Decline in fishing

morocco_madness · **Joined:** Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:06 pm **Posts:** 499

I have been fishing in Jacksonville all my life. In this time i've noticed a few things. The fishing here has lost a lot of its luster... I can remember when you could go beach fishing and load up on the Whiting and pompano any day of the week. Tide barely even mattered. now days... i still get a few decent days here and there but, things have slowed down. Not to mention, the whiting sizes have declined as well. One of the tell tale signs of fishing decline on any fish species is the abundance of juvenile's. Same thing happened with the Red fish back in the 80's. It was like pulling teeth to get quality sized Reds. We also have a variety of fish species that have gotten out of control as of late. Anyone else noticed that the Pin fish have all but taken over? I have never seen so many Grunts, Pins and Mullet in my life. I feel that this could be a sign that predator fish are on the decline. So the next question is "what could be causing the decline"?

I really think the commercial fishing industry in Florida needs a closed season. They also need to be restricted to offshore. when i see Shrimp boats dragging in the river, it pisses me off. This garbage needs to stop. If our future generations are going to have any chance of enjoying our sport, changes will have to be made. I'm also very annoyed by the fact that regulations on Trout and Red fish are being lightened Next month. Reds are going up to 2 fish per person and Trout in NE Florida are going to 6 per person( up from 5). The worse part is that Commercial Trout fishing will have an increased bag limit as well. This is a problem. With the Red Snapper closure and the incoming Grouper closure coming up next month, offshore fishing will be cut way down. That will bring a lot of offshore anglers inshore. So we're looking at an increased audience and an increase in bag limits all at the same time. Along with an already suffering fishery. If you think about all these factors, it paints a picture.

Anyways, this is just an opinion that i wanted to share. If i'm wrong about any of my information feel free to correct me.

arunram · **Joined:** Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:22 am **Posts:** 563

I have noticed that about whiting . The Bull whiting have not shown up in large numbers yet. This time last year I was killing the bull whiting from the surf and the pier. Commercial draggers on the beach could be a reason but I'm no expert on this topic.

Arun.

JeffreyMcGovern · **Posted:** Fri Dec 30, 2011 4:44 pm

Fish like anything else have off or on years so far as numbers and sizes. Problem is the within the fishing lifeltime of an average angler a given area they fish may have a decline over that same time. Therefore things get worse over time for that individual. We regulate and manage to help keep the problem minimal. Of course the hope being the problem is not more than we can handle. The long decline on the St Johns River here near Palatka for bass might now be on the upswing. Some of the old timers are hoping for a return to the numbers of the 1950's or so they tell me. But man 50 to 60 years is a long time.

http://www.jeffstacklebox.com

islandspeed2001 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:06 pm

During the past year or so, I have caught more redfish and trout than any other time in the eleven years I have lived down here. I'm sure that the redfish pop is doing well. Although FWC is now going to allow 2 redfish, I will still be keeping one, maybe... I hate to clean fish. The winter trout numbers seem to be running about the same as past years but have noticed that I am catching more and more over the min slot.

Since I don't use live/dead bait, I never find the pin fish to be a problem.

One thing I notice that is very different from eleven years ago is the number of kayak fishermen you see on the water. Talk about added pressure by having more off shore fishermen now fishing inshore, how do we hold down the number of kayaks out there :smoke:

crusher · **Posted:** Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:51 pm

As most of you know I fish Guana Lake exclusively, this year lady fish nearly took out the bait fish population at the north end of the lake. Thankfully trout and red fish love small ladyfish. This made Guana a very attractive place to catch your prized trout. It didn't take long before the lake was loaded yakers and john boats fishing for lady fish to use for cut-bait to catch a gator trout. That put an end to the lady fish problem at the lake. It also put a dent in the trout population. By the end of the summer things seemed to be back to normal including the the traffic on the lake. I don't know how that many lady fish got into the lake, but hopefully they are gone for good. Anyway going back to what morroco madness said, it has been an unusual year. I have fished NE Florida for 42 years and a stringer full fish is a rare sight anymore.

still got the bug, C.

morocco_madness · **Joined:** Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:06 pm **Posts:** 499

I hear yah guys. The Reds haven't been a problem for me by any means. However, They really have just started building back up to where they should be. With the factors that i stated earlier, things will go back the way they were. People don't realize that more than half the anglers out there fish nearly ONLY offshore. Those guys moving over to the inshore crowd in conjunction with the new regulation changes, imo, will start causing problems again. This mostly concerns the NE Florida Slam species. Trout and Reds being the most in danger. We are talking long term effects. The increase in Trout bag limit for commercial fisherman couldn't have come at a worse time.

Now, the Beach Dwelling Fish(Whiting and Pompano) have been on the decline for a long time now. Its been a very gradual decline. I fished our beaches from as far north as the poles of Hannah Park to as far South as Vilano for over 20 years. There's been a noticeable change. I knew a guy as a kid who was a Shrimper. He would take us out of Mayport. When those nets come up, only a portion of the catches were Shrimp. The rest were a mixed bag dead fish that were kicked off the side for the Sharks. There must of been hundreds of Whiting. Now multiply that by the existing number of boats that head out every day, doing the same thing. They do this right off of our beaches and in the St. Johns. Over a period of years of this, there's going to be a shortage of shore dwelling fish. And there is. The fix is simple. We need a closed season for these fish to regenerate their numbers. Because it's impossible to target a single species when dragging a net, this method just needs a gap where its not allowed at all.

navy1970 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:34 am **Posts:** 259

I can recall several years ago sitting in the sound on the flats catching large whiting and pompano. Not caught a single one since I moved back.

yakityak · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 11:29 am

I wouldn't be to concerned with the offshore crowd causing that much increased pressure on the inshore species. I am an avid offshore guy and and given the chance of either I am going to the blue water. That being said I do still love to fish from my kayak inshore as well. Think of it this way, a lot of the offshore guys do not even fish inshore and when they do they are not killing off huge numbers of fish as they don't follow the migration of these fish on a regular basis as do the hardcore inshore guys. Also it is pretty hard to get that 30' center console up into some of the back creeks. They haven't made a trolling motor with 400lbs of thrust yet! :smoke:

The grouper closure is only for a few months while they spawn so that is not a long term problem for inshore. As for increasing the Red and Trout numbers, I wish they would leave it the way it was. Recreational fishing is never going to be the reason a species is put on the ropes as commercial fishing will do more damage than recreational ever will.

Do your part and keep what you can eat!

ihatecrowds · **Joined:** Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:39 am **Posts:** 50

i was out near hospital creek area yesterday, and i caught about 30 pin fish !! little buggers ! ! could see the reds and the trout all over the place, but i could`nt keep my bait on the hook long enough, to get too them. Thanks to the pin fish ! i just started cutting them up and using them as bait ! :angryfire:

but i did get a nice flounder ! and anytime you can say you caught that many fish , without bull##tting !!! is always a plus i guess?? and the blues where pretty bad !!

troutsniffer · **Joined:** Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:00 pm **Posts:** 324

I have live here since 95 and I have also noticed the decline in the whiting population and size its is my opinion that they need to be regulated. As of right now there are no regs and I see people take fish in ridiculous numbers and sizes.

Decline in fishing

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