Really?
 

I'm scrapping the barrel to keep this place alive.. Sorry...:rolleyes:

I think I'm going fishing this weekend, so maybe a report will be my next thread...

We really need another topic to discuss..

Since Steve and Shawn have abandoned ship, no fishing reports.

Come to think of it.. Hockey starts Friday !!!!:):):):):)

Any other thoughts ??? Stinkbugs ??? Governors race ??? Portis out for 6 weeks !!!! ( don't really care, but his injury sounds PAINFUL !!!!)

So Brian; where are you going fishing? I don't think we fish the same waters. Are you targeting rock? Jigging,trolling?

I hope to be out this weekend as well. With the slip on Bodkin Creek (above bay bridge); I hope to be targeting rock trolling with #15 tonys. If we don't get harassed by blues, I will be making up tandem rigs with storm shads as well. I hope these cool nights have the bait leaving the rivers and rock staging to ambush.

If anyone gets out tonight or tomorrow, please post water conditions.

Brian; I've been trying to keep the site going as well. I'm usually not so "chatty", but we need something to read when you log on.

Here are some more topics for discussion.
1) It must be fall, because when I wear my jeans, I don't feel the pee splash back on my legs when I tinkle in shorts.
2) It's too cold for my "keen" sandals on the boat. What kind of shoe/boots do you wear in the fall on the deck (I wear L.L. Bean duck boots). Warm and no scuff marks.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
5th (Marty)

I assumed it was obvious that when the board got quiet everyone knew the fishing has been pretty hot. It has been for the last 3 weeks. The schools of fish in the middle bay are pretty massive when you find them. No specific technique required, the schools have been so large every technique works "if you find them".

GO RAVENS!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA STEElErrrsssss

Fishing is on fire, fish with me and I'll share information. For now, I won't post it here because I don't know you or trust you. Plus, so many people who post here were very anti my method of fishing when DNR got involved last year. They wanted to know why jigging was not targeted too. Rather than fight, they tried to take everyone down with them. Not people I want to share with.

Anti-your fishing method? You really believe that? A good angler will adapt to the most productive methods of fishing, 3/4 of the time I have a jigging rod in my hand and when the fish are spread out over vast distances I troll. I have no problems sharing info I just assumed I was inferior to the elders of the board. I've been fishing the area just south of the little choptank working the breaking fish and birds and the fishing has been wonderful. A moron can get it right when the birds tell them where to go.

As far as the debate about fishing regulations, I have no say, therefore I just fish. If I'm allowed to fish I will.

Dude, Brother, Fellow fishing person;
I was at all the meetings last fall/winter. I don't know how you could make this statement. Let's be honest, trolling was targeted by DNR (we harass the fish and drag them through the water). At every meeting, you had jigging professionals (Tom Hughs, Ritchie Gaines and several others) demanding "ONE ROD, ONE PERSON".
From your posts, I have great respect for you even though we have never met. I don't jig very much because of "tennis elbow", and because I've never put in the amount of time necessary to be good at it. I respect your type of fishing and get the fact that it is a lot more fun to bring in big fish on lighter tackle (which is why I love livelinning and bait fishing). I wish I could do more of it.
Trust me we "faught" for all we were worth to try to salvage the C/R season. We didn't want anyone to be negatively effected. We felt, and still do, that this was MOSTLY all a vendetta against a single person by the MCBA. I can't tell you how many times "trolling through a bird show with all 17 lines going down" was repeated.
And what do we have to show for it? Nothing but bad blood among brother fisherman. The charter captains didn't have a banner year with bookings. I suspect the YOY index will not show a huge increase in spawning. And Maryland looks like an ass among all other fishing states. What other state "restricts Catch and Release, while promoting Catch and Kill"?
I look forward to more posts by you, and I hope we are still "board buddies".
We need to stick together and save our resource!!!!
Best of luck to you this fall, bring in the big ones.
5th (Marty)

