As someone who spends a lot of time fishing where the use of a gaff on a striped bass is not legal (Connecticut) I am honestly not sure why it's such a big deal to you guys up in MA.
Just speculating here, but I see the core of the issue as one of the biggest problems that WE ALL have as fishermen in New England, and that is opposition to change. Regardless of why change is proposed or enacted, or what said change is in relation to, we lose our collective minds when we are told by someone else that we can no longer do something the way in which we have been doing it for years. For better or for worse, we like to do what we do how we do it, and we don't like to be told otherwise.
Threaded Mode