Victory Over Mandatory Fishing License and New Tech in Saltwater Fishing

It was a special podcast. One crisp festive day in the heart of New York where the Anglers play A tale to be told of a victory so bright, a story of struggle, of power and might. In the style of a classic, the Night Before Christmas, our tale unfolds with a twist that's quite blissful. It's about those who fish in the saltwater so grand, and their fight against the law that swept across the land From 2009 to 2011. It ran a license required, part of a bigger plan, but it brought not the change it promised to bring, no betterment and rules enforcement a stain. The Anglers of New York they knew this was wrong. On NewYorkAnglercom, their resolve grew strong. United, they stood with a mission so clear to roll back this law they held not so dear. Together, they fought with passion and might. Democrats, republicans, joined in their plight From Long Island shores to the city's bright lights. They battled the law through days and through nights. A special thanks to Lee's Eldon for his effort, so keen, helping bring attention to this scene. His voice was a beacon in the legislative sea, guiding the fight for you and for me. Now, here we stand with our rods in the breeze, fishing freely. Our hearts are at ease. No license to bind us, no fee to pay. Thanks to those who fought in their own unique way. So here's to the Anglers, the industry's heart in New York's Great Waters, where the fish dart An early Christmas gift, wrapped in unity and fight a tale of success in the sport fishing light. As we cast our lines in the waters so clear, let's remember this victory year after year, for it's not just about fishing but what we can do when we stand together strong and true. So cheers to the Anglers on this festive day. May your lines be tight in every single way and remember this story of how we took a stand in the great state of New York, our beloved land.

Fish on. This is the New York Angler Fishing Podcast brought to you by NYAnglercom, your secret spot online, hosted by the man who introduced New Yorkers to the world of online fishing, Mr George Scott.

Hello and welcome, anglers, to the 1,450th episode of the NYAnglercom Sport fishing podcast. Well, actually it's just, I think it's like 45 or maybe 50, something like that. But welcome back to another episode. As we head into the holiday season, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holiday whatever you got going on there happy Hanukkah, kwanzaa and the plethora of other holidays that are happening this time of year. So in today's episode, we're starting off with a triumphant story for all sport fishing enthusiasts in New York. Recently, there was a significant victory against a state's attempt to push through a mandatory fishing license. This proposal, which came as a surprise to many well, not me, but many outside aimed to introduce a sort of fishing license the sport fishing. Luckily, the sport fishing community was swift and united. Anglers, fishing clubs, various stakeholders in the industry came together to voice their concerns. We did get a lot of help from our elected representatives. Through a series of well coordinated efforts, including petitions, public forums and direct lobbying with state representatives, the community made its stands clear. The message was that sport fishing is not just a hobby, but it's a vital part of New York's culture and recreational life, deserving of support rather than more barriers. So, in summary, we won one for a change and it's really encouraging to know that we can still have our voices heard, should we unite and get on the same page. You know there were a lot of efforts to push this thing through and luckily we were able to stop it in its tracks. So you know, it was a big victory and it's something we all need to be proud of. Watch for it to come back in next year, I suspect maybe not next year, I don't know. It's, you know, presidential election year, I don't know. You know, maybe they won't next year. Who wants to add a tax? Because that's all it is a tax and inconvenience. It in no way helps our fisheries. Our access to fisheries helps them out, and if you doubt that, think about 2009 to 2011,. That things increase and get better for you? I really don't think so. I mean, I didn't see it. Maybe you did Didn't work then. It's not going to work now. And I love the fact that New York I mean, let's face it, we're not the most conservative state in the union that we're one of like three surviving states that don't have a salt water license, go figure. Well, let's move on from that. There's other news in fisheries management. Unfortunately, none of it is good. All of it is bad for anglers anyhow. In one case, I actually think it's bad for a strike bass, and I'll explain that to you. So the strike bass board met and they came out with their three options, which they usually do, and in many cases they mean nothing because in the majority of cases, it turns out that to be their preferred option. So the number one option is status quo one fish at 28 inches to 35 inches, with 2017 seasons for all models. Option B is one fish at 28 to 31, which is what we had most of the time Last year. Option C wow, they got a lot of them one fish at 28 to 31 and then a separate category for boats for hire. That would be one 28 to 33. I'll get into this boats for hire category in a minute. So, option D one fish at 30 to 33. And then you've got E1 at 30 to 33. And it would be a separate for hire option, which is one fish between 28 and 33. So when we look at this I don't want to bore you all with all these numbers I got to tell you. I know their preferred option, which is probably the one that's going to happen, which makes no sense to me whatsoever, is option C one fish at 28 to 31 and then one 28 to 33 on a boat for hire. So two things here. One is we're