Pogies Being Decimated

[monkfish]

stripers forever is a narcicistic bunch of to hell with you a all for me individuals. Back in the late 60's and early 70's there were pogies everywhere. They were not used for bait (striper) at all. I didn't use them until '70 and the first time I used them I had a group from East Bay Anglers for a charter and I got a call the day before asking if I wanted to try some live pogies. They said that the Warren and Barrington rivers were loaded with them. I said I didn't know but we would try them. They had a Trash barrel in the trunk of the car with a aerator in it and eight of the biggest pogies I have since ever seen. To make a long story short we caught 3 over 50 and 4 or five others over 40. And dropped a huge fish that was the first hooked up. And there was 3 fish that were hooked up after that one that came to gaff before that fish was dropped and we never got it close enough to eyeball. The point is that was in June and I did a little looking around and there was pogies in every inlet and harbor in Buzzard's bay. There is no seining in Buzzards bay. And for the last 10 or 15 years damn few pogies compared to back then. For a good month I could steam along horseneck beach on the way out in the morning and find a school to stop and load up with bait. And that was when the Tidewater fleet out of Md. and Va. were operating. The bait boats out of Fall river are not the cause of lack of pogies. Back in the eighties they used to fish the bay until labor day and beyond and there was plenty of pogies.