Something to consider before you kill another big one. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/fishing_dc
You know you caught it. Kill it, show it off, and eat it and it is gone forever. Let it swim and you, your friends, and your kids will benefit.

my thoughts exactly.

Thats just another theory. With the $$$ of food rising..I won't be throwing anything back...within my limit that is...:fury:

Soounds like Numbie's back on the soapbox again......................

I will hopefully kill 4 BIG GURLS this year and have a shot at the Tundra as well as help Team S-B to repeat. Not gonna change my participation in The Striper Cup based on one study and its opinion.

would ya have us believe that everyone else is wrong,
and only THIS guy is right because he supports yer own agenda?

Fish die of old age and anglers,
boat comm's. kill fish for profit,
surfcaster's kill feesh for recreation,
sum for the table, AND some for sum tourney's.

so long as it's within the FM's numbers and guidelines
who gives a flippp? They are FOOD, numbie! Why do ya think God made them taste soooo goooooood, and made them so fuuun to catch? i release 97% of all the stripers i land, anywho! and i LOVE our beloved prey, PREY being the operative word.

We are the dominant species! I kill Stripers to eat, also!
And even IF i am blessed enough to land the next 80#'er and proceed to Parade her around like the TROPHY that she would BE, does the cat from Scripps have any specific numbers on how many 80#+ yearmates happen to be swimming with the current AC Stock of migrators that grace our shores each year? The two studies seem mutually exclusive to me, mang! What do the fine scientists at Wood's Hole have to say?

:drool: :drool: MMMMMMMMMMM, STRRRRRIIIIIIPERRRRRRRRRRR :drool: :drool:

Quote, "what do the fine scientists say at Woods Hole"?

The same thing Dr. Sugihara is saying. Besides the "big girls" ( I hate that term it sounds silly) Besides the big ones don't taste anywhere near as good as the little ones do.

Give me a 20 incher to eat anyday, it's like the veal of Striped Bass.

You may continue.......

Quote, "what do the fine scientists say at Woods Hole"?


Scientists are testing a plan to train fish to catch themselves
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004309074_pavfish27.html

http://www.todojuegos.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/gathering.gifhttp://img116.exs.cx/img116/1231/z7shysterical.gifhttp://smilies.zx6r.info/lachen/567.gif

I liked the Maine slot limit... A 20# bass does have the best balance of taste and proper heft for a meal.

BD - while I don't always agree with George, I do value his opinion - soapbox or no soapbox. And I've been too busy to stand up on mine :wall:

(It's Flap's soapbox I have the problem with :fury::rotf2: )

Can Dr Sughira's study be applied to Morone Saxatilis, or is it species specific?

i could care less what's happening in Oslo, or SoCal! Tell me how this "data" effects our target species, and then you may have my interest, if there is a pressing or apparent danger! Otherwise, man's gotta fish and man's gotta EAT!!!! The homeless shelter down the street doesn't care how old or gamey some BIG Cow tastes.................and i'd bet her tail meat is delicious!!!! :bl: :bl: :bl:

And i agree, Steve, my ideal belly-filler is from 32"- 36".
MMMMM, juicy, sweet, and tendah!!

Soounds like Numbie's back on the soapbox again......................

would ya have us believe that everyone else is wrong,
and only THIS guy is right because he supports yer own agenda?


BassDawg....I don't use soap. My mother washed my mouth with it too much as a kid. I just rub my armpits with bullshiit each am. Works pretty well, but apparently you already know that. What obviously you don't know is that the guy who wrote the article got it published in Nature. No reason you would know (or care), but Nature is the world's premier peer reviewed scientific journal. Only the very best and most important science gets accepted for publication in it. Like when they find a cure for cancer, that is where it will be reported. .... Doesn't mean it is right,.....but it does mean that it represents THE BEST SCIENCE AVAILABLE, like it or not. "My agenda" is that I like to catch big fish. The more out there the better. I don't care about 80lb fish, but I think a slot limit requiring the 25-50's to go back would help all of us, even those with their head up their........Playboys.

