Short fish........

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Hence, my post. What is worse for the striped bass population, a dead schoolie or a dead 40lb fish? Does it matter to the striped bass population (and those of us who hope to catch big fish in the future) whether the fish was killed legally or illegally?

Getting upset about someone breaking the law is all well and fine, but all of us kill fish (including C&R), and it is quite likely that recreational fishermen who legally kill big fish do more harm to the fishery than those who illegally kill little fish.

If it bothers you that someone is killing a short bass because you can't legally do it and wish you could (therefore it feels unfair).......all well and fine. But if it bothers you because you feel that the guy killing small fish is harming the resource, yet you feel comfortable killing and keeping large fish (particularly two at a time), then just maybe you are hiding behind the law rather than examining the impact of your actions on others.

Just sayin', not preachin'. When a law itself is bad, following it does not necessarily make everything right. The more big fish that are allowed to swim, the better for all of us.........regardless of what the law permits.

Good lord, I actually agree with everything you posted...hell just dropped 300 degrees too...