Get some sleep
 

The Striper Cup is over.In addition to allowing Greg Myerson to join Team Striper,the heavy hitters have been virtually sinking their boats recently with 50# fish.If there is anybody left who thinks the tournament is a good idea, or for that matter even fair then have at it.Something tells me this is the last year for a lot of teams.

Crap, so the 82 lber i kept this morning isnt gunna be in the cup.

I thought it went through the 19th????

OTW ROTS !













Just sayin'...

It's not even worth talking about it in this thread. Nobody cares.

I sent anything worth weighing in back into the water (not that it would have mattered for the team competition anyway). I couldn't even stomach killing it for the free gear. A free VS is one thing but other than the shot at a monthly prize there is nothing appealing about the tournament anymore. I have enough gear already so all I would have been doing is some indirect commercial fishing since I would have sold it all for the money.

Personally I hope we don't field a team next year but that's really up to whether guys want to or not. I won't criticize anyone but I'm over it. I may still sign up for the off chance I could win a monthly and put a few bucks in my pocket but I probably would not look to weigh in anything for the team.

I should fill out some C&R forms though because I kind of like having the pins.

I love the magazine but the senseless killing of the breeders has to stop.
Just sayin

I joined the first year, only for the raffle ticket, but I can't support a policy that kills large breeding females. I don't even keep anything but the occassional 28-30" griller, switching over to black sea bass for the better taste anyway.

Agreed

477 fish weighed so far
1-80's
1-70's
17-50's
111-40's
211-30's
106-20's
29-teens

How many of those fish would have been kept anyway????

Every fish that was caught:

• by a commercial angler during commerical season that was within their limit
• by an angler that was comfortable selling it illegally
• by an angler that wanted to eat it.
• by an angler that felt the need to show their catch to others, get a true weight because they didn't have a scale with them, or weigh it in publicly

I'm sure there are other reasons that I can't think of at the moment but I think more would have been kept anyway than released. Tough to know the exact % but there are also definitely alot of fish that would have gone back otherwise. This tournament is definitely a drop in the bucket as far as fish killing but I think it's definitely indicative of overall attitudes to c&r. It also has to contribute negatively to c&r since it's primarily a kill tournament that although has fairly low numbers of fish weighed in it an be far reaching as far as influence.

I'm not saying I didn't have a sh%tload of fun when we won it though! :cheers:

I think people expect too much from the big tourneys. The most enjoyable are little tourneys with small prizes (like a commemorative belt buckle) such that winning the prize is meaningless from a monetary view point. Its betweem friends or at least aquaintences and the biggest prize is the pride of having been lucky or skillfull or both that day (or weekend) These pumped up big events bring all the focus on winning big ticket items and that changes it from friendly sport to cutthroat ,lying , cheating, minipulating , do anything to win, fish kills.

The tourneys I have enjoyed the most were 1 day derbies where the cost on entering was like $10, a charity kept most of the money and someone gets a trophy or small value gear for winning. Our own S-B 4 leg tourneys are classic gentlemen's honor , catch and release and maybe you win a reel.

As soon as the prizes get big enough to make it a commercial inviting event, the spirit of sportsmanship gets ruined.

We grilled the original Striper Cup organizers online over the initial rules that promoted a fish kill much larger than the eventual rules that were adopted after the big protests.One thing that many wanted but that the organizers didn't was to not allow anyone with a commercial license to enter. I think that was the biggest mistake. With large prizes and commercial guys allowed to compete it became just another way for guys to earn more money from fish they were going to sell at the market anyway.

To me , the moral is that anything that turns a fishing tourney into more than simple fun between friends is bad for the tourney and participants.

If you guys don't do a team next year, you should definitely put the SB 4 leg back together and can organize it all over ........(I'm not going to say it).

get some sleep
 

Has anyone ever thought that because most of us release fish that we are now seeing larger fish 60#, 70# and even that 80#. Thanks guy's.

