tunawishin'
07-13-2005, 05:08 PM
Just thought I would report my little jaunt on the water this morning in Salem Harbor. Wife just had baby #3(boy) and being house/work bound, I got the hall pass to go try to scrounge up some Pogies for the freezer. Not enough time to fish 'em, but I didn't care.
Bombed over from Marblehead at 5:15am and found abut 1/2 dozen lonely pogies that didn't like my treble hook. I grumbled that they have been cleaned out and putted around to confirm the notion. Along comes an 80 foot commercial fishing boat with a 24 foot away boat in tow. It is the Seahuntress out of Fall River, MA. The big boat pulls up a couple of hundred yards inside the no wake markers at the mouth of the harbor; the smaller net boat cruises in looking for the prey about 1000-2000 yards further into the harbor, but no further. They circle around, five or six guys on the craft, scanning the water looking to make the kill. One angler says they have been here for 3 days.
I grumble more as I watch this unfold and tell myself they are only looking to exploit the same resource as me they just have bigger, better tools to get the job done. Sure enough, I find the pogies further still inside the harbor(way beyond where I had seen them a few weeks ago). Now I start to snag a few and the schools really bcome quite visible and plentiful. I am having a blast because I seem to have a better touch than the guys with livewells who are doing the same. Maybe my hook is just sharper. One dude says to me that he has trouble snagging them when they show on the surface...I shrug and tell him about the countdown(5-10 seconds) technique.
I look over my shoulder for the commercial Pogie possie and they refuse to come further into the harbor. They can see recreationals and comm. bass guys getting the bait and the presence of the schools is quite apparent. I keep pursuing my own little schools and by coincidence(ahem) push them further away from the pro.s I quit and went home to the family and bagged some bait and had nice visuals of some 36-40 inch bass trying to make off with my goodies. I wonder what limited the commercial pursuit. Could it have been water depth(as little as 12-15 feet of water) or some other regulation? Could it have been some form of ethics or restraint? I was just happy they did'nt scoop 'em all up right in front of me...Soon I'm afraid they'll be more successful and they'll be goners. Comments?
Steve
Bombed over from Marblehead at 5:15am and found abut 1/2 dozen lonely pogies that didn't like my treble hook. I grumbled that they have been cleaned out and putted around to confirm the notion. Along comes an 80 foot commercial fishing boat with a 24 foot away boat in tow. It is the Seahuntress out of Fall River, MA. The big boat pulls up a couple of hundred yards inside the no wake markers at the mouth of the harbor; the smaller net boat cruises in looking for the prey about 1000-2000 yards further into the harbor, but no further. They circle around, five or six guys on the craft, scanning the water looking to make the kill. One angler says they have been here for 3 days.
I grumble more as I watch this unfold and tell myself they are only looking to exploit the same resource as me they just have bigger, better tools to get the job done. Sure enough, I find the pogies further still inside the harbor(way beyond where I had seen them a few weeks ago). Now I start to snag a few and the schools really bcome quite visible and plentiful. I am having a blast because I seem to have a better touch than the guys with livewells who are doing the same. Maybe my hook is just sharper. One dude says to me that he has trouble snagging them when they show on the surface...I shrug and tell him about the countdown(5-10 seconds) technique.
I look over my shoulder for the commercial Pogie possie and they refuse to come further into the harbor. They can see recreationals and comm. bass guys getting the bait and the presence of the schools is quite apparent. I keep pursuing my own little schools and by coincidence(ahem) push them further away from the pro.s I quit and went home to the family and bagged some bait and had nice visuals of some 36-40 inch bass trying to make off with my goodies. I wonder what limited the commercial pursuit. Could it have been water depth(as little as 12-15 feet of water) or some other regulation? Could it have been some form of ethics or restraint? I was just happy they did'nt scoop 'em all up right in front of me...Soon I'm afraid they'll be more successful and they'll be goners. Comments?
Steve