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[Hunter704]

The year was 1972, I was eight years old. My dad had a little Garvey boat he used for duck hunting. In the spring it became a bay boat and flounder fishing in the bay.

 

[captmike28]

The year was 1972, I was eight years old. My dad had a little Garvey boat he used for duck hunting. In the spring it became a bay boat and flounder fishing in the bay.

Oh the fantastic memoires you stir up with a photo like this one, Vinnie. Most of us in our age bracket and beyond probably learned to fish with winter flounder being our target. And they were so prolific back then! The "Basket Grounds" in Shinnecock Bay earned its famous monicker due to the fact you could easily fill a bushel with tasty "Blackbacks" during those years on most trips!

Sadly, I literally "closed the book" on our local winter flounder fishing in April of 2004. On a blown-out Block Island Cod trip my wife and I did what most of us would during those days. We ducked into Montauk Harbor and put together a decent catch of those super tasty flatfish. To the best of my knowledge these are the very last winter Flounder that ever came over my rail. How very sad.

 

[OVERBORED]

Saved many a day catching fluke and flounder in the harbor.

A great fishery lost.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[WhatKnot]

Unfortunately fishing for Flounder in the 60’s and early 70’s the expression “keep it, it’s pan size” was the mantra. I like to believe we didn’t know any better.

 

[Hunter704]

Unfortunately fishing for Flounder in the 60’s and early 70’s the expression “keep it, it’s pan size” was the mantra. I like to believe we didn’t know any better.

You are a correct, they were plentiful and never had a chance to grow. On many other factors. Chemicals being used on lawns and shrubs,trees, were almost nonexistent. The run offs over years killing off the eel grass was all habitats for spawning along with the increase of seals, cormorant birds have grown in large numbers. Along with many other factors as way there is no more flounder fishing.

 

[Double Trouble]

they are selling flounder filet for $17.99 a pound now in Queens NY.

 

[MOJOE]

hunter back of jamaica bay,,,,,,,,,,some big ones back there ,,,,,,,and off my dock down garrison creek,,,,,,,,2013 ,,,,,><)))):>
><))):>,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Double Trouble]

Got blown out on a Cod fish trip spring of 1986 ran over to Gardners bay and this was the result.

 

[Crabman]

Augie's Babylon Village 1967. My Dad, on the right, owned the 25' Bertram, Teacher's Pet. I started working at Augie's when I was 14. Before Augie owned it and changed the name, it was Doc Craw's. I regularly fished with Doc.

 

[Crabman]

Another Augie's photo. Back in the day, there was a Long Island wide contest called the R.J. Shaefer Tournament. Clubs would have their members weigh in Bass, Blues and if I remember right Codfish. The fish had to be over a certain size. If I remember right, bass had to be over 15lbs., blues over 10lbs. and I don't remember codfish. Not to brag, but to brag, our boat, The Teacher's Pet, caught more bass than any entire club on Long Island put together. The cool dude on the right was Capt. Tom Cashman. After being introduced to fishing on my Dad's boat and fishing with us for many years, Tom went on to captain his own boat, The Rogue, out of Senix Marina in Moriches.

 

[BoatGuy]

I was speaking with Captain Paul. He has been all over and even worked on Celtic Quest years back. I mentioned to him how we used to catch boat loads of flounder. His reply was “That why they are gone”. He explained that those flounder were fished out. The only ones left in any quantity were the deep water flounder in 100+ feet of water.

 

[george]

I was speaking with Captain Paul. He has been all over and even worked on Celtic Quest years back. I mentioned to him how we used to catch boat loads of flounder. His reply was “That why they are gone”. He explained that those flounder were fished out. The only ones left in any quantity were the deep water flounder in 100+ feet of water.

I'm sure we put a hurting on them but I also believe that environmental issues also contributed as evidenced by the healthy population we see offshore.

@WhatKnot said it best - I'd like to think we didn't know better. But deep down inside I think we all knew it couldn't last forever.

 

[Double Trouble]

I was speaking with Captain Paul. He has been all over and even worked on Celtic Quest years back. I mentioned to him how we used to catch boat loads of flounder. His reply was “That why they are gone”. He explained that those flounder were fished out. The only ones left in any quantity were the deep water flounder in 100+ feet of water.

