2015 Bass regulations: GET ON THE PHONE/WRITE AN EMAIL!

[Vernon]

Originally Posted by JBird

My personal feelings are to release all the big fish HOWEVER I am against any law that would prohibit the taking of 1 trophy. I have released every large bass I ever caught (and plenty of smaller keepers) with the exception of a tournament situation. That includes my personal best over 40 lbs and some 30's. Maybe one day I'll be able to release a 50+.

That being said I absolutely respect any angler who wishes to take a large fish home and eat it. Hunters and fishermen are the last of the hunter gatherers and I have a deeply held belief in the right of capturing of your own food. BUT when I see guys with 3 dead cows I begin to wonder, "How much is enough?" One 30+ pound bass is a lot of meat. Do you really need to take home 3?

Now, I am absolutely biased because I rely on striped bass to earn a living. But I also reside in a state WITH NO COMMERCIAL FISHERY FOR STRIPED BASS, and feel that because of that we recreational anglers should be able to keep more than 1 bass IF WE CHOOSE TO. If I had the power I would make this fish a gamefish coastwide and our issue would be resolved overnight.

The rules as they are with a second fish over 43" will actually encourage some anglers, not all, to keep that big fish.
It will hurt my industry because some people won't want to pay for the chance to only keep one fish, which is effectively what this rule is going to do.
Why in the wide wide world of sports would they actually encourage people to kill a cow? It makes no sense at all.
If I had the chance to rewrite our regs I would have 1 fish at 28" or better and 1 bonus tag fish over 28". I actually like the bonus fish being switched to a slot in the Fall too. Honestly, I wish I got a tag for every cow I released that authorized me to keep a 18"-24" bass for the table.
So there's my 2 cents.

You are correct, when they did the study, they only went by tonnage, not the economy or industry. To me that is a flawed study!

See ya next weekend. RJ

[JBird]

I think it needs to be said that the rules are going to kill fish. Here's how.
Guy goes out on a party boat, catches a 32 inch bass and keeps it. Why wouldn't he? It's a really nice fish.
It's a good day and the guy catches another fish, 36 inches this time. Because he's clamming off a party boat it takes a bit of time to get the fish to the boat as they are anchored and the current is screaming. By the time the mate nets it it's mouth is hanging open from exhaustion.
Then it's in the boat.
Then it gets measured and the mate says, "It's not over 43" so you're supposed to release it."
Then the guy uses some extremely colorful language to describe the regulations he's supposed to follow. (Don't even get me started on how we are supposed to run a pool)
Then he figures he should take a picture with this big fish to prove to his buddies he's not full of s**t.
Then he throws it back. Dead or close to it because it's basically impossible to revive a fish when you can't hold it in the water. Maybe, just maybe, the mate has the time and inclination to attempt revival by lip gaffing the bass and holding it's head into the current until it perks up, but that's a big maybe.
The crabs are going to be happy.

[Vernon]

Originally Posted by JBird

I think it needs to be said that the rules are going to kill fish. Here's how.
Guy goes out on a party boat, catches a 32 inch bass and keeps it. Why wouldn't he? It's a really nice fish.
It's a good day and the guy catches another fish, 36 inches this time. Because he's clamming off a party boat it takes a bit of time to get the fish to the boat as they are anchored and the current is screaming. By the time the mate nets it it's mouth is hanging open from exhaustion.
Then it's in the boat.
Then it gets measured and the mate says, "It's not over 43" so you're supposed to release it."
Then the guy uses some extremely colorful language to describe the regulations he's supposed to follow. (Don't even get me started on how we are supposed to run a pool)
Then he figures he should take a picture with this big fish to prove to his buddies he's not full of s**t.
Then he throws it back. Dead or close to it because it's basically impossible to revive a fish when you can't hold it in the water. Maybe, just maybe, the mate has the time and inclination to attempt revival by lip gaffing the bass and holding it's head into the current until it perks up, but that's a big maybe.
The crabs are going to be happy.

That will happen all the time.

[Vernon]

This is what happens when you let the tree huggers become politicians and climb that greasy poll and become the DEP and NJ Marine Fisheries Council to regulate!

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by mccandrj

You are correct, when they did the study, they only went by tonnage, not the economy or industry. To me that is a flawed study!