Yes, I really believe that. And unless you were under a rock, or not here at all for the debates that ran wild through these boards, you would know I was right. As soon as DNR proposed regulations (and yes 5thTuition they were targeted at trolling) the trollers quickly turned on the jiggers and light tackle guys. Many names I see regularly on this board were very quick to start pointing fingers and throwing light tackle guys under the bus. Many so called proponents of no regulation were stating things like "Jiggers handle way more fish than any troller" "Fly fishermen fight fish way longer and therefore put more stress on the fish" "a good jigger can put 100 fish in the boat in a day whereas a good troller can put 20"

all of those statements were made over and over again by people on this board. People that left Tidalfish becuase their little feelings got hurt. And there began the great divide among fishing methods.

So, yes, I believe that. And I have rarely trolled, but if regulations were put in against my method of fishing, I would not act like a spurned 5 year old and say "well that's not fair, they need to be punished too"

PS Yes, you do have a say. Show up at the meetings. I was at every single one last year. Was my voice heard, not sure. I spoke at many of them, but stopped as soon as infighting began among fishermen

PPS I fish the same area as you and yes the fishing has been more than adequate

5th,
I have no problem with trollers. I have many friends who are charter captains and that is how they make their living. I have many friend who are recs and they love to fish that way and I have much respect for them as well (also for you). BUT, I don't like infighting among fishermen, be it Charter Captains and outboards, or outboard vs outboard. It is BS. And it is BS for people to try to bring others down with you, rather than work together to alleviate the problem. You were not one that I ever saw bash another method, and I do recognize your name from TF. But there are those who did. If you look deep into your soul you know I'm telling the truth

and seriously, the person that trolled through a gannet show with his entire spread is a major part of the problem and was a primary target from what I have heard 2nd hand and read on this board and the other. Unfortunate, but that is a topic for a whole other thread.

I agree with you too on Tom Hughes. As a light tackle guide, I truly believe he saw an opportunity to expand his market and used it in his favor. I believe everyone should be able to fish by any method they wish, and keep as many fish as are legally allowed, or release them all. There are many who preach "return fish over 40" yet they are out there every day of the year keeping limits of 18"-30" fish. This is the kind of stuff that will be used against outboards by the powers that be.

OK, I've spoken enough, I've said my piece. Noone has to agree with me, that is your right. But I won't post any more on conservation. The bad taste is in my mouth still, and this is a fishing board. You are welcome on my boat any time. I fish out of Breezy. Hope to see you on the water. I will tell you what, I trust you, I'll send you my next fishing report and you are welcome to do with it as you wish.

it hard to post a fishing report that may lead to you getting in hot water or used aganst you. Why do it?:D

JigStix; I fish out of Ches Beach quite often in the spring and late fall (when boats on the trailer). I love the area from Parkers Creek to the CP buoy when trolling.
We need to fish with one another one day this fall. I'll use my boat trolling (we can eat lots of food and listen to music) and use yours to jig some nice fish (I have some freshwater bass rods 6'6" MH action with BKD's).
Maybe we can find some big girls this fall. I saw Mike at Buzz's saw some gannets the last time he was out.
5th (Marty)

p.s. sent you a PM with phone numbers and email information

I do live under a rock, I work rotating schedules and it's hard to keep in tune with what people say and do. Politically motivated people do not and will not listen, the great republic that our fore fathers built and their dreams died years ago with professional politicians.

As far as people leaving Tidalfish, I am unaware of that. I started using Cbangler because a guy at the boat show in Baltimore told me about it and how much smaller and easier it is to use. Tidalfish gets too many threads started and it's hard to keep up.

I have never been to any "meetings", I believe if the DNR limits what I can do for fishing then their doing so for a good scientific based reason. I supported alot of last years proposals from DNR, barbless hooks are smart, circle hooks prevent deep throat hooking and a reduction of trolling rods was meant to reduce the number of big reproducing females from being dragged therefore reducing delayed mortality, which is smart. I adapted all of the regulations without any problems to my fishing. The best trophy rock fishing this year was during the C&R. Most of the fish left before the "season" even started and I didn't lose a singe fish or have a single trip hampered by any of the said regulations.

