Really?

[SimpleBiology]

Originally Posted by JigStix

Well said 5th Tuition!

I think this kind of conversation is good, it gives anglers the opportunity to reflect on other anglers views.

I do believe that recreational anglers should be united against greedy commercial fisherman and that all of us should do whatever it takes to protect our fisheries.

Back to Jigstix comment, Who ran their trolling lines through nets or should I ask what a gannet beehive is before assuming? I know what a the bird gannet is however not the phrase. Did that make a serious mess? Assuming it recieved alot of attention.

[Mikie]

Originally Posted by SimpleBiology

I think this kind of conversation is good, it gives anglers the opportunity to reflect on other anglers views.

I do believe that recreational anglers should be united against greedy commercial fisherman and that all of us should do whatever it takes to protect our fisheries.

Back to Jigstix comment, Who ran their trolling lines through nets or should I ask what a gannet beehive is before assuming? I know what a the bird gannet is however not the phrase. Did that make a serious mess? Assuming it recieved alot of attention.

A gannet "beehive" is simply a large flock of feeding, working gannets over a school of fish. The "troller" who basically started the whole saga was "27 Sailfish" when he trolled about 20 or so lines through the school and hooked up 14 or so trophy cows. He posted pictures of several cows laying on the deck while they were trying to land them all. Since this was PRE-season, having all of those large fish laying on the deck didn't sit well with a lot of people!

[Skip]

Mikie - I went back and found the post.
There were no fish laying on the deck. Everyone just unhooked their fish in the water - then reeled in another one. No one had time to grab a camera.
From first hook up to last fish released was less then 5 minutes.
Far too many rumors spread about what really happened that day.

The real thing to consider - how bad the 2010 season was compared to the last 5-6 years.

Here's the post - copied. The photos did not come through ???????



18 rods out - 17 go down at once. I'll make you suffer a touch before I get to the juicy details. Saturday night my wife reminds me of a good local band that is playing. We had made plans to see "Korupt" with some friends. I'm planned a fishing trip leaving my house at 5:45 am but figured I could catch a nap on the boat since I had a good crew. The band was great and at 1:30 am I was singing along with them - Ozzy Osborne's "Bark at the moon ". B-52 shooters are bad . The alarm went off at 5:00 am and I woke up almost ready to fish but my ears were still ringing. Oh boy , this will be a tough day. Fellow Tfers Phil and Ed showed up right on time and helped me hook up the trailer. They both help out with Wish a Fish and we have been trying for a long time to fish together. My good friend John arrived and off we went to Breezy Point. Got there about 7:00 and saw about 8 other trailers in the lot. My friend Alberto and his son Oscar were there to round out a good crew. Five guys on the boat and I figured to get the spread out and let Alberto run the boat while I caught up on some sleep. Not to be - we set lines out west of #78 in 45 feet and had about 6 rods out and already had a fish. Water was 52* , clear and seas were flat. John got the fish in quick and after a photo - it was let go. It hit a tandem off the boards.



We guessed it to be 37 or so. Nice start and we continued to put out the other rods. Ed got the next one -it hit a single chartrusese 4 oz parachute.




We got all 18 rods out by 8:20 and started to work east/west off Parkers. Only a few other boats around but we heard others fishing and some catching both north and south of us. As low tide arrived - the current stopped but we still got a fish here and there.The fish were hitting off the boards and both the tandems and singles were catching. We had lures back 50-90 feet and saw no real pattern to the hits. Phil and Ed doubled up on two strikes.




I was starting to feel more like myself after a few donuts and then the 200' back tandem got crushed. John fought the fish half way in - then it got loose. The parachute it hit was combed out and John slowly let it back out. The rig was about 150' out when it got hit and John hooked the fish. The fat 35 incher released. We had worked south of #78 about a mile and started to troll the eastern edge in behind the marker. Saw some thick bait and both downriggers got hit. They carry white or chart. umbrellas at 20 and 30 feet. The wire line with a 20 oz MoJo / Tony #21 combo got hit at the same time - cool three on at once. So much for my nap idea. Swung back around and again saw bait on the meter and sure enough - two more Rock hit. Had a few fish miss but each pass in that area yielded at least 2 or 3 fish. All were about 33 -36 inches but carried their weight well. Oscar was amazed at the double and triple headers and asked if I had ever had all the rods hooked up at once. I told him no but have had 10 once and 6-7 a few times. Saw TFer One Fish and called him to stay near my trolling path. He was LTJ for them. We had a few Gannets dive near us and out catch total stod at 21. Talked to Catman (Leon) and he headed our way. Swung north of #78 and got forced off the fish by another boat. Tried hailing them to see if they would let me go in front of them but no luck. They had the right of way and I did not want to risk a tangle with too sharp of a turn. I really,really hate getting tangles. We did a figure eight path and started back towards the edge we had been catching fish. Up ahead - we all saw about 100 Gannets forming up.



