Your in possession of 4. Illegal
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does the rule read possess 2 per day?
or possess 2 at a time cowhunter?

I think #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& hacked into cowhinters account :hihi:
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lunchbreak is over

....and this is why a lot of this has been discussed for years by the RI Marine Fisheries Council...ever since they changed the rod and reel commercial quota to a general category so that the draggers could get in on the action...you should have been at the mtgs for that one.

Anyways, the laws are so convoluted, and have been so "massaged" that, RIDEM law enforcement have trouble understanding them; case in point, half of them do not know what the regs are for recreational baitfishing (menhaden, cast nets, gillnets etc.).

As Kenny and others have stated, it's a slippery slope when it comes to possession language....thru the years I have know several situations where people basically got a "slap on the wrist" because the law was fraught with errors and the judge would agree; in his mind, there were other more important "fish to fry" than questions of excess fish possession (I am in no way condoning this, but telling it like it is). Now when that same judge would try a case involving illegal shellfishing (polluted waters, etc), that DIRECTLY AFFECTED PEOPLE'S HEALTH...whole different story...Clammer can vouch for that...some guys lost boats, licenses ,etc and were even put in jail.

I was being sarcastic, although in some states, fisheries you can doc on your license, and it would be legal... The only stink I'm making is some people make a recreational issue, which is a huge problem, guys making multiple trips and killing multiple "legal" limits.. Some people want to take a clear recreational issue, problem, and blame it on commercials...
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Anyone who is killing bass on a regular basis is the problem.
The real problem however is the " everyone else is doing it, so why don't I " mentality.

Sad
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Saw a guy once at the BI ferry in the morning... couldnt wait to brag on all the fish he caught. He was there for a vacation with his family for 4 days, showed me 2 bass in a cooler, and fillets from 6 more fish in the same cooler. 2fish per day, and is now taking them home from his vacation. Now if he was stopped on the spot, He had 8 bass in his possession... the legality of it confused me... I think it would be tough to convict him of anything... Now my issue is with the guy who is at the ferry with 8, talking about how he was there all week, when he was there one night... there is a loophole in the specifics of the law... its too vague.

If you were judged by whats in your possession at the time you are stopped, then every guy ever coming home from Alaska would be handcuffed at the airport with their cooler

Holy crap !
Any of you guys actually work during the day ?

Ever since I started keeping 4 bass a day I don't have to work. ;)
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Just tail a couple of charter guys, find out where they stash their fish and rat them out. Otherwise they'll never caught. The DEM does not actually catch anyone doing anything unless it's spoon fed to them. Stake out the premier restaurants too - somehow they've slipped under the radar for the last forty years or so. Funny how they're so selective about who they catch and make such a big deal of it when they do.

?????....wow....then there are a lot of problems in the real world.....

yes... which is why the 2 fish a day at 28 needs to go out the window..

A dead fish, is a dead fish, is a dead fish - how it got dead is less important. Popularizing sport-fishing leads to more dead fish. Bringing a new person to the sport leads to more dead fish. Writing an article with good tips leads to more dead fish. Making and selling highly effective lures leads to more dead fish.
You don't see them floating all together like after a dragger discards by-catch, but they are just as gone.

:uhuh:

1 @ 36" is going to kill a lot of fish...

2 fish between 18-26", one of which can be over 36"..

A slot is the answer. We are NOT the majority of people fishing. While it's not that difficult for most of you guys to catch a 36" bass, the majority find that a BIG fish and MIGHT see one that size in a season. In turn this will making law breaking "poachers" out of people who wouldn't normally break the law. I know probably everyone in here is going to disagree with me and try and beat me with my words but realize this... Not everyone is a sharpie and not everyone can afford to go down to the fish market if they want to eat some fresh fish. :)

Think so? Come over to the mainland, and come to the Canal in May and June, and watch how many guys leave with two fish over 40" every goddamned day when the run is on.

Watch how many guys strap 2 40"+ fish to their bikes, ride up and down the Canal parading them, and then hit 3 shops for weigh ins and picture taking.

