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Due to my age and the fact that I’ve been surf casting stripers for over 40 years I was fortunate to have been one of the initial “trail blazers” in releasing large striped bass starting in the 1980s. Before that time the only striped bass that I ever saw thrown back were sub legal size fish – everything else was kept for personal use or sold. Like Rockfish9 mentioned this was the culture of that time and EVERYONE did it.
The practice of C&R was initially started by a few handfuls of surfcasters during that crash of striped bass stocks in the 1980s. It was during this time that I first met Brad Burns (yes, the same guy from Stripers Forever). On a dark Block Island night at Southwest Bar I released a cow bass and had a guy come up to me and congratulate me for what I did – it was Brad. Come to find out Brad and his crew were also into releasing large bass and were just as passionate as I was. This was refreshing because it was in stark contrast to the general practice of that time which was to ship (re: sell) every bass you could. We got some strange looks (and a few nasty comments) from some of the crowd on the island - one pin hooker actually chased a cow I released with his gaff. Bob Pond, another passionate striped bass conservationist, was also very influential when I spoke with him during the decline. I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to live release quite a few large bass. To me it is still the most rewarding and responsible thing to do when done correctly and with care.
I have no qualms with someone keeping their personal best, but I always try and instill the large bass C&R mentality onto the new crowd – it’s hard to expect them to throw back large but I still try. I still hope that recreational fishermen here in the northeast will someday eventually “get it”. All around our country anglers have adopted the C&R mentality with regards to the largest of the species they pursue. We are the last holdouts though I’m always encouraged when I see threads like this. C&R peer pressure is good – especially on the young guys that tend to look upon some of the top pin hookers with envy. I was young once, did the same thing and know the feeling. I’ve watched some of these younger guys try and emulate them - it saddens me. C&R is not the same after you have already placed 10 other cows in the coffin,box or cooler.
Although a C&R advocate I still like to eat striped bass and for me it’s all about “selective harvest”, that is keeping a bass that is a perfect legal size for table fare, say 28” to 36”. I also still enter various special event tourneys and would even consider weighing a bass of decent size, but the tourney would have to be a charity event or at the very least, donate its proceeds to a charity/special cause/scholarship.
There you have it - my recruiting plea. Keep your personal best (if so inclined), selectively harvest fish for the table, and release the cows.
DZ
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