"a good jigger can put 100 fish in the boat in a day whereas a good troller can put 20"
Thats why good anglers will adapt and use a jigging rod when they find fish.

Whats the name of your boat? I'll look for you when I'm out, I'm hoping as the water cools down we will get some good action working ccnp. I'm aboard a 25' chris craft named Daddy's Mess and a 21' parker center console named Daddy's Mess Jr.

By the way "gentleman" and Ladies I have never met any of you. Maybe that will change.


God Bless you, the fishing, and America.

I think you may not have understood the process or what was going on. The first true proposal that was adopted at the SFAC meeting was aimed at everyone regardless of how they fished. It was the day closure proposal that got so many people up in arms and it wasnt proposed by any specific fishermen but by some of those on the SFAC. It was the DNR proposal that was targetted towards trollers. No preseason fishermen was looking to reduce the efficiency of any other fishermen with the exception of a few like Tom Hughes and a few others. It was obvious that soley the efficiency of trollers that was targetted by DNR. However, Any preseason fishermen I know didnt want to see efficiency targetted at all for any fishermen regardless of how they fished. I believe most would concede regulations that would reduce mortality rates but not ones that reduced ones opportunity to catch a fish.

I actually think that it was pretty good that most fishermen who were actively involved stuck together and fought day closures. Examples of how some light tackle people are productive were only to demonstrate that DNR has no clue to what type of fishermen is more efficient and the targetting of efficiency is unjust (as most fishermen know, any method can be more efficient than another on a given day). There is no way to reduce efficiency on light tackle fishermen without closing areas or days to fishing and NO ONE I know who supported access to fishing during the preseaon would support such regulations. Even trollers would rather have gear restrictions over day closures and fought hard to make sure day closures were not enacted. Opportunity to fish is zero during a day closure even if it is greatly reduced through gear restrictions

In regards to the divide between those who enjoy trolling and those who only like to jig during the preseason, I believe that came after the whole preseason debate when there were a number of threads posted to ridicule the use of trolling gear during the trophy season (as it came on the heals of efficiency restrictions trollers faced and relatively much lower catch rate during the preseason). I say this even despite the facts that the CCA noted that they would have signed onto a one rod per person restriction that the CBF represenative proposed if it meant no day closures and Tom Hughes and a few others were calling for one rod per person restrictions at the meetings which would have rendered trolling so inefficient that it wouldnt have made it worth the effort. I will remind you that no one went on record at the DNR calling for the closure of the rips or other areas of concentration that light tackle guys like to fish despite some good fishing and high number catches reported there because no one would want that. Heck, we would want to fish those areas if trolling isnt effective enough

Obviously everyone has their perception of what happened. All I know is that it was bitter-sweet. The opportunity to fish during the preseason didnt get shut down, nor were day closures implimented. However, unfortunately the opportunity to catch fish while trolling was greatly reduced without sound justification and there seems to be more a divide amoungst fishermen today. Either way, I am glad to still be able to fish the bay all year in whatever method I believe will give me the greatest enjoyment.

I state all this not to further the divide but to offer another perspective and hope deminish the riff that appears to be there. I enjoy all types of fishing whether it is trolling, jigging, chumming, livelining spot or eels, etc. I just like to catch fish and be on the water. Some of the guys who fish with me are die-hard light tackle guys and we have a great time on the water no matter how we fish.

Hopefully we all can focus on the fall season and not focus so much on the issues of the past.

Everyone needs to stay united; I'm afraid "round two" may be coming this winter.
5th (Marty)

Believe me, I understand the process, and I know who you are and was at all but maybe one or two meetings last year. Just because I'm a redneck, does not make me a dumb redneck. You were very outstpoken, as were quite a few others on Tidalfish. In the beginning it was quite a good debate. But, then I saw the posts you refer to between you and some of the more promintent jiggers. Not just you, but a few others too. I know what they said to you, and I saw what you all said to them. Then I saw it start to get personal. I saw one person finally have it with you, and I saw you indirectly blast another prominent light tackle fisherman who just bought one of the boats you represent. Probably not your best moment I assume. Believe me, I understand the process, and I understand what went on behind the scenes, and I understand the defensive posture many trollers took (and justifiably so), but the light tackle guys stood right beside you and fought even though it did not effect them at all. I'm not so sure the outspoken trollers would have done the same had the shoe been on the other foot.. What I dont understand is how it got so out of hand.

