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The title of this essay is simply a reflection of what a considerable amount of todays "saltwater sportsmen" believe. I do not. Honestly, Im not sure why bluefish have such a bad reputation these days. For many, they are half a degree higher in rating than dogs, skates, and robins. How often I hear people complaining about "yellow eyed demons"(1 of many stupid names applied to these fish but thats a different essay) and the time, bait and tackle they waste while these "fisherman" try to capture the more "desirable species". Now dont get me wrong, Ive bitched right along with the rest of you when I catch them while bluefin fishing or sharking etc. But its the responses I get when I tell some internet striped bass professional that Im going bluefishing that makes me shake my head.
Not too many moons ago, Blues were king. Bar none, they were KIng. Fluking sucked, bottom fishing was left to the poor folks, and Stripers actually required time and effort to catch and were therefore left to the real pros. Every charter and head boat was railed, day and nite, fishing for Blues. They were the money fish. People loved them. They bit readily, fought like ****, tons of blood and guts(which most fares loved), and good table fare. For those of you who just crinkled your nose and rolled your eyes, you do not know how to take care of them of properly, bleed, fillet and skin those fish. Sorry Striped Bass boys but its true.
Down here by Manasquan, Shark River, and Barnaget every head boat sailed at nite for these fish. Daytime had a large fleet, but you had different boats concentrating on fluke, bottom and blues. But at nite everyboat sailed for them. The owners, captains, and deckhands all made a real nice buck and most fares all went home with smiles. I was a deckhand at nite for 6 years when I was a kid. We made our pay, tips, sold our racks to the crabbers, and filleted and sold every remaining fish to local restaurants. Every boat did this and all involved were happy. People used to line the docks at 5pm for the 730 trip to get a good spot. At 1 am we would have 5-10 people nitely looking to buy fish. If I was motivated I could make quite a few dollars cheeking out the racks or cutting out roe(before they spawned). Those days are gone. Not because of lack of fish but because of perceptions. Today alot of the best known daytime bluefish boats are fluking or Striper fishing. These are boats that built their business up on the backs of these fish. Now they have to fluke or bassfish in particular inorder to carry any people. All of this sounds very much like the Whiting stories we remember so fondly, except for 1 major difference. Whiting are gone but Blues are still thick. So what happened?
Ill give you my opnions, but they are just that. First and foremost-STRIPERS. I dont understand it but this is what I think is happenening. Stripers have been raised to some iconic level amongst fisherman. Your average weekend warrior and modern day internet fishing-pro look at these fish as if they fight like a Tarpon and taste like a Haddock. In reality they fight like a burlap bag and taste no better or worse then a blue. Is it the notion that they are a fish that requires some type of great skill to catch therefore if you catch one you must be good? I believe this to be true. Every magazine, fishing show, newspaper and advertisement you see focuses on these fish. Look at any inshore charter advertisement, every picture is of someone holding a bass. With their population at historic levels(too many if you ask me) it requires little skill to catch them. I can understand 20 years ago when a guy would put in 50 hours, standing on a jetty, in the dark, in miserable weather to catch one. Now thats different. But getting on a head boat, charter, or private boat, anchoring up and breaking some clams in 15 ft of water and being able to catch all you want; who cares. Basically they are the garbage can of the sea, lazy, good for one decent run, and are at population numbers that stagger the imagination. Yet pick any nite Striper boat and he will out carry the bluefish boats. People lining up with their spider wire filled Avets, Loomis, fluorocarbon leaders tied to some expensive "bleeding" hook waiting to pay 2 bucks for an eel and hoping to go home with 2 fish. Where do I sign up. I guess its just a perception thing. Blues bad/bass good.Does anyone remember we used to catch them on big orange surgical tubing snakes hanging off an umbrella rig. Not very sophisticated. Now I need chartreuse shads, deep diving 20 dollar plugs and a 300 dollar setup. Maybe I can understand the "hope" factor. That on any given nite you may/hope to catch a 60lb fish near the beach. Ok fine. But hey I can do that with Black drum(which fight significantly better by the way) yet they too are the redheaded step child of fish. Nothing compares to the mighty Striped bass for most and I just dont get it.
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Not too many moons ago, Blues were king. Bar none, they were KIng. Fluking sucked, bottom fishing was left to the poor folks, and Stripers actually required time and effort to catch and were therefore left to the real pros. Every charter and head boat was railed, day and nite, fishing for Blues. They were the money fish. People loved them. They bit readily, fought like ****, tons of blood and guts(which most fares loved), and good table fare. For those of you who just crinkled your nose and rolled your eyes, you do not know how to take care of them of properly, bleed, fillet and skin those fish. Sorry Striped Bass boys but its true.
Down here by Manasquan, Shark River, and Barnaget every head boat sailed at nite for these fish. Daytime had a large fleet, but you had different boats concentrating on fluke, bottom and blues. But at nite everyboat sailed for them. The owners, captains, and deckhands all made a real nice buck and most fares all went home with smiles. I was a deckhand at nite for 6 years when I was a kid. We made our pay, tips, sold our racks to the crabbers, and filleted and sold every remaining fish to local restaurants. Every boat did this and all involved were happy. People used to line the docks at 5pm for the 730 trip to get a good spot. At 1 am we would have 5-10 people nitely looking to buy fish. If I was motivated I could make quite a few dollars cheeking out the racks or cutting out roe(before they spawned). Those days are gone. Not because of lack of fish but because of perceptions. Today alot of the best known daytime bluefish boats are fluking or Striper fishing. These are boats that built their business up on the backs of these fish. Now they have to fluke or bassfish in particular inorder to carry any people. All of this sounds very much like the Whiting stories we remember so fondly, except for 1 major difference. Whiting are gone but Blues are still thick. So what happened?
Ill give you my opnions, but they are just that. First and foremost-STRIPERS. I dont understand it but this is what I think is happenening. Stripers have been raised to some iconic level amongst fisherman. Your average weekend warrior and modern day internet fishing-pro look at these fish as if they fight like a Tarpon and taste like a Haddock. In reality they fight like a burlap bag and taste no better or worse then a blue. Is it the notion that they are a fish that requires some type of great skill to catch therefore if you catch one you must be good? I believe this to be true. Every magazine, fishing show, newspaper and advertisement you see focuses on these fish. Look at any inshore charter advertisement, every picture is of someone holding a bass. With their population at historic levels(too many if you ask me) it requires little skill to catch them. I can understand 20 years ago when a guy would put in 50 hours, standing on a jetty, in the dark, in miserable weather to catch one. Now thats different. But getting on a head boat, charter, or private boat, anchoring up and breaking some clams in 15 ft of water and being able to catch all you want; who cares. Basically they are the garbage can of the sea, lazy, good for one decent run, and are at population numbers that stagger the imagination. Yet pick any nite Striper boat and he will out carry the bluefish boats. People lining up with their spider wire filled Avets, Loomis, fluorocarbon leaders tied to some expensive "bleeding" hook waiting to pay 2 bucks for an eel and hoping to go home with 2 fish. Where do I sign up. I guess its just a perception thing. Blues bad/bass good.Does anyone remember we used to catch them on big orange surgical tubing snakes hanging off an umbrella rig. Not very sophisticated. Now I need chartreuse shads, deep diving 20 dollar plugs and a 300 dollar setup. Maybe I can understand the "hope" factor. That on any given nite you may/hope to catch a 60lb fish near the beach. Ok fine. But hey I can do that with Black drum(which fight significantly better by the way) yet they too are the redheaded step child of fish. Nothing compares to the mighty Striped bass for most and I just dont get it.
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