No reason you would know (or care), but Nature is the world's premier peer reviewed scientific journal.

debatable, but to call it a respected journal is an ceratinly an understatement. It is peer reviewed, and that is key. I love seeing this type of work cited on the board!

A slot would be great. I don't know if it will ever fly in Rhodie or Mass, but it might if more and more science supports it.

The only thing I worry about is release mortality vs. size, depending on tackle, location etc.. some big fish probably don't make it if put back, IMHO...

I mean George no Ill Will...........

soapbox was tongue in cheek, since he seems to be
fostering this Kill No Trophy Campaign.
To date, i've released ALL of my big fish, and lost more than a few.

To each his own, and i also value yer opinion, numbskull, and
agree with you often. Just not in this direction since .5% of the total MA Comm Kill is such a small kill amount when compared to the entirity of the Hudson and Chesapeake Bay Stocks combined, or the 1.5 Million+ Stripers that migrate here yearly.

I mean George no Ill Will...........

soapbox was tongue in cheek, since he seems to be
fostering this Kill No Trophy Campaign.
To date, i've released ALL of my big fish, and lost more than a few.

To each his own, and i also value yer opinion, numbskull, and
agree with you often. Just not in this direction since .5% of the total MA Comm Kill is such a small kill amount when compared to the entirity of the Hudson and Chesapeake Bay Stocks combined, or the 1.5 Million+ Stripers that migrate here yearly.

Please don't turn this into a "kill no fish, eat no fish" charade. I kill fish and I eat fish, and furthermore I support the right of the non-fishing public to eat fish. There are plenty of small fish, kill them and eat them. There are NOT plenty of large fish. Cherish them, release them and someday there will be more of them as well. We all benefit. Is individual ego gratification a sufficient reason to jeopardize that?

(It's Flap's soapbox I have the problem with :fury::rotf2: )


yeah with Flaptail eating 20 inch fish he needs wheels on his soapbox

hey that gives me an idea ... :think:

we can have a soapbox derby :btu:

Good article. I would agree that we are targeting the wrong gene pool for removal from the population.

BassDawg.......but Nature is the world's premier peer reviewed scientific journal. Only the very best and most important science gets accepted for publication in it. Like when they find a cure for cancer, that is where it will be reported. Sorta like your ********** ******* *** *** ******** ** *******. Doesn't mean it is right,.....but it does mean that it represents THE BEST SCIENCE AVAILABLE, like it or not. "My agenda" is that I like to catch big fish. The more out there the better. I don't care about 80lb fish, but I think a slot limit requiring the 25-50's to go back would help all of us..............

WOW!

how's that script of chill pills holdin out, numbskull?

"best science available" ~sounds subject to change.
Science is much more subjective than you would imagine.

Follow the money, bro, and you'll be amazed. Who's funding the Good Dr Sighura? And since you are into analogies:

It's very similar to the so-called expert witnesses giving testimony in a murder case. Mountains of evidence are subject to interpretation, are they not? Just ask Marcia Clark and OJ....................

Besides ya still didn't answer my question so i'll ask it another way;
if you, Oak, Flaptail, John R, Tony O, and ITS all killed 2-50#'ers apiece this year, then how many of those killed's fellow yearmates would be left to proliferate the species? Does Dr Sighura, know? Anyone, Beuller, anyone from Woods Hole? Science seems rather subjective at this point, eh?

The other BIG issue i have with SCIENCE and its "numbers" is that by it's very nature it is a field that works in reverse to prove what is already taking place or an event that has already happened. While I QUITE agree that slot limits would be great and have been very effective in FL, and elsewhere, i contend that The Good Dr's study from Scripps seems to be too general and is probably a very sound documentation of something that we already know......................

Kill the breeders, kill the species......in a nutshell.

