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i have to say i am very surprised how this thread has gone. i saw it come up and let it run its course for a while before i decided to reply to see what the majority would say. it surprises me how so many poeple look at the beauty of that achievement and striped bass in such different ways. it seems this topic comes up about once a year and we have almost the same responses. this time i think it has learned more towards the wall.
i have witnessed many trophy striped bass caught, killed, and released. i look at the angler and how they appreciate the species, that particular fish, and that particular accomplishment to see how they look at their "sport". i've seen people catch that queen, revive her, and put her back in all while taking special care of that fish. they achieved their goal that night/day - fished hard (maybe), fooled this nice fish, brought her in to see her size, and release her to fight another day. will she live after she swims away? maybe, maybe not. they are not looking over their shoulder to see who will praise them first. i have seen others that look at the fish as merely a dollar bill or another animal and into the cooler it goes w/o even appreciating the fish at all. to me, that person should just be on a trawler as they do not appreciate this fine fish. is it their right to do what they just did to that fish? yes. do i yell at them or make fun of them for it? no. that is their decision, but i just look at how unappreciative they are for this species and this nice fish they just caught. it's sad honestly. why are they even fishing?
i've caught my share of queens. what happens to them? i bring her in, look at my fish, measure her if i can against my rod quickly, put her back in the water, revive her, and watch her swim away. i've had a couple that did not revive and i had to kill them. i hated it, but i had to do it. for the ones that did swim away, there was no better rush and feeling than seeing that tail slowly and methodically swim back into the depths knowing i fooled that fish. that's what i fish for. did i go and tell everyone, nope. maybe a couple close friends. i fish for me and my own goals, not to show off to everyone and try and "prove" my accomplishments or "success". i have my own goals i try to achive. i released many fish that would have placed in tournaments that would have paid hundreds of dollars for the placed fish. i cared more about that fish than a dollar bill. i have a lot less respect for the angler that goes shop to shop weighing a large fish just to show off what they did. you put in your time, caught that fish, congrats. weigh it, take a few pictures, and go on. it just looks disrespectful to our sport seeing that fish hanging there why the angler gloats over it <i>expecting</i> praise for their "accomplishment". if you catch that 50, want to weight it to make sure it is a 50, and then go mount it, go ahead. that's your choice. you finally reached that magic mark, congrats. but, it's the whole gloating over the fish and telling the world is what i will never understand and could care less about.
so, for me it's a lot more about the angler and how they present themselves after their accomplishments than it is about the 50. if you want to kill it, that's your choice. if i choose to release it, that's my choice. you choose to bring it to tackle shop to tackle shop to gloat over it, that's your choice to, but you just lost my respect.
i think we can have this same topic for other species magic "50" mark: a 23+ lbs bluefish, a 18+ lbs fluke, a 15+ lbs tautog, a 1500 lbs bluefin, etc.. i personally feel more people will release that 50 pound striper than any other species equaled "50".
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