|
People that never fished down there have to understand how you can run the nearly 100 miles from Rudy to Oregon Inlet and the sea is completely dead within the three miles, not a speck of life.... Offshore it is totally different story with all the bodies of fish, they are easy to find by either the incredible bird activity for miles or by the bait readings. The Poaching is so bad there, I cant believe that nobody is really making a stink about it. The Cptains and Mates Brag about it, they dont think the federal line applies to them. Guess they can make a run at it, 30, 50, 60 80 + boats, they cant get em all'... They run out an 1 hour or so, make 1,2,3,4,5 passes, get their limit, and turn around and head home. Done in less than an hour fishing at times, then turn around and get round 2. This is strictly meat fishing dragging 32-40+ oz jigs with tuna gear.. I wouldnt have a problem with these fish if they were caught legally.. They are not... There are a few boards where guys started to make a stink this year. Dont get me wrong, there were a few years when those fish stayed within 3 miles, not this year, nor last. The EEZ is one of the only thing that is really protecting the Striped Bass Stock. Just plain wrong what they are doing down there...
Below: From another Board....
The message below was sent to me from a friend that fished in Virginia 2 weeks ago. This is just sickening. Coincidentally, I was supposed to go on this trip but had to bail due to work obligations. I'm not posting this to bash the entire Virginia fishing fleet, as I'm sure there are some honest captains and mates. I'm just giving everyone a heads-up to make sure when you book a trip down there, to make certain you speak with the captain before you leave the dock:
We were celebrating our catches while eating lunch, heading back to the dock with our limit before 12:00. Suddenly we found ourselves in a situation in which the mate and captain were telling us that we were way out past the 3 mile limit. They were thinking about dumping the catch because their spotters notified them that the marine police were on the way out. Moments later a marine police unit was on top of our boat. It was about to prepare to board us when one of the boats next to us began tossing their fish overboard. The cops left our boat and went directly to that boat and boarded it. Our captain steamed away and when we where about two miles away, we watched in disbelief as the mate gutted out our fish and tossed them over board.
At least 5 other boats from the Virginia Beach fishing center did the same thing. The ones that brought in fish were out there fishing where we were but they got in before the marine police arrived. We were sickened by the entire experience. The Virginia Beach Fishing Center is a fraud. A bunch of cheats. The captain told us it is just what they do, no big deal to them. Up to the point of the senseless waste of fish, we were having a great time
|