09-03-2007, 11:09 PM
[black][size 4]Normally when I fish Strawberry, I'm in a k'boat fishing flies, and a decent release with a low mortality rate is assured - proper handling is a must of course, net in the water, hemostats, the whole drill....
However, my wife absolutely loves to fish and really wanted to visit the 'Berry and do some jig fishing. So off we went on Sunday for our 1st experience at Strawberry besides flyfishing...
We launched at 7:00am (cold!!!) and headed over to the Chicken Creek area to join the rest of the flotilla. We caught quite a number of fish, however:
- We were fishing 3" curlytail grubs "sweetened" with a bit of worm and several cutts ("bigmouth" trout) inhaled the jigs into the gill area - DEEP. These were 1/4 & 3/8 jigheads (depending on depth) so leaving them in the fish was just as deadly as extracting them. We watched as they spiraled into the depths despite prolonged resuscitation.
- The boats around us were practicing horrendous release methods. MANY fish were hoisted on a scale for pictures, left to flop around in the bottom of the boat for prolonged periods, or simply squeezed to death while extracting the bait. In all fairness, there were a couple of boats "doing it right".
I'm not the puritanical catch-and-release freak, as we love eating wipers from WB as well as a few trout her and there, but we're wondering what the Game & Fish guys were thinking on these regs!!! And yes, I worked hard to keep the net in the water and attempt a decent release on EVERY fish.
The Wifey is a true sportsman and has been all of her life (she's landed as many wipers as alot of you). Killing fish without even having the chance to eat or let them go safely really bothered her. She's refusing to fish Strawberry again.
Maybe a two fish limit - regardless of size.
Maybe fly fishing only (gasp!!!).
I realize it's my choice whether to use bait or not, but we were going on information from others and didn't expect the high mortality rate or the rough handling we witnessed in the other boats. I switched to baitless jigs, but still had some fish hooked deep.
All I know is that, in my opinion, most fishermen out there were killing a full limit of fish - one way or another... Us included.
That's my rant. Deep breaths, deep breath...
W2D[/size][/black]
[signature]
However, my wife absolutely loves to fish and really wanted to visit the 'Berry and do some jig fishing. So off we went on Sunday for our 1st experience at Strawberry besides flyfishing...
We launched at 7:00am (cold!!!) and headed over to the Chicken Creek area to join the rest of the flotilla. We caught quite a number of fish, however:
- We were fishing 3" curlytail grubs "sweetened" with a bit of worm and several cutts ("bigmouth" trout) inhaled the jigs into the gill area - DEEP. These were 1/4 & 3/8 jigheads (depending on depth) so leaving them in the fish was just as deadly as extracting them. We watched as they spiraled into the depths despite prolonged resuscitation.
- The boats around us were practicing horrendous release methods. MANY fish were hoisted on a scale for pictures, left to flop around in the bottom of the boat for prolonged periods, or simply squeezed to death while extracting the bait. In all fairness, there were a couple of boats "doing it right".
I'm not the puritanical catch-and-release freak, as we love eating wipers from WB as well as a few trout her and there, but we're wondering what the Game & Fish guys were thinking on these regs!!! And yes, I worked hard to keep the net in the water and attempt a decent release on EVERY fish.
The Wifey is a true sportsman and has been all of her life (she's landed as many wipers as alot of you). Killing fish without even having the chance to eat or let them go safely really bothered her. She's refusing to fish Strawberry again.
Maybe a two fish limit - regardless of size.
Maybe fly fishing only (gasp!!!).
I realize it's my choice whether to use bait or not, but we were going on information from others and didn't expect the high mortality rate or the rough handling we witnessed in the other boats. I switched to baitless jigs, but still had some fish hooked deep.
All I know is that, in my opinion, most fishermen out there were killing a full limit of fish - one way or another... Us included.
That's my rant. Deep breaths, deep breath...
W2D[/size][/black]
[signature]