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MD Rockfish Regulations Finally Out

19K views 107 replies 18 participants last post by  Windrift00 
#1 ·
http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/fishing/

Opening Days April 18 through May 15 only one allowed at 28"-36" or over 40". I dunno the rationale for not keeping 37" through 40".

May 16 through May 31 for bay only, you can keep two 20" to 28", but one can be over 28". June 1 through December 15, bay fishing is extended to tributaries with the same rules.

Coastal fishing is very strict. Same all year, but you can only keep one at 28" or larger.

Happy striped bass fishing!
 
#2 ·
Strictly politics , the coastal guys fishing on the same fish we do in the spring went from 2 big fish (some states 3) down to one. New York is allowed a fish under 28 inches in the rivers. New Jersey is still allowed 2 big fish and you can still buy a bonus stamp (New Jersey really felt the pain huh) and all the states fought against MD bay /Va bay / Potomac river fisheries commission to prevent us from submitting our own data. If we could submit our data chances are our season and sizes would have remained the same as before. For those that it bothers support you local fisheries and contact the proper officials but do so with the proper background information. It's going to be an interesting ride this year but at least we can still catch them better than the Yankees ;)
 
#3 ·
If you care aboutg mercury/toxins, I would not keep a single fish over 36 inches. I wished it was 28-36 inches and a bonus stamp.
The idea is for some anglers to keep their once in a lifetime fish.

Bumping the original 18 inches to 20 inches minimum is a huge plus for the sake of conservation.
 
#7 ·
http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/fishing/

Opening Days April 18 through May 15 only one allowed at 28"-36" or over 40". I dunno the rationale for not keeping 37" through 40".

!
Be very careful with that 37". The reg says larger than 36" which means a whisker hair:D;) over 36" must be released. As far as the rational behind the >36" - 40" release it protects that class of fish for breading.
 
#10 ·
Hi,Sick of this ****.FACT! Shore fisherman do not come even close to what the commercial guys do.Who do you think fished out the stripers in the 70s and 80s commercial.They take tons of stripers in a day period ive seen it up close.If you do think sport fisherman are the cause your fn nutts and dont know **** about the fisheries and another your a commercial fisherman posting this bull**** or you work for one period!Im out tired of all the bull**** on here thats why alot of good people stopped posting on here.Yes DNR are looking for that money6 for the state again so guys lookout whisker hair means whisker hair
 
#11 ·
You might want to check the facts. Commercial fisherman take much less than the recreational fisherman. It is not commercial fisherman that are the main cause of the decline in the striper population today, it is the recreational fisherman. Commercial harvest as a percentage of total harvest has been in decline for years while the recreational harvest has grown.

John
 
#12 ·
Jlentz, you are talking to a brick wall. As long as you are pointing fingers at someone else, noone is looking back at you.

For the "if it wasn't for the netters crowd", according to the ASMFC website, rec harvest is ~19 million pounds (without properly accounting for release mortality) and commercial harvest is ~8 million pounds.
 
#14 ·
CJS I know it does no good and the facts do not mean much to some people but I would a least hope a few people can get a better understanding of the real situation. It is funny that stripeone comes on here with his rant and than he/she says a lot of good people stopped posting here because of the bull***. Maybe he/she will realize that people like him/her are the ones that are full of it and do not have the facts to back up their argument and they may be the real reason some of the good posters do not post on this site anymore.

John
 
#15 ·
What really bothers me is I was in Wegmans yesterday, There was a wild caught rock being displayed in the seafood section. This thing had to be 40 pounds. It was just laying on ice straight up. The fish was drying out and the skin just peeled off when I touched it. What a waste.
 
#20 ·
I'm very glad to be a member here where at least some of you guys understand the facts behind comm vs Rec fishing :)

Zam I know in MD it is 18-36 for comm rockfish but it very well may be different in the ocean or Virginia.
Tracker what color was the tag ? My Chesapeake itq tags are orange this year.
Catman I hope one day we get a good reporting system for Rec guys that has some kind of enforcement just like the comm and charter guys.

But who's ready for opening day ? I know I'm excited but i am already fantasizing about live lining. I picked up a few new st Croix ice rods to use on the boat this year should be fun for those that remember pinky
 
#22 ·
And then let's not forget all those poor 12-14" fish that are kept around MD in the summer. Fish that haven't even gotten a single spawn in.

Went by SPSP sat and there were a good 10 people out there but saw no action. Crazy hey are so late. I'm hoping they stay in the channels and get their spawn run done honestly.
 
#24 ·
You better check yourself Jlentz cause you havent got an fn clue prick.Everyone out here knows that the commercial fisherman have been a problem for years and still are FACT!.Its people like you that live on fantasy island somewhere and dont have a clue period.Ive been the commercial side and seen it with my own fn eyes.Wake up before long wont be know sport fishing because of them period
 
#30 ·
Jlentz your full of **** just like half the people on here.Boy things have changed on here in the last few years I remember all th eactual guys who fished and didnt post bull like sport fisherman take way more than commercial which everyone on here knows the truth.CJS your absolutely right dude you know the facts to and seen them.Its people like Lentz who ruins **** for others.And here ill even give you my real name lentz LEE!And most good people around this whole area know me as one hell of a fisherman and i know my ****,Commercial ruins the fisheries period
A load of BS
Please drop the name calling and post facts disputing what I and others have said in this thread.