I see very few big fish being released on those plugging tides. And then only by the guys who have already kept two--and a few give away the smaller of the two they've already killed to keep a bigger one. :doh:

I could tell you the names of at least 10 guys who have kept over 30 fish over 20 lbs this season alone, if I wanted to burn them publicly--but the law says they're doing nothing wrong, so I won't.

Right on Right on Right on....a comm was fishing on a sat in my neck of the woods. A few nearby fishermen saw this guy stash 10+ bass in a hidden cooler and had a couple others in anther location. They called the EPO, he came out, went right to the anchored boat, spoke to the guy for less than a min, never asked for lic or anything then left. WTF???

The entire enforcement in MA is an utter joke. There are more guys taking fish on non comm days and keeping them until the next day then selling them under several lics's of people who did not fish. SHorts are being sold under the table direct to restaurants and no one is reporting squat. No one has a rec lic, no one is checking anything. As well as bogus buyers and there is a %$%$%$%$load of guys squeezing this fishery for everything they can as fast as they can "gotta get my share"...and then they say the recs are doing the damage.
Are there honest comm fishermen? Yes there are. But there are a lot (I would say MOST) are not.

How many people were checked last week in that pile of 250 boats off Orleans/ Chatham jigging bass? The wait to haul your boat was over 2 hours I heard. There should have been an EPO checking EVERY SINGLE FISHERMAN, (both on the water and at the dock)and the guys who spilt....should be run down and double checked.

GAMEFISH is the ONLY answer as it handles most of the enforcement with far fewer officers.

I am thinking next year I am going out with my cam corder next year and documenting some of this stuff. If you hang around the fleet you see all kinds of %$%$%$%$.

I hope all you people writing about how you feel on a internet fishing site are also writing letters to the powers to be

Just sayin' :smash:

OH VELLY NICE.
YOU BRINGY MORE TO BACK DOOR
KNOCK 4 TIMES HO HO

"Just tail a couple of charter guys, find out where they stash their fish and rat them out."

Why the hell would you think a charter is going to "stash fish"
People pay us $ to take them out so THEY can take home fish.

Bring your camcorder up to Boston Harbor and I'll point out some orientals who fill their coolers with shorts like we watched happen this past sat & sunday!

Code word ezz "gererah sow"!!!!!

Look who gives a damn who gets more and who is worse or better for what they do. We all know there is a problem building. What are we going to do as a group-STRIPER FISHERMEN ALL-to keep it from going where we all know it is going. I fish the coast up an down every yr. I see the trends change constantly. As do a great many of the rest of you.We all see a problem so lets pull our collective heads out of our posteriors and get to gether to fix it before we're all told we can't fish for them.Are we all that stupid and greedy. Christ what's it take the total dimise of the fish.We all help the problem to some extent and we all love catch Stripers so lets fix it.Ron

Yup.

Actually, yeah.

Logic here...?
"1 @ 36" is going to kill a lot of fish..."
2 fish, 1 small, 1 36" is going to kill less b/c most don't catch that size?

that is EXACTLY why 1 @36" is the answer!!!!!

We all have a duty to protect what we love. I'm willing to be more proactive. No one wants to waste one of the world's greatest gamefish.

Its not just a possession limit, the limit is two fish per day per angler anyone exceeding that is breaking the law.

Charter boats don't sell fish, they provide a fishing platform for recreational fishermen.

If you want to see the Recreational vs commercial kill just go to the ASMFC website.

Poachers suck, whether they sell their poached fish or eat them.

But as said before, its a commercial endeavor. You're being paid to put people on fish. They should not be included in the rec category.

I see where where you are coming from. I really do. However, when I do feel like battling the crowds at one of the often over-crowded bridges by my house I see countless people dead stick with bait and J hooks. I'd be scared to see mortality rates. Most of the fish they are catching are between 16-26".. I'd rather see them get their 2 and leave rather than stay all day throat and gut hooking bass and taking their sweet ass time measuring anything that's over 20 inches. I just think the ratio of clueless people who fish like I mentioned above to responsible ethical anglers doesn't favor a 1@ 36". Slots work..I'm tellin ya.. I've seen it first hand in FL with snook.