Yes, there was some teasing going on, but you fellas always tease on this board. Just seems you were a little more sensitive (and understandbly so) about this craziness. What I don't understand is why they (you included) began to ask the question "why are there no restrictions on jiggers" "why are you only targeting trolling." When you resigned yourself to the fact that you were getting trolling restrictions, rather than regroup and say "how are we going to fix this going forward", you began to lash out. Not all the time, but you and others got quite defensive. It was as if you wished since there were restrictions on trolling, other methods should get them too, not what should have been done; and that is to work together and have the restrictions taken away in the future. I don't know if it was you or one of your friends, but what stuck in my craw was the comment I read "well you jiggers can just deal with it, because now us trollers are going to start flooding all your spots. See how you like that"

Remember, it was a troller, trolling through a gannet bee hive that started the mess to begin with. If you didn't feel the need to brag all the time and post all your big dead rockfish, none of this mess would have happened. I have no problem with you, I like what you stand for mostly, but you are partially guilty for the divide.

At this point, yes, I agree with you. Let's let the past be the past, but if this mess comes up again, let's all think twice and work together and keep the infighting to a minimum. I have since moved to south county so access to Annapolis meetings are out of my range, but you localy boys are gonna need to be there. My sources say we will see quite a few more proposals this winter, so we need to be ready and make sure we keep full access to the resource. Keep charging hard young man and keep 'er on point and we'll have lots of fish to catch for a long time.

Well said 5th Tuition!

This topic is mostly what turned me off toward Tidalfish. There are too few of us on THIS board to lose anyone over past actions. As JigStix says, we need to stay vigalent on future restrictions.

GettinJiggyWidIt (JigStix); did you get my PM?

5th (Marty)

I think this kind of conversation is good, it gives anglers the opportunity to reflect on other anglers views.

I do believe that recreational anglers should be united against greedy commercial fisherman and that all of us should do whatever it takes to protect our fisheries.

Back to Jigstix comment, Who ran their trolling lines through nets or should I ask what a gannet beehive is before assuming? I know what a the bird gannet is however not the phrase. Did that make a serious mess? Assuming it recieved alot of attention.

A gannet "beehive" is simply a large flock of feeding, working gannets over a school of fish. The "troller" who basically started the whole saga was "27 Sailfish" when he trolled about 20 or so lines through the school and hooked up 14 or so trophy cows. He posted pictures of several cows laying on the deck while they were trying to land them all. Since this was PRE-season, having all of those large fish laying on the deck didn't sit well with a lot of people!

Mikie - I went back and found the post.
There were no fish laying on the deck. Everyone just unhooked their fish in the water - then reeled in another one. No one had time to grab a camera.
From first hook up to last fish released was less then 5 minutes.
Far too many rumors spread about what really happened that day.

The real thing to consider - how bad the 2010 season was compared to the last 5-6 years.

Here's the post - copied. The photos did not come through ???????



18 rods out - 17 go down at once. I'll make you suffer a touch before I get to the juicy details. Saturday night my wife reminds me of a good local band that is playing. We had made plans to see "Korupt" with some friends. I'm planned a fishing trip leaving my house at 5:45 am but figured I could catch a nap on the boat since I had a good crew. The band was great and at 1:30 am I was singing along with them - Ozzy Osborne's "Bark at the moon ". B-52 shooters are bad . The alarm went off at 5:00 am and I woke up almost ready to fish but my ears were still ringing. Oh boy , this will be a tough day. Fellow Tfers Phil and Ed showed up right on time and helped me hook up the trailer. They both help out with Wish a Fish and we have been trying for a long time to fish together. My good friend John arrived and off we went to Breezy Point. Got there about 7:00 and saw about 8 other trailers in the lot. My friend Alberto and his son Oscar were there to round out a good crew. Five guys on the boat and I figured to get the spread out and let Alberto run the boat while I caught up on some sleep. Not to be - we set lines out west of #78 in 45 feet and had about 6 rods out and already had a fish. Water was 52* , clear and seas were flat. John got the fish in quick and after a photo - it was let go. It hit a tandem off the boards.