starting to see this separate category for boats for hire, so this is a category for charter boats and porty boats. I've always been, I was, afraid this and posed to it 30 years ago, 35 years ago, because I feel it's going to add dissension between recreational anglers and the industry. So, as it turns out, here it comes, it's coming more and more. You got it with scup, you've got it with Stripe Bass. Now it's going to increase each and every year. They'll start getting their own quota pretty much for every fishery and that's going to leave recreational angles out in the cold. So we need to stay united. Now let's look at the ones that are really I mean the Stripe Bass thing. Look. Before I move on, I just want to mention a couple of things. One is their preferred option is one fish at 28 to 31. If we think about why they went to this 28 to 31, it was because we were targeting a single year, class 2015. Is it still the senior class with fishing? That's the question, or are we now going into the year class Is? That didn't look good in the Y-O-Y. That's the first question. And the second question is, again my problem with fisheries management is always there is no common sense, right? Does it make sense? I am actually scared for this fishery that they are now mismanaging it here and we are now pounding those fish. Every time I see it. I mean think about it. Every bass that was taken home this year was 28 to 31 inches. How many of them are there? That's the first thing. The other thing is and I'm just going to touch on it quick because nobody listens to this in fisheries management Again, common sense. There is no doubt, and it cannot be argued, that we have seen the single best striped bass run. In my lifetime. I've never seen anything like this. I've never seen so many big fish, so many small fish. We have fish of every single size being caught. If anything, the fish wouldn't really not see other smaller, smaller fish. So what are we doing? I don't know. It makes no common sense. Let's move on the next thing we're looking at, which really doesn't look too good, and there's a council meeting going on right now, but I wanted to get this podcast out. So I'll update you on that council meeting, probably next week, if I can, before Christmas, if not right after Christmas. Ok, now for the call in the stocking. I'm going to run through this quick because I tend to get crazy about these things, but in this case I am going to stay calm. The striped bass is something that's got me very concerned. I don't like the way they're managing it. I don't agree with the way they're managing it. I don't agree with their numbers. I think that the fish are moving out of Chesapeake and more of the fish are coming here. They're just not going back down there. Who wants to go to that swamp? And you can be up here with all the bait and the clean waters we have in New York. You can't even compare the two. The Hudson River is a lot cleaner than that freaking Chesapeake Bay, I'll tell you right now. It's a lot healthier and we manage it better. But now we're not, we are pounding. We're going to look. The preferred option is all different options and I don't even want to get into it. It's like five or six. The only one that really matters is their preferred option, because I'm going to say eight out of 10 times. That's what you're going to get. So their preferred option is again to go with a 28 to 31 inch fish. But they are also going to have a separate category for charter and party boats. If you pay, you'll be able to get a 28 to I think it's 35 inch fish, maybe 32 inch. So they're going to be allowed to keep them. You're not, and we're just going to keep pounding and pounding and pounding and throwing back more 30 and 40 pounds striped bass than we have ever seen it has ever. I mean, look, the most conservative people in this fishery that are involved in this fishery are all saying the same thing there's plenty of fish, but anyway. So they're going to keep us at that, what I call the lottery slot. You know that 28 to 31 inches. I mean it's ridiculous and I don't think it's helping the fishery. The other fisheries, just about everything is going to be cut back except for black fish. At this point they're looking at a 10% reduction in a scup, 10% reduction in sea bass and the big one which is going to be felt up and down the coast is a 28% reduction in fluke. So that immediately puts us, takes us down from four fishermen to three fishermen and it probably increases the minimum size limit. We haven't seen numbers on what that's going to be. So this is what this is the call in the stocking. We did get a huge present with the license, but this is what we have to look forward to in the future. Last thing I'm going to say on management right now because I'm really up and excited. You know, victory is huge as far as beating down this saltwater license. We were told when we first started to go after it that you're never going to stop it. And we did. We honestly did when we got on the phone, we did the work. We lobbied people in Albany, we lobbied our representatives, we went out and did what we had to do and we do not have a saltwater license next year, and those of you that want it okay, don't know why. It's not going to help anything, but that's okay. You got your own view. Even the way that survey was written. Folks sent the message they don't want it. So we're free to fish again, at least for 2024. Well, I guess it's time to talk about Christmas presents and who would like what. I could tell you what I want. I want a forward facing sonar In the salt. Guys are using them down in Florida right now. I was on a boat with one of them Beyond belief, totally amazing. We were reading the bottom and we could actually knew when a grouper was going to bite our line. We would watch it. It was absolutely crazy. Then we got into a school of