See ya next weekend. RJ

their job is to save fisheries, not the economy nor fishing industry.
due to straight greed of take take take , many fisheries have suffered.
Problem is so many are used to the OLD ways of take take take.

The more fish around to catch , the longer the industry will last.
at least if there are fish to catch and release , and take a few home guys will fish.
make the fishery crash , no one will be paying to fish like has happened in the past.

Just look at how long we have not had a winter flounder fishery.
when they are crushed it takes a LONG time for them to recover.
all the years of no limits did that, when guys filled garbage cans daily with fish .

if a limit had been imposed sooner the fish we started off with each spring would still have a sustainable fishery.
and it wouldnt be limited to 2 fish.

.
while NMFS seems to come up with really bad numbers on many of the fisheries, limits to stay on the safe side are def better than reckless abandon

[JBird]

I respectfully disagree with some of your points.
Recreational hook and line fishing has never put anything on the endangered species list.
Never. Period.
Comparing flounder to bass is comparing apples to oranges.
The flounder have been getting hammered by the draggers for over 100 years and there is still a commercial quota in NJ, unlike stripers.
While I completely agree that the days of unlimited garbage cans full of fish is not the proper way to manage the resource, I think the current bass rules have NJ anglers suffering in spite of the fact that we have ZERO COMMERCIAL HARVEST. If the other states followed NJ's example than this is a non-issue. Every state could have a 2 fish bag and the stock would remain healthy.

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

their jog is t save fisheries, not the economy nor fishing industry.
due to straight greed of take take take , many fisheries have suffered.
Problem is so many are used to the OLD ways of take take take.

The more fish around to catch , the longer the industry will last.
at least if there are fish to catch and release , and take a few home guys will fish.
make the fishery crash , no one will be paying to fish like has happened in the past.

Just look at how long we have not had a winter flounder fishery.
when they are crushed it takes a LONG time for them to recover.
all the years of no limits did that, when guys filled garbage cans daily with fish .

if a limit had been imposed sooner the fish we started off with each spring would still have a sustainable fishery.
and it wouldnt be limited to 2 fish.

.
while NMFS seems to come up with really bad numbers on many of the fisheries, limits to stay on the safe side are def better than reckless abandon

[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

[JBird]

I never said anything about striped bass not being a recreational issue. I'm saying that hook and line recreational fishing alone has never put a species, stripers included, on the endangered species list. I don't want to talk about flounder anymore. This thread is about bass.
Indeed the recreational landings now exceed the commercial ones, by a lot. Here is where I think we need to shift priorities in managing the resource. The 7 million pounds of bass landed by the commercial sector on an average year coastwide, NONE OF WHICH COMES FROM NEW JERSEY, could be allocated to the recreational sector. Or it could be left alone if alll the other Atlantic states followed New Jersey's lead and made bass a gamefish.
The economic value of the stock to the recreational sector far outweighs the value to the commercial one. It's not even close.
I agree that there are greedy people who want personal glory more than a sustainable fishery. But if we had a 7 million pound cushion we could all have a sustainable 2 fish recreational limit.

Originally Posted by 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

[hammer4reel]

take that 7 million pounds
divide it by 20 pounds ( since at current regs there are prop more 25+ pound fish taken than the 10 pounders , and all the fish bigger than that 30+
you get to catch 350,000 bass
divide that by 10000 boats ( which is way low when you add the coastal states)
that means each boat can catch just 35 bass for the season.

I catch that on 1 good night, what about the other 3 months of fishing I do for bass.

while big numbers look like alot of fish , it really isnt when you have the pressure these fish recieve

[Vernon]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

take that 7 million pounds
divide it by 20 pounds ( since at current regs there are prop more 25+ pound fish taken than the 10 pounders , and all the fish bigger than that 30+
you get to catch 350,000 bass
divide that by 10000 boats ( which is way low when you add the coastal states)
that means each boat can catch just 35 bass for the season.

I catch that on 1 good night, what about the other 3 months of fishing I do for bass.

while big numbers look like alot of fish , it really isnt when you have the pressure these fish recieve

Where did you get your stats? Plus, your discussion is leaned towards a charter boat, and ignoring the head boat industry that doesn't harvest the big fish. They are totally different, neither will benefit from the law, but the charter industry will suffer less. So, now we know how you stand.