We guessed it to be 37 or so. Nice start and we continued to put out the other rods. Ed got the next one -it hit a single chartrusese 4 oz parachute.




We got all 18 rods out by 8:20 and started to work east/west off Parkers. Only a few other boats around but we heard others fishing and some catching both north and south of us. As low tide arrived - the current stopped but we still got a fish here and there.The fish were hitting off the boards and both the tandems and singles were catching. We had lures back 50-90 feet and saw no real pattern to the hits. Phil and Ed doubled up on two strikes.




I was starting to feel more like myself after a few donuts and then the 200' back tandem got crushed. John fought the fish half way in - then it got loose. The parachute it hit was combed out and John slowly let it back out. The rig was about 150' out when it got hit and John hooked the fish. The fat 35 incher released. We had worked south of #78 about a mile and started to troll the eastern edge in behind the marker. Saw some thick bait and both downriggers got hit. They carry white or chart. umbrellas at 20 and 30 feet. The wire line with a 20 oz MoJo / Tony #21 combo got hit at the same time - cool three on at once. So much for my nap idea. Swung back around and again saw bait on the meter and sure enough - two more Rock hit. Had a few fish miss but each pass in that area yielded at least 2 or 3 fish. All were about 33 -36 inches but carried their weight well. Oscar was amazed at the double and triple headers and asked if I had ever had all the rods hooked up at once. I told him no but have had 10 once and 6-7 a few times. Saw TFer One Fish and called him to stay near my trolling path. He was LTJ for them. We had a few Gannets dive near us and out catch total stod at 21. Talked to Catman (Leon) and he headed our way. Swung north of #78 and got forced off the fish by another boat. Tried hailing them to see if they would let me go in front of them but no luck. They had the right of way and I did not want to risk a tangle with too sharp of a turn. I really,really hate getting tangles. We did a figure eight path and started back towards the edge we had been catching fish. Up ahead - we all saw about 100 Gannets forming up.



It was about a 1/2 mile away but we would be the first boat there - although Leon had a good angle on the Gannets as well. As we got closer - they started dropping like missiles. I thought out loud that this may not be a good idea - going into a bee hive with 18 rods out - but how often in spring do you get more then 5-6 on at once ? Well , as we got closer ,rods began getting hit. Soon every rod but one was hooked up. It was a mess - everyone reeled the close rods in - unhooked the fish and tried to keep some order to the out of control bite. I was cussing and laughing at the same time. I told the guys to just lay on the fish and push the drags to the max. I glanced over and Leon's crew was busy as well. The final tally was 18 fish - one tandem had two. One reel had blown out the side plate and another busted a gear.






Four lines had crossed and I had a braid/mono cobweb about the size of a volleyball. Did I mention I really hate tangles.





There was blood everywhere - on the seats,steering wheel, rods,shirts but none of it was from the fish. Even up on the hardtop near the rod holders. All of us had cuts/nicks from the fish,braid or hooks. I was even cut on the stomach from a dorsal fin. We swung off the spot as about 15 boats converged on it. The Gannets flew off and we tried to get some lures back into the water. The busted reels were put in the cabin but soon we had 14 lines back out. After that cluster f *%k - we stayed in the deep channel water and picked up about 5 more fish - just single bites - thankfully. I got to reel in a fatso from the WWB - it hit a silver 13/0 Cripple alewive spoon with reflective tape.