John
 
#25 ·
Jlentz your full of **** just like half the people on here.Boy things have changed on here in the last few years I remember all th eactual guys who fished and didnt post bull like sport fisherman take way more than commercial which everyone on here knows the truth.CJS your absolutely right dude you know the facts to and seen them.Its people like Lentz who ruins **** for others.And here ill even give you my real name lentz LEE!And most good people around this whole area know me as one hell of a fisherman and i know my ****,Commercial ruins the fisheries period
 
#32 ·
A load of BS
Since you do not understand the facts that have been posted I will try to clarify them for you. Maybe you both missed the day of school back in third grade when the teacher explained greater than and less than so a short lesson is in order for you. I will try to explain it the best way I think you will understand. The greater than sign (>) signifies that the number to the left is greater than(larger) than the number to the right. The less than sign(<) signifies that the number to the left is less than(smaller) than the number to the right. The way it was explained to me many years back may help you understand, think of the sign as the open mouth of an alligator, do you see the resemblance? Now imagine that the alligator when he is hungry wants to eat the largest meal possible. So if you look at the the open part of the sign imagine the alligator going after the larger thing. Are you two following me? Ok a few examples to see if you understand the basics 2>1, 3<5. Are you two still with me? Ok so now for some data relevant to the topic of this thread

The striped bass commercial harvest steadily grew from 3.4 million pounds in 1995 to peak at over 7 million pounds in 2003. Commercial harvest of the species since 2004 has averaged around 7 million pounds per year. Gill nets are the dominant commercial gear used to target striped bass. Other commercial fishing gears include hook and line, pound nets, seines, and trawls.

As the saltwater recreational fishing sector has grown, so has the popularity of striped bass. The recreational sector now accounts for a larger portion of the total harvest than the commercial sector. Recreational harvest has grown steadily since the reopening of many state fisheries in 1990, with landings of 19 million pounds in 2012.

Here is the link if you would like to verify the quote.
http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-striped-bass

I cited this article in a previous thread and the one arguing with me, I think his user name was StriperslayerG1 seems to have disappeared once the facts were presented. He is probably still curled up in the corner of his mothers basement in the fetal position shivering and sucking his thumb crying out "mama mama" after he was defeated by actual data. You should see from the article I quoted that from 2003 to 2012 the recreational harvest has grown to 19 million pounds while at the same time all commercial harvest (hook and line, gill net, pound nets seines and trawls) grew from 3.4 million pounds in 1995 to 7 million pounds and has averaged that number since then.

Ok back to the math lesson. So from the data provided all commercial harvest is 7 million lbs and recreational harvest is 19 million lbs. Which one do you two think is the larger number? Is 7 million lbs greater than 19 million lbs? Thinks of the hungry alligator, I am am sure you two can figure this out. I hope you got the answer correct the alligator would go for the 19 million lbs of recreationaly harvested fish as opposed to the 7 million lbs of commercially harvested fish. So 19 million lbs > 7 million lbs so you could say recreational harvest > commercial harvest. Enlightening isn't it.

Striperone I am glad that most good people around the area know as one hell of a fisherman. More pertaining to the discussion at hand I would be more curious as to those same peoples opinion of your reading, writing and comprehension skills. Please present any data you have that contradicts what I and others have posted. Be sure to cite your sources and since you lack proper etiquette and communication skills I would be glad to present the data at the next ASMFC conference on your behalf.

John
 
#31 ·
Have yall never gone out on the bay and watched the rec chartered boats? they hammer the fish HARD all day long running 2 trips a day with 8-10 people a trip. That is 40 fish a day per boat right there alone. and the way they handle the poor fish, rip the hooks out of them and toss em over the side fast as possible to get the lines back in the water.
 
#33 ·
Guys let not forget he witnessed it first hand ! Unfortunately I am lead to believe he was working for one of the crooks who decided checking in his fish was not a worthy cause or possibly the idea of catching the fish in one day vs spreading it out over a year just didn't add up.
 
#34 ·
The ASMFC is dominated by commercial interests and that pie chart above is the biggest piece of junk science out there. You guys really believe what they are saying? I, nor anyone I know has never been asked by a Government official "what did you catch?". Yet they know how much we caught, kept and released.

For example, their official stance on menhaden is that they are not overfished. Anyone who has been around more than a couple decades knows that is BS. I see Omega has folks on their board. Hmmmm.
 
#35 ·
Since it is junk science what else out there is better? For the sake of discussion exactly what problem do you see in their data collection and analysis? What would you do to improve the random surveys, catch reports, MRIP, and VTR data collection and analysis? There is no perfect way to get the exact numbers but what the science does is make the best educated guess on the data they have. I have been surveyed and many other I know have also.

John
 
#36 ·
Since it is junk science what else out there is better? How bout surveying everyone when they buy a license online? For the sake of discussion exactly what problem do you see in their data collection and analysis? Way too small of a sample sizeWhat would you do to improve the random surveys, catch reports, MRIP, and VTR data collection and analysis? See aboveThere is no perfect way to get the exact numbers but what the science does is make the best educated guess on the data they have. I have been surveyed and many other I know have also.

My suggestions are simple, cheap and straight forward...but won't be implemented because it puts the resources first and the comms second. Yeah, only 4% dead discards by comms. Please.
 
#37 ·
Who is going to pay for the surveys of everyone? The time involved not just in collecting the data but processing it also. You mention surveying someone when they buy a license who will pay the tackle store selling the licenses for the time involved. Right now selling a license there is very little profit margins. Will it be included in the license fee? If so the price of a license is going to skyrocket or will it be an increase in the excise tax on sporting equipment. Of course it would be great to survey everyone but it currently is not economically feasible. A lot of scientific studies rely on samples and fisheries management follows suit.

John
 
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