Its Just A Fish!
 

In reply to the gentleman who said its just a fish! He said it all. To the commercials its just money pure and simple to the rest of us who dont sell our catch its a way of life. I have spent the best parts of my life fishing for bass. I live where I live to fish I work the job I have to be able to fish often and hard. Beside my family bass fishing is the best part of my life. To you it is just a fish but to me it is a part of my soul. I know it sounds hokey or corney but it is the truth. Commercials by definition are in it for the money. Remember if it is a million dollar yankee first baseman or a commercial fisherman when they say its not the money you know dammmed well it is. I know this is only a limited example but I know commercials who kill as many bass as possible and then fish scup with traps rather than catch a bass they cant sell. What a sportsman! Yes you do it for the money and nothing else. But dont feel too bad the various individuals who make policy in regard to the resource dont care about its long term viability either.

Oh no, not at all! You can't be holy if you don't have a soul, and souls in Franklin guys are about as common as Tiger Woods Mother's Day cards these days.

It's this kind of debate by some that has lowered the public view of the commercial fisherman from the once romantic image of fisherman in pretty locals to the now, bitter, greedy and somewhat hostile hard-ass. There is no place for this anymore. If you notice they never talk about the protection of the species much, rather, how much of it is theirs to take with personal attacks of others thrown in.

Internet threads like this we all know will do little to effect laws but they are entertaining to see everyone's perspective on the matter.

Time for me to move on from this one it's getting old. unsubscribe.

Yeah... Damn those ba**tard Franklin guys!

I'm enjoying a delicious piece of Haddock. I'm thankful for the comm guy who caught it and got it to market.

hey I'm from Franklin, be nice. All I got from this long thread was eye strain a headache and the realization that most people can't agree on anything. Were doomed.:uhuh:

well, if you get yur wish to end comm fishing on sb, it will be like a two-fer.....cuz most recs won't know where to fish anymore thus a major reduction in take ! and please note the "most" in there.:rotf2:

you've reallllly gone overboard this time.....thats a shame. :fury:

This tread is still smokin! Virginia beach was good to me, won the ASA Nationals today! Did a live realease with the fish. Can't believe 40 won it, there were three fifties caught just yesterday....
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Woe is me! A plague of Franklinsteins has descended upon us. They grow thick as the flies on a eel fisherman's toothbrush and multiply like machinists around a jelly doughnut. Quick, we must sprinkle canal water in their reservoir and offer prayers to St Gadabout lest they breed like seals and leave nothing for us honest plugfishermen to seek.

congrats, ken...you deserve it ! impressive.

How many boats?

I'm glad you love it so much, as I too can't imagine my life without fishing. I would say it's wrong to suggest that comm fisherman don't love it as much as you do. You can't get good enough to make money on Stripers without loving to fish for them first. The only difference between you and myself and all of the comms I happen to know is that we also make a few bucks living the life you describe above. I doubt many people comm fish because it's the only way for them to make money. They do it because they love the ocean, love to fish, and are good enough at it that someone values their skill enough to buy fish from them. Again, I ask, what is wrong for being paid for something you love? Should a working existance be defined through misery?

If folks want to split hairs about who should get all the fish, remember there's plenty of people who can't or don't fish that have just as much of a "right" to those as any other US citizen. Many of those folks like to eat fish and will buy them at a market. It's interesting that there's a lot of statements that suggest that comm's are taking all of the resources for themselves, but by creating a rec only fishery, aren't the rec's doing the same? And if you think that getting rid of comm fishing will end overharvesting of Stripers, just look at the illegal take in all states. If there's a market for it, there will be people providing it, regardless of legality. Best thing about the commecial fishery is that it allows for a legal, recordable take of fish. Right now it's the only accurate means of recording fish mortality that we have.

I'm far from thinking that we should fish for them until the ocean is empty, and I'm rec fishing 90% of the time I'm on the water, so I'm obviously concerned about the stocks. If a reduced take helps sustain the resource for everyone, I'd participate in that. I just don't agree with the suggestion that commercial fishing should end completely. Nor do I agree that comm's don't love the experience of fishing just as much as anyone else.

LOL!

And they descend so because of habitat destruction. The once pristine forests and trees in which they used to dwell have been devastated. Their forefather's lands raped and pillaged in order to create millions of wooden devils with six to nine sets of sharp, angry teeth.

Actually I thought they cut all those trees down to build golf courses.....but that's a different story.

All I got is that there's too many people who want stripers and that there's not enough of them to go around.

