Fishing & The Price of Gas

[live bait]

So did the price of gas have an impact of your fishing trips this year, if someone would have asked me that in April or May as the season was getting started, I would have said NO WAY. Fact of the matter is, it did. I trailer my boat, & looking back on my log I made 27 trips to one of three ramps I use, that's 19 less trips than last year. Part of that was because of something that got in the way of fishing at home & I didn't fish at all in June, but a good number of times I stayed on land due to the price of gas. Once on the water I did a lot less exploring, looking for new bottom. With weakfish in short supply in the Peconic, I didn't even try. On days when things were slow in Plum Gut I would think nothing of running to the Race just to see what was going on, or to tangle with a few big Blues, not this year. I found myself running the boat with an eye on the gallons per hour gauge. I normally run to Montauk from Orient to bass fish at least three times, this year I went once. I like to run the boat through the Shinnecock Canal, & either fish the bunker pods or fish the Shinnecock reef, this year I went once. Don't get me wrong I had a really good year, I was just taking a package of striper out of the freezer to make bass salad for Thanksgiving, & their is no shortage of frozen fish in stock. So did the price of gas or diesel have an impact on your fishing season?.......John

 

[Roccus7]

Didn't impact me one bit, with the exception of lightening the wallet. I even stayed with Ethanol-Free gas, which around here is also high test.

I fished when I wanted, and took the Admiral out for long boat rides whenever she wanted...

What did impact my number of trips was a 3 week trip out to the Midwest for Grandparents duty, and a cranky tilt trim system that was always waiting for parts...

 

[Pangaroo]

2 gallons a fishing trip on my 25 foot Panga. All around the bay fluke fishing 3/4's day. I might get better fuel economy when I extend the shaft on my outboard another 5 inchs. My prop is way up near the surface and gotta slow down a lot when it starts to rev really high. Did 21 knots with a 50 HP Evinrude ETEC when it was flat as a lake and the prop wasn't going up and down. Amazing these Boats aren't more popular up North. Paid $9500 for a 25 Bare Hull, I added a wood floor and extras , with a trailer and a used 50 HP with 300 hours, the whole rig cost $22,000. The front wheel drive minivan tows it real nice.

 

[BoatGuy]

So did the price of gas have an impact of your fishing trips this year, if someone would have asked me that in April or May as the season was getting started, I would have said NO WAY. Fact of the matter is, it did. I trailer my boat, & looking back on my log I made 27 trips to one of three ramps I use, that's 19 less trips than last year. Part of that was because of something that got in the way of fishing at home & I didn't fish at all in June, but a good number of times I stayed on land due to the price of gas. Once on the water I did a lot less exploring, looking for new bottom. With weakfish in short supply in the Peconic, I didn't even try. On days when things were slow in Plum Gut I would think nothing of running to the Race just to see what was going on, or to tangle with a few big Blues, not this year. I found myself running the boat with an eye on the gallons per hour gauge. I normally run to Montauk from Orient to bass fish at least three times, this year I went once. I like to run the boat through the Shinnecock Canal, & either fish the bunker pods or fish the Shinnecock reef, this year I went once. Don't get me wrong I had a really good year, I was just taking a package of striper out of the freezer to make bass salad for Thanksgiving, & their is no shortage of frozen fish in stock. So did the price of gas or diesel have an impact on your fishing season?.......John

Interesting. At the start of this season, I also would also have said “no way”.

But I did find myself less likely to explore. For example, if I started in Old Field and wasn’t getting a bite, I would have thought nothing of heading to spots in Rocky Point. This year, I would go. But cut back on the throttle or try spots on the way there.

However, I did explore more in the area I was in. If at Old Field (example) and I drifted at 20 feet, I drift shallow and then deeper.

I have a 17 foot boat and a 125 2 stroke. It is not that bad on gas. I can’t imagine the guys running four 350 HP motors on the back. But then again, if they could afford the boat, gas probably isn’t a issue.

 

[FillyT]

Definitely cut back on number of trips. I also trailer and chase fish all over but did not make any far from home trips. In fact I'm recently retired and would welcome any members to come on board and split fuel. (Less crowded than a party boat and more mobile)

 

[Tigashrk]

Didn’t affect my boating at all but the non stop winds sure did. I was disappointed about the amount of hours I put on the boat this year and that had way more to do with wind then price of fuel.