Laughing stock

[crabby and son]

Isn't there an ignore button on this site?..........Gary

[JoeDirt]

Originally Posted by mdracer

Who is Ed?

(Allegedly) Ed O'Brien from MCBA. He forgot to introduce himself!

[drichitt]

In retrospect, it is going to be tough to restrict this site to primarily fishing reports during the off season and one can only take so much BS. I wouldn't mind some quality conservation discussions provided they stay within the 'conservation' thread and don't find their way into every other thread. That is where TF lost it's way, as well as allowing some to dump on fishing reports. It would also be nice to know who you are having a discussion with as opposed to a made-up screen name; that might help it stay civil and meaningful...Don

[mdracer]

Originally Posted by JoeDirt

(Allegedly) Ed O'Brien from MCBA. He forgot to introduce himself!

Thanks alot

[JoeDirt]

It's not about not liking someone. It's about the fact that once the conversations start, they snowball and spread into every f'ing post. People with strong agendas make it a point to add their position, leading to people of opposite views posting THEIR position, then you have 10 pages of posts, all 5 paragraphs or more--mostly from weekend warriors who learned everything they know from google searches. Before you know it, you can't post a report, ask a tackle question, or mention that you thought about fishing without the two sides using your post as a platform.

Also, what's the point of the never-ending discussion? If people feel so strongly about it, they should become an active part of the process, not consistently lecture a bunch of guys on a fishing board. It's just getting old.

[wino]

My post was not supposed to tee anyone off or take a political side. I was just reporting what I heard and thought it would give a new prespective to what people outside of the Chesapeake region are thinking. I have fished the bay more years than most on this or the TF board. I own a house less than a mile from the Honga. I know Francis and he and I have met on the water and always had a good cordial relationship with him. I thought you would find it amazing how the bay's problems are just not a local issue but are known outside of the region. The Ches. is a national treasure and many people throughout America are concerned about the problems and how they can be fixed. My concern with the bay is the clean water issue not how you fish. Some of you guys should lighten up and channel those feelings into productive use. Evidently many of you never went through the Rockfish moratorium or have any idea of the loss of the Sea Trout fishery. I would be worried if I owned a sports fishing boat, tackle, etc with the bays problems. The feds just closed Red snapper, Amberjack, black sea bass in portions of the Atlantic ocen, this will effect more fisherman than the total of all the rec's and commercials in the ches. bay. Get involved in helping to clean up your bay or closures could be right around the corner.

[JoeDirt]

This thread is the official sign that winter is here!!

I can't see what Don wrote, since I took his advice and put him on ignore list. In my opnion, c&r lectures are annoying as the overriding theme of a fishing board (why TF is a joke now). It's like being at a party having a good time shootin' the sh!t over beers and then someone deciding to bring up the moral issues surrounding abortion. (I know, totally different league, but you get my point).

There's a time and place for everything. The c&r discussion has spread like a herpes sore and the back-and-forth arguments are pointless and just frustrate everybody. I suggest that those who truly feel strongly about it present options (in select venues) that we less passionate people can get behind to actively make changes. (One other option would be to manipulate member(s) of the Advisory Comiittee to present on your position as if it was their own). Otherwise, it's just preaching.

Anyone done any fishing lately?

[B-Faithful]

Wino, Thanks for the thread. Not a bad topic to discuss if people dont get overly emotional and upset. FLA and other states have their issues too. Though i am not a FLA fisherman and dont know their regulations, I am sure I could easily find mis-steps in management of the state. I do know FLA is having many issues regarding fishermans rights currently.

A couple of things I do want to point out about the perception about Maryland though is that yes, during our trophy season, a percentage of fish are said to be "prespawn". However a percentage in the fall are prespawn as well a percentage along the coast year long are prespawn. I say this because once a spawning-stock female is removed from the population, she will not spawn again. I believe Maryland can and should have its opportunity to harvest the migratory fish just as any other state does. What the managers of the species need to do is control that harvest everwhere along the migratory run so that the population can sustain itself. The finger pointing at Maryland is easy to do emotionally due to the fact that we are the primary nursery of the species. However, we are speaking about at species that travels from NC to Maine and there are much greater recreational harvests of the spawning-stock fish per angler outside of the Chesapeake Bay. I say this because the common creel limits allow recreational anglers along the coast to take twice as many fish per trip per angler of that of Maryland anglers. Maryland anglers are only allowed to harvest one spawning stock fish per trip when the season is open. Personally I would like to see other states be held to the Maryland standard should we need to reduce the recreational impact on the spawning stock.

If Maryland was in need of changes to help the population of the species, I would hope that they would consider looking at the summer harvest first. As stated before, the Chesapeake Bay is the nursery of the stock where the junenile fish reside until they reach maturity (scientifically said to occur when the fish reaches around 28"). Given that Maryland has argueably the toughest regulations (aside from Maine) on the spawning stock fish, I would hope that if concessions were to be made by Maryland anglers that they would come in this area. I also state this due to science around myco and knowing that we are able to harvest two young fish per angler per trip much of the year. I fear that between the disease and our harvest that Maryland may not be allowing enough fish to enter the spawning stock given the concerns over sustainability that seem to be arising by some of the regulators of the species. My personal belief is that the best solution to ensure a more sustainable population would be to ask Maryland to go to a two fish per person limit of one fish 18-28" and one fish 28" and over per angler per trip. This would reduce the harvest of juveniles in the bay by half, allowing more fish to enter the spawning stock, and reduce the harvest of spawners along our coast by half. This would also create a better fishery along the coastal bays where 28" fish are more rare. I would hope that these type of regulations would pressed for others to follow as well. I already know that NJ is considering similar regulations.

I do know that there was a lot of discussion revolving around "prespawn" catch and release this past fall as well. I dont want to get much into that topic and conversation here but did want to point to a FLA study on Snook since you brought it up. You can see a thread I created on TF here regarding snook and prespawn C&R: http://www.tidalfish.com/forums/ches...c-r-study.html

[B-Faithful]

Originally Posted by heimdall

Back Pockets, big enough for people to fit in, are a true sign of success.

Heimdall, i for one am glad you are here. I am not sure who you are despite believing you are in tight or even serve for the MCBA (or even the TFAC or SFAC). Your posts for the most part have always been very respectful despite our differences in thought. I hope you all do end up with big pockets as it would be a good sign that the economy is turning around. It would also mean more people were taking and interest in recreational fishing and a growing sportfishing community means nothing but good for the needs and causes of the recreational angler. (ie, the larger the economic impact of the sportfishing means more political power we have). Hopefully, despite our differences over the early season, we will see many more things eye to eye and can work together on common issues. I certainly hope you continue to take the time to bring up your concerns and defend them (here and/or on TF) with the recreational angling community so that we can make educated decisions to what we should be fighting for. Glad you are here.

(BTW, i have no affiliation with this site other than i am a regular customer and know the owner. This site is owned, moderated, and operated by www.boemarine.com and yachtjim. I am just a member who got the word out to some about the new site as i have been a member of it since it was going to be a general boating forum. i hope this site is successful and is a great place to share reports without other being critical of others fishing within the laws..)

[goinsfishin]

Originally Posted by B-Faithful

Heimdall, i for one am glad you are here......... i hope this site is successful and is a great place to share reports without other being critical of others fishing within the laws..)

Agreed 100%......we are all individuals who share a love of a sport......and we have differences of opinion as to how the fishery should be managed.......that doesn't mean we can't work together to resolve the problems that we face now and in the future.
The recreational, charter, and commercial watermen need to begin working in unison to have policies adopted that are in everyone's best interest, and quit the in-fighting.......it's detrimental to all concerned.