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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
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