Funny thing is i agree to an extent, i just would like to see more poignant and exact numbers inre to MoSax, me brother, before promoting an Anti Trophy Agenda. Further, how many trophies actually get killed a year? Is it safe to assume that far more Cows get released and "get away" than the amount that actually hit the certified scales? I'm all for numbers, the more the merrier, imho it's still a little early to pull the plug on the Recreational Fishing Tournaments that align themselves with current FM guidelines.

also, in the future i'll thank you to keep any references to some imaginary girlfriend of mine OUT of our discussions, as my lovely wife would be none too appreciative of such tasteless banter. i get that you were speaking in the general sense of YOU, but she would not, "get it". :bl: :bl: :bl:

I entered in a soapbox derby once when I was a kid:deadhorse::soon:



It can only help the fish by releasing the larger fish. If you keep removing all the large fish, then the fish will onl;y grow to just enough of a size to keep reproducing and the 100 pound capability is severely diminished since the genes have not been passed on from other large fish capable to grow over 100 pounds.

I have let many large go free, I have also kept my share of large, but only about 3-4 fish over 30 pounds. I try to revive them now. I hope it helps.

Some people will keep on killing for food or tournaments and I have no problem with that. I worry about myself, and whoever is fishing with me makes their own decision too.

if there was a slot limit for 25-50lb tournament action would be......interesting...

Damm, just when this gets intersting my soapbox breaks. Guess I will just go over to You Tube and watch more skateboard crashes.

Dude my F()cking arm is broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off, BD.
Science is objective, not subjective. When we get subjective, we become advocates, not scientists. If you knew Dr. Sugihara is a card carrying PETA member, then you could MAYBE, MAYBE make an issue out of this. For all you know he is an avid fisherman.

The 'good doctor' is a former dept. chair at one of the worlds premier oceanographic institutions, with 35 years of white (peer reviewed) literature. Does that make him infallible? Of course not. But BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE is what runs our fishery management plans, cutting edge medical fields, space travel etc. etc. etc. questioning that is a good thing. blindly questioning it without reason smacks of the creationist zealots, who rip on the evolutionary theory without knowing what it means to actually get vetted through the scientific process to become a theory... This was a study, by a respected scientist, who submitted it to a journal, which then sends it out to other experts to review. Then and only then it is accepted. All that, and like numbskull said, I guess they should have dropped a draft in your mailbox too.


That was a long tangent, I am absolutely a carnivore, I keep fish, I eat fish, some are large, some are tasty 'MoSax' in the 30" range.

I went and read the article in the library. Do I understand any (most) of it? No, but I understood enough to know that on this study, on these 50yr of data, it seems to hold true. Will it change my habits? maybe not, but we'll cross that bridge when I have a big girl in the wash...


Thanks for posting numbskull. Interesting read.

Don't waste your time on here. Make a difference, stand in front of the fish houses, hand out pamphlets with statistics. Maybe bring a generator so you can show a video. I luv kicking horses

Don't waste your time on here. Make a difference, stand in front of the fish houses, hand out pamphlets with statistics. Maybe bring a generator so you can show a video. I luv kicking horses

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/deadhorse.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/crispini/beathorse.gifhttp://www.vjforums.com/images/smilies/deadhorse.gif

Kill the old ones they have lived a long and healthy life.
The bass under 20 should be let go to breed for generations to come.
Take one bass at 40 rather than two at 20 to show real conservation.
The filet from a 40 provides better yield at the table in comparison.
Restaurants and markets alike prefer the larger representatives for fare.
All fish are trophies, take only pictures, leave only footprints......

I will stand on the soap box of the Numbskull, any time. Science, and the lessons of history tell us uncomfortable lessons, that even a Numbskull can understand if you have a mind to be objective.

Here is a history: In the early 1800's, the disastrous harvest and kill "recreational" fishery (along with dam building) forever wiped out the gene pool of northern New England and Maine 10 pound squaretails (brook trout), and 25 pound landlocked salmon. Gone. No amount of subsequent great fisheries management can recover this. Would you like some 11 inch brookies, no problem says our fisheries managers. How about a "trophy" four pound Lake Winnie landlock? You might have to troll all year for that one. Are you happy? Not if you lived through "back then".

