First off, enjoy the video. I had no plan when I sat down to do this one, its the most off the cuff of any of the videos I've done. I hope it's useful.
Well, I'm not sure how you're doing this May, if you fish the surf, but it's been tough for me. It's been tough for virtually everyone, I think. I've yet to hear from someone who is really happy. I've heard from a lot that are very unhappy. Yeah, it's the weather; no really, I think a huge part of the problem is the weather for us up here in New England. The water is nearly 10 degrees below normal, and I'm sitting here looking at a 10 day forecast with a lot of days 10 degrees before normal...and 40's at night in June!!! Insane. It. Sucks. I'm so sick of it.
However, that's not REALLY the problem. Get used to springs like this. Get used to fishing like this, all the time. The fishery is in trouble. Now, I went to one of the hearings last fall when we were fighting for the fishery. I saw that only 1000 people wrote letters, out of the 100s of the 1000s of people who fish. If you are complaining about the fishery, and you didn't do your part, what did you expect? I was so disappointed to see that so few took the- literal- 5 minutes to write a letter.
Yet, would it have mattered anyway? The ASMFC decided to ignore the letters anyways, and did what they wanted. Which was not what I wanted, or what the vast vast majority of the letters wanted. That, and it was pretty obvious to this guy that they had already made the decision before they even read the letters. Period.
And I've heard a lot about how COVID could save the fishery. That maybe there'd be less people. Yet, maybe it's just me, but I've never seen so many fisherman out, day and night. I've heard from someone in NJ who's given up on spots because they're mobbed. It'll be interesting to see what the Canal looks like starting next moon...and if it gets shut down (I can't see how it doesn't) where those anglers go. Yet, with so many out of state fisherman coming to the canal...who technically aren't supposed to come unless they can quarantine...and also might not be able to afford to at the moment....maybe it'll be less crowded. I guess we'll see.
Anyways. May used to be my favorite month. I've said this several times in seminars, videos, and I think I said it in the podcast with The Saltwater Edge. It used to be a time of excitement, and shots at both numbers and size. There was always a night or two that you went home tired and sore from catching fish. Several years my biggest fish of the year have come in May. Now, it seems like May is just anxiety inducing. Like October. Could it be good? Maybe. Bad? Maybe. How much effort should I put in? Should I use my time off? Push myself now, or wait? Etcetera.
Was it good this year? No. Was it good last year. No. Was it good for me personally the year before? NO. I just think it's not going to come back. May, has went the way of mid/late October and November. Used to be good. Now, a huge dice roll.
So, now, if you ask me what my favorite month is, I'll probably say September.
But hey, next week is June at least.
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