|
I started bass fishing in 1972....the Min. length was 16".... everyone that I knew, boxed, iced and sold their catch.. i did likewise.. until 2004....Buyers that stayed open or had a 24 hour drop ( I fished nights) became scarce/extrinct in my area... holding fish in a large cooler and tr#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g them, didnt make sense with the current regulations.. so i began releasing my fish.. and do so to this day...Keeping a "50" is not an option ( I released 2 this season) because I have caught my share, hopefully some lucky angler gets to share one of these fish with me.., I have one sixty, so If I entertained the thought of keeping a trophy, it's going to be near record size...
I saw the crash in stock in the 80's.. but was doing well and thought it was just alot of jibberish... I now have fished long enough, and seen enough, to know better.. IMHO.. these fish are in trouble again...It seems the longer you fish for Stripers, and the more adept you become at catching them, the less you notice the shortages, but it is the subtle things, like lack of certain year classes, or lack of an inshore migration that send up the red flag ..some of us, will continue to be sucessfull until the last bass has been caught...
I do my best to try and cause as little stress as possible to the fish, often releasinf them without removing them from the water., when I do photo graph them, I attempt the support the belly, as I read somewhere that holding large fish "head up"( such as with a boga) causes the paunch to tear inside.. I have never saw any conclusive science to support this... as far as I know It may have been one mans opinion, I cant remember now....it just made sense..... I make a habit of reviving every fish.. they must swim off strong, litteraly pulling themselves from my grasp..
I ocasionaly tag fish with a litoral scociety tag, mainly for me to have a way of knowing if these fish are surviving.. I'v had about a % 12-%15 return on fish over 20lbs.. so I think what I am doing is working...mainly becuse this is approximatly the rate I have gotten on much smaller fish...It's not an exact science.. but it is all I have.
as far as a limit.. I personaly would( even though i do not keep them)rather see a 1 fish @ 24" limit with a trophy tag issued ( now that each state has a salt water license in place) @ 1 per season per angler.. not that enforcement would be possible, it's just my thoughts on it... small bass have not run the gambits of life, they have many obsticles to avoid to become large, large fish have survived most of these so my personal feeling are to let them breed.. a 30lb bass has the capabilities to produce far more eggs than a 10 lb bass..
My .02
Roc
|
Threaded Mode