I see new members post a picture and get slammed by other members. It’s so much easier these days to take a picture of fish and it’s nice to see what others catch. Hammering them for doing so is not productive for anybody. I tried to imply that in recent posts.
Personally, I don’t target catch and release fish. The money it costs to go fishing pushes me to go after table fare…not pictures or trophies. Catching a Marlin/Sailfish on light tackle is a feat!!! But what about the fish…the lactic acid build up while the fish struggles to free itself…no good answer.
What I do know is the effort is worthwhile…Those of you that thump some other fisherman for improper fish handling are attempting to justify the “right” way of releasing a fish. It makes us “feel” better to “think” that that fish swam away unharmed. I’m sure there are “experts” that read this board and should chime in.
I’m all about a Wall of Shame. There’s a picture floating around here somewhere where 23 sailfish stuffed a terrapin down a spottails mouth. He should be flogged
I’m all about a Wall of Shame. There’s a picture floating around here somewhere where 23 sailfish stuffed a terrapin down a spottails mouth. He should be flogged
Hawking the "junk" boat trailer parts on here is enough reason. When you do talk to him, get him to fix why this post is "spread" out.
Oh and BTW, that picture of you and Bonzo in the hot tub is shocking. No wonder the generator quit.
Yea, I’m probably one of those as you say are thumping others for mishandeling the large breeders and have killed them myself so i’m not guilt free by any means… Its getting so its hard to fish our waters without seeing floaters in increasing numbers , all the while reading posts and seeing pics of folks holding 30-40 inch reds vertically with lip grips or with hands/fingers in gills all flaired out!!!
Below is a link that is mainly about snook but as noted it applies to all large heavy fish…
In this study, 50 out of 50, of these fish that were handled in this manner eventually died as a direct result of being jaw hung.
Goes to the carrot or the stick. It is distressing to see so many pictures of fish being mishandled. Hypothesizing whether the fish dies or not doesn’t result in what “WE” want… which is to treat the resource with care.
Shaming someone for taking a picture with a fish is non-productive unless the fish looks better than the angler(aka Bonzo)…Simply posting the link you posted here gets the point across and hopefully passes on the goal of trying to protect the fishery without laying a guilt trip on the person.
The more information discussed, the more knowledge shared. Most everybody here shares great fishing information without being condescending. That’s what attracted me to this forum.
IMO, Boga grips aren’t going anywhere soon until fishermen stop buying them. I don’t own one or have ever used one…I prefer guessing the weight unless the fish is riding home with me. My wife keeps asking me what that smell is on her bathroom scale…
The first fish I caught fishing salt water was a sail. Blew my mind, wasn’t even out trolling for them. I had no idea all the hoopla around harvesting a billfish until that catch and a pic. Would of released the poor guy boat side but he hit the lure so hard he had one hook thru his lower jaw and the other down in his gills and was bleeding pretty bad. We pulled him in the boat to try and get it out and he bleed out in the process. Got a pic and we harvested it. All around the world they eat sail fish. Supposedly its good if smoked. Yet you get here to the states and its a 50/50 split on who you talk to on if your a terrible person or not for taking one. Im not one to let my catch go to waste.