When was the last time we had a Spring Mackerel season off Long Island ?

[Pangaroo]

Seems so long ago . I remember we had great winter mackerel fishing about 4 or 5 years ago. They were right outside South Shore Inlets for several months. The last time I went Mackerel fishing in the Spring was in the late 1990's . The DEC said they changed their migration ???
I remember fabulous mackerel fishing right outside Oyster Bay Harbor in the 1970's / Early 1980's.
You wonder why we never see them in the Spring anymore.

 

[poorrichard]

Mid April to late May when I was a kid. All off the south shore. See the old party boat ads from the 60,'s and 70's.

It used to be so good the Sheepshead Bay fleet would sail up the East River to catch them in Western sound. This was usually around Memorial Day Weekend. Then they would move too far east in the sound to make that trip worthwhile.

 

[george]

Seems so long ago . I remember we had great winter mackerel fishing about 4 or 5 years ago. They were right outside South Shore Inlets for several months. The last time I went Mackerel fishing in the Spring was in the late 1990's . The DEC said they changed their migration ???
I remember fabulous mackerel fishing right outside Oyster Bay Harbor in the 1970's / Early 1980's.
You wonder why we never see them in the Spring anymore.

That is one complicated question packed with so many unknowns. I have been looking into this and many experts agree that we are seeing a mass migration and transformation for marine fisheries we have seen since keeping records. I'm working on a special podcast on this very issue.

 

[Snapprhead27]

We were getting quite a bit of macks doing wreak trips over the summer.

 

[george]

@Snapprhead27 . That's true but they showed so late. Then we had the chubbs come through. But still nothing in the sound.

 

[Snapprhead27]

@Snapprhead27 . That's true but they showed so late. Then we had the chubbs come through. But still nothing in the sound.

Sounds been off. I used to go with Capt Hahn out in CSH.

 

[Aquarius]

In the early 80s I used to catch Mackerel casting from the rock jetty at the end of the Throggs Neck peninsula on the SUNY Maritime College campus. "Boston" Mackerel, not the Chubb Mackerel.

The last time I got any spring time "Boston" Mackerel south of Jones Inlet was about 2000 or 2001.

 

[Roccus7]

Crap I left LI in 1983 and the last time we had a Spring Season around PJ/Miller Place was in the late 70s. Used to go out with a lightweight FW spinning rig with 6lb mono and a 1/4 oz Kastmaster. After 50 macks my wrist would be shot, and the neighbor hood smokers were all full...

 

[poorrichard]

These were Boston Mackerel. Schools would stretch for miles and miles along the south shore

 

[Jillybird]

About ten years ago there was an old time run for a couple of weeks off the south shore in the winter. I took my son and some of his friends when they were young teens. They experienced what I enjoyed as a kid. It was great and then never again.

 

[george]

As a kid, we would fill the boat with them off of Sunken Meadow.
It probably contributed to the problem

 

[george]

So Speaking of mackerel . . . here's a release from NOAA today. In it, they admit that overfishing is occurring so they're going to lower the com quota to 5k pounds a day. At the same time, they admit that it remains overfished and overfishing actually increased slightly.

Just think about the statement below. They are basically saying that the fishery is overfished so they tried to reduce the catch which resulted in even more overfishing. So now they're reducing it to 5k a day! Just shut the damn thing down before you lose it all.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Atlantic Mackerel Fishery Closure​

NOAA Fisheries is closing the limited access Atlantic mackerel fishery in federal waters through the end of the fishing year on December 31, 2021.

Effective at 0001 hour on October 15, 2021, vessels are prohibited from fishing for or landing more than 5,000 lb of Atlantic mackerel per trip in or from federal waters through December 31, 2021. Vessels may not land Atlantic mackerel more than once per calendar day.

The most recent management track assessment from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center concluded that the species remains overfished and overfishing increased slightly. We are implementing this closure to minimize additional catch for the remainder of the current fishing year.

 

[DarthBaiter]

Not sure about spring, but my summer fluke trip off of Montauk was plagued with macks. Had to take off my teaser and put on a big ass gulp to keep them from hitting my rigs.

 

[reelfisher]

I've caught a couple of mackerel each season while blackfishing in the ELIS but that is about it in the sound. The last good run I remember was probably around 1980. Even in the sound, the schools would stretch for a couple of miles and you could easily catch a garbage can full if desired. I preferred a light setup with just a plain AVA27. and sometimes I would add a single teaser on a dropper loop if they weren't hitting the jig and still had enough bait for the season.