I'm in :uhuh:

:fishin:Again, oh well, O.K. I guess so. I'm in.:fishin: :soon:

I respect everyone that is not doing the tournament. To be honest I have done the tournament every year accept the first year. I have never weighed in a fish. A couple times I caught a couple that would have probably got me close to a weekly, but I knew that it would not hold up for the team, monthly etc. so I didn't weigh it in. The point I am making is that I think it is possible to be a member of this tournament and fish it responsibly. Obviously, if S-B is successful we will kill 10-20 fish in the 35-50 lb. range. This may seem like a big number, but if we are careful and keep good records i think we can keep the number as far down as possible.

I am in. Boat.

Additionally, I still wish that the leader board/weighing process for the Striper Cup could be done online by all of the weigh stations. That way everyone involved can have up to the minute knowledge of the standings. This would also save a lot more fish IMO. I know it would be hard for the tackle shops, but it is doable.

That's a great idea. You should shoot a quick email off to Chris at OTW and suggest it. It's probably too late for this year, but maybe they could look into doing it in the future.

Also, I thought this was a thread about who's in? Seems that a lot of people are chiming in that they're out. :confused:

I've been a member of Team SB since the Cup started. I feel that my friends should know whether I'm doing it again.

So I told them.

If they want to know why, they can read what Chris posted. There's more to it for me personally, but his reasons are good enough for starters.

I'm fishing one "kill" tournament a year, and this year it's going to be the local SGCCCFC. There's no need for me to enter a fish unless I know it's going to be the new leader, and the Grand Prize is a $60 embroidered fleece top.

Good post Sea Flat.:uhuh: I've entered every year since inception and likely will again this year.

I have no guilt over killing a couple fish. I routinely put back 98% of what I catch simply because I don't need striped bass for any purpose other than recreation.

Last year I kept one 41# fish for the Striper Cup and it was the only striped bass I kept all year. I don't even carry a cooler in my truck any more. I released at least 20 fish over 30# last year and literally countless 20's.

I feel like I do my part for conservation and nobody should be on a guilt trip over the taking of a few fish, regardless of the purpose for the kill.

I wasn't singling anyone out, Mike. I was just pointing out that this was a thread to see who was fishing the tournament this year. There's another thread started by chefchris401 about Striper Cup Discussions/Questions. That seems like a more appropriate thread for people to be giving their opinions on why they aren't fishing the tournament rather than this one.

I hate to chime in or derail this thread, but I think some clarification is needed.
No one questions each individuals right to take fish or your individual conservation efforts. I am all for rec anglers keeping fish if they want to. But by joining the cup, you are supporting and participating in a coastal, kill tournament. Thousands of big bass are killed for the tournament. You may only keep one fish, but others will keep and kill many. They're all breeding fish.
Although you can argue that charter boats kill that many fish. Yes, they do. But don't forget this tournament is IN ADDITION to those kills.
I know and respect many of you joining the tournament and we all have to answer to ourselves. I dont hold it against anyone. As stated in another thread by others, I grew up in a fishing family, I remember the moratorium. It seems to many that we're rapidly heading in that direction. personally If the bass population was thriving, I may join the cup and join in the camaraderie. However given the current situation, this tournament only hurts a bad situation. there is nothing positive coming out of this for the future of bass. And as MANY of you said in the Maine circle hook thread - every little bit counts

to each his own. I've completely lost interest in this, doesn't do anything for me anymore.. Good luck and have fun

I feel the same way, but I like the tee shirts.

Being new to fishing, I value everything I read here. I'm very excited to join the S-B team in the cup. I release 95% of fish I catch. I teach Tyler about conservation and whats right to do, but we eat fish and like to do so. He's stoked to go fishing, so arent I. I'm looking forward to fishing with other members of the team and those that aren't.

To each their own. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind.

I'll buy this year's T-shirt at StriperFest. Every shop in the area hands out free admission tickets, and I can't afford to pay the taxes on the boat anyway, if I were to win it. I won't even have to stay till the bitter end for the drawing, to boot. :grins:

There seems to be a good amount of conversation on whether or not the Striper Cup and On-The-Water are doing the appropriate thing for the striped bass fishery.

In my opinion, as recreational anglers we do not have the right to criticize anyone for keeping a legal fish and entering that fish into a tournament. If you feel the need to complain about that, your argument is not with the angler or the tournament organizer as they are organizing an event that is within the applicable regulations and their rights. Fishing tournaments were around when we were born and will be here when we die. The recreational angler should complain and apply pressure to the individuals responsible for the fishery management (or their bosses), which is another story for another day.