Looked to be 41 inches or so but very heavy. The guys were all teasing me about cussing like a sailor and I just laughed along with them. You had to be there to really appreciate it . What the hell was I thinking trolling a full spread into that feeding frenzy. Guess like any addict - the pull of the addiction over rode common sense. We worked along the 45-55 foot edge off the west side and pulled lines at 2:30 near 78A. Had all but three in when Oscar got a last minute fish off the boards. Final count as best we could tell was 44 fish landed and 7-8 misses. It was a fun day with good friends - the catching was just icing on the cake .

Find the pictures of the fish being held for picture taking, with the blood running down their bodies. You posted them on Tidal Fish that spring and they were posted on other fishing boards up the coast by others.

ASMFC members saw the pictures and the questions of mortality arose.

How about posting the month/day and year so all can see the original post?

How bout just deleting the post, no need to put hte whole thing back up there again???? Seriously!!! Give them the details all over again, make it fresher in their minds. You f'd up, people know it, more will consider you a pariah for doing it, than will consider you a hero, don't drag the whole post up again. Delete it, please!

As far as the 2010 season being as bad as it's ever been, come on. Either you are lying about your counts (which I've heard you did), or you lost your mojo. From Breezy and North we had a fabulous season, as did most of my friends. Less people posted, and people fudged numbers to the downside, but most were doing that on the high side before anyway. DNR will never be able to get an accurate # based on reports on Tidalfish, so why lie? They don't take their catch numbers from Tidalfish, but they will use posts showing poor catch practices that negatively impact the spawning stock and extrapolate it forward assuming if someone of your "great fishing prowess" treats spawning fish like that, us lesser beings must all do the same thing.

Reds - Try 4 - 5 2009.
I found it on page # 615.
They photos that had fish bleeding in them were fish we kept / killed - taken during the kill season.


JigStix - That was a once in a lifetime experience having that many rods hit in the spring. Anyone who fishes knows that - it was like a golfer getting a hole in one.

My spring was bad - honest. I had a 3 or 4 fish average and fished longer for those few fish. I had a few days with just one fish and got skunked as well. Some were under 27 inches - very odd for early spring. I had one decent day that bumped my average up. I know many good recs. who had similar results.
I had friends out on full day charters that did not get their 6 fish limit.

Early season C/R is not the trouble - let me go find a bat so I can beat this dead horse some more.

The fish came in the Bay earlier this past spring. By the time the spring season opened, most of the big fish had come and gone. I guess they don't have calenders.

Anglers were catching big Stripers off the Jersey coast in late March and early April and reporting it on the northern boards.

The horse is not dead only sleeping.

I concur with Red. I started fishing the first week in march with good results. My best day of the trophy season was March 24. After the season opened I had poor fishing. That can be attributed to many of my lackings however I was catching them weeks before April 15th.

To Jigstix: I apologize for bringing up such a sore subject, I simply was unaware of the circumstances surrounding this conversation. Thanks to everyone else for educating me and bringing me up to speed.

Brian - I think you stirred things up just fine.:D

Came out of church today and the first thing I noticed was the tops of the trees were not moving. My son and daughterinlaw are using the boat today. I can't wait for tomorrow; I may even steal a few hours before dark tonight. Fall pattern is in full swing. Lots of fish at the mouth of rivers waiting for the bait to come out on a falling tide.

GO FISHING:D
5th (Marty)

I wasnt going to respond as these are old debates and I do want to move on. However I do think the arguements and positions I took are worth clarifying. I sincerely hope since this is still a big issue for you that you go back and reread all my posts on the subject now that time has passed. I only spoke publicly at the final meeting so you can see all my positions online. I havent gone back and edited anything.

