Trophy fish

[EarnedStripes44]

all i catch are small fish anyway

[The Dad Fisherman]

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?

Key word..PAST their prime.... these fish are also raised in a controlled enviroment.. no seals, commerants or human beings to supply predation... it's the perfect control..

Flap nailed it dead nuts... Everyone seems to forget that large fish have already run the gauntlet, survived predation from seals and fish eating birds, there is far less waste in a 16-20" fish that there is on a large one... if you dont think so... why then, back when 16" was the legal limit for sale, did schoolies and mediums fetch a higher dollar value than their large brethren....

I've caught more than my share of trophy fish... it would be nice if there was a chance for my grandchildren to fish for the quality fish that I have been blessed to fish for and catch., I rarely keep bass anymore, when I do, most of the time it's one that is just legal, the rest are returned to the sea for someone else to enjoy, and from my own littoral scociety tagging returns, I just may be the recipiant of my own conservation.. this isnt coming from a tree hugger, I'm a former comercial fisherman, not a weekend warrior either, I earned my full paycheck from the sea for years, comercial striped bass fishing was just a cog in the wheel, I dug clams, ran a scallop dredge, gill netted cod all winter and fished for tuna inbetween.... sometimes we do learn and realize a few things as we grow older...

My .02
Roc

[2na]

Thank you Dad -

Steve, nice points: however, as much as we would like it to in our perfect world, the real world does not revolve around our fishing agenda and we are in the minority, so a snowball's chance. If there were enough motivated people with the money behind them then you could make waves to get some changes made. Like the seal problem, there is no choice except to roll with the punches and hope the breaks go our way. Hey, look how fast things change - could you ever believe 7-8 years ago that seals would become such an issue? Maybe the law of unintended consequences will rear its ugly head to the benefit of the fish stock.

[Pete_G]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

Then why do they release Broodstock Salmon after they pass their prime from the fisheries as part of the stocking program?

Couldn't tell you, I'm not a scientist. Just relaying what I see anytime I put the words "fecundity, age, striped bass" or similar into Google. Interestingly though a search for "fecundity, age, salmon" immediately returns reports that some salmon DO have reduced fecundity with age while other salmon don't.

One of the first reports I came across though for Atlantic Salmon in that search concluded "Benefit of the body size was not only quantitative but also qualitative in reproduction success of River Teno Atlantic Salmon. Total number of eggs was higher in large females than in smaller ones but when the number of eggs was related to body weight there was no difference amongst females of different sizes. Instead of producing more eggs per unit of body weight, large females invest more in the egg quality than small females."

I'm sure with more digging something that counters that could be found, but again, it's easy to find articles that big (not necessarily old) Atlantic Salmon are better breeders.

[Skitterpop]

I to have heard more than a few times that very large female Striped Bass carry more eggs and are the top breeders. Don`t remember where I`ve read that. Any icthyologists here?

[2na]

I've read (somewhere) that yes, the larger bass have more eggs, but as they age the eggs are not as fertile. Wish I could put my finger on it.

[zimmy]

what numbskull said

[Flaptail]

Best idea yet....carry a camera w/ you & take a picture of it if you need to brag (of course you need to get a memory stick bigger than the 16 shot one that comes with the camera George, just in case you have a big night or more likely still, I have a big night and need someone to take my picture(s))

That solves everything you get to release the fish to fight another day and you get proof of your prowess!

"I like it, simple and easy to follow" Jack Sparrow

[justfishin]

I think that Flaptail addressed most of the points that we should be concerned with. The only thing that yet needs to be addressed is the pre-spawn slaughter of COWS staging to enter the rivers off of Virginia, which has been growing exponentially the past few years and the Spring fishing in the major spawning rivers while the females are bedding. Until these things are made illegal or brought under strict control, the Large Bass will remain scarce in the East Coast migrations. They are simply culling too high of a percentage of LARGE from the otherwise"healthy" population.