Striped Bass Release Mortality Revised

[Gerry Zagorski]

From 9% down to 4.6 to 4.2%

https://www.saltwaterguidesassociation.com/release-mortality-revisited-new-research-from-massachusetts-dmf/

[AndyS]

Personally not a fan of treble hooks, especially in freshwater. No reason not to press down the barbs on treble hooks.

[Broad Bill]

From 9% down to 4.6 to 4.2%

https://www.saltwaterguidesassociation.com/release-mortality-revisited-new-research-from-massachusetts-dmf/

I guarantee with fluke and most people using bucktails these days, discard mortality is just as overstated. Dramatically overstating recreational discard mortality rates, drastically understating commercial discard mortality levels and using weight factors as I've previously mentioned for the commercial sector half of those used for the recreational sector essentially double the commercial sector's quota from what's assigned and published by NMFS.

[bulletbob]

Personally not a fan of treble hooks, especially in freshwater. No reason not to press down the barbs on treble hooks.

agreed.. any lure I have that has a treble I either bend one barb down, or snip it off, leaving me with a tandem hook [or two on some plugs].. In the many decades I have been doing this, I have never once felt at a disadvantage, or felt I was "missing" strikes.. When it comes to releasing the fish, it is way easier to unhook a tandem instead of a treble, almost as easy as unpinning a single hook.. I wish lure makers would start using twin hooks instead of trebles on plugs, spinners,spoons etc....

[Smach7]

Trying to get the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to review, acknowledge, and accept the results of this study is a tremendous hurdle. They remain stuck on their 9% mortality number. They have not accounted for the positive decrease in Striped Bass mortality associated with the mandatory use of circle hooks, the "Emergency Action" of several years ago that reduced the "slot size" for taking of Striped Bass to 28" to 31", and other factors.

[Ol Pedro]

Personally not a fan of treble hooks, especially in freshwater. No reason not to press down the barbs on treble hooks.

I just change out to single hooks on my Striper lures even on crocs and plugs. We have been doing this since well before the circle hook mandate . Also hate the tube hooks on diamond jigs and fish them naked with a gami. I don't generally fish bait/live Bunker for Stripers. Snag and drop techniques were killing a lot of fish. I hated having to unhook throated bass knowing that they were going back to possibly die. Glad that it's not legal now. Releasing lip hooked fish on a single hook is a lot easier than trebles. four out of five times that I have been badly stuck beyond the barb was with trebles.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Trying to get the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to review, acknowledge, and accept the results of this study is a tremendous hurdle. They remain stuck on their 9% mortality number. They have not accounted for the positive decrease in Striped Bass mortality associated with the mandatory use of circle hooks, the "Emergency Action" of several years ago that reduced the "slot size" for taking of Striped Bass to 28" to 31", and other factors.

I hear you Smach!

It's human nature to be defensive of your past positions and decisions. Same thing happened to the fluke size/sex study several years ago.. A science based study paid for by the Save The Summer Flounder Fishery Fund and it was met with a ton of resistance https://www.ssfff.org/id54.html

Bottom line it's not about who's wrong or right, it's about getting it right to preserve and manage this resource.