Are you happy with the present status of our "fully recovered" striped bass fishery? Not if you are as old as Daignault, or myself. Are you impressed by the shear numbers of all these baby bass running around, while your gene pool access to... or chance for... a dozen or so 40's plus beach bass per season...just sinks. Now it seems pure luck to blunder across even an occasiuonal 30.

So, IF you are so fortunate or expert to be looking into that angry eye of your trophy bass this coming season, remember that you are looking at the gene pool. It is not all gone yet. This is what the Numbskull said in words a little more docile than mine. But then again, he isn't as old as I am. He does not know that he missed.

It’s a legitimate theory known as "fishing down the food chain." Enter the term on google or the like and search it out for a more detailed explanation.
Coming from a plug fisherman I scourged at the thought of clicking on that link, but its good info.
However, people of Numbskull’s ilk are silently destroying the world's forests by driving up demand for rare wood....

all i catch are small fish anyway

I used to keep everything large or small that was a keeper, but as I became more proficient putting fish on the sand I started keeping smaller fish and letting larger ones go. As a general rule I want that 28", but my cardinal rule is to never ever put back the first fish 'because there are fish everywhere and I'll get a small one later'.

I keep the small ones because they taste cleaner and the larger ones are the better breeders (up to a certain point).

Correct me if my info is wrong, but from what I have read the mortality rate for the smaller fish, between disease and predators, is higher for smaller fish, which means they aren't going to breed as many times as a prime breeder. I have also read that larger fish, 40 lbrs and up, are not as fecund as the 15-30 lbrs. So this lends to keeping larger fish as trophies (or for competition purposes) and smaller fish for consumption. I have a personally imposed slot that I'm free to break anytime!

But I agree with the thrust of George's thread: Let's allow fish to get large. Freshwater bass fisherman do it, why can't we??

fisheries decisions based on science... now that is a hoot :lama:

This is the voice of Doom and Gloom .. It's over Johnny.. The golden Franky D days are gone forever.. Nothing Gold can Stay .. Looking at the demise of our beloved Striped Bass is tunnel vision . All the earths resources are being used at an alarming rate. Too many people,,too much pressure. The whole eco system is wack , not just the Bass . The Striped Bass only hope is for some kind of plague to wipe out 2/3's of the worlds population or for gas to go over 4 dollars a gallon ..

fisheries decisions based on science... now that is a hoot :lama:

who woulda thunk? seriously though, everyone always cries, "Where's the science. Where's the science?" when it comes to fisheries management. Well here it is folks, right in front of you. now it's in your hands...

This is the voice of Doom and Gloom .. It's over Johnny.. The golden Franky D days are gone forever.. Nothing Gold can Stay .. Looking at the demise of our beloved Striped Bass is tunnel vision . All the earths resources are being used at an alarming rate. Too many people,,too much pressure. The whole eco system is wack , not just the Bass . The Striped Bass only hope is for some kind of plague to wipe out 2/3's of the worlds population or for gas to go over 4 dollars a gallon ..


That is some FUNNY sheet, Tagger!
:bl: :bl: :bl: :claps: :claps:

Tis true, the Golden Days are long gone...................
i would only keep the breeders necessary to procure
sum decent schwag, anyways. ONE 50#'er, ONE 60#'er
for a VS and a shot at a Tundra is a no brainer for me!
the rest of my COWS will live to swim, breed, die of old age, and fight
for many many more moons, God Willing and the Good Lord Providing.

There are a zillion fish, trouble is they are mostly small. There is, or was, a lack of bait, big bait up around these parts ( Cape Cod) but there are signs that at least maybe, just maybe, the bunker are coming back (adult bunker), jury is still out.

The outer beach has issues. Seals eating bait and bigger seals eating fish we like to catch and occasionally the fish we are hooked up to at the moment. Work ethic was much more inspiring when there was cash to be made without all the red tape, now the fish for sport crowd for the most part doesn't put that extra little push into it, so..... the real picture is somewhat still fuzzy.

