Tough Going from Shore

When a veteran of the Cape Cod Canal tells you that this is the worst fishing he has seen in over 60 years you know the fishery is in trouble.  It's not only the Canal, but fishing for keeper bass in general is poor from shore regardless of where you are fishing.
I got back to the Canal yesterday and my son Matt fished there on Saturday.  Matt hit a bit of luck as he landed a fish of about 20 lbs. when a pod of large fish started breaking right in front of him. I went there on Monday and did not fare as well.  I landed 2 small schoolies, and those were the only fish I saw landed as my father and I fished an entire tide with poor results. We didn't see a single fish break water.
From what my friends are saying RI is not fishing much better. The exception is if you can find a school of menhaden close to shore and then you have a chance to find a large fish under them.  At this point I know many real good fishermen who have not landed a keeper this year.
I am beginning to see many similarities to the 1980's when things got so bad that a moratorium was imposed.  Back then keeper bass were disappearing so quickly that the fishery was closed to protect the fish we had.  Let's hope we don't get to that point.