I wonder what it would have been like - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Slipknot · 07-13-2007, 07:23 PM

I wonder how things would have been back in the 70's on Cape Cod when all the big fish were caught and most everyone fishing was selling them and the beaches were lite up somewhere with fish almost every night, if there had been ten thousand seals around like there are today munching on everything that moves in the water?????

That is a stretch I'm sure, but I wonder if the fishing would have been any different back then if you were still able to drive the whole beach but had to compete with seals like we do today.

These animals are very intelligent, they follow us along the beaches, they know a rod in our hands means that once we hook up to and fish in the area, that that fish will be easy prey for a nice meal for them. They have learned to eat the fish and stay away from ours hooks, they leave the fishhead. I know they live in the ocean and have been here longer than us, but with federal protection they are reaping the rewards of the resurgence of the striped bass and we have lost a once great fish area to a bunch or hoovers with diseases and bacteria and all sorts of nasty stuff. Great whites are showing up more and more but I'm afraid there will never be enough to dicourage these seals from their easy living here on Beautiful Cape Cod, they remind me of the Commercial fishermen that are the kind that will net the last fish in the sea

They have ruined so much already, can anything be done to stop this? or do we have to wait for them to leave once all the food is gone?

bobber · 07-14-2007, 06:00 AM

yeah Slip- I'm with ya on this one. we need more great whites. I've stopped goin up to the Cale to fish, just because I'm tired of finding water that doesn't have mung, nly to find that seals have pushed fish off the beach (or eat everything you hook).

head to Ct or Rhody- fishin been great the last 2 or 3 years..........

2na · 07-14-2007, 08:10 AM

They would have shot them like they did in the good old days. This'll warm your heart Slip - a friend on the beach tells me stories about how when he was a kid in the 50's him and his friends used to spend the winters drinking in the dunes, waiting for the seals to haul out, then run down and blast'em. They got $5 a nose as bounty at Ptown town hall. And you thought ice fishing was fun. Close your eyes and fantasize....you too Karl.

Karl F · 07-14-2007, 08:23 AM

YEAH Mike

.. high powered rifle, night scope and silencer.. on my xmas list....

fishaholic18 · 07-14-2007, 09:15 AM

Yeah Bruce, we really F'ed up this ecosystem. Didn't Indians hunt seals?And we drove them out. Guess what goes around comes around Huh?

Backbeach Jake · 07-14-2007, 10:34 AM

I wasted a lot of ammo and time at the P-town dump shooting rats when I coulda been making good money.

In those days I was deadly with a rifle.

Mike P · 07-14-2007, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishaholic18

Didn't Indians hunt seals?And we drove them out. Guess what goes around comes around Huh?

Maybe you're onto something there, Dave. The local tribe here is exempt from lots of things related to fishing--like getting shellfish licenses, taking herring despite the herring ban, plus, laws prohibiting casino gambling and so on

Maybe there's a way they can still legally hunt and kill seals

Karl F · 07-14-2007, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backbeach Jake

I wasted a lot of ammo and time at the P-town dump shooting rats when I coulda been making good money.

In those days I was deadly with a rifle.

Dang.. another old timey Cape pass time Gone....
Nothing like a Saturday Night back then.. case a beer, bunch of guys with 22's.. (flashlights taped on the barrels with black electrical tape)
Cops would come down and watch... occassionally fire off a few rounds too ....
can ya imagine trying that now?.. they'd lock ya up.

Seals at 5 bucks a nose... bring it back.

tattoobob · 07-14-2007, 05:49 PM

Well I feel your pain, I spent 3,000 buck for a house in Truro for next week only to find all the beaches closed and the ones that are open unfishable due to mung and seals, I should just stay home and work,

I learned something about fishing around seals, wait till the guy next to you have a seal on his fish and catch your own tighten your drag as tight as you can get it an start horsing your fish in. lame but if you want to eat fish you have to do it.

fishpoopoo · 07-14-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl F

YEAH Mike

.. high powered rifle, night scope and silencer.. on my xmas list....

well karl, as it happens, i have a combo for sale if you're interested.

Slipknot · 07-15-2007, 10:34 AM

well ya know what Bob, we have Mikey for that

he's the designated decoy

I was doing my best yesterday reeling in bluefish, had 6 or 7 blues on, first 2 or 3 I got in with no seals because they were busy, The next 3 I had to horse them in and skim some of them across the top as a seal chased them down, one follwed it all the way to me when I was actually dumb enough to be standing in the water. One was 9 pounds or so, if that was a bass, I would not have been able to reel it in fast enough. The last one I fought from way out and battled the seal all the way to withing 15 ft of shore and I lost it, I could not believe this 5-600 pound animal would chase a measley bluefish all the way in to less than 2-3 ft of water.

I am done walking 2 miles one way for that idiotic way of fishing, all for 10-15 minutes of action and a chance a maybe a bass.

I knew Eskimos could hunt seals, but we'd have to import them I think, if any native American can do it, then I know many live around here. And actually the father of the girl who is camping with us this weekend is part Native American and he loves striped bass fishing from the beach too, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe we're on to something.

I have my small skiff so after I got sealed sat. am, I took it out and caught bluefish after bluefish 4-10 lbs on light takle and lost only 6 plugs and 3 flies between 2 of us, all the while I could see a fleet of boats out on Billingsgate probably killing the bass, I guess it's time to think about a bigger boat so I can enjoy that too instead of fishing 77 degree waters in the summer.

So far my total from the beach this year stands at 2 twinkees, and I thought last year was bad, this year it's ywice as bad for me, maybe time to take up bait fishing at night again.................

Someone PLEASE get some dog distemper disease and shot it in some seals PLEASE

Striperknight · 07-15-2007, 10:57 AM

B,

I just got back from a visit to Jamestown VA. After reading accounts
of the 1st colonists tales of fishing I wonder what it was like back in 1607.

Jenn · 07-16-2007, 05:22 PM

$5 a nose......I could have been rich!!!!!!!!!

Piscator · 07-16-2007, 07:56 PM

I fished in Hawaii a few years back with a native Hawaiian commercial rod and reel fisherman. We caught Yellow Fin, Wahoo, Mahi, and a nice Blue Marlin on the day. If you can believe it, their dolphin problem is worse than our seal problem. A Pod of 200-300 dolphin will come through and eat everything in sight to the point where fishing is ruined for days. At the time the commercial guys would shoot 1 or 2 and the pod will take off for about a month or so. The DNR looks the other way b/c they too realize that the problem is so bad. The commercial guys pretty much police it themselves. I'm not a fan of killing a dolphin but I can also see the frustration in these guys when those pods come through and wipe everything out. They would troll skip jack tuna only to have dolphin flank the bait and wait for a strike. Once the fish was on the hook, the dolphin had an easy meal. It's their lively hood and if they don't do anything about, nobody else will. Very difficult situation as the last thing those guys want to do is kill an intelligent mammal like that.