Spring Surf Club Challenge Results

[numbskull]

I thought "neuticle" was a scientific term for marriage?

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by numbskull

I thought "neuticle" was a scientific term for marriage?

That and what Sea dangles from his truck it is food is pretty funny though. It is what a physicist calls a simplification, but it is a good one.

[fishbones]

I haven't been fishing nearly as much as I have in the past, and it's been my best spring in years. My friends and I have been getting into tons of fish in all size classes from micros to cows. They guys who aren't catching should try fishing different spots. Unless you like having an excuse for not catching, because then you can come on here and complain and make snarky comments directed at guys who legally keep fish they've caught.
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[bart]

I think it's been a great year, too. I haven't fished too much and I've still done pretty well. Same with my friends, micros to cows.

I think the biggest problem with inshore RI fishing is that there isn't any big bait to hold the fish. Micro sand eels aren't going to keep large fish around. Also, the water quality is lacking in RI, IMO. You can just tell by the difference in the appearance of the fish compared to other locales.

I still don't think it's a good thing that big fish get taken everyday at the island. I'm just speaking logistically, not morally or ethically. I just don't see how those fish can take the beating they do, year after year. There can't be an endless supply of large... or maybe there is?

Off topic, but to Bassballer's point, I'm not sure I enjoy driving hooks into a fish's face just for my own enjoyment anymore. I've been going back and forth on this the last couple of years...that's for a different thread, though.

[piemma]

My last comment on this topic. I have done what we do for over 50 years. Yeah, I was comm in the 70s. Yeah, I killed a ton of Bass in the 50+ years I have been doing it.

I went through a period the last few years when I didn't kill anything and I had plenty of fish in the 20s, 30s and a few 40s that I certainly could have killed with out a sec of guilt but I didn't to try and protect the species.

Last year I became aware of the biomass of large fish that are being killed daily by the charter guys, the comm guys from at least 2 states and anyone else who goes to the SW Ledge and 3 ways eels in 60 feet of water. More 40s, 50s and 60s killed in a weekend than most of us have seen in 50 years of 100 nights a year.

So what the hell am I protecting by letting my 1/2 a dozen 30s go every year? NOTHING!

My point is as long as Stripers are considered a food fish and not a game fish with game fish protected status like Tarpon and Snook,
my small contribution to conservation is a piss hole in the snow.

I'm not saying that I am killing every fish I catch.....far from it. I am taking a fish for the table for my family, for a friend or for a cookout we are invited to. My letting every fish go does nothing for the bigger picture. JMO

[Clammer]

I guess all the knowledge I thought I learned by paying my dues day & night for years ,,,didn,t count .

as of this week IMO the bass fishing in the bay totally sucks ...................... even the slug of 26 to 33" fish have moved off for the most part ><><

I guess I have to try some new places or ya can,t catch what ain,t there

[bart]

Originally Posted by Clammer

I guess all the knowledge I thought I learned by paying my dues day & night for years ,,,didn,t count .

as of this week IMO the bass fishing in the bay totally sucks ...................... even the slug of 26 to 33" fish have moved off for the most part ><><

I guess I have to try some new places or ya can,t catch what ain,t there

Mike, respectfully, are there river herring, sea herring, macks, big sand eels, and pogies in the Bay? How warm are the water temps? Again, I ask respectfully bc I know how long you've fished the Bay. I just don't see why big fish would hold in Narragansett Bay when they can blast right by and chase big, cold water prey for a whole season.

[chris L]

its like girls in the head . chat chat chat #^&#^&#^&#^& chat #^&#^&#^&#^&

[Sea Dangles]

I was not referring to you Nebe. Just pointing out the hypocrisy as a whole. FWIW I have not killed a striped bass this year,but I plan on taking what I am entitled to when the time comes without apology.
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[Nebe]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I was not referring to you Nebe. Just pointing out the hypocrisy as a whole. FWIW I have not killed a striped bass this year,but I plan on taking what I am entitled to when the time comes without apology.
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Same here.
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[numbskull]

It is stupid to kill a large (say #25 and over) to eat unless you plan to only eat one meal from it and give away the rest.

It is stupid for a lot of reasons that many people do not care about but there is ONE reason that even the most selfish of us should care about..

Toxin levels in older (i.e., large) fish are often significantly higher than in younger fish.......and can be VERY high in 10-20% of the larger fish in that subset (just go look at the sample data on which the recommendations are made....I have). Yeah I know you want to blow this off but before doing so consider what it means. If you eat multiple meals from one of those larger fish that is in the high toxin range you get multiple repeated exposures to the high toxin level. Maybe you're OK with that but you are a flat out idiot if you assume your wife and children should also be OK with that and you are an even bigger idiot for not protecting them from it.

