Ban the Striper Cup now!!!

[Just n time]

When we finally make the bass a game fish we will ensure that the stocks will not crash.. as oppossed to watching the stocks crash...no gill netting no comm season. one fish at 36 tagged with a 10 fish seasonal limit.If you don't tag your fish and you get caught big fines.Once you hit ten for the season everthing else is catch and release.Charter guys have the same rules and so does everyone on the boat.. simple and a great way to save the future of fishing for bass..

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Just n time

When we finally make the bass a game fish we will ensure that the stocks will not crash.. as oppossed to watching the stocks crash...no gill netting no comm season. one fish at 36 tagged with a 10 fish seasonal limit.If you don't tag your fish and you get caught big fines.Once you hit ten for the season everthing else is catch and release.Charter guys have the same rules and so does everyone on the boat.. simple and a great way to save the future of fishing for bass..

Good ideas in your last post.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of us who have been asking for this type of stuff for a 1/2 dozen years and no one listens.
My old surf partner and I has been saying 1 fish 36" for at least the last 5 years, no one listens.
CCA of CT has been saying game fish status for 10 years. No one listens.

Wait until they catch 5 bass in a whole season. Then the "smartasses will say, "What happened?"

[striper774]

This 1@36 is for you big cow hunters.How about someone who fishes back rivers(me).There was only one striper taken @36 in the last 5 years.I know there might be bigger in these rivers but big stripers are NOT that common in the rivers i fish.I don't speek just for myself there are alot of guys that fish these rivers and have become use to catching what the river supplies us for fish.Used to be great fishing in these waters but with all the abuse to bait fish,striper killers(murderers)our part of the eco chain is starving.There is a pogey trauler that is allowed permision to do there business in our main river that feeds the smaller rivers that we fish.They take the majority of everyone's catch along with most all the pogeys.Fishing dramaticly takes a dive the day they traul the river.So how do you make it fair for guys that river fish where the stock might not allow you to take even one fish all season.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by striper774

This 1@36 is for you big cow hunters.How about someone who fishes back rivers(me).

To be blunt, I say tough #^&#^&#^&#^&.

1@36 worked in the moratorium years. combined with reduced commercial pressure, the bass would be a lot better off!

I am firmly convinced SF has not come out in favor of 1@36" b/c most of the members can't catch fish at 36".

Last couple of years the fluke limit (20.5" at one point) limited many anglers, especially those that didn't adapt, to not catching many 'keepers'. So what, them's the rules.

If it is better for the bass, suck it up, adapt and change tactics. you'll find some bigger fish

[robc22]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

If YOU don't want to fish it then don't, If YOU want to send them angry e-mails then type away, if YOU want to boycott "On the Water"....then have at it.

Last time I looked the Striper Cup wasn't against the law.....so if Fisherman want to particpate in it they are well within their rights. If clubs want to field a team then that, also, is well within their rights.....so don't question anybody's "Stones" because a club has members that want to fish it.

I'm REALLY starting to get tired of everybody else's personal preferences being shoved in my face.
Bottom Line.....If You Don't Like it, Don't Fish it....

110 % Agree.....Sick and tired of C&R nazi's trying to tell me how to fish..........

[JohnR]

JnT - - with your proposed regs there will be no baitfish, no bluefish, and eventually a thoroughly screwed up striped bass fishery. Though you'll be able to walk across them I guess. In 30 years you'll have 200 million hungry bass.

But thank you for presenting the other extreme side.

Now where we need to be is somewhere in the middle. We're still on the wrong side of balance but we want to get this fishery balanced.

[striper774]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

To be blunt, I say tough #^&#^&#^&#^&.

1@36 worked in the moratorium years. combined with reduced commercial pressure, the bass would be a lot better off!

I am firmly convinced SF has not come out in favor of 1@36" b/c most of the members can't catch fish at 36".

Last couple of years the fluke limit (20.5" at one point) limited many anglers, especially those that didn't adapt, to not catching many 'keepers'. So what, them's the rules.

