Spring Surf Club Challenge Results
 

I just received the results of the annual Spring Surf Fishing Club Challenge, and they are pasted below with angler names removed. 7 clubs entered, presumably 5 to 10 anglers fishing per club along all of the beaches of RI, and not a single striper over 36 inches (minimum length for entry) was caught/entered. Several years ago I was involved in a suggestion for the fall version of this tournament to remove striped bass as a kill species for entry (but not to prevent anglers from harvesting a fish they were to enter) and I was demonized for "seeking to ruin the tournament" by several people involved. I was told that there is nothing wrong with the striped bass population, and so on. Sure this spring has been off for a number of reasons, but if somewhere in the range of 35 to 50 anglers fishing the RI surf for 2 days and nights can't land a 36" fish or better, then I find it hard to believe that everything is fine.

The future ain't what it used to be....

Wow!!!, the last year i fished in this tourney we (NPT) I think weighed in 2 fish over 35#, and 1 around 29#. With a bunch of other good size fish taken through the weekend.

Keep killin em boys. Good job!
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Narr Bay was hot early this AM (I mean real early in a downpour). 5 fish over 20#. All on swimming plugs on top. I was not in the surf but in my boat.
I know the surf has sucked but maybe the fish are just late. The fish I got this AM all had sea lice so they were fresh.

I've been out in the surf 12 times in the last 30 days and landed 5 striped bass total. My first two were over 30 pounds, then a 47# followed by one about 20# and my last fish was a measly 26". Sure things could just be behind, but if so then they are really behind. That said, I am still holding out hope for it to somehow get back on track and normalize unless this is the new normal.

A combination of factors from weather to weather to weather but also a reduction in the fish.

Toby - the stand was worth making and still is.

that's nice to hear... I'm holding out hope on the new moon due to the timing of it ... the July full could be special as well.. it's been slim pickings up our way for anything over 10lbs... there are a few good fish...very few... all the 22-26" fish you want...but it sure aint like old times.

I (along with Eben) was one of the VERY first to say that things were not looking good. I was rediculed and told to fish harder, move around, change tactics, etc...

It saddens me when fisherman whose abilities I respect and admire are coming up short.

And it is about to get
much worse next week. Let the stacking begin.
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I love this site! a fishing site that screams "Fish Killer! Fish Killer!"
WTF

That's just Eben. You will go crazy if you listen to him. A month or so back he was accusing me of being a spot burner because I was naming general locations. He's just busting balls.

And like the Professor said, "wait till next week" when comm opens in Mass. They will be killing bass at a record rate in the CCC because that's where the fish have consistently been this year.

I have given up on being a conservationist.

"KILLEM' ALL! LET GOD SORT THEM OUT"!

Can't beatem, join em Paul. Killin for a livin! Might as well make gas money while were out there!

:lurk::lurk::lurk::shocked::shocked:

:hihi:
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:claps::claps::claps::claps:

Dead 40-60+# fish coming over the rails at the Block everyday by rod and reel or speargun can't be a good thing.

Wtf? It is pretty obvious. If all the fish are dead there won't be a fishing site anymore. And the fishing ain't what it was because a large percentage of the fishers got ego problems and need to impress their buddies with pics of their kill. Alot of them are probably the same guys who hang those rubber neuticles from their trucks.
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:hs: - :screwy:.........You're greatly mistaken, this USED to be a fishing site, not no more.

We've since moved on to huggin' trees, erecting Piper sanctuaries, adopt-a-seal-athon, and getting everyone politically correct.

If you be looking for a fishing website, This is where you should be.

Oh, almost forgot.....even if the fish do run out....you can still come here to learn how to build some kick-Azzz fishing lures (that you can put in a display case and never fish!!! :happy:

Sounds like Facebook be what you are looking for.
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🔨🔨🔨
Great post, love democrats who impart their beliefs on you regarding legal activities and think you should care. Take what you are entitled to and there will be no problems.
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You guys are confused. The thread was started about poor fishing. People made comments about the state of fishing. All fishing related posts on a fishing website. You just get your panties in a bunch cause you don't like the thread and it doesn't meet what you think fishing discussions should be about. Looks like nebe hurt some feelings.
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Don't worry about it. There'll be a moratorium in a couple of years, the stocks will come back and everything will be OK.:humpty:

Zimmy....Let's get one thing straight, ...I wear a thong, so my panties...as you called them, could never bunch up. I'm not sure if Dangles wears the French or High Cut, but I'll let him answer for himself..

