New Striper hook rules in Maine

[JoeBass]

I've fished Maine for Stripers for the past 20 or so years. Unless they've changed it from last year you can keep 1 striper a day between 20 and 26 inches OR 1 "trophy" over 40 inches. This works well with me. I keep 2 or 3 fish all season in the 26" size and the fillets off one fish are perfect for feeding 3 or 4 people.
As far as the circle hook fishing goes...I get it, but I much prefer setting the hook. Out of every 20 fish I hook with a j hook I probably do gut hook one or two. If it helps, I'm for it, but I'll miss the set.

[fishsmith]

Joebass,

For a long time I've been a slot size proponent, but there is an overwhelming amount of chatter that the schoolies are dwindling in their normal haunts.

Let's make it a real challenge and go for 1 @ 40" from Maine to Virgina (and south if they go to Carolina's )

[bogey]

[QUOTE=JohnnyD;848154]My issue is this micro-managed type of policy making. They regulate for the sake of regulating under the guise of "it should help". If they want to decrease mortality, there are far more effective ways that don't consist of an ineffective patchwork of over-regulating the average fisherman.

What are these "far more effective ways"?

[Pete F.]

Will rigged eels even work with circle hooks?
Will I get in trouble if I go to Maine with a rigged eel with J-hooks?
I'd rather fish a little closer anyways.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by bogey

What are these "far more effective ways"?

1 @ 36"
5 year suspension of your comm or rec license for poaching

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

1 @ 36"
5 year suspension of your comm or rec license for poaching

I'd love to see 1 @36 coastwide. I'd also like to see the baitfish situation fixed.

As for a 5 year suspension, do you really believe that would have an impact? Probably less than changing hooks in Maine. If someone will poach, they probably won't give much thought to continuing to do it without a license. And you know that enforcing it would be near impossible.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by fishbones

As for a 5 year suspension, do you really believe that would have an impact? Probably less than changing hooks in Maine. If someone will poach, they probably won't give much thought to continuing to do it without a license. And you know that enforcing it would be near impossible.

I don't think it'd matter for recs, just allow EPs to give out fines for fishing without a license. For comms though, they'll be risking their livelihood by poaching. Either that or hit them where it really hurts - big fine for the first offense and you lose your boat/gear on the second offense.

With the way things are now, the poachers merely get a slap on the write and consider these small fines a cost of doing business.

[stripermaineiac]

LOL WOW. I'm impressed by the number of anglers that will go against any positive action to protect even a single striper. I've got an idea let's just kill every one of them and then sit around blaming everyone else for it.1 fish a day. A 40 incher if your lucky but oooopppps we don't get them hardly anymore in Maine since the commercial rod n reel fishing started and there being a charter boat on every square foot of water south of us. Most chunkers and commercials use trebles MMMMMM wonder why they don't want to stop using trebles bait fishing.
Yes it's a very small step by a state that see's less than 1/10 of a percent of the striper landings as most other states south of us but at least we're willing to take a step towards protecting the STRIPERS.Oh that's right we already are at 1 fish a day with spawning areas closed to fishing during the spawning season and a slot limit that's reasonable. OOOOOPPPPPSSSS reasonable isn't in our language anymore just bitch an moan and do nothing to fix the problem.
I applaud what my state has done as it is an effort to try to set a trend. I'm ashamed at those who just want to complain and do nothing. Obviously many of the complainers were'nt fishing for stripers in the 70's and 80's. Ron

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by stripermaineiac

Obviously many of the complainers were'nt fishing for stripers in the 70's and 80's. Ron

I came of age in a fishing family, fishing in the late 80's and vividly remember how rare decent bass fishing was back then. Bluefish out the wazoo. bass were celebrated and gossiped about....

Talking to the older crowd, including my former surf partner. the fishery now sounds eerily like the early 1980's.


Small step, yes, but a step.

and yes, 1@36".
that was someone's signature for a while, if I recall

[stripermaineiac]

God I wish you weren't so damn right about that RIRockhound.When will the greedy smarten up. This attitude of it's alright if someone else has to take a cut back or make a sacrafise is ok as long as it's not me then it's no way not me only the other guy has to stop. It's what brought on the morratorium in the ist place. Too many selfish and greedy anglers. Ron

[The Dad Fisherman]

I don't think anybody, and I mean anybody, here is saying they aren't willing to make sacrifices....they just want to make the RIGHT Sacrifices. Lay out Some real, well thought out, long range plans which would have a measurable effect and you would have pretty much everybody here willing to make sacrifices.

[RIROCKHOUND]

I agree with TDF's line there. I don't think anyone who posted here thinks the bass stocks are 100% A-OK.

I see this as something I could live with, and probably does help with release mortality.

