bodacious sportfishing on monday 3/13

[tom a]

3 buddies and me chartered capt. tim on his 23' center console for a day on the bay. limited out with a throw back drum. drum was appx. 20''. beautiful day with lots of ball bustin. had a blast........thanks tim!:bow:

[BILLO]

3 buddies and me chartered capt. tim on his 23' center console for a day on the bay. limited out with a throw back drum. drum was appx. 20''. beautiful day with lots of ball bustin. had a blast........thanks tim!:bow:

Throw back Drum ? WAS 16 inches - with changes pending for this year - what did it change to ?

[phish4fun]

Did you mean 4-13?

[tom a]

was 4/13............sorry

[madsun]

Jeff at Port Norris did mention you guys were out there, congrats on a fun and productive trip..

[Burt308]

It is legal to keep, but I would hope you throw a 20" drum back. THATS TINY.:naughty:

[Bodacious sportfishing]

Drum fish are set at 16" to be legal.Most charter captains have gotten together and we have been setting our boat limits at 30".These fish grow to over a 100lbs why would you kill something when its just a baby?We as captains would apreciate everyone joining in on this new limit.Thanks

[rbatt]

Hats off to Capt.

[rbatt]

Hats off to you Capt. is what I meant

[BILLO]

Drum fish are set at 16" to be legal.Most charter captains have gotten together and we have been setting our boat limits at 30".These fish grow to over a 100lbs why would you kill something when its just a baby?We as captains would apreciate everyone joining in on this new limit.Thanks

Funny how things changed - in the 70's & 80's the Fortescue Fleet would nail the Puppy Drum every September. Limits are limits - Guess you all will throw back all the 18 inch flounder caught this year and all the 28 inch stripers- and we should throw back the Del.and Pa. river stripers that have a slot of 20" to 26" keeper stripers in April & May -- since they are mostly non-spawning-age males? BUT I thought everyone was releasing the big - spawning age Fish. Not trying to bust em here - but seems that keeping a 60- 80 lb. Spawning-age drum (how much fresh drum meat can you eat)? and releasing a more than legal size 20 inch drum is arsebackwards?:confused:

[jimmijacks]

BILLO, there are folks on here who also have a boat rule for one yellow fin tuna per person, Hey its their boat let em make their rules, more fish for me to keep and eat, lol....Besides its up to the educated judgment of the fisherman who catches the fish to decide what to do with it. Ive thrown back keeper fish just cause my freezer was full and noone else on the boat wanted to keep it. I will never judge a person for keeping a legal fish if they are gonna eat it or mount it, just as i will never judge a man who throws it back to be caught anotherday.

[BILLO]

BILLO, there are folks on here who also have a boat rule for one yellow fin tuna per person, Hey its their boat let em make their rules, more fish for me to keep and eat, lol....Besides its up to the educated judgment of the fisherman who catches the fish to decide what to do with it. Ive thrown back keeper fish just cause my freezer was full and noone else on the boat wanted to keep it. I will never judge a person for keeping a legal fish if they are gonna eat it or mount it, just as i will never judge a man who throws it back to be caught anotherday.

Like i said - wasn't trying to bust anyones' b@%$ and definitely not judging - We used to keep the puppy drum and they were damn good eating - i'm just saying that to me it would make more sense to release the big breeders which is what a lot of boats are doing. I'd rather have a picture of a BIG fish than eat or mount it - put it back to make more fish!

[jimmijacks]

I agree BILLO, the big ones dont taste as good to me. If i catch a big one i snap a photo and let em go.

[BILLO]

I agree BILLO, the big ones dont taste as good to me. If i catch a big one i snap a photo and let em go.

With the stresses of fishing populations on the decline - we need the big breeders back in the water - we are running out of time to let the smaller fish grow to become breeders- we need all the breeders we can muster NOW to keep the stocks from collapsing further and further. Considering THAT state of affairs(declining populations) Keep,enjoy,eat the smaller-more-than-legal size fish. Let the big ole fat ones do their thing NOW - before it's too late !:cool: