Do you miss fishing herring?

[Saltheart]

Thread above made me think about doing the whole live herring scene which of course we can't do anymore. I have to admit I don't miss it too much. It has to be the most work of any other fishing all season long. It is fun when you find some hungry bass but the whole routine of getting the livewell ready and maintaining the battery and netting the herring and getting the airator clogged with scales and spilling the stinky water all over the place is a big pain.

I also don't miss seeing the guys take 10 times their daily limit at GS and getting pissed off over it , etc.

Anyway , how many miss it and how many think its not all that bad not having to deal with the whole hassle of getting and keeping the herring alive?

[zacs]

never bothered with it.

[RickBomba]

I still have my livewell in the cellar.
I loved it!
And I never took more than my share.

[Gloucester2]

I miss it - the extra work I put in always paid off

[capesams]

WELL WORTH every minute of prep. lugging the junk around.grabbing 10 herring and hitting the spot....only took seconds for the lrg. to find it...been doing it for years,best rush there was in fishing.

[tattoobob]

I do miss it, I still have all my gear

[nightfighter]

Fished herring, then no more herring. Fished pogies, then no local pogies last year... seiners wiped them out. Fished macks all last year. But herring always got the most aggressive strikes of the three species IMO.

[TheSpecialist]

Originally Posted by RickBomba

I still have my livewell in the cellar.
I loved it!
And I never took more than my share.

Ditto...

[striprman]

brought a little tear to my eye.

I hope the herring recover some day.

Nothing like feeling that herring pumping a little, then, zing, the line comes off your finger, wait a few, pull back, engage the bail and "fish on". Ya, I miss it, a lot.

[rickhern]

Loved it when I did it but not sure if I would bother these days. I used to start collecting them March in Middleboro and keeping them in pool for the next few mths. Lots of work but a lot of fun also. Catching herring was an acquired skill from many of the runs and you needed to be good with a cast net or work in tandem with a buddy. Took 100 livies to MV in the spring a few(well, maybe quite a few now) yrs ago. We picked up the herring in the Charles, made a stop at Bell Road to change the water and let them get a little cool salt in their systems, then of to the ferry. Got on the island at around 1pm, bright sunny Sat afternoon. Stopped at the Big Bridge which was loaded with fishermen and nobody had done a thing. Walked out in the middle of the crowd and dropped a herring over and the shadows immediately rose up from below. They were STACKED under the bridge but without a live herring, you didn't have a chance. Good Times but I am getting exhausted just thinking about it!

[Crest Daddy]

I live lined sea herring in the end of dec and beginning of last january in the housatonic. Got a couple keepers but my buddy outfished me on plastics 5-1. I never used the other herring b4. I guess i dont miss it.

[cableguy]

I miss it...still have all my stuff in the shed...wishfull thinking I guess

[t.orlando]

Don't miss it at all, too much work.

[bigbuck28]

Yes and no. I do miss watching them come to the top in a panic and then getting smashed.

[fishaholic18]

Originally Posted by t.orlando

Don't miss it at all, too much work.

Ditto

[Rockfish9]

I always fished mac's instead... they were/are eaiser to catch and keep, we don't have as many herring runs as the cape and catching herring just wasted too much time, even when i fish way up river, they get devoured before the fresh water turns them white and they croak..

[SeaMule]

I think it is missed as an viable option to tie into some exceptionally large fish. Lets face it though, fishing herring is a pain in the arse. Keeping them alive, the transportation, etc.

Live lining Herring also creates one dimensional fishermen. In it's heyday, your typical herring slinger wouldn't dream of plugging. What is better than watching a huge cow smash a pencil popper?

[moogie]

I totally enjoyed fishing with herring. To me, the best times were at the slack tide when the herring would be swimming on the surface, and a cow bass would slap it 3 feet into the air, while I'm standing there, freaking out, waiting for the cow to take it.

I'm glad to have had the memory of fishing with them. I'm not planning on being able to use them again. I think those days are gone.

My uncles took me fishing in Boston Harbor for the first time in 1955. We were using sea worms, fishing for Stripers. The worms were the size of snakes. If you lifted them up without any body support, they would snap in two.
We called them "Striper Worms", and if one of them bit you, you'd surely know it!

There were tons of them, and they were dirt cheap. You could buy a flat of them for a few bucks.
Eels were only a nickel a piece, or you catch your own. All you wanted. There were tons of those too.

Herring were everywhere. . . .by the millions. Families used to go to the various runs, and make a day of it. The kids would have much fun trying to catch them with their hands. Good eating afterwards too.

Needless to say, bait fishing was very popular in those days, although the surfcasters were die hard plug and eel skin guys.

Yeah, those were the days when they used to bring in bus loads of anglers from New York and New Jersey to fish for flounder at Houghs Neck. Each guy could fill a 30 gallon trash barrel in 5-6 hours catching 2 at a time.

All that is gone. I saw it go away. I saw Boston Harbor turn into a cesspool. I saw the remaining schools of flounder vanish, and whatever ones were left, their bodies were laden with sores and lesions. I saw the Stripers disappear.

I also saw our beloved Striper fishery and Boston Harbor return to their respective glories. We even have healthy flounder too.

Now, everything is a matter of politics and the all mighty dollar. It's just that simple.

North carolina has the Gamefish Bill on the political table. It's an interesting bill to say the least.
Take a look at it.
Personally, I've seen some crazy videos of trucks hooked up to nets, pulling hundreds of Stripers out of the water onto the Carolina beaches.
Maybe they need a bill. . .

As for us,I don't know what's gonna' be. I read things, I hear things, and I listen to the scientists.
Many of them say that the fish stocks are declining.

I always wondered how you count fish. I can understand how you can count produce, count cows, count chickens, and count trees etc. I can even understand count Dracula, count Chocula, and even the count of Monte Cristo, but how do you count fish?

I read an article a while back, claiming that the Stripers are underweight for their size. It said that they don't have enough food to sustain their proper weight.
Somebody's taking their food away.

I hear that there is a big demand for fish oil these days.
Maybe there's even a moratorium on pogies and sea worms in our future.

Anyway, I don't claim to know the answers. I have no idea as to what the future holds for all of us anglers.
I'm a member of the Baby Boomer generation, and there's one thing that we learned. . . . It takes an awful lot of noise to change political minds.

I only know that no matter how much they may take away, and how much they may restrict me, they will never be able to beat me.
I'll always find a way to go fishin'.
Moog.

[Tagger]

No ,,, I don't miss fishing shiners fresh water either ..

[Rob Rockcrawler]

When i first started fishing i remember seeing the herring at the canal run and the circus surrounding it. I never got into it. It did look like fun for sure. It would be nice to try it someday but if it never opens up again i am fine with it. The ecosystem needs the herring more than i do.

[RIJIMMY]

Whats the difference between fishing live herring and live bunker? What some of you describe for herring is exactly what you see with bunker.
I've always wondered why I dont see shore fisherman with clothes baskets or aerators with live bunker.

[robc22]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

Whats the difference between fishing live herring and live bunker? What some of you describe for herring is exactly what you see with bunker.
I've always wondered why I dont see shore fisherman with clothes baskets or aerators with live bunker.

Ya...you would have in the early ninties.........at least at the ditch.......

[Abodeon]

Never much fished with bait, fresh or salt, except when I was a child. Never did try herring. Most of the challenge is fooling the fish for me. Wouldn't use herring if they made it legal.

[Back Beach]

Much of the fun for me was derived from actually getting the bait as opposed to the easy fishing...midnight commando runs into hostile territory, crazy livewell contraptions, laundry baskets, throw nets, beating my competition to the bait, embezzlement, treachery, disguise, paranoia, lies...I experienced it all... It didn't seem wrong because everyone else was doing it and I learned largely by observing the "pros."

I have way too much to lose now so I wouldn't engage in much of the above stuff ever again (except disguise) even if they legalized the netting of herring.

I actually do better on rubber anyways in terms of fish size. Lots of times the 30" fish would decimate your bait supply before you hooked a real big one, although my canal best of 47# was taken with a live herring on a sunny mid may afternoon just west of the cribbin.

[fishsmith]

I don't know what I miss more fishing for free or fishing with herring. Both are easy enough to live without but losing any liberty doesn't sit well with me.

[Goose]

As fisherman,, who wouldnt enjoy a nervous herring or any other scaled bait for that matter at the end of your line? herring was the perfect bait for guys who are not boaters to experience that kind of fishing...hell yeah its worth it!

And those of us who prefer quality over quantity (which is most)...its a no brainer ?

[The Bass-hole]

caught my 1st ever keeper live lining river herring about 20 years with my dad.
i dont really think i miss it bcuz i really wasnt that into it at 12 so it doesnt make difference to me, they could open it 2moro but what does that do help wipe them out even faster then they already are declining. i enjoy artificial baits bcuz it gives me more of a challenge to catch something and gives me a great sense of accomplishment when i do catch and release something whatever it may. i say leave the herring alone we're doing just fine without them but?