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Originally Posted by Swimmer
People who write and research the sport of fishing should be paying close attention to this board and the opinons and ideas of its members. Its the answers and opinons you all gave here that will keep the bass around.
Not to create a flame where thier isn't any, but there are boat captains that keep and sell anything and everything they get thier hands on when no one is looking. They preach one thing out of one side of thier mouth all the while hypocrasy rears its ugly head out of the other side of the mouth. And ther is no one around to watch them. Rec guys might take 80 % of the bass like MakoMike says, but that can't compete against rogue charter captains that know where the fish are on a day to day basis and hunt them down with or without clients on board. Someone is always around to watch the rec guy, but no one is ever there to watch the boat captain who has a propensity toward whatever........
When we have guys here like PETE G who rolls every bass back into the surf thats something to be proud of and looked up too. I congratulate saltwatersedge and thier clients for doing that. On the flip side thier is nothing unlawful about taking your two fish. Many people here have taken the stand since I have been on this site, since 2000, that C & R is the way to go to preserve our future. It used to be the other way around.
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If someone wants to keep a fish we certainly don't stop them, we just don't encourage it either. You'll never hear any preaching about catch and release, but we try and support the idea. If someone rolls into the parking lot with 2 (or more if they're commercial) slobs in a coffin I'm the first out there to take a look at them.
Bottom line is sites like this, businesses like ours, and the sport we enjoy, are completely based on the health of the striped bass fishery. What the hell is "healthy enough"? Or that the "stocks are sufficient"? Sorry, imo it could always be better. Every fish released supports the fishery.