went out this morning for our great lil snag n drop fishing got 5. kept nice 20 lb.er that was gut hooked. how ever at my marina dumpster there had to be a couple dozen 30-40 lb.er's racks. i saw all the charter boats in front of shark inlet netting non stop n nothing going back. like i said im no tree hugger but how many big fish do we need to take? our frezzers are full with bass by now.most of all the racks had orange egg sacks over a foot long!i see all the dead bass lined up for the pic's. like a cord of wood on the docks.I guess im just worried that all the breeders are being taking and we will be bitching where are all the bass? just my thinking. megabait

[Reckless]

I only take what I consume. Everything else goes back.

[Capt. Carl]

Documented fact: Striper Roe are orange in early season,turning to a tanish brown and then to an olive Green..Not Orange.... right before spawning...the ovaries stay full but turn back to orange after the spawn but have a thinner wall lining....so you were probably seeing the post spawn ovaries.....as these fish are most certainly spawned out.
I would say that 75% of charter boat CHARTERS are people who DO NOT own their own boats or live near the shore....and do NOT have the luxury to fish 4 days a week to play catch and release.
That being said...i can tell you there is a fine line trying to run a business and being a conservative at the same time....i tell the guys about the big fish being breeders...and how keeping just one fish will be plenty of meat for 1 family....at the same time, i tell them the regulations, which is 2 per person....and is within the LAW. They make the decision from there...and i will ask them before the fish is even at the boat every time we have a fish on what they want to do.
Bonus tags are another story....again they are within the law to be used....but i see no reason to use them on the big fish....obviously with the state selling them, they see no impact on Striper Populations by having them used...is this the charter captains fault? Nope
In a nutshell...here is where i stand.....i will do all i can in my power to be conservative without getting in a pissing contest with the customer by restricting what they can LEGALLY take home. Keep in mind they pay good money to get on charter boats and its a business.
No negativity or bashing here....just my take on the situation...we are all entitled to our feelings and opinions

We have seen this battle on the other sites and i was hoping it wouldn't show itself here.
I can tell you that you will get fewer and fewer charter reports and gets to the point we will just stop posting....or just throw up a report that says....had a great day today...see website for full report and pics.
I can say that the Conservation groups are winning the battle tho....it seems they have successfully pitted Recreational vs. Recreational against each other now.






 

[Hotrod]

I can understand charters always taking their
Limit.  They have cucomers customers that want fish

[njbob49]

Well said Captain Carl.It is a very fine line that the charter and party boat captains walk as to what is legal to do, versus what you would like to do to keep the fishing for future generations.

We all know there are people who count how many fish are in the picture so they can say you took over your limit.  Or the people who say the fish looks like a short.

You are so right with the conservation groups having the upper hand right now. "Divide and Conquer" goes way back in history as a succesful way to beat your enemy. We as recreational fishmen are so busy arguing with each other we don't have time to fight the real enemy.

Tight Lines,
Bob G 

PS: Hotrod, were you trying to spell customers or cucumbers? HAHAHA   

[Capt. Kris]

Megabait, shoulda just comment on my post instead of stabbing me here.

Delete this thread rod! People have no clue!

[IKAT]

Delete this thread rod!

X2--   Kris

[captainbailey]

can't we all just 

[Fisherman120]

People on charters usually only go out once or twice a year, I see no problem with people like that keeping 2 large fish and 3 with a tag. There's a lot more people handling fish wrong when they release them then keeping the large fish.... We should be happy these fish are around in these numbers.

[newcaddy4j]

Capt Carl,  well put.    I stopped posting on that NY website because it was non stop bashing and just plain stupidity.    There's no need for it.   I'd be more pissed about the guys illegally fishing from the surf and keeping everything they hook.   

[Hotrod]

I don't think this is directed to any one Captain...
Though.. Kris has been having a great year

You catch a lot of fish Kris. That is what people pay you to do.. right  People will always have opinions.. and that's all they are

[Reel Time]

Bill Dance always said,,"bass are like money in the bank, easy to take out, but hard to put back"

 different bass he's referring to but same concept.

[Hotrod]

But we have regulations for that.

[megabait]

don't want to get anyone mad but,i got my u.s.c.g. lic. since 1985. had a 6-pack bus.for a while and still run my friends boat for him on days he can't. so i know where people are coming from,and what ever color the egg sacks turn roasting in a dumpster is mute.and i know the fine line.been running out of shark river 35 yr.s plus.and yes i live in wall go all the time.and theres nothing wrong taking home fish to eat.just way to many big females being taking.and pic's books trips!i remember when you couldn't catch a bass now we have a VERY SPECIAL FISHERY HERE and i would like to keep it that way.

[wb]

Every year the bass continue to get larger and more plentiful.
Were they overfished in years past? YES. Are they rebuilding? YES.
Keep only what is allowed, and consume all of it, and worry about the ashwholes who poach and waste and those godawful bunker boats hoovering up the ocean (and bay.) That's where your worrying should focus on. And by all means- take a pic of your catch too (and post it up!) Even more so if you did happen to limit out and there's 500# of bass on the dock... 

