^^^^^^
Agreed
There’s a difference between being needy and being greedy
Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
Those of you who are passionate about our redfish resource should take this subject very seriously and voice your concern. When we get past the ignorant trolls and view statewide the inshore populations from the perspective of the best guides and tournament fishermen in every area, action needs to be taken only when proper research and reasoning match up with differing fish population issues in different regions. Why are our “fish biologists” not on top of this? IMO, they are 10 years behind. I can only speak for myself, but my clients don’t care as a whole for keeping redfish when there are numerous other species that are readily available year round that are more palatable if a fresh fish meal is what they so desire. Inshore AND offshore red fishing is way off beyond the normal “5 year cycle.” Everyone’s story and experiences are different, and there are no right or wrong answers at this point. Statewide striper enthusiats were able to make a huge impact on legislation that has greatly helped their populations in the Santee system. That issue was fairly easy as compared to this one, but all concerns and input need to be heard nonetheless.
quote:How could they shutdown redfishing? Am I supposed to tell my mud minnow to not let a redfish eat him and only let Trout or a Flounder have that luxury?
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by izzydonequote:
Originally posted by yellabirdBag Limit goes from 3 to 2 with a boat limit of 6.
Slot Changes from 15-23 to 18-26
Gigging is banned for REDS ONLY.CCA and DNR seem to be in agreement on these changes. Just curious of your thoughts.
Thanks.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
I’m in favor of this, Mr. Goldfinch
However, is this just merely a Band-Aid to address the underlying issue for the decline in redfish? Short of having a closed season(s) and the state losing revenue from this fishery.Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
I don’t think anyone could fight the local guides outrage if you shut down spot tail fishing! A lot of money would be at stake if this was done.
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
I made my screen name because of how awesome it used to be to catch big reds. My first big big red was my biggest ever and it was something special and I still haven’t caught 1 as big. After my first monster red I could no longer fish cut shrimp on the bottom like I grew up on and I started fishing more than I used to. It was a Carolina rig or knocker rig and mullet for years. Now I’m into ultra light tackle and smaller reds and trout on artificials. I think my next move will be the fly rod and tailers. So I got about a decade of experience catching reds where I knew what I’m doing, not just soaking bait and hoping for something good.
Like 10 years ago I thought red fish numbers were way better than they used to be. It turned out I just got a lot better at red fishing. I imagine some people are in that same stage. I know I’m not nearly experienced or as good as a lot of you but I know enough to know we have a building problem. I honestly don’t know if I’ve kept a red fish at all this year. The last time I did that I remember was December 3rd of last year and the fish I kept were for someone who never gets on the water. I’m not against eating or keeping reds, I just leave them for some one who will appreciate and enjoy them more than me. I remember the way it use to feel when I first started catching nice fish and that’s the reason I release majority of my fish.
Like any problem, you need to find the cause before you take action. There are a number of possibilities that could be all contributing to the decline. Yes, stocking would help but I fear that 50 years from now that we will be like the nc trout fishery and have a majority of farm raised fish.
17’ Mako
16’ Alumacraft
quote:
Originally posted by 40inchredsI beleave we have far greater impact then people think weather it is negative or positive. We can easily out do nature meaning kill more than naturally produced or produce more than nature can support. The only solution that seems easy would to be have greater stocking efforts and funding. The flats I fish and area surrounding them no longer have good amount of dinks its mostly 18 to 36. Which would represent fish 2 to 6 years old. I never catch reds under 13 inches anymore. The next few years are gonna suck once the rest of those 18 to 36 inch fish get picked off and probably even worse later on if the stocks that are supposed to breed new stock are low. If they could double the cost of a fishing license to boost the stocking program it would be great. 20 bucks to fish all year is nothing. The fact that it only cost 10 bucks to fish all year is crazy, That’s the price of a fast food meal. That’s less then 3 cents a day. I think the funding could easily be gained. They could add a marine tax on all things marine related that goes to fund marine programs.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>This already exists and it’s called the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program - arguably one of the most successful conservation programs in history: https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/subpages/grantprograms/sfr/sfr.htm
quote:
Originally posted by izzydonequote:
Originally posted by yellabirdBag Limit goes from 3 to 2 with a boat limit of 6.
Slot Changes from 15-23 to 18-26
Gigging is banned for REDS ONLY.CCA and DNR seem to be in agreement on these changes. Just curious of your thoughts.
Thanks.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
I’m in favor of this, Mr. Goldfinch
However, is this just merely a Band-Aid to address the underlying issue for the decline in redfish? Short of having a closed season(s) and the state losing revenue from this fishery.Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
No, I think this is the right fix at the right time. The trick, in my opinion, is to be flexible enough to manage the species as needed, rather than stopping fishing all together in anticipation of future problems. It’s a constant battle between these two countervailing theories, but I think our rights (and they are a right in SC) to hunt and fish should be HEAVILY weighed. With that said, if SC’s population continues to rise at this rate, and there’s a proportionate number of people fishing, we’ll have to figure out a better way to manage this, and other species going forward. Thanks for your question.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
quote:
Originally posted by yellabird With that said, if SC's population continues to rise at this rate, and there's a proportionate number of people fishing, we'll have to figure out a better way to manage this, and other species going forward.
Yes, and PROactively, not REactively. See what happened to Cobia in the Broad and St. Helena sounds when action was not taken fast enough.
IMO, it might be difficult and time consuming for the (underfunded) SCDNR to determine causation of the decline, but a quick lever that can be pulled is to reduce the creel by 33% as is being proposed. I’m also in favor of increasing stocking effort and would be very willing to contribute $ to it personally, as would Eye Strike fishing.