With nobody really fishing for them over the last 20 years you would think they would show signs of rebuilding by now.I think water changes seals and comerants had a lot to do with the collapse as did the commercial draggers.

 

[george]

@Crabman Were you working at Augies when Don Urbanski was around? That place used to go through 200 magazines a week.

 

[Crabman]

Oops. Sorry guys. I skimmed the first post and thought it was a thread about the old days in general not just about flounders. Didn't mean to hijack it with old bass stories. Wasn't able to delete my posts.

As for flounders, growing up in the 50's, they were the first fish most of us began our fishing for. Flounders and blowfish. Anyone could catch them and it was easy to give a kid a rod and let him have a blast. Flounder fishing was the perfect way to learn to fish. Even baiting your hook was fun. What kid didn't like to see the scary mouth pop out of a blood worm. l grew up in Babylon Village and could catch all I needed right in Sumpwans Creek at the "Stone Dock" on Shore Road. Go out in the bay and you could catch more than you needed. It's sad that they have not comeback. Not to poop on Captain Paul's thoughts about what happened to them but I find it hard to believe that after over forty years of no fishing pressure, the flounder has not returned. I have tried at all in the main areas, like off Heckshire, the Babylon Cut, Sore Thumb etc. but for the most part, nothing however I did catch a few. I mentioned I worked with the NYSDEC and in particular with the head of Fin Fish and Crustaceans, Phil Briggs back in the late 80's. We sampled areas with my dredge and he examined everything for signs of flounder eggs. We did find shells with eggs attached but according to Phil, the amount attached to the shell was very few and the amount of shells with eggs were even more scarce. He said, when a flounder casts it's eggs, the amount on the shell should be substantial. We saw less than five eggs on the few shells we found with eggs. Why? He did not have an answer.

 

[Crabman]

George, I remember the name but I can't place him. What time frame.

I totally agree with Double Trouble. Something else happened to the flounders. Not over fishing. I hate the cormorants. They are so invasive. They will eat anything and everything. They should be eliminated. From all the stocked trout in the lakes to eels in the canals, the cormorants are so destructive.

 

[OVERBORED]

Anyone remember seeing so much lawn fertilizer used in the 70s and 80s? Overdevelopment has ruined the marshes which were incubators for all our inshore species. Those fish are gone for good.

 

[OVERBORED]

Ironically, when i was a kid, the old timers would tell me stories of Giant tuna, weakfish and porgies all ending up in the dumpster because they were worthless.

Say what you want about regulations, without them the ocean would be barren. We are our own worse enemy.

 

[Crabman]

Ironically, when i was a kid, the old timers would tell me stories of Giant tuna, weakfish and porgies all ending up in the dumpster because they were worthless.

Back around the mid-70's, we won the USATT (United States Atlantic Tuna Tournament) with a 782 lb. bluefin. A lot of fish were caught but no one ever kept any of these fish. What were you going to do with 782 lbs. of warm tuna. No one had that much ice in those days. At the weigh station waiting for you to come in with your fish was Purina. They would give us .10/pound to get rid of them and they used them for cat food. Then the Moonies moved in and began buying our fish for a lot more. Soon after that, the Japanese from the Meat Packing District in NYC took over and prices sky rocketed.

Another huge waste of the resources was the Bay Shore Mako Tournament. Hundreds of sharks of all types and sizes were landed at the Bay Shore Dock. Once weighed, they were loaded into the waiting garbage trucks and brought to the land fill.

Never fished for porgies growing up but I regularly heard in the about weakfish. My Dad said they were everywhere when he was younger. We fished a lot and never caught one until the mid-60's when all hell broke loose and weakfish were everywhere. Off Sayville they would spawn and you could literally walk across the bay on weakfish. They were everywhere and then after a few years, they were gone.

 

[Hunter704]

Anyone remember seeing so much lawn fertilizer used in the 70s and 80s? Overdevelopment has ruined the marshes which were incubators for all our inshore species. Those fish are gone for good.

I mention in the beginning of the post there was not much chemicals, back then. The bay was loaded with eel grass. Digging clams with your feet you had eel grass past your knees now it’s just sandy bottoms in the flats