[hammer4reel]

The striped bass issue is DEFINETLY a recreational issue , as WE are theo ones killing the bass, since their isnt a commercial interest in most states.
the amount of fish killed in excess in Virginia, NC and NJ alone has put a severe blow to the stocks.
The amount of roe laden fish that had been being taken each winter in VA was insane.

and I def disagree that recs didnt put a hurting on the winter flounder fishery.
when there were no limits on them the fish were way over fished.

Problem was we always want to blame it on someone else.
Whole reason I stopped running charters was I couldnt stand being part of the problem when it came to stripers.

Got tired of the greed of it becoming more about a dock shot than fishing and having a great day on the water.

and to be honest if you compare the amount of Bonus tag harvests to the amount draggers took I would bet even that portion is over fished.
guys buy a 2$ tag and dont fill it out unless it looks like they are going to get checked.
im sure some are used more than a few times over .
I wouldnt let anyone put a fish in the cooler until that tag was filled out in pen.

I will say there also has to be more limits imposed on ALL the types of fishing, both RECS and Commercial, so that both industries can sustain.


Just ten years ago there used to be about a dozen boats fishing for bass during the week oceanside. now its not uncommon to see 200 boats or more, and three times that on a weekend.
more fisherman means more fish getting pressure,
its in that the numbers go way up on the fish being taken daily