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.eyestrikefishing.com #predatorsstriketheeye
To clarify I’m in favor of limit reduction which will help curb the decline but it won’t help boost the recovery enough to have a significant impact in my opinion. The small population numbers left with a lower limit is no different to me then a larger population number with a higher limit. Not real numbers but this is just the way I think of that. 99 and we are allowed to keep 3 gets dwindled to 66 and we are allowed to keep 2 we are still facing the same or similar rate of decline. I know it is a lot slower decline than 66 and being allowed to keep 3 and is the easiest and cheapest immediate fix (yes I’m for it) but its gonna take way more than that to actually start having any rate of recovery instead of just slowing the decline. We can’t make nature produce more but we can produce more for nature. I think some factors are out of our hands but across many industries we produce what we need to for fill our needs and rapid rate of consumption. A higher level of awareness will help as well, I was never told or taught about fishery management and sustainable practices when I started fishing.
Take it from an old timer,there’s some gill netting going on in the ACE basin.Nobody around to catch them.By the way, I would be happy with the new regulations.
I’m in favor of as many types of gigging being banned as possible.
No matter how many variables I have control over, I never expect a bite. I only hope.
If we had some wardens like E Mitchum,E Tairney,V Lincoln and even ole Hiott before he got caught with the hookers , the outlaws would be scared to bring illegal fish to the hill. Those guys would break down a boat and find them.Also a lot of illegal fish being kept by dock fishermen and bank fishermen. Hard to catch unless you have the grit to do it. I would be fine with the shutdown of keeping spotail and see what happens.If this happens,it should be unlawful to remove fish from the water.
quote:
Originally posted by CaptFritzquote:How could they shutdown redfishing? Am I supposed to tell my mud minnow to not let a redfish eat him and only let Trout or a Flounder have that luxury?
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by izzydonequote:
Originally posted by yellabirdBag Limit goes from 3 to 2 with a boat limit of 6.
Slot Changes from 15-23 to 18-26
Gigging is banned for REDS ONLY.CCA and DNR seem to be in agreement on these changes. Just curious of your thoughts.
Thanks.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
I’m in favor of this, Mr. Goldfinch
However, is this just merely a Band-Aid to address the underlying issue for the decline in redfish? Short of having a closed season(s) and the state losing revenue from this fishery.Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
I don’t think anyone could fight the local guides outrage if you shut down spot tail fishing! A lot of money would be at stake if this was done.
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
Same as they shut down cobia and ARS. Then make it i
A couple of links are below. If you scroll down to the middle of the ASMFC link you get a couple of pages of graphs and numbers for red drum.
http://www.asmfc.org/files/pub/ASMFC_StockStatus_August2017.pdf
Sea Hunt 207CC,Yam F150
Carolina Skiff (old school model)17’ Suz D50
I’m in favor of the bag limit reduction, but unfortunately, that’s probably not going to fix whatever is going on with our red drum stocks. I have a feeling that the issue is a combination of water quality/pollution/runoff, habitat loss, increased fishing pressure on sexually mature fish/spawning disruption, increased fishing pressure/boat traffic (in some areas), etc. It’s a shame that we don’t have the resources to fully research this, though I’m afraid a lot of us wouldn’t like the answers to these questions…
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by CaptFritzquote:How could they shutdown redfishing? Am I supposed to tell my mud minnow to not let a redfish eat him and only let Trout or a Flounder have that luxury?
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by izzydonequote:
Originally posted by yellabirdBag Limit goes from 3 to 2 with a boat limit of 6.
Slot Changes from 15-23 to 18-26
Gigging is banned for REDS ONLY.CCA and DNR seem to be in agreement on these changes. Just curious of your thoughts.
Thanks.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
I’m in favor of this, Mr. Goldfinch
However, is this just merely a Band-Aid to address the underlying issue for the decline in redfish? Short of having a closed season(s) and the state losing revenue from this fishery.Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
I don’t think anyone could fight the local guides outrage if you shut down spot tail fishing! A lot of money would be at stake if this was done.
After being released, a lot of fish die, bu
quote:I would be fine with it. I'm mostly catch and release, I know that bothers you but I'm ok with it.
Originally posted by CaptFritz .
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
[/quote]
You know little about me. I grew up in times that meant to go fishing was to provide food for the family. I don’t have the leisure time to just catch a fish and let it go, I know not all fish released make it. Many are not as good at you in getting them ALL back in the water alive. Catch em, and let em go it does not bother me. It seems you may have changed a good deal from your earlier client’s pictures bear hugging the big breeders. I guess some people learn, usually too late when it comes to our environment and its resources.
When I go and get a limit, I quit fishing even if the bite is on fire. I don’t stay in a spot taking as many from a school as I can just to let em go and I never target a fish that I can’t keep.
I know that some folks keep as many as the can catch, and any size, don’t think this is not happening! How many times have ya’ll be checked? I have fished the coast for well over 50 years and have been checked one time at the ramp at bulls bay. Just because the law is 2 fish at 26" doesn’t mean it will be obayed. No one has mentioned flipper and the dammage he does to reds in cold water. I have seen it happen many times!
I would like to see an open season on flipper.I would put some buckshot into anything that messes with my precious carp.
Thanks boat poor for backing me up on all the outlaws out there. I told my boys and their buddies that I’m calling Ogt on there a$$.When I did it ,there weren’t no laws regarding saltwater.Now I enjoy catching and releasing,then going to captain ds .