I agree with the sentiments expressed here and do not participate in Striper Cup for all of these reasons. It's a nice extra income for commercials at the end of the season too.

Tourneys lost their appeal for me this year. They are not why I fish, so none for me this year.

It would be interesting to see how many weekly and monthly winners hold commercial licenses.......

Mikey is right called OTW today ,Last day is Monday

Never really understood the the whole big breeder aspect of the argument a dead fish is a dead fish. A 50 is a lot closer to the end of its life cycle than a 15 #er. I believe killing many fish to win some gear or gain prestige is light years away from why I and I belive many others became striper crazy. That being said I have killed my share of fish for the wrong reason so I do not hold anything against those that fish these types of touneys

Never joined. Never will.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Didn't sign up this year. I never catch anything that's worth weighing for our team anyways. But this tournament is a joke IMO. Brings out the worst in people...

Never have and will never participate. if you're not going to eat it, don't keep it. And some tournament guys I know discard fish.

Ross, the same thing happened to me this year. I got fed up with the BS associated with the OTW Cup.

It is dominated by the comm guys anyway. Hell, who has the time to fish as hard as they do. If you are making a living, or at the very least, putting gas money in your pocket, you are spending considerably more time on the water so your percentages of getting a weighable fish are greater.

Now, don't all you commercial guys get your panties in a bunch. I am not criticizing you. It's fine what you do and the fish get eaten so "no harm, no foul". I am just stating a fact. You fish more because there are dollars involved so you catch more and, correspondingly, you get bigger fish.

I will be in with the 82lber this morning. Unfortunately it has shrunken over the past couple days.

The whole killing of large breeders argument is BS. I don't feel the tournament elevates it at all. Those fish are coming home regardless in most cases. I'm ok with the tournament rules for the most part too.

I opted out this year simply because I have no longer have any use for tournaments...they don't do anything for me anymore...get your name on a trophy, win a prize, read the headlines, pound your chest, I'm better than you..I personally don't need all the amateurish BS that comes with entering contests of any kind.

....

Does anyone know if the number of registrations are declining or increasing?

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...eadangles.html

"Thanks, I just got back from the awards ceremony with a new VS275 and a $500 check from Red Top.I fished 2 nights and got one fish but it was the right one I guess.Liz from Red Top told me it was the fattest fish she had seen in 35 years when I weighed it in on Friday morning. I couldn't tell you what was in the belly because I donated the fish to the Bourne food pantry which precluded me from opening it up. This was the second fish weighed in for the tournament and the runner up was a 32 pounder.What a great way to start the season and give Team Striper a nice headstart in the Striper Cup.I know it was 44 pounds but it counts for 52.8 with the ridiculous handicap system OTW uses."

Chris, argue the points, don't do your drive by hits from your holy tower.

As "Captain Stock Assessment", according to Chris who couldn't pass a pot without stirring Dangles, we'll see what happens with the regs and the tourney but it looks like this may be the last year. While it has been fun, a blast really, it may be nearing its end.

Maybe if there are significant changes but it looks like this may be the last year.

So when Back Beach refers to his rock throwing buddy it's fine but when I make a similar referance it gets censored,no problem Tim.

Ross, I think you posted that as a shot at me but at the time I was thrilled to win the Red Top,especially with the generous prizes the fish enabled me to receive.But look at the date,it was three years ago. This is the firstyear I decided not to enter the OTW tournament and I did so because as Back Beach pointed out,I am done with that type of tournament. I am happy with my decision and feel like if I can influence others not to participate,whether by shaming them or setting an example, I have done the fishery a service.Thanks for bringing it up though,it's a nice memory and I hope there are people who decide follow my example.

I wasn't referring to anyone in particular, just my general observation on big tournaments is they do nothing for me personally any more due to the nonsense involved.

PLUS, once I found out you weren't entering this year I realized I had noone to bust and torment online over the cup standings, thus things have really lost their luster for me.