I,ve been thinking about this since I received my renewal two weeks ago .

I just finished the lastest issue & for me it was a good read

I also enjoyed it on TV when I could get it .

But now the reality ..............

As we know /may disagree on what degree the bass are in trouble .
we had no choice which bothers some personally & financilly [sp] But we all took a hit , rec,s & charters ... & a straight hit to the commercials .


THe Fisherman Magazine which has a fishing contest that is free to all people that have a subscription in their name . took the stripers out of the tourment this year .

OTW / added a C&R I believe last year or before .other than that . they continue to promote the STRIPER CUP .. with team & individual awards ........... WTF don,t they get > they get it ......but its all about the money .. not the fish

last year for the f u ck of it .I went down the list of fish weighed in .......... there were alot of bass weighed well under 20lb / not sure but I think actually down to around 12#
is promoting conservation ........... ???? f U C L no :af:

so after being a very long time subscriber I threw the renewal in the recycle bin //at least it will do a little good in the trash ............................toooooooooooooo bad allllllllllllllllll about the money :af:

My renewal came Monday, did the same thing Clammer, all done with them! Too bad... I used to enjoy the magazine, but can't support them anymore.
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I didn't renew the first year of the striper cup because their competition encourages killing bass for potential gain. Clammer's info bears out my suspicions.

I don't drink PBR any more, but that's no big hardship cuz it's mediocre beer at best.

Have not subscribed or fished the cup over 5 yrs.

You're right - all about the money.

no subscription. Nope.
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I stopped mine as soon as the cup was announced. I emailed Chris Megan with my concerns and got a nice email back from him. The original plan was for even more dead fish. Too little too late.
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You reap what you sow
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I gave up a few years ago primarily because of the cup. I don't think they get it, even though i saw their explanation about the cup somewhere. They really could have taken a firm stand by stopping the cup and not just making some additions to the C&R side of it. They knew what the right choice was and chose not to take it, and a lot of people are choosing not to re-new.

I have mixed feelings about OTW- I understand they derive their living from talking about/dealing with striped bass, and as such people will catch them and they will die as a result.... the CUP is an extension of that.

however- the contest also encourages the killing of more fish that may likely have been released if not for the possible monetary reward offered by the Cup...

I'm not a subscriber, and will contnue to avoid the publication as a result

OTW is like a lot that won't take the fish into consideration. C an R is the way to go. Has been for a while.

Dont do otw or derby.
I support Toby :).
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Didn't Stripertalk have a team entered not that long ago ?
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Way to go Clammer. I stopped when they started the cup. Ive been out spoken about killing fish and made some enemies but for all the right reasons.

Ive been out spoken about killing fish and made some enemies but for all the right reasons.

x2

Didn't Stripertalk have a team entered not that long ago ?
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if you mean striped-bass.com, then ya , had a team but not anymore

I used to have a subscription, not sure when it ran out though. I think they have a strange set of priorities there and they seem to change like the wind and tide

I still subscribe to the mag and have since issue 1 in 1996.
I have every pin for the Cup since 2006 but will not enter this year.

I think Chris and Kevin are good guys but are misdirected with their priorities. It's unfortunate because they could have made a very profound statement by discontinuing the Striper CUP (at least the kill portion) when it became apparent that the stocks we getting depleted.

Everyone is right when they say "it's all about the money".

There have been many of these threads lately hating on OTW and I get it. In a day and age where paper media is dying off quick they continue to provide a great magazine. When they started the tournament it was done in good faith as the stripers were plentiful. Now, not so much. The money they bring in is vital to the continuation of the magazine and many peoples jobs I assume.

My two cents is that the people that do fish it could also take some more responsibility. Quit weighing in fish that have no chance of helping your team. Having said that, I would love to see OTW make the tourny catch and release only. I have a feeling that they would still make plenty of money as the prizes they offer are really good.

I cancelled my subscription after Clammer was featured in half naked photos of himself
in that article "tonging and thonging for deep mud clams"
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It's unfortunate because they could have made a very profound statement by discontinuing the Striper CUP (at least the kill portion) when it became apparent that the stocks we getting depleted.

That the stocks were getting depleted when it started is the problem. Lack of foresight always leads to the same result. It isn't just OTW. Ego, greed, money, ignorance in no particular order.

I will also add that I think the people that sign up for that tournament and kill as many big fish as they do would probably kill those fish anyway. If they cared about the fish and wanted to help the stocks they would not fish a kill tournament that takes so many 50 lbers out of the water. I would bet that the fishermen that catch and weigh those fish are catching them and eating them whether they are in a tournament or not. So, not sure it's all on OTW

I was done with OTW when Flap and Bob Samuelson stopped writing for them . Only reason I bought the rag ..

Catch n release tournaments aren't that easy to keep going. The Tri State Fishing Tournament of New England has been going since the 60's. When we went C + R way back the attendance dropped off. Now we're lucky to get 20 participants a leg. The biggest reason was we didn't kill big fish. It's amazing how many people say Catch n release in public but still want pics of piles of big fish they caught during a Derby or Tourny. I still fish the Derby myself but I only keep a couple fish a yr. So some of what we preach isn't all that easy to keep going. Striper Cup is just another lottery. Look at the money any lottery brings in. Not everyone thinks as we do as only a small few are in clubs or on sites like this. Our actions speak for us but the problem is way beyond OTW or Striper Cup. A lot of anglers don't want to hear polatics an such they just want to be able to go fishing ,have a good time and not constantly hear the negatives. Catch n release is only a small part of the fix. By catch is a way bigger problem. OTW does get the word out so there is some mind set that helps. The Striper Cup will go the way the Scheaffer Tournament did in time. We need to use the media to get the word out better by publishing some of the stories we know comparing then to now. It gets people thinking.

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/showthread.php?t=30261&highlight=contest&page=2

Catch n release tournaments aren't that easy to keep going. The Tri State Fishing Tournament of New England has been going since the 60's. When we went C + R way back the attendance dropped off. Now we're lucky to get 20 participants a leg. The biggest reason was we didn't kill big fish. It's amazing how many people say Catch n release in public but still want pics of piles of big fish they caught during a Derby or Tourny. I still fish the Derby myself but I only keep a couple fish a yr. So some of what we preach isn't all that easy to keep going. Striper Cup is just another lottery. Look at the money any lottery brings in. Not everyone thinks as we do as only a small few are in clubs or on sites like this. Our actions speak for us but the problem is way beyond OTW or Striper Cup. A lot of anglers don't want to hear polatics an such they just want to be able to go fishing ,have a good time and not constantly hear the negatives. Catch n release is only a small part of the fix. By catch is a way bigger problem. OTW does get the word out so there is some mind set that helps. The Striper Cup will go the way the Scheaffer Tournament did in time. We need to use the media to get the word out better by publishing some of the stories we know comparing then to now. It gets people thinking.

so true....the important thing is the direction of the trend, and while it may seem sluggish, OTW has moved in what might be considered a positive direction over time, as DZ pointed out, there is evolution at work.....that's a good thing if it's being nudged in a way to your liking....I don't think we ever would have believed a year ago that most of the coast would be 1 bass....so many tourneys and clubs would be featuring c&r....or that publications would be more and more cautious in choosing their content, it's good.....and as stripermaniac notes other things need to be addressed while the positive momentum exists

It is very difficult to convince many people that they should practice catch and release as long as there is commercial fishing for stripers. At a minimum it gives them an excuse to justify killing most of the stripers they catch. Yeah it is a weak excuse and we all know recreational fishing kills more fish but it is a justification for many. Being originally from NJ when ever I fish down there I hear it all of the time. Even in our club up here we find many of our members want to continue with the kept categories for our club tournament. Plus for many in NJ they haven't seen the numbers decrease at the levels we have seen up on the North Shore, Maine and NH, so they don't see as great a need. Problem is when they do it will be way to late. I don't think we will see any more limit changes in the next few years so while continuing to push catch and release a focus on the release part may be the best thing we can do. Getting people to crush the barbs on their hooks, replace the back treble hook on plugs with a single hook or flag, don't grab them where you contact the gills, and circle hooks for bait. Many of the fishing practices we've been taught over the years were based on best method to catch and keep fish not for release. Need to change these practices.

I'm fearful of all of the culling that we can anticipate will be happening. When the first fish is 29" and the one that comes later in the day is 43" long, how many "sport" fishermen will be "releasing" the 29" fish from the cooler and keeping the bigger fish?

It's got to be a mindset before the first line goes in the water. The guys contributing to this thread already have the "right" mindset to conserve our fish. We need to educate the guys that like the pictures of big, dead fish and let them know that killing is not in our best interest.