If it is better for the bass, suck it up, adapt and change tactics. you'll find some bigger fish

It is tough chit that we all have to go through this.You can tell me all you want to change my tactics i'll get bigger fish.That's not the point.If they come up with a 36'limit i'll abide by the law.What i was trying to get was a way the angler that has slim to no chance to catch a fish that size.Come fish where we do and see how you like it.Maby you could explain to me how to change my tactics to catch a bigger fish.

[Just n time]

Those of you who don't want to change and save the bass fine, when you catch nothing in a few years you can ask yourself why and look in the mirror.Conservation starts at home,some of you are hell bent on watching the stocks crash because you don't want people to"tell you" how to fish. You have every right to do that and will pay the price in the long run.The price is no fish, if that is what you want ok.if you don't then you will have to change your position. If you eat doughnuts all day and the doctor tells you you are going to get diabetes but you refuse to listen because you have the" right to eat them" fine,but don't blame the doctor when you have to inject insulin everyday to stay alive.Like I said,every decision has a consequence.

[GregW]

Originally Posted by Just n time

good luck

JnT,
I think if you approached the subject with a more reasonable(not ideal) objective people would listen to you.
Looking at your avatar you certainly didnt catch and release that turkey. Im guessing you legally harvested it in a managed resource environment. And some fishermen will harvest fish. That is a fact. In the 15 years I have been fishing I have kept 1 freshwater fish and 0 saltwater fish. But, I will not be made to feel bad if this year I harvest a fish. I have paid my dues, literally and figuratively.

Furthermore, I ask you this. Do you think that banning the striper cup will accomplish a complete 180 with the stock? I think your intentions are to ensure stock for the future. Have you thought about how to ensure this? You make suggestions on size and quotas. But, suggest no ways of making this even possible other than your thoughts. what actions does degrading fellow fishermen who compete in a perfectly legal tournament accomplish?
Wouldnt a more logical approach be to team with these very fishermen, to help ensure the future stock be a better avenue of appoach?
Why cant we all help eachother? My idea would be to have one form letter that we could all print out, sign and individually send to the politicians who can help make things happen. One post on a forum might not make a difference. However several thousand letters showing up in politicians mailboxes might.
In this letter we could explain:
1)our concern for the resource
2)explain our concern with gill netters and trawlers taking the striped bass and their food source.
3) Explain that we would like to see better enforcement of illegally taken fish
4) Explain that we all now hold a license that cost us money
5) explain that we spend our money in the pursuit of this fish
6) And explain that we would appreciate their support on our behalf
7) and explain that we vote.

Sounds like that might be a better avenue than ranting and raving against fellow fisherman who may only harvest one fish a year, in a derby or not.

[Just n time]

Look you can spin it anyway you want, make me a villian because I harvest turkeys, try and logic me, the bottom line is the striper cup and some other major tournaments that run all season long encourage people to kill breader fish all season long! Turkey season is a month and about 1 out of 30 hunters bag one. Not to many people weigh in 28 inch fish for the striper cup. It targets large fish 30 plus pounds to weigh in for prizes.If there was a major consensus by the big bass clubs to pressure OTW to stop this it may have a cascade effect and cause everyone to look at this a little different. I applaude your conservation habits and hope others follow your example. To ignore the facts about the stocks going south is There are many ways to manage the stocks but killing big bass should not be one of them. Like I said the tide has not turned yet.I fear it will not change until some people have really bad years.OTW should at least alter the way they do the tournament due to all of the science that screams of overfishing.

[Just n time]

Some people will never change their position so be it. I wish all of you a safe and productive season and for god sakes if you fish the surf get a PFD please!!! I almost went under about 10 years ago and promised my wife I would always wear a PFD and have since that day.. PlEASE get a PFD if you don't have one...godspeed..

[piemma]

Come fish where we do and see how you like it.Maby you could explain to me how to change my tactics to catch a bigger fish.[/QUOTE]

I am sorry. I do not get your point. If there are no 36" fish where you fish, then go somewhere else where there are. It is really simple.

Just because you are obviously, fishing in a a striper nursery, doesn't mean we have to keep the size limit down.