As far as too much regulation DZ; you are always touting Florida's ability to put fish first... non-stainless steel circle hooks and de-hookers are required for gulf fisherman using bait....

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/pdfs/Di...lity%20FAQ.pdf

[Clogston29]

i'd say its a step in the right direction. the circle hook / eel issue is the only real problem i have with it, but I could live with it.

one thing to consider is that striper fishing in maine is a big tourist thing, from what i have observed. i'm sure there are plenty of serious striper fisherman in maine too, and i'm not trying to diminish that at all. but head down to any of the tourist beaches (OOB, York, Ogunquit, Saco, etc.) any afternoon and you'll see a ton of people fishing the beach that really have no clue, although most probably mean well, and "releasing" plenty of floaters after ripping the hooks out of their gullets and posing for pictures for 10 minutes with an 18" fish. taking treble hooks and j hooks away as a bait fishing option for these occasional fisherman can only help IMO.

[RIJIMMY]

Here I go again......should bite my tongue.

So everyone wants to take a small step to help the striper population?

DONT JOIN THE STRIPER CUP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it kills thousands of BREEDING striped bass. If that tournament and every other kill tournament was cancelled, It will a have a much larger impact on the population than Maine's new law. Much larger. How many big fish go to Maine? Most of the cows are from jersey to MA. Thats where the rec and comm slaughter takes place on the BREEDING fish.

Why do you need government to come in a tell you what hooks to use? Because most of you dont have the balls to take action on your own. I see so many of the names above saying "Its a step in the right direction" yet I GUARANTEE you'll be "I'm in" for the Cup. Hypocrites.
Practice what you preach.
You're all the little whiners that were sitting in the pubs in Boston beyotching about the British while real men grabbed their weapons and went up to Breeds Hill.
The choice is yours, be a man

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

Here I go again......should bite my tongue.

I think the Earth would shift off its axis if that should ever happen

But you are right........

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

Here I go again......should bite my tongue.

So everyone wants to take a small step to help the striper population?

DONT JOIN THE STRIPER CUP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it kills thousands of BREEDING striped bass. If that tournament and every other kill tournament was cancelled, It will a have a much larger impact on the population than Maine's new law. Much larger. How many big fish go to Maine? Most of the cows are from jersey to MA. Thats where the rec and comm slaughter takes place on the BREEDING fish.

Why do you need government to come in a tell you what hooks to use? Because most of you dont have the balls to take action on your own. I see so many of the names above saying "Its a step in the right direction" yet I GUARANTEE you'll be "I'm in" for the Cup. Hypocrites.
Practice what you preach.
You're all the little whiners that were sitting in the pubs in Boston beyotching about the British while real men grabbed their weapons and went up to Breeds Hill.
The choice is yours, be a man

I agree, and am not and have not partaken in the 'Cup'
But....

did you just compare this to the American revolution

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I

did you just compare this to the American revolution

I used that as an example of people whining and expecting the govt to solve the problem when we are empowered to solve it ourselves. I sit every day and look out the window and see the Bunnker Hill monument and realize what the actions of a few can accomplish. If the logic is "every little bit counts" then dont participate in kill tournaments. Every dollar you dont spend will impact the tournament and lead to its end. It matters. It saves fish.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

Why do you need government to come in a tell you what hooks to use? Because most of you dont have the balls to take action on your own. I see so many of the names above saying "Its a step in the right direction" yet I GUARANTEE you'll be "I'm in" for the Cup. Hypocrites.
Practice what you preach.
You're all the little whiners that were sitting in the pubs in Boston beyotching about the British while real men grabbed their weapons and went up to Breeds Hill.
The choice is yours, be a man

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

Here I go again......should bite my tongue.

So everyone wants to take a small step to help the striper population?

DONT JOIN THE STRIPER CUP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it kills thousands of BREEDING striped bass. If that tournament and every other kill tournament was cancelled, It will a have a much larger impact on the population than Maine's new law. Much larger. How many big fish go to Maine? Most of the cows are from jersey to MA. Thats where the rec and comm slaughter takes place on the BREEDING fish.

Why do you need government to come in a tell you what hooks to use? Because most of you dont have the balls to take action on your own. I see so many of the names above saying "Its a step in the right direction" yet I GUARANTEE you'll be "I'm in" for the Cup. Hypocrites.
Practice what you preach.
You're all the little whiners that were sitting in the pubs in Boston beyotching about the British while real men grabbed their weapons and went up to Breeds Hill.
The choice is yours, be a man

Ok, I'll play devil's advocate (at least for myself) on this one. Keep in mind that I'm a hypocrite, though.