Look...:bshake:....can't you see the dental floss?? No? Get a little closer to the screen...it's there, I promise,,,. Clammer picked out the color for me...

Secondly, no hurt feelings at all....I actually find it comical how people who fish (with hooks, snaggers, trebbles, etc) are so concerned about hurting or possibly killing a fish. I think people who feel so strongly about killing a fish, should straighten the hooks on their lures. I say straighten so that the weight of the lure doesn't change, affecting the action. They'll still experience the "hit"...and maybe, just maybe...the fish will hold on long enough to feel a little battle. Then they can go home happy KNOWING they caused no injury to the fish...cept for maybe breaking a bluefish tooth,

Like I said, this site went from all avenues of catching striped-bass...the "how", "when", (the "where" was and should always be dicey)............to "Oh my, someone kept a fish or two? They KILLED a fish??...didn't they just KILL a fish last month?" Get over yourselves already!!!

Look, I'm totally against being irresponsible when it comes to fishing...I release my fish carefully, I don't cull, I'll quickly cut the line if I feel the hook removal is going to delay or affect the health of the fish. I crush my barbs for easier removals...I do what I can, not that I need to explain myself to anyone...just sharing that I'm not a complete Ahole, well maybe I am?? I dunno.
However, I ALSO PLAN ON KILLING SOME FISH.....YES, I PLAN ON IT.
I sure as heck ain't gonna eat em alive....I don't even like sushi...so the fish has to die....and guess what? I'm ok with that.

Can this site sustain both types of people?
I dunno....what I do know is this, the more this site navigates away from the basics of fishing, which yes, involves possibly killing fish....the sooner you guys who don't kill fish or catch fish, whatever.....will have what you want.
Sidenote: if the guys that actually catch fish stop coming to this site, how are the guys who can't catch fish gonna learn anything???

Peace brother...no mal-intent meant by anything above.
Sharing is caring....:love:

Getting back on topic, I can't say I've had the same experience as Toby....nor the surf-fishermen that had poor luck the weekend of the Surf-Club Challenge.

I'm not fishing nearly close to what I used to fish prior to having child....but I've actually had the opposite result this spring....It's June 23rd and I've caught more fish over 20#s than fish under 28"????
Just lucky to be at the right places at the right times.....what a lot of self-called experts tend to forget...is that "fish have fins".
Yeah, maybe a lot of guys are posting about how bad fishing has been for them.......and maybe, just maybe....the guys who are having much success, are not posting about it........at all. Ever think about that?

[QUOTE=bloocrab;1124032]Getting back on topic, I can't say I've had the same experience as Toby....nor the surf-fishermen that had poor luck the weekend of the Surf-Club Challenge.

I'm not fishing nearly close to what I used to fish prior to having child....but I've actually had the opposite result this spring....It's June 23rd and I've caught more fish over 20#s than fish under 28"????
Just lucky to be at the right places at the right times.....what a lot of self-called experts tend to forget...is that "fish have fins".
Yeah, maybe a lot of guys are posting about how bad fishing has been for them.......and maybe, just maybe....the guys who are having much success, are not posting about it........at all. Ever think about that?[/QUOTE]

Bingo. It is always better to be an unknown.

no worries here .I,m classified as a dirty old man soooooooooo no one would pay any attention too me ><> :humpty::humpty:

I am just tired of dikkeds who try to tell others not to kill. It is food you know.
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I agree. To each his own. Release a bunch, kill a bunch, just stay within the regs. If your worried about hurting fish, and the survival rate of a hard fought fish, maybe the sport of driving a set of table hooks though a fish's face isn't for you.

I thought "neuticle" was a scientific term for marriage?

That and what Sea dangles from his truck :ss::love: it is food is pretty funny though. It is what a physicist calls a simplification, but it is a good one.