[bassnblues]

IMO, bass fishing's a shadow of what it was when I startd targeting them in about 1996.

As a weekend angler I could go out with some frozen bunker, anchor up and do pretty good. That will not happen now...

[Treebeard]

Well stated Capt. Carl..   This is always a touchy subject.. I feel for the charter captains caught in the middle..impossible to please everyone.. but the fares are supplying their paycheck, so of course their wishes must be satisfied..  I do not begrudge anyone taking what the law allows if it will be used..  I grew up fishing the Hudson spawning runs.. up here in the area where most of the actual spawning takes place..so I've witnessed the building of the fishery.. I started back in the late '70s... when there where NO size or creel limits, and most of the other boats out there where dragging nets.... Green as cucumbers, and without much of a clue, we still caught (and often killed) boatloads of bass..but rarely saw fish over 20#.. By the early 80's,  the Chesapeake stocks had started to decline (although the Hudson remained strong), and coastwide regs started to be applied.. mostly ending commercial fishing and implementing our current limit.. 1 fish  @ +18" .. As very few guys where sport fishing for them up here back then, there was little resistance to the new laws.. and those of us who where fishing it gladly accepted the regs.. understanding the importance of protecting the spawners..and happy to lose the competition of the netters..  within a few years we where seeing bigger and bigger schools returning.. By the '90's we where in the "glory days".. Fishinders would black out over an entire 1/2 mile flat with schools so thick you could not lift a bucktail without snagging them... fish over 30# became routine.. and the pressure began to escalate..  with the help of some promotion by myself and others in the tackle biz at the time, charters from Lake Ontario and a few from the salt moved in to capitalize on the glut of fish.. No one expected this peak of the 90's to last forever, and as regs loosened slightly in the salt, and pressure increased, the size of the schools diminished somewhat.. but we still see way more fish every spring than anyone dreamed of in the 70's.. and waaay more big fish.. so the bottom line of all this.. Are they in decline?    maybe.. but as we are fishing under the same regs as we did while the stocks where building to record proportions, I do not believe it is due much in part to the Rec. take..It's my feeling it is more a result of a natural cycle.. a reduction from all time high populations that some now  compare too.... built during a time of protection and minimal pressure..  but more important as Warren points out,  is the reduction of the food sources.. the bunker and herring that are in such high demand by the non-fishing, health crazed public for their omega oils..  And while most anglers will nod in agreement when this is mentioned, as the Com's don't post pics of tons of dead bunker on the docks, they don't draw the ire of the internet like the Charters do..And while people would like to see unlimited #'s of Striped Bass, how many are too many? When a species begins to out-run its food source, just like deer, the whole population becomes threatened.. I like to keep in mind that Charter Capts. are just as interested as the private joe in keeping fish stocks high..no one will come out if the fish are sparse and hard to catch..  and every one I've ever Striper fished with has at least softly urged the release of fish over what can be readily utilized.. But for the fares who get to fish once or a few times a year, I cannot blame them for taking home all that the law allows when they get a chance.. nor the Charters for not fighting them over it.. For those that feel the fishery is in trouble, than fight the regs.. not those that abide by them..  But it does seem to me that attitudes are changing..Personally, I stopped killing the big girls up here on the river many years ago.. A 10-15lb male feeds my family just fine, and I am lucky enough to fish often, so I need not stockpile the freezer..  and as attitudes change, I foresee an evolution like what has occurred in freshwater...where most sporties  would rather give up a kidney than kill a Largemouth bass..(of which there is certainly no shortage).. so perhaps more saltwater anglers will voluntarily begin to  be more selective in their harvest.. but its not fair to expect a Charter Capt. already struggling to feed his family in this economy,  to take it upon himself and  risk losing his business by imposing extra restrictions on his customers, based on popular or personal opinion, as opposed to what the law allows..        

[overbite]

I am so sick and tired of someone saying their struggling to make a living that it some how makes things seen diffidently.
#1 If they stay with in the regulations So Be IT. #2 If you want to catch and release So BE IT.#3 judge no one for what they do if they are not harming anyone or thing with in the Laws set forward. Now about The Struggling part  How many full time charter Boats are there compared to Part Time ones set up for a TAX wright off. To support the the cost of the boat and costs involved. I had Mated on a few Charter Boats     
out of Clarks Landing and Chrystal Point Marina. And the Number of part time boats far out numbered the full time ones. And even the full time ones the Owners had other Jobs and Businesses. The Successful ones were self supported. And I never heard any of them say they struggled to feed their family's. Its a course they chose. Today its easy to complain and point fingers. How many
kept many more Flounder. Fluke. Blue fish. Tuna. and On and on before they were regulated. At least Now you have a choice To release or Keep your Limit. Maybe the limit catchers are sharing the catch with their family's. But Cut this Struggling to feed their Family's. I mated part time for fun mostly and paid in tips from stiffed to $500. for off shore trips.

[bassnblues]

You can't fault anyone whose within the regs but its also valid to raise a concern about those regs

[IKAT]

?--And just asking--Where does the money go in NJ for unused bonus tags??