Quote:
Originally Posted by dakota560
~ 14 lb fish is a catch of a lifetime, congratulations to the angler. Fish Monger is a class operation in it's pwn category, should actually be required to have a commercial license with the amount of fish that hit her decks. Great job guys!
That being said, I don't understand keeping a trophy fish that size. It's a personal decision, and perfectly legal, I get that. BUT a fish that size is an old fish and true trophy. There are so many 3-5 lber's around this year which are more table worthy, why kill these monster fish? With the large rib cage black fish have, a fish that size doesn't yield much meat anyway. The Fall run has been tremendous, but with roller trawlers and fish traps these fish like all fish are under tremendous pressure. Like we're seeing with fluke and stripers, too many of the big females are being harvested and we're gambling with the future of the fishery. Can you imagine how great this fishery would be if fish over a certain length were returned. Catching a fish that size is what drives people who black fish to crazy extremes, keeping them and killing a fish which has taken forever to grow to that size for a picture back at the dock and an over-sized fillet at home doesn't do justice to a great adversary.
|
Dakata560, I reeled that beast up very slowly with every intention of sending it back. If you were there, you wouldn't have posted what you just did. Problem is that when the fish saw the boat, it pulled off 30' of a locked down Newell's 220 drag, which caused the injury to the bladder which you can see in the picture, as well as some internal bleeding around the gill.
You are 100% correct and I did try to send her back. Just would not have lived...
