Fished today - Sunday Aug 11

[bgreene]

Had the company of Step Up on my V21 today ...who put on a clinic fishing assorted rigs for flatties.

Problem was.......shorts galore with biggest at 19”.

Step also slammed a monster seabass ...we kept our 2 fish per man limit on the seabass.
Also hit some blues, and lost a few big mystery fish.

Beautiful weather ....

[Giorgio]

Sounds like another great day on the water!!!

[bgreene]

Thanks Giorgio - lots of boats out there...everyone trying to get a few keepers.
Not easy any more....sure, a few better days but overall, tough fluking.

[Giorgio]

Fluke fishing has been terrible this year. It's August and I can't believe this is the first year EVER that I don't have any fish in the freezer. Black fish season where are you !!!!!! Hurry up October, I can't believe I'm saying that.

[bgreene]

Article in Fisherman suggests over harvesting of keeper size fluke by draggers to blame for fewer fish inshore.

Captains I’ve spoken with report slower fluking too - it’s real.

[steplift20]

Raritan bay?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by bgreene

Article in Fisherman suggests over harvesting of keeper size fluke by draggers to blame for fewer fish inshore.

Captains I’ve spoken with report slower fluking too - it’s real.

Been saying that for years and years now.... Hell, DECADES, not years.... This has been going on since the late 70's when they passed the Magnuson-Stevens act regulating fishing*. They gave the lions share of the fish to the commercial fishermen and used the same formula on recreational fishermen. Draggers have been overfishing ever since then. It's horrible to see the waste, the unwanted fish killed and the damage they do to the sea floor. They put a limit on the size and the number of keepers that recreational fishermen can have, but allow Draggers limits based in TONS, not numbers of fish. It's disgusting!!!

* The Magnuson–Stevens Act was originally enacted as the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The U.S. House of Representatives bill H.R. 200 was passed by the 94th United States Congressional session, and enacted into law by the 38th President of the United States Gerald Ford on April 13, 1976.