1) I keep stripers every year. I like to eat them and I usually keep anywhere from 1 to 4 fish per season. I plan on keeping 2, but if I have one that's going to die, I will keep it if it's legal size. I also release 95+% of the fish I catch each year. Last season, I had a fish that I was planning on keeping for the table. I put it aside and kept fishing and released a few more legal fish. When I went to pick up the fish I kept, there was a fisher cat eating it. I was upset because I felt that I killed a fish for nothing.

2) I have fished the Striper Cup the last 3 years. I do it because I like the camaraderie of being on a team in a competition. It also gives me more motivation to go out and fish on nights that it would be easy to make an excuse and stay home. I also respect those who choose not to fish it. In 3 years, I haven't weighed in a fish. Last year I had some nice fish that may have put me in contention for a weekly prize, but they wouldn't have made the top 10 in the end. For me, I would only keep a fish if I was confident that it was going to help the team. And if it made the top 10 for the team, it would more than likely be a PB for me. I don't believe in killing and weighing a 20 lb fish just so I can have my name on the leader board in May.

3) If these measures in Maine save a few fish, it's at least going in the right direction IMO. If you think it's too much government intervention, that's fine. But if you also think things need to change, you should be glad the problem is at least being addressed. Even if it's to a small extent.

Finally, when you were fishing bunker a lot, were you snagging and dropping or were you snagging, bringing the bunker to the boat and switching out to a circle hook? If you weren't switching to a circle, you were increasing the chance of gut-hooking a bass and killing it. To me, that's just as bad as killing a fish for a tournament.

I feel like I can still participate in a tournament, keep a couple of fish for the table and still be conservation minded. Anyone who fishes with any type of hook runs the risk of killing fish. If being a conservtionist means that you won't kill any fish at all, you should stop fishing entirely.

By the way, how do you feel about spearfishing? There's a pretty high mortality rate with that.

[DZ]

Originally Posted by stripermaineiac

I'm ashamed at those who just want to complain and do nothing. Obviously many of the complainers were'nt fishing for stripers in the 70's and 80's. Ron

Ron,
Well, I think that this may possibly be the very first time I've ever been accused of not caring or getting involved in striper conservation.

DZ

[fishbones]

By the way, Jimmy. Would it be considered irony or hypocrisy to be seen wearing a Striper Cup hat for someone who is so against the tournament? Just asking because I seem to remember seeing you with one on last year.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Ok, I'll play devil's advocate (at least for myself) on this one. Keep in mind that I'm a hypocrite, though.

1) I keep stripers every year. I like to eat them and I usually keep anywhere from 1 to 4 fish per season. I plan on keeping 2, but if I have one that's going to die, I will keep it if it's legal size. I also release 95+% of the fish I catch each year. Last season, I had a fish that I was planning on keeping for the table. I put it aside and kept fishing and released a few more legal fish. When I went to pick up the fish I kept, there was a fisher cat eating it. I was upset because I felt that I killed a fish for nothing.

so?

2) I have fished the Striper Cup the last 3 years. I do it because I like the camaraderie of being on a team in a competition. It also gives me more motivation to go out and fish on nights that it would be easy to make an excuse and stay home. I also respect those who choose not to fish it. In 3 years, I haven't weighed in a fish. Last year I had some nice fish that may have put me in contention for a weekly prize, but they wouldn't have made the top 10 in the end. For me, I would only keep a fish if I was confident that it was going to help the team. And if it made the top 10 for the team, it would more than likely be a PB for me. I don't believe in killing and weighing a 20 lb fish just so I can have my name on the leader board in May.

so you participate in a tournament that kills thousands of breeder bass. Your $ goes to support that. you feel its worth it. Wouldnt it be a bigger step in the right direction to NOT participate? Wouldnt it help the population MORE if there were no kill tournaments?
3) If these measures in Maine save a few fish, it's at least going in the right direction IMO. If you think it's too much government intervention, that's fine. But if you also think things need to change, you should be glad the problem is at least being addressed. Even if it's to a small extent.

Good, thats fine. But its someone else, what about you? Y

Finally, when you were fishing bunker a lot, were you snagging and dropping or were you snagging, bringing the bunker to the boat and switching out to a circle hook? If you weren't switching to a circle, you were increasing the chance of gut-hooking a bass and killing it. To me, that's just as bad as killing a fish for a tournament.

thats dumb, there is no more chance of gut hooking on bunker than an eel. So are you saying fishing in general is bad? I always snagged and re-hooked. I've used circles and I've used J hooks. I've noticed no difference. I've released all my fish and have gut hooked fish before but it was on eels. I kept them.
I'm not PETA. I dont care if fish get hurt or die. Im a fisherman. Its all of you that are applauding this MINOR step as a step in the right direction however, you fish a kill tournament. Again, why not make your own?

