Fishing pressure increase

[Slackdaddy]

In the last 5 years I have seen a tremendous increase in fishing pressure EVERYWHERE.
Tidal, ponds, mountain rivers,, everywhere.

I cross the Pax on rt 4, 2-4 times a day, everyday. I used to see 1-2 cars max week days, 2-4 weekends typ then when the white perch ran in spring the lot would lode up with ~10 cars for a week or 2.
That lot has had 5-10 cars every week day, and 20+ on week ends.

I have been smallie fishing on the upper Doah, the South branch, smokehole, etc. I would go on a Fri-sat over nighter.
I have seen a doubling of fishermen, and pleasure rafters in the last year or so, it's crazy.

Out of the way ponds I would hit, and NEVER see anyone now seem to be lined with people.

In all honesty,, I go out fishing in my yak to get away from people,, but it is at the point where I am thinking of getting out of it,, everywhere I fish is Hammered,,

Thoughts??

[Mark]

I think there are areas and times when you can still find solitude fishing. But it takes effort.

I'm fortunate to be retired so I can avoid fishing on weekends. That's a big help. Also, my fishing interests go against the grain of many in MD and on this forum. I could not care less about catching large stripers during the trophy season. During that time, I'd rather be in an eastern shore pond chasing pickerel on the fly. You won't find me bobbing at the Bay Bridge looking for a lunker. (I saw a post on another fishing forum recently that referred to fishing at the Bay Bridge as "combat fishing.") Indeed, I don't care about catching large fish of any species. I'm happy catching bluegills and bass in ponds, or catching white perch in tidal creeks, or landing barely legal keeper stripers in western shore rivers and Eastern Bay. I use the term "keeper" only to denote size. I keep nothing I catch. My point is that I do not purposely frequent areas where large fish are typically caught, areas that often draw crowds of anglers. At the same time, I catch decent sized fish that give my light tackle a workout. Also I often fish early and often leave the water when others are just arriving. I avoid crowds by the areas, days and times I fish.

However, I wondered about Slackdaddy's observation that he is seeing more pressure than ever in the past five years. Based on the numbers of fishing license holders in MD, I think he is right. In 2014, the number of fishing license holders in MD was 278,349. In 2019, that number jumped to 303,179, a 9 percent increase. Last January, I went to a fly fishing show in Edison, NY. A NY-based charter captain who specializes in striper fishing noted anecdotally that he has seen more boats in recent years targeting stripers than ever before. Interestingly, the number of fishing license holders in NY dropped from 963,413 in 2014 to 881,338 in 2019, a 9 percent decrease -- just the opposite of MD. The source of these numbers is the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Of course the numbers themselves may not tell the story. Perhaps the number of dedicated striper anglers in NY is up even if the total number of fishing licenses decreased. Perhaps saltwater licenses actually increased. The statistics did not delineate the kinds of fishing licenses.

But back to MD, if you think it's crowded now, what was it like almost 30 years ago in our state in 1990 when the number of fishing license holders was 651,348? That's more than twice as many licensed anglers as we have today.

License numbers aside, I do believe pressure is higher on the fish than ever before. (The present scarcity of stripers may be an illustration.) I say that for several reasons. One is the advent of electronics. The same tools that helped commercial fisherman increase their catches are now being used by many of us in our boats and kayaks. A second reason for increased pressure is social media. Even if we are careful to avoid "spot burning", discussions online about specific bodies of water, like we often have here, lead to more pressure on those waters. "Spots" are going to be found whether you reveal them or not. I'm not saying that our use of social media is bad. I think it's a good thing. But doing so will inevitably increase pressure on certain areas as we share information. That's the cost of sharing knowledge. A third reason for increased pressure on fish is that tackle today is better than ever. Rods are lighter, reels are more reliable, lines are stronger, and lures are better. Imagine fishing without soft plastics. I believe the standard striper lure before soft plastics was a bucktail and pork rind. And then there are our kayaks allowing us to get into skinny water where bigger boats cannot go but fish still roam. When I cross the Bay Bridge and see all those boats bobbing by the pilings and when at the same time I think of all the kayaks in the rivers and creeks I realize how difficult it is for fish to hide from us. And just think about stripers. They not only have to contend with all of the above, they have to avoid commercial pound nets too.

So, the number of licensed anglers in MD has increased in the past 5 years, but that number is still less than half of what it was a generation ago. Yet, we're definitely more efficient fish catchers. Our tackle is better. Our ability to share information is better. And our electronics help us find fish once we get to those areas highlighted on social media.

There's no good answer to the problem Slackdaddy mentioned. I think crowds are here to stay. I avoid them as much as I can by the ways I mentioned earlier. When I encounter them, I deal with them to the extent I can. I'm far from the point of throwing in the towel on the matter. I like kayak fishing too much to do that.

[ronaultmtd]

Like you Mark, I have made the full circle...in my earlier years I was a tournament Angler, competition was a drug...catching the biggest was the measure of success...and I fished shark tournaments, 800-900 pound sharks would get “in the money” but not win the tournament...fifty pound king mackerel was the target in King tournaments and...you get the picture...I won a few tournaments, in the money in a bunch, but the pressure got to me...it was work- not any fun...and very expensive! I stopped altogether for a few years, concentrating on competitive 3D archery and big game hunting...as my oversized ego cooled and I grew out of the completion mode to the pure altruistic enjoyment of just being out in the environment I quit measuring success by the number of citation plaques hanging on the wall or the fish hanging on the scales...nowadays I do not travel hundreds of miles across multiple states chasing fish, I stay in home waters and fish for panfish...the largest would not have been big enough to use as bait...and I enjoy every minute I am out...no pressure, pure pleasure...and it doesn’t matter if my buddy catches a bigger fish or not..i celebrate his success with him...fishing pressure today is nothing...not even on a holiday weekend like tournament fishing...God bless them, but for me...white perch, bluegills, and, yes, even the big uglies...there are plenty of places to fish without undo pressure if you look for them and don’t go out on the Fouth of July weekend...

[DanMarino]

I would say that it depends on where you fish and when you fish. My most recent kayak fishing outing, I was the only kayak on the water and I had the place to myself. Also in 2019 all of my pond and flowing water trips I have had complete solitude and encountered no other fishermen. So I think it depends on where you are fishing.

[moc]

I too have changed my fishing habits over the years. I enjoy fishing natural settings. I find them more peaceful. I do not care if I get the biggest fish. I enjoy catching the perch, crabs, catfish, croakers, and stripers, but, I release most of my stripers and I only keep the smaller of any fish to eat. I let the bigger ones go back into the water to breed after taking a picture, besides the bigger ones have more toxins and PCBs, and sometimes do not taste as good as the small ones. I do enjoy some kayak tournaments, only as a venue to hangout with fellow kayakers and support a good cause like Heroes on the Water and the Make A Wish Foundation, but I would only go to one or two a year if I go.

[pbharvey]

I would say that it depends on where you fish and when you fish. My most recent kayak fishing outing, I was the only kayak on the water and I had the place to myself. Also in 2019 all of my pond and flowing water trips I have had complete solitude and encountered no other fishermen. So I think it depends on where you are fishing.

Me too. More often than not I’m trying to figure why, with 9+ million people in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, there aren’t more people out fishing.

[Slackdaddy]

Because they were all up on the Doah this last weekend LOL

Me too. More often than not I’m trying to figure why, with 9+ million people in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, there aren’t more people out fishing.