A Heads Up for Fishing Hydro

[SteveK]

Please don't shoot the messenger on this one. I was asked to pass on the news that a commercial lobsterman in Hydro is beyond pissed about sporties tying off to his gear, screwing it up, and dragging it all over the place. He reportedly has left long tag ends off of each of his high flyers that could easily foul/tangle up in most open running gear. So careful out there when trolling the highflyers for mahi, and more importantly, stay off his highflyers. I'm sure he'll be checking them at midnight. So unless you like spending an hour under your props cutting away polypro lines, you may want to stay clear of his gear.

Stay safe out there guys, and anyways, the fishing is always better when you drift.

[backman]

from what I saw the 2 times I was out there this summer he has every reason to be angry. I am not sure leaving tag lines to foul props is a reasonable response.

I've been under a 54 footer in 3-5' seas and was one of 5 or 6 men on the boat unable to clear that prop. Had a buddy boat not been nearby and had a tank on board it could have been a really bad situation.

I had the opportunity to listen to one of the lobsterman give a riveting soliloquy on the radio about 10 years ago about their side of the equation and since then have never tied up.

I have no issue with a midnight house call to anyone tied up but would hope the message might go back to the lobsterman that strafing a boat with deck lights and speaker at 20 yards is a lot safer approach for all concerned that gets the message across just as well to the offender as opposed to some random sportfisherman possibly ill equipped to deal with a line in their running gear.

[HIGHTIMES]

Post this on the NY forum!!!

[backman]

you mean the big DE guys that advertise their intentions and locations for the night?

I wonder how we look at night to a lobsterman; lights and radar blips mixed in with their strings; I can imagine how much it must piss them off.

I got run off open water once east of Block on one of those greasy nights with 200 boats. He came at me till I pulled the plug at 1/2 mile 0- I got on 16 and hailed him "lobster boat east of the tails steaming down on me at 39 xx / 71 xx - I am drifting; I am *NOT* on your gear""

eventually I got his attention and response "you may not be but every other asshole from Long island is"

[Fffiisshh0]

the floating polyrope is no new trick. I have seen that for over 25 years. In fact it used to be much worse, Id say 1 in 10 had a floater on it. I have rarely seen it in the past few years, but Im guessing with all the traffic out there this season, they are probably less than thrilled. Plus they have had there own battles between lobster and longliners to a much more serious level! Make no mistake, they are NOT friendly to sportys, and they will mess with you!!
A plastic barrel makes a nice self contained canyon anchor setup. Deploys easily, no mess, take off boat when not used. Retrieval isnt the funnest part of the day, but if you split it between a couple guys your done in 15 minutes!

[Bill_N]

A plastic barrel makes a nice self contained canyon anchor setup. Deploys easily, no mess, take off boat when not used. Retrieval isnt the funnest part of the day, but if you split it between a couple guys your done in 15 minutes!

Is it set-up as a drift anchor?

[SaltyDog]

I got caught by a long rope last year and had to snorkle under. Not fun. Commercial guys have to realuze that when that happens to me, and i think its intentional, there gear is going to be cut. It goes both ways.

[iguana1]

Heres my 2 cents on the issue. Ever had something stolen off your boat? How angry are you when this happens? If you tie to a flyer and ball up the gear you are probably taking at least $500 (40 traps X 2 lbs/per trap) from the lobster boat plus whatever time they spend sorting the gear. I bet they get real pissed and have a right to. If you drag/ball that gear you are stealing another crews livelihood in the interest of having fun.

A few points on high flyers in general (most probably know these). When trolling flyers the (poly) ball side faces into the current. Generally this side will be more productive as the down line runs at an angle uptide from the ball, thus you are trolling over the structure. The downside is you need to factor tide so your long baits don't get swept in when trolling uptide. Trolling uptide will ensure that you avoid trailing poly line, however you also should make sure that the down-line is not at a low angle, hence near the surface which I have seen on gear after weather from time-to-time. As a rule, I only troll flyers from the tower so I can avoid stray lines. I also think most guys troll flyers too close in general. When there are fish on them they will come out 100' to the spread - you don't need to put your baits 10' away. The safest and most idiot-proof strategy is to troll the flyer with the ball and reflector lined up (parallel to tide) on the downwind side.

With regard to tying up, I recommend don't do it, but since some will here is some relevant info. Gear generally runs east-west and the east end of the string is usually marked with a double poly-ball. You can usually plot the strings on your radar. If the tide is running east/west then you would be better off finding the west end of the string. You would have less chance of moving the gear if you tie off with a long line to the flyer as this reduces the jerking and pulls horizontal not up. I would also recommend setting a MOB on your GPS and making sure you are not moving the gear. I would also recommend a knife be handy in case you need to cut free.

A couple of other thoughts:

I find trolling flyers produces tuna on days when bait is scarce and spread out. I can think of three trips where the skunk perished to tuna off flyers, all days with hot blue lifeless water. When fishing is slow 'connect the dots' is a great way to cover ground.

I also think the NE would benefit hugely from some FADs that could double as overnight moorings. I wonder if this could be permitted and we could raise some funds from the fleet somehow for it? I would kick in canyon gas money to see a couple FADs per canyon dropped.

[iguana1]

I got caught by a long rope last year and had to snorkle under. Not fun. Commercial guys have to realuze that when that happens to me, and i think its intentional, there gear is going to be cut. It goes both ways.

Yeah I have done that twice and it sucks, especially with a wet, bloody deck and some seepage from your coolers going out the scuppers. Still, blame your fellow fishermen, not the lobster guys.....

[backman]

I'm in for the FAD also.

I also observe the "eye for an eye - I'm cutting your traps" is completely over the top and is not acceptable. If you have to cut, and I have; you have to retie; its someone's livelihood and tools you are cutting off.

As Seth says there is a right way and distance to approach flyers and 20-30 yards is more than close enough to raise anything you really want. There is no reason to get caught in a booby trap if you use common sense and caution.

I also note I have twice driven over subsurface lines attached to flyers dragged off station; once in 1500', once right on the edge. I now always approach solo out of place flyers or balls with extreme caution.


Rob - I'm curious how much anchor rode you carry and what depth you anchor in...