What I feel the recreational community has the right to complain about with the tournament organizer concerning conservation is:
- the absensce of technology in avoiding overkill, and
- the absence of catch and release participation.

Since this topic is about the Striper Cup, I will say that the Striper Cup does not use technology to avoide overkill. This is the 2011 fishing season, technology to avoid overkill is here and at worst it would be a daily update of up-to-date standings to avoid overkill because there are weekly, monthly, team and angler of the year prizes. Additionally, on the catch and release front their is zero participation in the Striper Cup. Allowing someone to win a pin when you are literally handing out prizes worth in excess of $50K is not participation. Those are the facts as I see them. I work for a marketing/advertising company and I know that you can spin anything the way you want it to be seen, but every now and then someone will state the simple facts and you can't argue the facts. These are the facts, and to me it doesn't appear that On the Water takes conservation seriously.

I am often asked what is the answer. Obviously, the answer is to do the right thing in your mind. In my opinion, we as recreational anglers support the vast majority of the fishing industry, we purchase the magazines, we pay the tournament entry fees, etc.. If you agree with the conservation practices of On The Water than you should support them by purchasing their magazine and entering the tournament. If you do not agree with the conservation policies of On The Water and the Striper Cup than you should boycott their magazine and their tournaments until they change their policies to align with your personal beliefs. I do not believe as the recreational angler we should rationalize a reason to support a magazine or tournament that doesn't align with your personal beliefs. Their is no reason to justify that a tournament will do less harm than a party boat or another tournament. This is rationalization and people rationalize thier actions when they feel they are improper or unethical.

This is just how I feel. We are discussing On The Water and the Stripercup. This could be talked about with many other tournaments as well, but I look at them all individually and determine from there what tournaments and sponsors I would like to support and participate in. Do not get me started on fisheries management because that is just a crazy topic that I could go on forever about.

Im still questioning whether or not i will participate this year. I would prefer that the striper cup be canceled due to the fishery being in trouble. That would make it an easier decision for sure. Im thinkin that if the participation is down they may cancel it next year, i know it has to be a money maker for them. Maybe they will cancel it because of the state of the fishery.
On the other hand i want to join for chance to help us bring the cup back. It also wouldn't be bad to win a Van Staal, sure beats buying one.

I'll be joining up, just didn't get a chance at the msba show. I really enjoy the team aspect of the cup and having the top 10 team fish listed in our stripercup forum ensures no one is killing anything needlessly. I know I have not weighed in a single fish for the cup the past 2 years. Not from a lack of trying and I've had plenty of good fish, just not the fish we needed.

I'd really like to see OTW do something in terms of posting weekly/monthly leaders to date. It does not need to be anything fancy, heck they are on facebook maybe they could just update something there. If people knew what was leading for the month/week it could help people conserve a lot of fish too.

Thousands? Doubtful. Many, yes.

I see your point that every little bit helps, but the point of the other thread was that putting back small fish will be healthier for them if we use circle hooks.

Point being, I think most people that fish the tournament do not weigh a fish and most people that do weigh in a fish are weighing in a fish that they would take home anyway. In most cases anyway.

Too many fish killed if ya ask me, OTW should reconsider the tourney as a whole, or update their reporting methods.

You New England guys are'nt the problem, it's the greedy pigs here in NJ who catch and keep multiple 25-40 pound fish daily during the big bunker run off our coast every June. It's a massacre to say the least.

I agree that in NJ we do more than our share of killing the resource during the bunker blitzes of recent years and allowing someone to walk off with 3 fish all being 30 plus pounds is not good for anyone. I also know many people who fish in certain spots in RI, MA, etc. that have sent me pictures of massacres as well, so we all need to evaluate how we conserve the fisheries from Carolina to Maine. Just my opinion, but many states (including NJ) are doing damage.

Sea Flat,

It probably is thousands killed. I don't know the number that entered but Over 4000 attend the tent party alone. If you assume most of them fished, then add all the no shows from across the East coast you could have upwards of 5000 or far more. Further, if they fished for 5 months ...the release mortality rates alone indicate that they killed thousands without even weighing in a fish.
Most have said that this tournament drives them out to fish it so I would say that most have fished it. Then you have a large commercial contingency that basically culls their 30 daily fish commercial catch to weed out a good one to weigh in the cup. You have 4000 commercial SB fishermen in MA alone a good number of them enter this as well. Most of these guys kill a 30-50 fish a day easy apiece. (I don't know if you have seen they way they fish ...they are pretty rough with the discards and many use yo yo set ups) That said, they would be killed anyway if the tourney stoped, it is just a added bonus to enter for them.
So yes it is easily thousands of killed fish in the name of the striper cup just for this tourney.

