I am SOTS: MAKE STRIPED BASS A GAMEFISH!

[afterhours]

on that mortality rate....how were they caught? bait, fly, plug....

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by afterhours

on that mortality rate....how were they caught? bait, fly, plug....

They have tested bait and plugs. Gut hooked bait is the worse. But what really kills fish is temperature. As I recall (always iffy these days) when water temps are in the 70's almost half the fish you release probably die.

Watched a guy in the canal land a 25-30ish pound fish on a plug. He lipped that fish (plug and all) and unhooked it without ever taking it out of the water, then spent a few minutes reviving it even though it looked fresh enough to swim sooner. I was duly impressed.


Here is some stuff from another thread:

Here is a link with some data http://www.acuteangling.com/Reference/C&RMortality.html

Here is a study (FW Striped Bass) that mentions temp effects. There is a better one somewhere that I can't find.
http://web.vims.edu/GreyLit/MDNR/ftm016?svr=www

[Sea Dangles]

At RP a number of years ago I witnessed an angler filet a fish without removing it from the water.I can't stand watching a floater go by,what a waste.
George,as a result of that study do you curtail your fishing when temps climb to such levels?

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

.
George,as a result of that study do you curtail your fishing when temps climb to such levels?

Nope. Too selfish for that. I prefer to delude myself that they all make it. I do try to get them back into the water fast. I had a 34lb fish (which is big for me) go belly up and get swept away from me a rough August night 2 years ago after I weighed, photographed, then thought I'd revived it. Sort of ruined most of the pride I had in catching it.

[Sea Dangles]

I ditched the scale a couple years ago,it really serves no purpose in the surf.I still remember scrambling to get the tin fired up to chase a large fish that was released after an unsuccessful revival.It became people food instead of fish food.

Any study done where fish are "released" into a pen is skewed imo.Fish don't do well in pens.

[MikeToole]

I don't disagree with the 7% rate because of the way many people handle the fish. For people who really care and are careful 1% may be right but for others 50% would be closer. Go down to the popular beaches during the day and watch them drag fish up the beach and keep it out of the water for 20 minutes while they show everyone, then just throw it in. Even if it can swim away in the weaken state something will often eat it. Watch how they free line bait on the bottom just asking for a gut hook.

If your schoolie fishing with barbed treble hooks your going to kill more fish then single hook with the barb crushed. Watch how some people will just grab the plug and rip the hooks out rather than pulling them out the way they went in. You damage their mouth they will have trouble feeding. Too many people just don't care or think the fish can live through anything.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Nope. Too selfish for that. I prefer to delude myself that they all make it. I do try to get them back into the water fast. I had a 34lb fish (which is big for me) go belly up and get swept away from me a rough August night 2 years ago after I weighed, photographed, then thought I'd revived it. Sort of ruined most of the pride I had in catching it.

Back in 92 I was fishing at the Second Rip with a bunch of commercial rod and reel guys. I had given up my commercial license so I was catching and releasing. I caught a fish that was about 25# and after a long fight landed it, revived it (or so I thought) and released it.
Well the fish washed up on the beach about 10 minutes later and the late and great George Calzone grabbed the fish and threw it in his fish tote. I told him that I had released that fish earlier and it swam away. He said, "Paulie, in the Summer (this was at the beginning of July, maybe the 5th or 6th) most of the released fish don't survive because of the lactic acid build up and the water temps." I believe he was correct.

[JohnR]

I think the reallocation of Gamefish status is wrong. That the goal is reduction of pressure on the fish regardless of usergroup. But the longer this fishery remains in disarray the less confident I am that it can be managed WITH commercial interests.

At minimum we need to see a rollback of total catch, rec & comm, by a third. Or better, go back to limits of a few years ago and then cut back by a third.

On the rec side this will likely mean 1 fish max per day minimum 34 (I can live with that) and for example Mass comm going back to 800K pounds off 2006 and then taking off a third.

The way this is rolling, those commercial fishing better hope for just reduced allocation rather than no allocation. Recs best push for reduced too.