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Just horribly sad.
Starting in 1994 I made a least two 4-5 day trips out there every year, one in the spring and one in the fall, with a big group of my fishing buddies. Frequently several trips during the summer as well. Fishing steadily improved for about the first ten years, peaking around 2003 or 2004. Somewhere right after 2000 we saw the first seal or two. That same year I got my biggest bass ever from the surf. One of our guys had thier fish taken off the line by a seal in those years somewhere, and man did we laugh. Shared that story everywhere and no one beleived us. Were told flat out by several guys that we were lying. A seal taking a fish right off your line....no way!!!!!
Well we all know how that story ended over the last ten years. We still did ok in the spring many years but the fall has been a total loss the last 5+ seasons due to seals. The last couple of years we were nearly the only ones out there in the fall. Totally empty during what had always been "prime time". After such awful fall fishing the last 2-3 years, we finally bit the bullet and planned our fall trip in Nantucket this year. First time in 20 years we won't be on the outer beaches. I'm not the best fisherman in the world, but me and my friends are dedicated and persistent. If the 15-20 of us in my group aren't going to be there this fall, I don't know how a shop can stay open as we're probably the last one's to give in.
I appreciate what Rich, and Emilio before him, did in running that shop. It was an important part of a great period that I will always remember. It was part of the culture, part of what made it a mecca for me. Say what you will about the birds...I hate the closures as much as anyone...but I firmly believe that the seals changed everything. Plovers effect access but not fishing quality. The fish are still there, they are just not in the surf where they are vulnerable to the seals. No different than deer....once humans mess with populations you can't just "let it go back to normal" or they proliferate to the point of nuisance. The mismanagement of the seals destroyed the surf fishing culture of the outer beaches, IMHO.
Maybe I'll be back out sometime over the next few years to give it one more shot. But I know it'll never be the same there. Its been several years now since I had one of those amazing days that we used to take for granted. End of an era indeed.
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