Right now the bait is thick off of the beaches (hence finbacks and Humpies close in chowing sandeels). Seals made little seals and are preoccupied with that but not for long and then they will be back patrolling the shore fom Monomoy to P-Town. Fish have a slight touch of intelligence and stay away from the beach and go to where the seals aren't and the bait is. This leaves the shore bound guy s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g wind while a mile away his boat bound buds are bailing them on Salty's needles.

What we needs to be done ( and I cannot for the life of me believe I am saying this) is a. make it a gamefish and b. install a slot limit. c. ban forever the taking of river herring and menhaden for commercial or sport purposes.

Lastly, and the tree huggers will love me for this one, we need to thin the seal herds by 2/3rds and control them to practical levels. Seal birth control would do. Just lace something in a bunch of treated baits. Don't kill them (though it would make fine sport) just make them infertile.

Lastly practice catch and release whenever your need for food fish has been met and satisfied.

( fixed the damm soapbox don't ya know)

There are a zillion fish, trouble is they are mostly small. There is, or was, a lack of bait, big bait up around these parts ( Cape Cod) but there are signs that at least maybe, just maybe, the bunker are coming back (adult bunker), jury is still out.

The outer beach has issues. Seals eating bait and bigger seals eating fish we like to catch and occasionally the fish we are hooked up to at the moment. Work ethic was much more inspiring when there was cash to be made without all the red tape, now the fish for sport crowd for the most part doesn't put that extra little push into it, so..... the real picture is somewhat still fuzzy.

Right now the bait is thick off of the beaches (hence finbacks and Humpies close in chowing sandeels). Seals made little seals and are preoccupied with that but not for long and then they will be back patrolling the shore fom Monomoy to P-Town. Fish have a slight touch of intelligence and stay away from the beach and go to where the seals aren't and the bait is. This leaves the shore bound guy s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g wind while a mile away his boat bound buds are bailing them on Salty's needles.

What we needs to be done ( and I cannot for the life of me believe I am saying this) is a. make it a gamefish and b. install a slot limit. c. ban forever the taking of river herring and menhaden for commercial or sport purposes.

Next, and the tree huggers will love me for this one, we need to thin the seal herds by 2/3rds and control them to practical levels. Seal birth control would do. Just lace something in a bunch of treated baits. Don't kill them (though it would make fine sport) just make them infertile.

Lastly, practice catch and release whenever your need for food fish has been met and satisfied.

( fixed the damm soapbox don't ya know)

Well said and rightly so, Flaptail, providing that the slot limit allows for ONE to be kept outside of the slot ~similar to redfish and snook in FL.

i especially agree with the ban on herring and bunker, although 'forever' seems a little extreme. if we return the premium forage of our beloved MoSax to epic numbers, then i believe that we'll see the younger ones getting bigger quicker; thereby increasing the LAHHHGE genepool and decreasing the amounts of racers. imho, there are far toooo many lean and mean Stripers gracing our shores. give them back their forage in ABUNDANCE for 7 to 10 years and then let's see where the biomass yields itself.

i will venture a guess that the COWS would triple with the combination of gamefish status, slot limits, more and plentiful protein laden bunker, and a "sensible" way to slow down the seal population. Lacing meat with chemicals of any kind sounds like a slippery slope with regards to the entirity of the seas and the food chain themselves.

more pogies certainly could not hurt our oceans and estuaries either.
something has to give, before the whole system breaks. and there is science to suggest, that it already has been broken. will our generation have the stones to at least attempt to be proactive rather than reactive? only time and good judgement will tell......................

oh yeah, thanks for trying, Steve!
:wall: :wall: :wall: :wall:

I for one firmly #@%^*)(%$@$$@#$^^*(^%$%$@$%&^^^**&#@#%&*%$@#%^$^%*&^^(*&()*+&^%$%#@#%#&%&()*&*%#O)($@#&@#$%$#%^$^%*(^&*_^()_+(+))^%&^*&(*)()($^&%**(*%^#%^$W#%@#^%&%^&*_(+)*%%$^&^^^%R#^%&*)()@$(*_)($!#^$*)^@#$#Y%$%&**I&(**_)_(+*+(_+(+)+(%$#^%&*&_)*#%$*((*

and that is why I will catch the next 80 lb $#$%^%&&*(**((+_(*&%^%$%$@%$IO()(&%$#@$#%$(*_*)(&%$#%$!@#%T&*^)(O(*{)(_^*$%%$_)*^%%$#$#!@%#Y^%^%%*^$$&Y%*&U^Y%*&^&*()*_+__+()*(&&^%^%$#576(*%^$&**(*64&&*_)(_))&%^&*(*^%$78890(089&%$%&*^&())*(*)_)*+_(_+)++_+_((&*&&^%%$%$#%%%$46870$#%$%&*

I rest my case

I for one firmly #@%^*)(%$@$$@#$^^*(^%$%$@$%&^^^**&#@#%&*%$@#%^$^%*&^^(*&()*+&^%$%#@#%#&%&()*&*%#O)($@#&@#$%$#%^$^%*(^&*_^()_+(+))^%&^*&(*)()($^&%**(*%^#%^$W#%@#^%&%^&*_(+)*%%$^&^^^%R#^%&*)()@$(*_)($!#^$*)^@#$#Y%$%&**I&(**_)_(+*+(_+(+)+(%$#^%&*&_)*#%$*((*

and that is why I will catch the next 80 lb $#$%^%&&*(**((+_(*&%^%$%$@%$IO()(&%$#@$#%$(*_*)(&%$#%$!@#%T&*^)(O(*{)(_^*$%%$_)*^%%$#$#!@%#Y^%^%%*^$$&Y%*&U^Y%*&^&*()*_+__+()*(&&^%^%$#576(*%^$&**(*64&&*_)(_))&%^&*(*^%$78890(089&%$%&*^&())*(*)_)*+_(_+)++_+_((&*&&^%%$%$#%%%$46870$#%$%&*

I rest my case

anyone have a spare decoder :jump:

I have also read that larger fish, 40 lbrs and up, are not as fecund as the 15-30 lbrs.

I read just the opposite, with studies always showing that not only do older fish (of any species) yield more eggs but that those eggs are just as healthy and often more so then their younger counterparts.

Just try and find a article that says old fish produce less or less viable eggs. I dare you. :) Maybe there's a needle in the haystack out there but I couldn't find it. All I could find was that older = better when it comes to spawning success, fecundity, and egg viability.

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?

Key word..PAST their prime.... these fish are also raised in a controlled enviroment.. no seals, commerants or human beings to supply predation... it's the perfect control..

Flap nailed it dead nuts... Everyone seems to forget that large fish have already run the gauntlet, survived predation from seals and fish eating birds, there is far less waste in a 16-20" fish that there is on a large one... if you dont think so... why then, back when 16" was the legal limit for sale, did schoolies and mediums fetch a higher dollar value than their large brethren....

I've caught more than my share of trophy fish... it would be nice if there was a chance for my grandchildren to fish for the quality fish that I have been blessed to fish for and catch., I rarely keep bass anymore, when I do, most of the time it's one that is just legal, the rest are returned to the sea for someone else to enjoy, and from my own littoral scociety tagging returns, I just may be the recipiant of my own conservation.. this isnt coming from a tree hugger, I'm a former comercial fisherman, not a weekend warrior either, I earned my full paycheck from the sea for years, comercial striped bass fishing was just a cog in the wheel, I dug clams, ran a scallop dredge, gill netted cod all winter and fished for tuna inbetween.... sometimes we do learn and realize a few things as we grow older...

My .02
Roc

Thank you Dad -

Steve, nice points: however, as much as we would like it to in our perfect world, the real world does not revolve around our fishing agenda and we are in the minority, so a snowball's chance. If there were enough motivated people with the money behind them then you could make waves to get some changes made. Like the seal problem, there is no choice except to roll with the punches and hope the breaks go our way. Hey, look how fast things change - could you ever believe 7-8 years ago that seals would become such an issue? Maybe the law of unintended consequences will rear its ugly head to the benefit of the fish stock.

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?



Couldn't tell you, I'm not a scientist. :) Just relaying what I see anytime I put the words "fecundity, age, striped bass" or similar into Google. Interestingly though a search for "fecundity, age, salmon" immediately returns reports that some salmon DO have reduced fecundity with age while other salmon don't.

One of the first reports I came across though for Atlantic Salmon in that search concluded "Benefit of the body size was not only quantitative but also qualitative in reproduction success of River Teno Atlantic Salmon. Total number of eggs was higher in large females than in smaller ones but when the number of eggs was related to body weight there was no difference amongst females of different sizes. Instead of producing more eggs per unit of body weight, large females invest more in the egg quality than small females."

I'm sure with more digging something that counters that could be found, but again, it's easy to find articles that big (not necessarily old) Atlantic Salmon are better breeders.

I to have heard more than a few times that very large female Striped Bass carry more eggs and are the top breeders. Don`t remember where I`ve read that. Any icthyologists here?

I've read (somewhere) that yes, the larger bass have more eggs, but as they age the eggs are not as fertile. Wish I could put my finger on it.

After about 3 years, at the juvenile stage, the females begin to migrate to the ocean where they mature. The males tend to remain in the estuary longer than the females. After 5 to 7 years, females return to spawn for the first time. It takes several years for spawning females to reach full productivity.

[ **** An average 6 year old female produces half a million eggs while a 15 year old can produce three million. ]

Older fish produce eggs with more lipid energy (larger lipid globules), which in turn gives their larvae a survival advantage when food is scarce.
Older fish have exponentially more eggs per pound of body mass. That means a 40 lb fish carries tens of times more eggs than a 10 lb fish. Killing a single 40 lb fish has the same spawning effect as killing tens of 10 lb fish.
Older fish spawn earlier in the season than smaller fish, which broadens the likelihood of the species total spawning success (some years larvae survival conditions are better early, some years late.....therefore the chances of a good year class are better when spawning is spread out)

Here is another link that has some very pertinent (although not species specific) information on the value of large spawning fish (about 1/2 way thru the article). http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/HsO/PDF/Berkeley%20et%20al%202004%20Fisheries.pdf

Plan for the future, guys. Eat the 28" fish, brag about the big ones you let go, but killing a big one just to "prove" you caught it and build your reputation as a stud fisherman is shortsighted and selfish in this day and age.........even if once upon a time it was the sign of a fisherman worth admiring.

Thank you for enlightening me George -

Plan for the future, guys. Eat the 28" fish,

When a keeper was 36" and I used to go to fish meetings.. ,They told us the female Striped Bass does not spawn until about 30". It was explained to me the reason the size limit was 36",,, they would be assured the fish had spawned at least once .. Is this true .. and if so why are we taking pre spawn 28" fish . Doesn't make sense ..

what numbskull said

Best idea yet....carry a camera w/ you & take a picture of it if you need to brag (of course you need to get a memory stick bigger than the 16 shot one that comes with the camera George, just in case you have a big night or more likely still, I have a big night and need someone to take my picture(s))

That solves everything you get to release the fish to fight another day and you get proof of your prowess!

"I like it, simple and easy to follow" Jack Sparrow

I think that Flaptail addressed most of the points that we should be concerned with. The only thing that yet needs to be addressed is the pre-spawn slaughter of COWS staging to enter the rivers off of Virginia, which has been growing exponentially the past few years and the Spring fishing in the major spawning rivers while the females are bedding. Until these things are made illegal or brought under strict control, the Large Bass will remain scarce in the East Coast migrations. They are simply culling too high of a percentage of LARGE from the otherwise"healthy" population.