The recommended levels of striped bass consumption are based on average, not peak toxin levels. This works to protect you ONLY if you buy fish in a restaurant or a fish market since over the course of the season you get exposed to fish with both high and low toxin levels which average out (no one gets poisoned by eating a single meal from any striped bass). It DOES NOT WORK if you catch and keep your own LARGE fish then eat multiple meals from that fish and that certainly can expose you to toxin levels far above what the guidelines assume. Doing so, therefore, is just flat out stupid and a disservice to those who love and trust you (particularly if they are growing children).

It is what it is. Better to kill and eat multiple fish closer to 28" than a single big fish......unless, as stated above, you plan to only make a single meal from the big fish.

And one further note. Do not buy into the bullsht posted on line about toxin levels all being in the organs, skin, or red meat of a fish (the "they grind the whole thing up to test it" fallacy....fishery biologists might do this but Health Departments do not). As an MD, I spoke directly with the State Health Dept several years ago and they where very clear that their testing was done only on samples from fillets.

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by numbskull

It is stupid to kill a large (say #25 and over) to eat unless you plan to only eat one meal from it and give away the rest.

It is stupid for a lot of reasons that many people do not care about but there is ONE reason that even the most selfish of us should care about..

Toxin levels in older (i.e., large) fish are often significantly higher than in younger fish.......and can be VERY high in 10-20% of the larger fish in that subset (just go look at the sample data on which the recommendations are made....I have). Yeah I know you want to blow this off but before doing so consider what it means. If you eat multiple meals from one of those larger fish that is in the high toxin range you get multiple repeated exposures to the high toxin level. Maybe you're OK with that but you are a flat out idiot if you assume your wife and children should also be OK with that and you are an even bigger idiot for not protecting them from it.

The recommended levels of striped bass consumption are based on average, not peak toxin levels. This works to protect you ONLY if you buy fish in a restaurant or a fish market since over the course of the season you get exposed to fish with both high and low toxin levels which average out (no one gets poisoned by eating a single meal from any striped bass). It DOES NOT WORK if you catch and keep your own LARGE fish then eat multiple meals from that fish and that certainly can expose you to toxin levels far above what the guidelines assume. Doing so, therefore, is just flat out stupid and a disservice to those who love and trust you (particularly if they are growing children).

It is what it is. Better to kill and eat multiple fish closer to 28" than a single big fish......unless, as stated above, you plan to only make a single meal from the big fish.

And one further note. Do not buy into the bullsht posted on line about toxin levels all being in the organs, skin, or red meat of a fish (the "they grind the whole thing up to test it" fallacy....fishery biologists might do this but Health Departments do not). As an MD, I spoke directly with the State Health Dept several years ago and they where very clear that their testing was done only on samples from fillets.

George, I can only speak for myself but between chips, ice cream,Monsanto veggies,chicken and beef on roids,I have to wonder if a meal from a 28# bass will hold a candle when it comes to ingesting something "unhealthy ". Most restaurants are looking for the big ones because of superior yield. I honestly have no idea what could be on the label for most supermarket products but I have raised three kids on fruit roll ups(they have no fruit,just coloring and crap)! That said, I am a gardening fanatic and go to great means to grow organically.
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[piemma]

Breaking tides at the Ditch this week. I'm betting it's an absolute zoo.

[bloocrab]

Originally Posted by piemma

Breaking tides at the Ditch this week. I'm betting it's an absolute zoo.

Absolutely!!! My buddy just shot me text, some guy caught a keeper at pole # 72.....it was 29 1/2 inches.......he killed it.

[Nebe]

Paul- the quote is "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"
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[Thumper]

Whoa, you guys need to find some fish and get laid...
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[Clammer]

Me .I,d rather find some woman :& get laid ><><>

[Cool Beans]

Fish are Food not Friends.

As for the level of toxins in fillets, I think you greatly reduce the level if you remove the lateral line. That darker softer section is where I believe fish store most metals, like iron or mercury. By storing the heavier minerals along the lateral line it assists them in migration like a built in compass. I think nature designed it to store iron, but a bycatch is mercury and other toxins.

I'm not sure if it reduces that much, but I always remove the dark meat along the lateral line from my fillets.

[bloocrab]

Originally Posted by Cool Beans

....... I always remove the dark meat along the lateral line from my fillets.....

....Me too, every last bit of it, and there's quite a LOT of it unfortunately.

And with all due respect to our Medic-friend, in regards to..."I spoke directly with the State Health Dept several years ago and they where very clear that their testing was done only on samples from fillets. "

When filleting a Striper, that "red-meat" IS part of the fillet. Was it removed? Who knows at this point....I do know that when I buy a fillet from the store, the "red-meat" or that area in general is NOT removed.