BTW, it is not about YOU! It is about developing and keeping a sustainable fishery.

[Swimmer]

Little snore, bigger snore, godawful wake up the entire dorm SNORE!

[striper774]

Originally Posted by piemma

Come fish where we do and see how you like it.Maby you could explain to me how to change my tactics to catch a bigger fish.

I am sorry. I do not get your point. If there are no 36" fish where you fish, then go somewhere else where there are. It is really simple.

Just because you are obviously, fishing in a a striper nursery, doesn't mean we have to keep the size limit down.

BTW, it is not about YOU! It is about developing and keeping a sustainable fishery.[/QUOTE]

Your right it's not about me it's about the fish.My point was to let people know what's happened to the fish that used to be abundent in these rivers.Maby now you could call it a nursery.I like the back rivers and small stripers are also fun to catch on ultra lite tackle.The thing that bothers me is not being able to feed my friend who is in failing health due to serving our country years ago.I don't have much opportunity to get around to different spots to fish.So ok 36" it is.Who is going to help me with my mission to keep a fillet or two in my freezer to help someone that in a short while you can say gave his life for his country and fellow man.I only take to feed them as it is an ultimate reward for my soul to sit and eat with him something he loves.It's an honor and a privlege to be in his company.You can tell me tough chit all you want,i guess it is.

[piemma]

[Fly Rod]

Even tho female striped bass can reproduce at the age of four years, many do not spawn at that age. Normally they do not start to spawn till the age of six years and at this age they average a length of twenty eight inches and therefore you have the regs mostly set at a legal minimum catch size of 28 inches, giving the striper at least one spawning year before being caught. Maybe they should raise the keeper size limit so that the female can get two or three seasons to spawn. Remember that when they re-opened the catching of striped bass the size was about 34 inches to keep and the fish rebounded to great numbers which gave them six spawning years before going on the dinner table. Some striper's do not spawn every year.

And for anyone to blame the Striper Club for the reduction of the striped bass population is absurd. You have bait and tackle shops, clubs and bar rooms up and down the coast holding tournaments.

[JohnR]

The Striper Cup is but one minuscule cog in all of this discussion. You can come up with 100 more effective methods from the logical to the absurd.

We need to conserve more, we need to do better, but for anything of any substance to happen, fisheries REGULATIONS must change.

Maybe I saw you at some of the meetings, maybe I didn't, but there have not been mush by way of meetings that will have a real IMPACT. The only meeting in recent memories was the fall's coastal meeting schedule to further INCREASE the commercial take, which was fortunately well attended by people to thwart that effort. Discussing the Striper Cup doesn't even equate to any meaningful reductions. It might not be right, but its what we have to work with.

The significant majority here practice considerable C&R.

Conservation starts at home, well, if gas prices are any indication, practicing full C&R will have even less impact if factoring 8% C&R mortality against less trips due to $$

[Striper_Haven_03]

Dont normally get involved in discussions but I have had my best years in the last 4, although the numbers are slightly down, the fish are still there year after year, large,medium,small. I have seen a decline in huge schools of 16"-24" fish but seems like there are still a ton of larger fish,say in the 32-46" range. I think the location of the schools of small fish vary by locale year after year (storms,bait,water conditions,etc). The larger fish,well they just keep coming back and have there favorite spots. I have seen a huge decline in the bluefish fishing in my area. I think out of 75+ outing last year my log says I caught 5 bluefish. 10 years ago it would have been 50+. Some in different areas say its the opposite.

Who knows? I think we are all guessing at something we know very little about and understand....after all we are all "human".

- Fireman

Originally Posted by piemma

So there you have it. Two side of the debate and no resolution to the ever increasing problem of the demise iof the Bass population.

Tell you what, this year will tell the tale. Let's see how many of the the "gray beards" have a banner year. 6 years ago I had a 1000+ fish year (caught not killed). Last year I had a 200 fish year. I am speaking of "keeper" fish which I consider 34" not 28".

Let's see what time brings us this year and, if we have another "down" year, let us reassess our positon supporting the CUP.