snappers a calm lane snapper and we were able to see exactly how deep they were. Look, we have fish finders, right. That's one thing. This is a whole different animal. I've been using one in fresh water for a while and I often wondered why we didn't use it in salt water. And I'm telling you, this thing is a game changer. It's so good that they are looking to ban it in bass master tournaments. It literally is like playing a game. You jig your lure and you watch the fish coming in. I mean, you don't see an actual fish, but you see the form of a fish. Sometimes you'll actually catch a tail, but you watch it and if it's not going at your lure, you can make adjustments. It's almost like a video game, but it isn't a video game. When you hook up, you are hooked up and to give an example again I'm going to fresh water, but it works in fresh water right. So if it works in fresh water in low water conditions, why wouldn't it work in back bass? Oh, it does work. In back bass. You can see from like 200 feet, 100 feet, 200 feet out where the fish are. This thing will spot bait like nothing you've ever seen and, like in the case of fresh water, I find a bowl of bait. I'm throwing a jerk bait over that and I watch the fish and I'm like, okay, I got to get a deeper jerk bait and I put on a deeper one. I get right down to the top of that bait bowl and, man, there's nothing like a jerk bait fishing, which again, they do that in Florida in salt water and there's actually there's a lot of people that are fishing jerk baits now for fluke from the shore. Looking up on YouTube, they are very, very effective, they're using great bait and it's so much fun to fish because you're kind of jerking it and then you leave slack in the line and you kind of count or whatever. You delay and then maybe you'll pop it a couple of times, but it's nothing like that and Laura's kind of floating in there or something. Bang, they hit that thing. So I'm going to get a. I mean, I have one, so I'm going to rig this thing up. They've got many options where you could just take it off and put it on a salt water boat, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I encourage everyone to look into getting one of these forward facing sonars. If you are serious about fishing and you want to make an investment, I'm telling you these things are unbelievable. And for you, ice fishing, or you, you know, I mean my friend Steve. I'm sure he's going to be listening to this. You know he fishes everywhere at Lake Long Island Sound, he ice fishes. Those things work in all those conditions and they there's nothing that can compete with them. Like I said before, bass masters may actually ban them from their tone. Well, and also major league fishing. They may both ban them because they're they have actually been gamers that have entered the tour and have out caught professional fishermen, because they know how to. You know, they know what the action on the screen needs to look like. So look into it. It's forward facing sonar. They have a bunch of them. I'm a active target guy. I, you know. I looked into it and it really seems to be one of the best that's set up. Oh look, there's stuff coming out every day. I hear Power Pole has one coming out for saltwater also. So keep your eyes open for that. I'm telling you, it's a game changer. It is much more effective than a bottom reader, but you do, you still need both. But I tell you you really should check one out. Well, that would be on my list, so I'd be curious to know what's on your list. Maybe you want to post that up in NewYorkAnglercom. Or, if I do manage a video version, you can do it at youtubecom, although I don't think this one actually will be on YouTube yet. So I want you all to consider visiting NewYorkAnglercom, subscribing to this podcast, liking our videos. You see, when you like things or you rate things, it doesn't matter how many people you are. It helps get the algorithm kicked in and we are in for a huge upgrade here at NewYorkAngler. We've got a lot of things going on. The advent of artificial intelligence is a revolution like we have never seen since the internet began. It's changing everything and we are going to be at the forefront of that. People that were unable to afford a staff of videos, celebrities and audios and content writers and all that. We don't need that anymore. Those, all of those people are losing their jobs. Sadly, espn just announced they will be getting rid of all their beat writers. I mean, why have a writer when artificial intelligence can do not only the same thing but do it better? I know it's hard for you to understand, but trust me, this come from the guy that had the first phishing website ever in history. Name domain names were free back then and I recognize that and I recognize this. The world is changing with AI and I suggest you folks learn it and learn it as fast as you can. It's really easy, super easy. Okay, that's going to basically wrap up this episode. As I mentioned, look for major upgrades at myanglercom as we concentrate more on the website this season. We're starting a YouTube channel. I know we're late to the game. It doesn't matter, we will catch up and we will look. We're doing pretty well now. So when I start adding all this content, my team starts doing the videos without all that overhead. I think you're gonna really love the website. So please get down there and again, like, interact with anything, especially YouTube, and we're gonna start the TikTok, even though I literally have never even looked at TikTok and Instagram. All these shorts and videos and stuff like that. But more importantly, you will be seeing how two articles added almost daily as we move into the new year. Again, I wish you all America.

Thank you for listening to the New York Angler podcast. You can find more on Fishing New York Waters at NYUanglercom, your secret spot online.