It was about a 1/2 mile away but we would be the first boat there - although Leon had a good angle on the Gannets as well. As we got closer - they started dropping like missiles. I thought out loud that this may not be a good idea - going into a bee hive with 18 rods out - but how often in spring do you get more then 5-6 on at once ? Well , as we got closer ,rods began getting hit. Soon every rod but one was hooked up. It was a mess - everyone reeled the close rods in - unhooked the fish and tried to keep some order to the out of control bite. I was cussing and laughing at the same time. I told the guys to just lay on the fish and push the drags to the max. I glanced over and Leon's crew was busy as well. The final tally was 18 fish - one tandem had two. One reel had blown out the side plate and another busted a gear.






Four lines had crossed and I had a braid/mono cobweb about the size of a volleyball. Did I mention I really hate tangles.





There was blood everywhere - on the seats,steering wheel, rods,shirts but none of it was from the fish. Even up on the hardtop near the rod holders. All of us had cuts/nicks from the fish,braid or hooks. I was even cut on the stomach from a dorsal fin. We swung off the spot as about 15 boats converged on it. The Gannets flew off and we tried to get some lures back into the water. The busted reels were put in the cabin but soon we had 14 lines back out. After that cluster f *%k - we stayed in the deep channel water and picked up about 5 more fish - just single bites - thankfully. I got to reel in a fatso from the WWB - it hit a silver 13/0 Cripple alewive spoon with reflective tape.





Looked to be 41 inches or so but very heavy. The guys were all teasing me about cussing like a sailor and I just laughed along with them. You had to be there to really appreciate it . What the hell was I thinking trolling a full spread into that feeding frenzy. Guess like any addict - the pull of the addiction over rode common sense. We worked along the 45-55 foot edge off the west side and pulled lines at 2:30 near 78A. Had all but three in when Oscar got a last minute fish off the boards. Final count as best we could tell was 44 fish landed and 7-8 misses. It was a fun day with good friends - the catching was just icing on the cake .

[reds]

Find the pictures of the fish being held for picture taking, with the blood running down their bodies. You posted them on Tidal Fish that spring and they were posted on other fishing boards up the coast by others.

ASMFC members saw the pictures and the questions of mortality arose.

How about posting the month/day and year so all can see the original post?

[JigStix]

How bout just deleting the post, no need to put hte whole thing back up there again???? Seriously!!! Give them the details all over again, make it fresher in their minds. You f'd up, people know it, more will consider you a pariah for doing it, than will consider you a hero, don't drag the whole post up again. Delete it, please!

As far as the 2010 season being as bad as it's ever been, come on. Either you are lying about your counts (which I've heard you did), or you lost your mojo. From Breezy and North we had a fabulous season, as did most of my friends. Less people posted, and people fudged numbers to the downside, but most were doing that on the high side before anyway. DNR will never be able to get an accurate # based on reports on Tidalfish, so why lie? They don't take their catch numbers from Tidalfish, but they will use posts showing poor catch practices that negatively impact the spawning stock and extrapolate it forward assuming if someone of your "great fishing prowess" treats spawning fish like that, us lesser beings must all do the same thing.

[Skip]

Reds - Try 4 - 5 2009.
I found it on page # 615.
They photos that had fish bleeding in them were fish we kept / killed - taken during the kill season.


JigStix - That was a once in a lifetime experience having that many rods hit in the spring. Anyone who fishes knows that - it was like a golfer getting a hole in one.

My spring was bad - honest. I had a 3 or 4 fish average and fished longer for those few fish. I had a few days with just one fish and got skunked as well. Some were under 27 inches - very odd for early spring. I had one decent day that bumped my average up. I know many good recs. who had similar results.
I had friends out on full day charters that did not get their 6 fish limit.

Early season C/R is not the trouble - let me go find a bat so I can beat this dead horse some more.

[reds]

Originally Posted by Skip

Reds - Try 4 - 5 2009.
I found it on page # 615.
They photos that had fish bleeding in them were fish we kept / killed - taken during the kill season.


JigStix - That was a once in a lifetime experience having that many rods hit in the spring. Anyone who fishes knows that - it was like a golfer getting a hole in one.

My spring was bad - honest. I had a 3 or 4 fish average and fished longer for those few fish. I had a few days with just one fish and got skunked as well. Some were under 27 inches - very odd for early spring. I had one decent day that bumped my average up. I know many good recs. who had similar results.
I had friends out on full day charters that did not get their 6 fish limit.

Early season C/R is not the trouble - let me go find a bat so I can beat this dead horse some more.

The fish came in the Bay earlier this past spring. By the time the spring season opened, most of the big fish had come and gone. I guess they don't have calenders.

Anglers were catching big Stripers off the Jersey coast in late March and early April and reporting it on the northern boards.

The horse is not dead only sleeping.