Short fish........
 

What would you do if you saw someone take a short bass???

Depends. One spring I was fishing the West Wall In RI and I observed a bunch of folks from another country ( I am not judging based on ethnic background) taking one short after another. I went over and told them, figuring they didn't know there was a size limit. This one guy calmly pulled a 9MM Glock out of his waistbank and pointed it right at my head. I backed away very slowly never turning my back on him.

Jesus. I cant believe someone is that stupid, or whatever you want to call it. You never know who you are going to run into sometimes.

Bothers me less than watching someone kill two 40's.......a lot less.

well ya Know ...sad as it may be....

some people are just not worth teaching a thing....
because they value human life less than you'd ever imagine!

so use technology on them and let it take it's course.:uhuh:

while i completely agree George with your thought process
you didn't even come close to answering the question

As has been said.....these idiots are well aware of the law.....they just DO NOT GIVE A %$%$%$%$!!!! So why should we bother trying to educate or enlighten them??? Call the EPO's? Well.....more often than not you get shuffled between them and the local police....and thats during working hours! After working hours you get nothing but a recorded message!!! Why bother basically! Its like banging your head against the wall!!!:wall: I worry about myself and what I am doing.....that is the only control I have outside of making a flip comment asking them" Do you want to borrow my tape measure?" I move along and go about my business!!! I am not the Fish Police! I go out there to relax not look for trouble!! I don't get paid for that!!

Interesting, after I soiled myself I'd probably call the cops and EPOs but what to do on the revenge order of effect.

Disagree here - if they are taken legally. If illegal, that's a different story.

[QUOTE=JohnR;789141]Interesting, after I soiled myself I'd probably call the cops and EPOs but what to do on the revenge order of effect.


Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have had guns pointed at me by the "enemy" before so that didn't bother me as much as the fact that I was unarmed. Now, if we leveled the playing field I guarentee there would have been a different ending to the story.

Holy Sheeeeeeet!!!

[QUOTE=piemma;789147]a lot worse has happened for a lot less. you are a lucky guy.

Nothing, i do not know there circumstance

A call to EPO and the police. Talked to an EPO guy and he stated that he understood there were a lot of times that calls went unanswered and it just came down to them not having enough people to patrol. On the other hand, if people were constantly calling from a similar general area, they'd allocate resources there more often. This, he says, is why there has been more of an EPO presence around the Canal this year.

First one I might walk over and tell them about the size requirements. Like BigFish said..They usually know the rules and are just being the POS' that they are. After the second I call the man. I've heard the excuse " well I don't have a measuring tape" so many times I made a fish board for my local spot. I used 3/4" king starboard with 1-1/2" x 1/4" stainless hardware so she isn't going anywhere. I scribed the size requirements for bass, scup and tog so there's no excuse. I put it up a year ago and it's still there. Bastids use it as a cutting board :buds:
http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...4&d=1247879051

Hence, my post. What is worse for the striped bass population, a dead schoolie or a dead 40lb fish? Does it matter to the striped bass population (and those of us who hope to catch big fish in the future) whether the fish was killed legally or illegally?

Getting upset about someone breaking the law is all well and fine, but all of us kill fish (including C&R), and it is quite likely that recreational fishermen who legally kill big fish do more harm to the fishery than those who illegally kill little fish.

If it bothers you that someone is killing a short bass because you can't legally do it and wish you could (therefore it feels unfair).......all well and fine. But if it bothers you because you feel that the guy killing small fish is harming the resource, yet you feel comfortable killing and keeping large fish (particularly two at a time), then just maybe you are hiding behind the law rather than examining the impact of your actions on others.

Just sayin', not preachin'. When a law itself is bad, following it does not necessarily make everything right. The more big fish that are allowed to swim, the better for all of us.........regardless of what the law permits.

Couldn't agree with numbskull more
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Good lord, I actually agree with everything you posted...hell just dropped 300 degrees too...

[QUOTE=numbskull;789180]Hence, my post. What is worse for the striped bass population, a dead schoolie or a dead 40lb fish?

No schoolies, no 40 lb fish. Both bad.


Last week in Maine i pointed out to a guy on the beach that the fish he was keeping was over the size limit. (Maine = 1 fish a day between 20-26 inches OR 1 fish over 40 inches). His was clearly low 30's. He gave me a "don't be an a-hole" look and continued on his way with the fish, big grin on his poaching mug.