In an email from OTW posted in the other site awhile ago they said that 625 fish were weighed in in 2010 for the tournament. Between commercials and people who would have kept the fish anyway. Im sure well over half of those fish werent going back so I think the actual number killed just for the tournament is probably around 300 or less...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

625 was what were weighed in...you had thousands of fishermen fishing "because of the contest" for 5 months. The catch and release mortality (driven by the event) exceeds what was weighed in.

Most fishermen admit," if I was not in the event, I would not fish as often or as hard", that is why many of them they join. Most trips do not produce a weigh able fish but most likely they produce dead fish either taken home or die due to injury. If you break off a yo-yo'ed or gut hooked fish and it dies, it is an unweighted dead fish.

Numbers aside, for me they are walking a fine line claiming they are conservation minded tourney...yet allow commercially harvested fish that are headed to market for money to be entered. This is not conservation. Also, the on-line aspect is so poorly run you can not see what size fish it takes to make the board. This should be almost real time, certainly no more than 24hours after it is caught.

All that said...the impact of ANY TOURNY is small IMO. Even if they killed "Thousands" of fish in the name of the striper cup, that is small compared to the coast-wide killing from commercial and recs. Better steps could be taken to reduce the overall kill.

Other questions I have: Is this a non-profit event? Exactly how many people fish it? Where does the $ go? Are the prizes bought or donated? Do they give back to the community or fishery? I looked on the website for the info, all this is a secret.

Im out. I never weigh anything big enough anyways...

I am sure that the OTW people make a nice amount of money for the tournament and that is fine with me. I like the guys there and they work really hard to make the tournament fun.

To your other point, I still do not buy the mortality rate that you and NOAA think is the case on released fish. I really think that we would see fish floating all over the place if it were the case.

Maybe we should start a new thread, I think we are straying quite a bit from what this thread was meant for.:)

Are you sure it's 4,000? That number may be right, but it seems high to me. Keep in mind that not everyone at the party fished the tournament. Each participant gets 2 tix and some bring a spouse, child or friend. Most of the local tackle shops also give out free tix. To get an accurate count, you'd need to know how many golden tickets were entered for the boat raffle.

Pretty much all the money goes to Mike!

Looking forward to it again this year.
 

I disagree as well about the mortality issue of C & R'd fish. Unless they are cut open they will float shortly after death because of the gases that form inside thier bodies make them rise to the surface. Never ever see any floaters.

I'm not feeling guilty about signing up. Ever fish I took last year year, which with the exception of three times fishing, was every time I fished I took two fish home for the first year of my life fishing. My father-in-law, mother-in-law, my mother, and my wife and I enjoy stripedbass cooked every way imaginable, and it was all delicious. Oh a few of my friends as well enjoyed fish I caught. I really liked the fish stew my wife cooked up in January after she made broth from three bass heads that had been at the bottom of the freezer.

I am in for Team S-B.

As far as the fishing stocks don't worry everyone.. I wont catch anything worth weighing anyway...

Although,,, I have a new fishing style this year,,,:ninja::ninja::ninja::ninja:

per their web site: On The Water - Striper Cup


Honestly, I know these posts sound bitter (it is really more emotion than bitterness) but don't have a problem with most fishing tourneys , I fish a few different things myself from time to time, most are fun and you meet some cool people along the way. The coast-wide/duration/commercialism factor and the true intent with this one is a little hard to swallow under the eyes of "stewardship of the resource", in a time when things are not going that great for the fish, that's all.

Like all of you I love fishing. I am done discussing this topic.
See you On The Water :)

The webpage said that nearly 4,000 people enjoyed the party. Per my earlier post, I'm guessing that there were a lot of people there for the party and didn't fish the tourney.

I also think that the anti's try to make things seem worse than they actually are, just as the pro's try to make it seem like everything is fine. The reality is that the fishery is in trouble, but I don't think this tournament is doing nearly as much harm as some would have you belive. I think there's much more damage done by people who are careless releasing fish (especially small ones) and by people who poach.

I am in. I haven't weighed anything in the 3 years I've signed up. I figure I am out there fishing all summer anyway, and I like the team aspect. I keep 2 fish a year on average for the table, everything else gets released, so if one of the fish I decide to keep gets me a prize, or helps the team then even better.