Maybe we need a commercial season for people. :smash:

60" minimum, six per day. No closed season. What'll we do with them, though? They don't taste as good as fish...

NO!! not at all because as you say: "
" I'm rec fishing 90% of the time I'm on the water" How can it be a resource grab when you will still be fishing for them?

There will be no loss of interest among SB die hards and you will still be doing what you love. The problem with R&R SB fishing is There a lot of illegal activity going on by this particular user group and the fish is pressured as a result. Enforcement is a joke and we all know that.

We could always feed them to the criminally insane, I suppose...

Well it would be a resource grab for me. I'm not going to take sides as far as rec vs. comm, as I do both. How about the people who don't or can't fish, yet would still like to be able to eat one? There are still PLENTY of them, the commercial and the black market you're talking about proves it. If you want to say you have to be a fisherman to be able to eat fish, that's fine with me as long as you're okay with having to hunt or farm whatever else you'd like to eat as well.

You are wrong! I bass fish May through November, without exception. I release far more fish than I kill. I'll spend hours or days just finding bait. I am sleepless, like a kid at christmas, almost every night before I fish. Does that sound like just money. I'm here typing my thoughts. Do you think a comm in it just for the money gives 2 bits about any of this, particularly on this forum? None-the-less a bass is a fish. No more revered to me than a tautog, fluke, tuna, seabass, etc. I appreciate them all, hold none as holy. Art

.....and......to all you plug nuts out there......going back almost 30 years .I have in varied quanities....original Danny Plugs(both surface-all sizes & deep divers-large) crafted by the master Danny P in critical colors..along with original Gag Grabbers needles-some screw eyed hooks-others thru wire(pink, lime & olive green& black)including the shorter models & a sprinkling of his mini models-some jointed ones..and first generation Super Strikes needles........most new in original packages.....not to mention several Boones.........and boxes of "used' plugs of the above that caught many stripers...many of them sold......and doing so...enjoyed the activity bass fishing second to none..........

Now..I hope I have everyones attention........
.........
..............."Called striped bass, striper, rockfish, bass or just plain fish. Stripers They are colorful, spirited, majestic, worshipped, eaten and sold. Fished pursued by commercial interests ranging from sport fishing magazine publishers to trap fisherman, pursued in earnest by charter/guide operations, by recreation anglers ranging from executives to vagrants lucky enough to possess a fishing rod and a few plugs.

Stripers. Totally adapted be eons of evolution and natural selection to effectively swim in surf, estuary, river, coastal pond, bay, sound, and ocean.

Striper. Prestigous, honored, loved."

Striper. Delicious, nutritious, a commodity and source of cash.

Striper. Providing pleasure to pursuing them from the surf, shore or upon the waters.................."

.......all users groups are intertwined with the many values the striped bass provides........

share the resource.......................................... .................................................. ......................protect our continued access to our favorite fish..............

well put. I've been watchin this thread for a couple days now an about everything has been mentioned. Fact is the number of stripers is on a serious decline. So wether an commercial or a sportfisherman we all need to back away from the trough an look what needs to be done for the fish, Not who gets what quota,who's at fault or to blame. we need to pull our heads out of our perspective posteriors an pressure the poleticians to slow things down before we are back in the 70,s again.Like my old freind Bob Pond used to preach. Only we can fix what we break. Greed an selfishness do nothing but hurt us all. Nice thing to help PETA with it's devide an conquer tactics. Damn are we dumb sometimes.
I love spending a night out with my secon wife a large female striped bass. Love sharing it with freinds also. Same as you commercial guys do when not chasing stripers for that new motor or SUV or those sportfishermen that spend hrs playin the blame game, We all love and enjoy fishing wether it be Striper or trout fishing so lets all do a bit to fix things before it get too far gone to fix, my thought Ron

NOW we're talking something important! Are those superstrike needles wood? :heybaby:

As an aside, this thread http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...interview.html has a link to a PDF where Coleman interviewed Pichney and they discuss the same issues that have arisen on this thread. Good read. History repeats.

In Numbskull's case we could simply tag him and release him back into the wild...as a threatened species he might eventually need legislative protection and perhaps, institutional encampment. Of course he would still be allowed to participate in on line fishing forums, albeit for a few supervised moments once per month.

:rotf2:

Nice to have a brother to laugh at your jokes.

That's why they have canned tuna.

He's got a boat, too.

And just where would you find a plug to do that? Eels ain't gonna do it :rude:

Trapperpierre is good people...
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I noticed there's an advertisement in there for eels at .70 per pound too...:alright: