last minute desc. to go out.Went to close reef.150 bsb.4keepers,about 50 @ 11" seems like every time i take people out they want to keep everything and i have to raise hell evenif they are 1/2"too small.I would love to keep them but it aint legal,there is a reason for limits,also had 4 nice sheepies.Tried to talk party in to going out more(Betsy Ross)since it was a hellava nice day.noooooooooooooooooo lets stay here.Don’t see it that slick this offen,did not get in water til 12,out by 5,Hope ya"ll have a good new year,read this post every day,i live in Lexington,but have a Bussiness in Hilton Head,Have a place out of Lobeco close to h2o,Commute every weekend home since 1979
Even the 12" Cbass don’t have much meat on them. Glad you got out and had a good time.
GW 205
F200 Yam
way to keep everybody honest out there dmiller- seems like those 11 3/4" BSBs make up the majority of the population… which argues that you’re doing the right thing throwing 'em back! a 12" may not have much meat on it, but it’s way more than those 8" that were legal 15 or 20 years ago!
hoping to try for a limit for the freezer tomorrow… good luck to all!
it is eye-opening how quickly the average size has increased since the size limit was increased from 10" to 12". commercial guys can still harvest 10" fish.
on my boat we don’t keep anything smaller than a fat 13".
i would not be opposed to the size limit being raised to 15" for all anglers. it wouldn’t take long for the fish to grow.
folly basser
I like to put into perspective for them… Remind them, that the fine is up to $450 and\or 30 days in jail PER FISH… So, if they want to keep 10 short fish, it could cost them almost a year in jail and $4500 in fines. Usually when you put it that way to them, they are more than happy to throw them back. I also like to say that we are only splitting up the cost of gas, not fines… If they still have a problem with it, don’t invite them back…
quote:
Originally posted by folly basserit is eye-opening how quickly the average size has increased since the size limit was increased from 10" to 12". commercial guys can still harvest 10" fish.
on my boat we don’t keep anything smaller than a fat 13".
i would not be opposed to the size limit being raised to 15" for all anglers. it wouldn’t take long for the fish to grow.folly basser
I agree with you here. I know my trip we caught a lot of 11 3/4" fish…If it was definitely (without squeezing) 12", it went in the box…I hope to change that style the next time I go out…I would be GREAT one day to limit your box on 16" bsb…that’s some good eatin even though not much meat!
1996 21’ TROPHY
1996 150 MARINER
quote:
i would not be opposed to the size limit being raised to 15" for all anglers.
folly, i would happily support a move for that as well. quick turnover on a hermaphroditic population… with an across-the-board 12" limit we should see a pretty excellent pop increase, because theoretically all the fish are recruited to the “adult” male population at that point (we’ve been driving down the average size at maturity with selective fishing pressure for at least 20 years now). but getting commercial regs like that would decrease the meat take on a lot of boats… and there do seem to be a lot of 10 inchers out there.
quote:
I like to put into perspective for them... Remind them, that the fine is up to $450 and\or 30 days in jail PER FISH... If they still have a problem with it, don't invite them back...
skinnee, the prospect of jail time (albeit weakly enforced on the water) is certainly enough to keep most people abiding by the regs. it also quickly thins the potential pool of mates for anyone lucky/good enough to have an offshore rig 