Quote:
Originally Posted by piemma
I have been getting a ton of emails regarding the increase in bag limit is Maryland. WTF are they thinking??? can't the see the writing on the wall? The bass are definitely in trouble again.
Will we dodge the bullet again? I doubt it. There is increased pressure on the stocks due to more guys fishing, netting continues in some of the Southern states. poaching and black market selling is rampart.
How many fish were killed during the commercial season in Mass? A drop in the bucket compared to what happens at the canal on a blitz day. It is not one group. Comms, recs, everyone who targets Stripers will shoulder some blame if the fishery goes into the dumper, which, I believe it eventually will if the laws are not changed.
I still believe that Stripers should get game fish status. Even with that there are guys who will continue to sell on the black market until ALL the states are forced to abide by the game fish statute. Florida did it with Snook and now they have a world class fishery that was almost obliterated due to over fishing.
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The minimum size limit inside Chesapeake Bay, in MD waters, is 18" overall length. So they will be hammering that 2011 YOY class sooner than we will.
Hard to say why blues are so scarce, because there isn't a big commercial market for them. It was that way in the 60s, too, when I first started fishing. A blue was something to have a drink over afterwards.
But, they had a pretty good year for both numbers and size during this year's Derby. I remember years in the late 90s/early 2000s when you could score a daily first with a 6-7 pounder.