New Striper hook rules in Maine

[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.

[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.