Spear Fishing Stripers

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JoeBass

I don't have anything against spear fishing. I would guess most are responsible people. But i have to say as a fly fisherman I don't think I've ever killed one of the dozens of stripers I've hooked and landed. I think it's similar to plugs in that you almost always get them at the edge of the mouth. I've never gut hooked a striper on the fly. Maybe if you were fishing too light tackle and exhausted them you could kill them.

"i have to say as a fly fisherman I don't think I've ever killed one of the dozens of stripers I've hooked and landed"

As a statistician, I would bet any amount of money, against any odds you feel like giving me, that you are wrong. I'm not saying you aren't being careful. I'm just saying that the data suggests that you can lip-hook fish with barbless hooks, never touch the fish with your bare hands, get it back to teh water as quickly and gently as possible, and a 0% mortality rate is not possible. It's just not possible.

If I'm spearfishing and I decide not to shoot a fish...now that is a guaranteed 100% survival rate for that fish. I also can't kill any other species by accident...I can harvest my target species 100% of the time, with no chance of injuring another type of fish, until my eyesight (or brains) start to deteriorate, that is.

Makes me want to get out my gear...been a long time.

Furthermore, I can target a certain slot size when spearfishing, allowing me to leave alone any large fish that are likely to be females of reproductive age. I target fish for the grill, which to me, the ideal is a small keeper, not a trophy. Trophy fish, in my extremely limited experience (more limited than I'd like it to be!), don't taste nearly as good.

Spearfisherman have the luxury of being way, way more selective than a rod & reel guy. You pick the individual fish to kill, and necessarily don't harm anything else.

No comparison.

Now, someone mentioned the confrontations over a popular spot, and that's a real issue, and I have seen, and participated in, more than a few heated discussions on the subject. I spearfish, and I also boat fish. I can see both sides of the argument. I don't know what you do, except to say that whoever gets there first, has dibs on the spot. I can't see why a R&R guy has any more or less claim to a spot than a spearfisherman.