I think and hope you will find that all my arguements were towards keeping access and opportunity open for everyone regardless of how they fished. Some of my arguments in the debate did included that those who jig in areas of high fish concentrations produced some large catch numbers just as there have been a few large catch numbers reported by trollers. This certainly was not in search of tighter regulations on those that like to jig but to show that no one knows who is more efficient because either method can produce a good day of fishing (which isnt a bad thing - it is what all fishermen are in search of) and efficiency regulations shouldnt be enacted because of a few good reports. This was an important part of the debate as I was seeking to have the regulations focus solely focus on mortality of the fish and not ones opportunity to catch a fish. Of anyone in the debate who would have fought hard to ensure that regulations didnt include area closures or day closures were not enacted that would have greatly impacted light tackle guys, it would have been me. I think if you search you will find that I was the one who brought the "Freedom to Fish Act" to the table publicly and I assure you that I would have been the first to challenge the strength of the act legally had DNR enacted day closures or area closures without scientific justification. I also helped get the RFA involved and was very involved with helping the MSSA. I wasnt pointing fingers and calling for more regulation at all. I was calling for less regulation than they wanted to enact. I think the whole issue was silly since DNR didnt even have an objective or goal with regulations that they put forth. This should be important to all fishermen as the DNR has shown a willingness to restrict recreational fishing without knowing the impact of a fishery (ie. participation levels, approx catch numbers, efficiency of the anglers, etc) or with out a target goal to say whether or not the restrictions enacted were effective or not.

Regarding the issues I had with some more "prominate light tackle guys". That came long after the preseason debate had ended and during the trophy season. Do I wish things were handled differently? Sure. I will be the first to admit that. I am not sure how Shawn feels about me as he has never expressed ill-feelings towarnds me. However, I know the relationship between Jamie and I certainly is strained and I think it is ashame. Not only do we have the love of fishing in common but we share some of the same friends. If you go back to the threads where this happened, I hope you will see where I was attempting to reduce the ridicule of trolling as we just had all the restrictions enacted. I like teasing most of the time and maybe I was a little over sensative at the time. However, I didnt even respond until several pages had gone by on TF and I had received many emails, calls and phone calls about the thread. I even attempted to address the issue over here where very few would read it. Obviously it didnt go over as well as I had hoped and I would probably deal with it differently today. While guys who like to troller were oversensative to the teasing, it wasnt a good time for the ridicule due to the recent regulations and the fact that DNR was surveying anglers on gear deployed at the same time. The riff is probably more of a result of being oversensative on my part and bad timing on theirs.

I agree that we we need to all stick together to protect access and opportunity for recreational fishermen here in Maryland. I understand the YOY was extremely low again this year and it is raising a few eyebrows. I doubt the preseason catch and release guys will face much this year as according to DNR the MRFSS wave 1 data showed that there are "very few fishing families" during this time of year. Given the statements earlier in this thread about the early spawn, I have major concerns over the Jan-Mar gill net season in the bay. Gillnetters where even so efficient this past winter that Sec Griffin closed the season twice to prevent the quota from being reached early and to help drive up the price of the fish since their commercial value had been "depressed" (according to DNR). Obviously the ASMFC has to address the coastal fishery problems. We will need to stand together..

If you ever want to call to discuss something I had said or how we can work together, feel free to give me a buzz. I am passionate about ensuring our opportunity to have access to our public natural resources and devote a lot of time and engery into it. I certainly am going to make mistakes and upset people at times but I cannot address those issues without conversation. Sometimes upsetting some cannot be helped either. We all have our own vision to how things should be handled. However, I think most of us recreational fishermen have very similar goals.

BTW, My cell is 410.533.1435. Feel free to call me.

I personally do not feel it was Skip who stirred the DNR into action. They had their own plans and made their move. Unfortunately we did not work togethe and the restrictions were made. Lets stay together and get ready for the winter meetings and possible further restrictions.

Hope you guys are looking forward to the fall bite, I know I am.

All I said was PENIS !!!! And then the mods changed the title, and it went from there...:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::r olleyes:

I still do admire everyone's dedication to their passion, regardless of what side of the aisle you are on. Carry on gentlemen....:)

In before the lock....does that happen here?:confused:

At this point, Its called " IN BEFORE THE SHUTDOWN"

I think mod is busy with boat show... If you get his email, the sale on rafts is to good to be true.. according to Jim... But I digress.....:rolleyes:

I can assure you, it was a large part of it.

One monkey don't stop no show!...........Gary

But is sure can start other monkeys flinging $hit