I know it’s once s year but some of the pictures of dolphin with numbers looks like a lot small ones. Not trying to start a ethics convention but why keep the small ones since there isn’t much meat on them? Aren’t they supposed to double in size each week or something like that? Is it just to say you caught big numbers? Or am I missing something?
No point. Keep them all. They wiped the yellowfin in the late 90s. Love the fish but invasive. Late 90s YFT were the catch de joure. Dolphin were a nice surprise. Boy have times changed.
BW2150. Terrible response.
Sadly there is quite a lack of awareness on how the ecosystem works. We absolutely need to be releasing the small fish. What is the point of keeping a dolphin 24’’ and under? There is barely any meat on that fish and it will continue to grow quickly and hopefully reproduce before it is eaten in the food chain or caught by a human. The dolphin numbers have been off and last year especially was one of the worst years of fish through Don Hammonds extremely detailed catch history. The ocean is being overfished worldwide while simultaneously being destroyed by every type of human pollution and poison. Every fish that we eat has plastic and toxins in it. We are eating our own pollution. Does that register?
Fishing is about food and connection to nature. If you don’t have a basic understanding of sustainability and what the “big picture” looks like then you shouldn’t be out there. You should go to KFC and eat some chicken, drink a liter cola, and go home to watch the various “news” broadcasts on your 60’’ Television.
Tjackson…Sustainability and common sense reason…for the win
I do not report anymore but I believe in only keeping enough fish to eat before spoiling and maybe freeze a small portion. In the few recent fishing trips over the past two weeks we have released as many if not more fish than we have kept. Very large( big bull dolphin) and small fish in their category are released on my boat due to either the quality of meat or lack thereof.
-Miscellaneous boats
“Everybody dances when shotgun sings” Stewart and Winfield
I don’t see any point in keeping small fish, it is wrong to not let them grow. Thinking like that is stupid.
Go to Miami/the keys and those folks will show you what a small dolphin looks like.
Where are the pics with the small ones? I looked at the first 8 or 10 threads and didn’t see any.
tjackson.
- Some of that nonsense is (Some/ Not All) charter captains wanting to get on the radio and brag about how many are in the box. That is how they get business.
- At times you can have a little guy swallow a hook and end up in the box.
3)Some people are just ignorant.
No peanuts go home on our boat. I don’t get it.
Most fish die when you release them according to some folks on this site.
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
quote:
Originally posted by salty849Go to Miami/the keys and those folks will show you what a small dolphin looks like.
I’ve seen some of the babies the charters let the tourist keep down there. I believe you could put them in a small aquarium. Get more meat off a tittie bream.
quote:
Originally posted by CaptFritzMost fish die when you release them according to some folks on this site.
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
oh my, I think you may have exaggerated just a tad on that one. You and I both being true conservationists know many fish Do die after release. We also know that some die after being hooked before they even make it to the boat. 
quote:Show me the data and facts! The laws today are such a mess because so many were made on "feelings" Mahi are a world wide species - What happens off SC is spit in the ocean!
Originally posted by FishnBarrelsBW2150. Terrible response.
Sadly there is quite a lack of awareness on how the ecosystem works. We absolutely need to be releasing the small fish. What is the point of keeping a dolphin 24’’ and under? There is barely any meat on that fish and it will continue to grow quickly and hopefully reproduce before it is eaten in the food chain or caught by a human. The dolphin numbers have been off and last year especially was one of the worst years of fish through Don Hammonds extremely detailed catch history. The ocean is being overfished worldwide while simultaneously being destroyed by every type of human pollution and poison. Every fish that we eat has plastic and toxins in it. We are eating our own pollution. Does that register?
Fishing is about food and connection to nature. If you don’t have a basic understanding of sustainability and what the “big picture” looks like then you shouldn’t be out there. You should go to KFC and eat some chicken, drink a liter cola, and go home to watch the various “news” broadcasts on your 60’’ Television.
Tjackson…Sustainability and common sense reason…for the win
Hey Jacko,what do you feel is a good minimum size? I don’t want to be known as a small fish keeper.Maybe scdnr should start a dolphin tag program,then these guys wouldn’t waste a tag on a small one.We could start the Quality Dolphin Management Association!
I don’t like to keep a smaller (legal) fish but if it’s not my boat, I let the Capt decide (unless he ‘jumps’ out of my hands and lands back in the water). Even those smaller schoolies are always full of eggs, so in my opinion, it’s not a bad idea to release those small cows so they can do their job of trying to repopulate. Can’t remember where I read it (probably Don Hammonds dolphin research newsletter, which by the way, is a great program to financially support), but there was some statistic on the number of eggs a cow produces in her first year of life and the number was amazing, in the several millions.
So, I think that the trade off that you get in meat off a 2-3lb fish compared to what she could do in terms of egg production if released, isn’t really worth it to the fisherman. I’d rather keep that 10lb cow that’s been producing millions of eggs for a year than a 2lb that gives me 2 tiny pieces of meat and has barely got started reproducing.
2016 Boston Whaler 230 Vantage w/300 Merc Verado
I like to keep small bulls for swimming baits:
They pull like a split tail mullet…not Freds’ hair style.
quote:
Originally posted by mdaddyI like to keep small bulls for swimming baits:
They pull like a split tail mullet…not Freds’ hair style.
LOL.
I think that’s a baby girl fish…
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by mdaddyI like to keep small bulls for swimming baits:
They pull like a split tail mullet…not Freds’ hair style.
LOL.
I think that’s a baby girl fish…
The mouth is closed.
If I have to measure a fish to see if it’s legal it goes back. The weather only allows me to make a couple of dolphin trips each year anyway and they do freeze well if properly handled, so keeping some smaller fish, under 30", is not a problem. And as noted in earlier post, the species reproduce and grow extremely fast.
As for studies, I as a scientist myself, know results can be misleading. So during years when the wind won’t stop blowing in the spring and catch numbers are low, does that mean dolphin don’t survive well in rough seas or that their number are low due to overfishing? I don’t think so. Just not many folks can get out to fish for them. This said realizing our resources are limited and should be properly regulated.
Olde Man Charters
843-478-1538
Oldemancharters@gmail.com
286 Seafox/Twin 300’s
quote:
Originally posted by sulcatamanIf I have to measure a fish to see if it’s legal it goes back. The weather only allows me to make a couple of dolphin trips each year anyway and they do freeze well if properly handled, so keeping some smaller fish, under 30", is not a problem. And as noted in earlier post, the species reproduce and grow extremely fast.
As for studies, I as a scientist myself, know results can be misleading. So during years when the wind won’t stop blowing in the spring and catch numbers are low, does that mean dolphin don’t survive well in rough seas or that their number are low due to overfishing? I don’t think so. Just not many folks can get out to fish for them. This said realizing our resources are limited and should be properly regulated.
Olde Man Charters
843-478-1538
Oldemancharters@gmail.com
286 Seafox/Twin 300’s
A lot of these fish are running the gauntlet from the Bahamas into the stream and then up the Atlantic coast. Just because conditions here don’t let us get out a lot of times during the run, they may get up to NC and get hammered by those guys. But, I think most would agree that the amount of meat on a female peanut is hardly worth the cleaning effort when that fish could be released to produce several millions eggs.
2016 Boston Whaler 230 Vantage w/300 Merc Verado
I guarantee there are just as many passing by us on the east side of the stream so I don’t feel bad keeping any legal fish on this side.