NOT FOR ME
 

it bothers me that he broke the law and That he is a Poacher

and is using the cover of darkness to get away with it...

if it had been me (having had a gun to my head and i've been in that situation before) i would have waitied and watched and followed him/ them home

i would have copied down license plates and called the cops saying someone armed and dangerous just held a gun to my head
yes officer.....
here is the address and the plate....

Now i agree wholeheartedly with ya George
about catch and release ~ and letten the big mama's go
protecting the resource and all that...

but i am also furious that such a prolific breeder of a fish
is not being artificially milked of eggs and grown in hatchery's
the same as trout in the North
given the resource that it is...

although i trout fish ...i use spinning gear, not a fly rod guy
and all the hoopla about why trout is the most revered and stocked fish
or salmon and that the great lakes (say) are not stocked with striped bass just angers me to no end......


Okay end of RANT carry on.. brea=ks over back ta werk

Saw one of em at the east end 2 consecutive nights, but just hangin out in the truck. How bout if they just walked down the path there woulda been at least a few citations. Where do I sign up to be deputized? undercover angler.......

a buddy of mine vacationed in RI a few years back and I let him borrow a bluefish set up so he could have fun with his kids. The blues were running the beaches every night. When he gave it back to me, he said he caught a bunch and that the striped bass were delicious. I was suprised he caught stripers and asked him how big - he said a little over a foot. So - here is case of someone totally ignorant keeping short bass. Now I should have told him that they needed to be 28 inches but it never crossed my mind. A friendly heads up by another fisherman would been enough for him to throw them back.

and for the record - I agree w/Numbskull 100%

You should have dialed 911 and reported an assault with a deadly weapon. The Narragansett cops would have been there in no time.

Lots of really great comments and thoughts.

The other day while I was out the guys in the boat next to me took a couple clearly schoolie fish. I pulled up next to them and asked how big those two fish were and if they were going to throw them back. They both chuckled and thought it was a joke of some sort.

It is really too bad that people cannot just follow the rules. It's not very hard!

nothing

One net full of stripers dumped as bycatch is worse than a 1000 of us can do in a month and during the squid season and when the bunker boats are netting it happens several times a day. We still ignore the forest for the trees. Yup I don't like the comercial striper fishing but the bycatch does so much damage most can't even imagine it. Like I've said many times WHY DO YOU THINK THEY FISH MOSTLY AT NIGHT IN COASTAL WATERS NOW.We need to get off each other and deal with the bigger problem ist. It's not just the mid water trawlers that do big damage.It all does some hurt but fishing always will. Catch an release or for food.But by catch that can be prevented and isn't due to greed is just plain a waste and sad.Ron

I would have done nothing because it's none of my business

I haven't killed one fish this year, 99.9% of my fish go back unless they are belly up then they come home.

Actually i feel we need better management regardless of comm or
recreational and that taking of fish illegally small big or indifferent is bad. I release 99.9% of what i catch too.

Personally i have no regrets in how i fish other than not enough in time and quality. Im stuck in intermediate.

It does bother me when people keep a fish they aren't supposed to when it is illegal regardless of size. Jealousy or wishing to catch doesn't even enter my mind.i have plenty of opportunity to keep 2/day but dont because that is waste AND idont subscribe to 2/day.

Now the real shame is that we argue at length rearranging the proverbial deck chairs while other issues occur like bycatch, poaching and myco rage on. Not too mention the forage.


Every fish taken from the biomass has an impact regardless of who and how. Taking a fish illegally by rec or comm only invites more taking of illegal fish.
That greed is not limited to any one usergroup.


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Mass Environmental Police
800.632.8075

Next time make the call, I always do.

There was a spot i frequented a few years back, in Ct. that had many locals keeping shorts. I saw this and know it was wrong.
I was the outsider fishing In a spot that mainly locals used. I did report this, and never went back to that spot.
I never did know what the results of my report were, but like I said, I was the outsider fishing in an area used by locals. If there were repercussions from my call, than someone might have been angry enough to give me four flat tires.
I did what I had to do, and moved on!

And one more thing. I've found that in life, the ones that live outside the law, usually don't limit the non compliance to just one law. Survive by any means necessary, is what i see in some.