I haven't been fishing nearly as much as I have in the past, and it's been my best spring in years. My friends and I have been getting into tons of fish in all size classes from micros to cows. They guys who aren't catching should try fishing different spots. Unless you like having an excuse for not catching, because then you can come on here and complain and make snarky comments directed at guys who legally keep fish they've caught.
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I think it's been a great year, too. I haven't fished too much and I've still done pretty well. Same with my friends, micros to cows.

I think the biggest problem with inshore RI fishing is that there isn't any big bait to hold the fish. Micro sand eels aren't going to keep large fish around. Also, the water quality is lacking in RI, IMO. You can just tell by the difference in the appearance of the fish compared to other locales.

I still don't think it's a good thing that big fish get taken everyday at the island. I'm just speaking logistically, not morally or ethically. I just don't see how those fish can take the beating they do, year after year. There can't be an endless supply of large... or maybe there is?

Off topic, but to Bassballer's point, I'm not sure I enjoy driving hooks into a fish's face just for my own enjoyment anymore. I've been going back and forth on this the last couple of years...that's for a different thread, though.

My last comment on this topic. I have done what we do for over 50 years. Yeah, I was comm in the 70s. Yeah, I killed a ton of Bass in the 50+ years I have been doing it.

I went through a period the last few years when I didn't kill anything and I had plenty of fish in the 20s, 30s and a few 40s that I certainly could have killed with out a sec of guilt but I didn't to try and protect the species.

Last year I became aware of the biomass of large fish that are being killed daily by the charter guys, the comm guys from at least 2 states and anyone else who goes to the SW Ledge and 3 ways eels in 60 feet of water. More 40s, 50s and 60s killed in a weekend than most of us have seen in 50 years of 100 nights a year.

So what the hell am I protecting by letting my 1/2 a dozen 30s go every year? NOTHING!

My point is as long as Stripers are considered a food fish and not a game fish with game fish protected status like Tarpon and Snook,
my small contribution to conservation is a piss hole in the snow.

I'm not saying that I am killing every fish I catch.....far from it. I am taking a fish for the table for my family, for a friend or for a cookout we are invited to. My letting every fish go does nothing for the bigger picture. JMO

I guess all the knowledge I thought I learned by paying my dues day & night for years ,,,didn,t count .

as of this week IMO the bass fishing in the bay totally sucks ...................... even the slug of 26 to 33" fish have moved off for the most part ><><

I guess I have to try some new places or ya can,t catch what ain,t there :fishin:

its like girls in the head . chat chat chat #^&#^&#^&#^& chat #^&#^&#^&#^&

Mike, respectfully, are there river herring, sea herring, macks, big sand eels, and pogies in the Bay? How warm are the water temps? Again, I ask respectfully bc I know how long you've fished the Bay. I just don't see why big fish would hold in Narragansett Bay when they can blast right by and chase big, cold water prey for a whole season.

there is more pogies in the bay now than in along , long time ..they even winter over .
there has been good runs of buckies the last few years & with some of the damns taken down and/or ladders they are getting into the rivers & ponds to spawn .

we also have a natural supply of wild eels. & descent amount of squid & butterfish .

what seems to be missing / more & more each year is the holdover small bait .mummies / grass shrimp .

we will have rain bait & peanut bunker as the season progresses .
We have noticed the change in bait & a change of a few of the fisheries .ever since they made the sewerage tunnel ......whatever they are dumping in the bay ............... the water is a lot cleaner for humans ...but again IMO ..it is doing something to the fisheries / not just fin fish / but the breeding grounds for the baitfish & also add the shellfish stock .

oh well ......its just another issue not being considered ., fix one thing /fu ck up another :gorez:

:claps:

THANK YOU! Perfectly stated.

Balance Danielson, Balance.

A sportsman learns to conserve and act on behalf of their quarry.

Did dangles call me a #^&#^&#^&#^&head? That's an honor coming from him :hihi:

For the record I have all but abandoned catch and release fishing because of exactly what you have said. If I do want a bass for the table I will use the methods necessary to avoid small fish and will kill the first fish I land and stop fishing.

But that's just me.
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