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My thinking is this ... if you gut hook a smallie and there is no way to save it then you take it home, period.
If the fish is going to die anyways why not take it home and let the family eat it and put it to good use, at least that way it was not wasted.
BUT ... this does not mean gut hooking 6 or 7 of them and applying this rule, that is just plain poaching, and killing off a valuable resource.
I feel this way lately because if you drive over any given bridge anywhere in New england and at any given time, you are almost guarenteed to see someone somewhere (probably not from this country) with a bunch of shorties that are most certainly going to make the trip home with them.
I know 2 wrongs don't make a right but being born, raised and worked here all my life in this country I feel I have the same rights as they do, I don't make it a practice to do this but I feel I have just as much right to the fish as they do if not more.
I support catch and release to the fullest, in fact the only way I take a Striper home is if it gets hooked this way. I really don't care too much for the taste of Stripers as I am not a big seafood eater, I make it a rule for myself that everything goes back to the water for future trips.
I'm sure I'll raise a few eyebrows with this reply and I hope I don't get beat down too bad for my views, but if rules and regulations don't apply to everyone then they just won't work period.
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