I feel like I can still participate in a tournament, keep a couple of fish for the table and still be conservation minded. Anyone who fishes with any type of hook runs the risk of killing fish. If being a conservtionist means that you won't kill any fish at all, you should stop fishing entirely.

agree. but you dont think its silly you support mandatory circle hooks but participate in a kill tournament. The sole purpose to kill the biggest fish. Thats not odd to you?

By the way, how do you feel about spearfishing? There's a pretty high mortality rate with that.

I could care less.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by fishbones

By the way, Jimmy. Would it be considered irony or hypocrisy to be seen wearing a Striper Cup hat for someone who is so against the tournament? Just asking because I seem to remember seeing you with one on last year.

I fished the cup 4 years ago, but by observing the striper population decline, I realized its not what I want to be part of. I have a dozen hats I wear, thats one of them.
maybe people see me in the hat and wish they could be as slick as I am and join the cup but I doubt it.

[Sea Flat]

I would not mind going back to 1@ 36" too, but I think that the reason for the circle hook is so that when and if you are throwing back a short fish you are not throwing back a fish that has been gut hooked and is going to die. Two different issues really. Believe me, I do not think as many people kill fish during catch and release fishing as some studies try to make us believe, but the fact of the matter is that it does happen and the use of circle hooks will definitely reduce that number. I do not understand why so many of you are against the idea of saving some fish from unnecessarily dying.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

I fished the cup 4 years ago, but by observing the striper population decline, I realized its not what I want to be part of. I have a dozen hats I wear, thats one of them.
maybe people see me in the hat and wish they could be as slick as I am and join the cup but I doubt it.

My above post responding to your intial post was just saying that I think there's a way to still be conservation minded while participating in a tournament. They do have a catch and release category, as well.

I applaud you for switching out hooks when fishing bunker because a lot of guys fish them with trebles. My comment had nothing to do with eels v. bunker. Not sure why you made that leap? What would be dumb would be saying you don't want to kill fish, but then going and fishing bait on treble hooks.

Making circle hooks madatory may be consdiered "silly" by some, but it's a step. You know what it's like trying to get the government to do anything. I've sent letters and made phone calls on behalf of Striper conservation. Any progress is good in my mind. If the government said we could no longer keep bass, I'd be fine with it. I'd still fish.

As for you wearing the hat, to me it looks like you're supporting the Striper Cup. You're advertising for a tournament that you despise. If you have a dozen hats, you should wear another one. It's like you driving around with an Obama/Biden bumper sticker on your car.

[Mr. Sandman]

All this jaw boning about what is best for the fish and how best to protect it (while still allowing "the fishermen" to continue to do what they have been doing ) is not going to do much of anything.

IMO this is why gamefish is the way to go. It cuts thru all the crap and regulation nonsense and takes a ton of pressure off the fish. Further, simple regulations on recs ( 1@whaterever, circle hooks, etc) can control the population as needed. (whatever they may be) Again, I think we are in a serious death spiral which has been and is still being largely ignored by the "experts" and I doubt the fish will recover now without draconian measures. IMO a collapse will be good because it will demonstrate just how inept and how cavalier the fishery managers are and it could result in a top down vetting of these buffoons. These guys can't wipe their ass without getting public comments. I want to see some leadership. Stand up and simply do what is right (FOR THE FISH) and let the chips fall where they may.

I have had enough!

http://www.downside.com/bldgjump.gif

[Sea of Atlas]

The longest journey begins with a single step.

No commerical fishing, 1 fish per day, slot limit, circle hooks, reduction of treble hooks...Maine is taking its steps and if a moratorium or other such drastic measure comes in effect us Maine folk won't have any trouble falling in line. Caught a lot of "out of state" limits and released the majority of any legal fish I caught. Can't do much more here in Maine.

[stripermaineiac]

Well here's food for thought. Yup what Maine is doing is only a small thing especially with the smaller numbers of stripers we've seen these last few yrs. But if every angler released or didn't kill one more fish a season due to using a less destructive method of fishing how many more spawning stripers would there be in a couple of yrs?Yup some of you guys are right it's not worth taking a small step in the right direction isn't it-even if a law or new rule had to be made to coax us in the right direction. Ron

[MakoMike]

Well, maybe since almost 80% of the mortality is coming from recreational fishermen Maybe they should make stripers a commercial fish only? (running for cover)

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Well, maybe since almost 80% of the mortality is coming from recreational fishermen Maybe they should make stripers a commercial fish only? (running for cover)

It's closer to 90% when you look at the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Massachusetts "commercial" fishery is made up of recreational anglers looking to pick up a few extra bucks to defray their expenses.

If they ever limited the fishery to those who derive at least 50% of their income from the sale of fish, you'd have a 1.1 million pound quota with no closed season.