SPEARGUNNERS FOR MA STRIPERS!

[Swimmer]

[QUOTE=Fish_Eye;740973]Hooligans, you must be talking about Plymouth or most likely Rockport where there is a lot of daytime bottle diving for lobsters and no spearing allowed. Believe me, stripers don't follow spearos from any distance, they move when you move, but when they are in a state like MA or CT where you can't shoot them, they do behave with a little less caution. As far as offering them "small" (illegal) lobsters...sure you can chum bass where they're already conditioned to follow divers.

I was talking about Plymouth Mike. GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Sea Flat]

I am sure that there are a lot of really good spear fishermen out there that can "estimate" really well as to whether a fish is legal or not before they spear it. But, that is what it is, an estimate. You do not know for sure until you have it up and dead and measure it. Obviously, with experienced spearfishermen they know, just like us rod and reel guys know. Still, it is a very inexact science as to whether or not a fish is legal before you spear it. Especially to those that first start. I remember spearing what I thought was a world record tautog and could not believe how small it was when I got to the surface. I would hate for this to happen to stripers.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Sea Flat

I am sure that there are a lot of really good spear fishermen out there that can "estimate" really well as to whether a fish is legal or not before they spear it. But, that is what it is, an estimate. You do not know for sure until you have it up and dead and measure it.

No worse than the guys who drag a 26" fish around for a while before measuring it. Lay it on the rocks, take pictures. Rummage through bag and grab tape measure. Bring buddy over, show him bass. Measure again to be sure it isn't actually 28". then 5-10min later, release the fish.

Weigh the number of potential spear guys vs rod and reel guys... it is a really small impact here guys....

[Sea Flat]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

No worse than the guys who drag a 26" fish around for a while before measuring it. Lay it on the rocks, take pictures. Rummage through bag and grab tape measure. Bring buddy over, show him bass. Measure again to be sure it isn't actually 28". then 5-10min later, release the fish.

Weigh the number of potential spear guys vs rod and reel guys... it is a really small impact here guys....

True enough, good point.

I would only add that eventually the rod and reel guys' fish gets back in the water and most likely lives. Where as, once a spear is through the fish it is dead. Short or not.

[Saltheart]

I used to do some scuba diving for lobsters and to be honest , I can't think of a more difficult way to try to catch a striper! Divers using spearguns is OK with me. The arguments that they have heard people break the laws because the divers can't be seen is no different than all the breaking of the law that goes on by rod and reel guys in the dark of night.

For recs to try to exclude everyone else just makes us look like we are selfish. Its one thing to be against commercial fishing but it gives us a bad rep as selfish if we don't want Recs using other techniques to be able to fish.

The argument about the divers grabbing a spot where others want to fish is legitimate though. 10 boats can fish an area but 1 diver and 9 boats can't without risk of killing the diver. There should be some sort of rules to govern that aspect of spear fishing.

[Nebe]

[Hooligans]

I thought my last calamari tasted a little funny…..But good

[Saltheart]

Great Picture Nebe!!

Because there is air in your mask or goggles between your eyes and the glass and the water , everything gets magnified. I used to know how much but not sure , maybe 25%?? A diver learns pretty quickly to factor that in when sizing up something in the water. When we took lobsters by scuba diving , the difference between taking 30 legal on an hour of air and just measuring 30 shorts in that hour was the ability to discriminate about a 1/4 of an inch. If you have ever done it , there are a gazillion about an 1/8 of an inch too small. If you waste your time grabbing them and measuring , your air will run out while you waste time. You learn in about 1 dive what a lefgal one looks like under water , even with the magnification do to the index of refraction.

Now if you can learn the difference between a lobster 1/8 inch under vs 1/6 inch over , what makes you think a diver can't learn which fish are 30 inches vs one at 27 7/8". At least as a diver they get to see the thing before they shoot it. A fisherman tosses out his offering and has no idea what will bit it until he reels it in.

Now there are probably divers who just shoot at anything and don't care just like there are guys who catch short stripers on rod and reel and drop kick them back into the water or step on them to keep them still to take out the hook. There's nothing you can do about those "one in every crowd" kind of guys. Doesn't matter if they are using a handine , rod and reel or a speargun , they just don't care about returning the fish alive. I don't think most divers fit that mold any more than most fisherman.

. I do understand they can take up a good spot where 10 boat or surf guys could fish but boaters also take up spots where surf guys can fish and fly fisherman take up anough space for 5 spincasters to fish. That's just the nature of the game.

There is no reason why divers should not be able to take a fish , same as a rod and reel guy