I'm really confused now

[RonaldMcDingle]

Originally Posted by Skip

Easy fix - C/R until May 15th of fish over 28 inches.
Still can catch that big one - just have to let her go.

But Sir, weren't you the one that just posted the pic of the roe laden female above? I don't see consistency? Fish caught all year are pre spawn in some manner or another. If you feel that way, why keep fish at all until May 15th, lead by example!

[B-Faithful]

Ron, many times it is difficult to determine a prespawn fish before you clean it. Skip, keeps far less than his creel much of the year.

With that said, and with all due respect to Skip, I do not think making it catch and release over 28" until May 15th would foster good participation, especially given the restrictions on efficiency that were passed for catch and release this past spring. Lets face it, participation levels go way up when there is the opportunity to keep a fish....



Ok, I looked at the presentation that I have and here are some other key stats to consider.

2006 Maryland had a 33" min and harvested 63k fish
2007 Maryland had a no-take slot of 35"-40" and harvested 35k fish

The participation (angler trips) levels in 2007 where higher than the 2006 and we still had much lower harvest numbers.

Why? No take slot limit. Also, I think the no-take slot did not deter anglers from fishing. There still was the opportunity to keep a fish, our harvest was greatly reduced over the previous year despite more angler trips and our socio-economic benefit was still realized. I am assuming that the majority of migratory fish fell within that size range given that we reduced the harvest by nearly half despite the increase in angler trips.

I think the no-take slots of 2007 were an effective tool in reducing the impact on the striped bass harvest during our trophy season while also not creating a negative impact on the participation levels. I believe a no-take slot also fosters better catch and release practices by anglers realizing that recreational fish is not soley about the opportunity to keep a fish but the opportunity to catch it with less opporutunity to keep. It also recognizes that the opportunity to catch a fish is a large part of drawing participation and provides for it adequately.

[RonaldMcDingle]

Mr. Faithful, I don't know any of you guys, or who Skip is, so forgive my ignorance. But, that being said, I do know how hard it is to determine if a rock is pre or post spawn. I've been fishing the bay for 40 years. My point to the Mr. Skip was that if you are truly concerned about killing pre-spawn fish, and preaching C&R through May 15th, why are you posting a picture of a fish you kept during the spawn? I understand his point, I am not trying to be controversial, just trying to make a point. I am very new to these message boards, but have gotten a few of these private messages about my post, some telling me thanks for saying what I said and one yelling at me for questioning this Skip fellow. I do not fault anyone for keeping fish, fishing for trophies even though I choose not to. The regulations are in place the way they are and they are determined by people much smarter than myself, so I am ok with people fishing inside of these regulations. I just am against preaching one thing, and doing another. Thank you for your input though, you seem very knowledgeable on this subject. Are you with DNR or another organization?

[B-Faithful]

I greatly appreciate your contributions to the thread and glad you are here for the discussion. Your points are well noted. While I cannot speak for Skip, I believe his point of the photo is to draw attention to the fact that there are prespawn fish being caught and kept while DNR chose to try to reduce effort on catch and release fishermen during the preseason. I had discussed my thoughts on "prespawn" fish previously.

I dont represent any organization. I am recreational angler who is an active member of the MSSA and RFA. I am very passionate about fostering the best fishing opportunities for anglers both today and the future. I believe recreational fishing is a past time that strengthens families and is vital to our society both socially and economically.

[Rex]

Holy crap, what kind of a hen party is this? Fish and follow the rules. If you don't like them run for public office and do something about it. What is the purpose of all this whining?

If you are going to cry over catching a roe-laden female, don't fish in the Spring and definitely don't post a picture of it like it's some tragic accident.

FYI, pan fried fish ovaries are delicious. I tried them when I was "visiting" overseas.

[reds]

Originally Posted by Baldzilla

According to the article in the most recent SWS, the commercial take has increased 30% to a total take of harvest and discards of 51% in the last 3 years, while the recreational take has decreased that amount, but ASMFC voted across geographic lines to increase the commercial quota. Is their data wrong? If so you probably could write a great letter to the editor correcting them...

Their data is wrong because no commercial quotas have been increased.

Do they give a source for their data?

[Old No.7]

Originally Posted by Rex

Holy crap, what kind of a hen party is this? Fish and follow the rules. If you don't like them run for public office and do something about it. What is the purpose of all this whining?

If you are going to cry over catching a roe-laden female, don't fish in the Spring and definitely don't post a picture of it like it's some tragic accident.

FYI, pan fried fish ovaries are delicious. I tried them when I was "visiting" overseas.

Ahhh Rex our good buddy.. where the heck you been? We've missed your deep intellectual insight on every issue brought up on here. Nice to see you're back I can sleep peacefully now tonight. Oh, when we goin fishin there REXY?

[Slayer]

Originally Posted by Old No.7

Ahhh Rex our good buddy.. where the heck you been? We've missed your deep intellectual insight on every issue brought up on here. Nice to see you're back I can sleep peacefully now tonight. Oh, when we goin fishin there REXY?

Don't bother Phil. I went with him a few weeks ago. He caught fish but got drunk and puked all over the place. I never knew Zimas could hit a man like that.

[Old No.7]

Ahhh... he's one of "thooose" kinda guys.. Did he lift his pinky when he was drinking too?

[Rex]

Sorry, I don't choose to contribute to the whining sessions, Dr. Phil. Maybe you can have Slayer go over to your place, sit on your lap and discuss how sad you are about the mean fishing guys killing the itty bitty baby fishies.

Yeah, Slayer, I puked because I've never seen two men do what you and your special friend were doing on your boat. I don't think that many Zima bottles should ever be put in that "special place"--as you guys called. I'm sure you know what I'm taking about there, Old Phil.