YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

[jbrob]

Do you use circles in your normal day to day fishing, or even in your non-tournament billfishing?

I try to use them whenever possible certainly for any type of non-trolling application and have used them in tournaments. They are jsut different and methods to use them will be developed.

[jbrob]

Its not circles we are against. It's because they are being shoved up our scuppers by a group that has no more business in our sport than I do growing potatoes in the mid west.

To ansswer your second part... Yes they will work on dinky baits with retarded pacific fish. Those letahrgic bucket mouthed wast coast sleepy buggers could be bowed on cue balls. They lack the speed agaility and finicky nature of our fish on the east coast. Again as you pointed out thats sails or a few stary marlin on small baiits not trolled large baits or baits with large lures over the top of them...

NMFS is supposed to be concerned with population maintenance. If 50% of the marlin hooked and released die then that is quite a loss. I have long contended that both commercial and recreational fishermen are going to have make a good deal of change in methods and habits if fish populations are going to be around.

Circle hooks ought to be voluntary but we ought to use them.

With the numbers of recreational fishermen around these days we are impacting the population of many species. Look what happened when bass tournaments stopped killing fish. There is no commercial market for them but if catch and realease had not been implemented there would be few left.

Maybe its not only being finicky but that there are just fewer of them.

[Murph]

With the numbers of recreational fishermen around these days we are impacting the population of many species. Look what happened when bass tournaments stopped killing fish. There is no commercial market for them but if catch and realease had not been implemented there would be few left.

Maybe its not only being finicky but that there are just fewer of them.

I have stayed out of these back and forths until now. C'mon man... there is a huge difference between bass and marlin. Everything from the breeding and success rate to the fact that a bass migrates like 1/1000 of a percent compared to pelagics. This conversation just went to crap.

[Deep C]

Maybe you don't mind being led around and told by the government what to do but I do. They directly impact how I feed my family. I use circles where circles will work. Some of their suggestions for their use are impractical. They will not work with all baits under all circumstance... Period friggin end!

Our fish has a different temperment. I have seen days with litterally hundreds of sailfish around my boat. They refuse trolled offering on a 10 : 1 ratio over live. If I go to live I use the circle. It works well. Our fish are finicky and fast. Not far and few between.

Again for dinks and live bait I strongly suggest that we do use circles. I do not however recommend their use in combo baits, lures or large baits such as macka and big split tails. I don't want Uncle Sam in my bedroom telling me what position I "Have" to use and I don't want them in my cockpit dictating to me what works or doesn't work or have to use when chasing multi million dollar purses...

[Squidnation]

Catch Limits: Effective January 1, 2007, the ICCAT recommendation to limit total marlin landings (tournament and non-tournament combined) to 250 fish per year will become a U.S. quota for the recreational fishery


This is a very important quota number hear. How do you account for the billfish kills. Must they be seen or just called in. I guaruntee some PETA sonofbitch is gonna call in 250 dead marlin a week before the WMO. Then what - we are fooked. What happens to the WMO, MA500 and PC Open.

[Deep C]

Although that number has been in place for some years and hasn't been a problem It could be now. Great observation there Ark... I'm on the phone with them right now, I'll bring that up...

[jbrob]

HELLO JBROB.......I'M NOT FOR SURE IF YOU WORK ON THE BIGEASY, ARE FAMILY OF THE BIG EASY.....OR DO YOU CHARTER THE BIG EASY....BUT YOU FOR CERTAIN ARE ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINION HERE....JUST AS I AM....SO FEEL FREE TO BLAST BACK

HERE IS A PHRASE FROM YOU ON FEB 12TH 2005: MY REMARKS ARE IN RED LETTERING

JBROB:After the disappointing commercial season in 2005 everywhere up and down the coast, I would think that some real thought should be given to giving bluefins a rest for a while. There is so much fishing pressure on them that a ban of taking them should be considered.

THE RUN-OFF CAUGHT 7 WHICH WAS MY PERSONAL HIGH BFT KILL FOR ONE SEASON......DOZENS LESS THAN ILLEGAL KILLS OF THE SPANISH , PORTUGEUSES BOATS IN THE MED'.......TRY RAISIN HELL AT THEM FOR A WHILE......AND DID YOU OR HAVE YOU PERSOANLLY SUPPORTED THE "WINTER BLUEFIN ASSOCIATION"....MANY VESSELS CAUGHT AS MANY AS 12, 13 FISH THIS SEASON......HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT MAYBE...MAYBE SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST KNOWLEDGE- POOR-BAD FISHERMEN? INCLUDING YOURS TRULY HERE....WHEN WE GO OFFSHORE AND FAIL TO CATCH...WE SAY THERE IS NO FISH....THATS A JOKE!! WE ARE JUST BAD FISHERMEN....IT MOTHERS NATURES WAY OF SAYING ; NOT TODAY PEOPLE!

JBROB:And this brings me to another point. This web site is call sport fishermen. What is sport' fishing? there is still too much emphasis on bringing em back and tossing em on the dock. I see pictures from the Oregon Inlet web site where they lay those striped bass on the dock every day, 12 or more. Now those stocks are in pretty good shape for now but its the mentality that has got to change. Too many "sport fishermen" are still substituting a day on the water as a trip to the fish market. with all of the fishing pressure its got to change to more catch and release, just like bass fishing and bill fishing.

......I QUESTION WHY YOU WOULD EVEN BOTHER TO JOIN SFC ....IT APPEARS YOU ARE SORT OF UNHAPPY HERE WITH US AND OUR MORBID WAYS OF TOSSIN THEM ON THE DOCK......YOU ARE RIGHT SIR.....IT'S A BLOODBATH SPORT...YOU LOVE IT...WE ALL DO ...DO NOT DENY IT.........YOU SIR HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY FISH I RELEASE...MEAT AND BILLS....I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A SHOW OF HANDS HOW MANY MEMBERS HERE HAVE KILLED A BILLFISH IN THE LAST 15 YEARS!!!! I HAVE TAKEN MAYBE 5 OR SIX AND HAVE FISHED MORE TOURNAMNETS THAN ANYONE ON THIS BOARD! AT THE SAME TIME . PORIONS OF MY MONEY HAVE GRACED THE CHARITIES OF SUCH TOURNAMENTS......PLEASE TELL THIS BOARD JUST WHAT YOU PERSONALLY HAVE DONE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE MARINE WORLD.....PLEASE SHARE SO THAT WE CAN ALL FOLLOW SUIT. TELL ME ONE BONA FIDE THING YOU HAVE DONE TO CONSERVE IN THE MARINE WORLD


JBROB: I see folks sack out 18 YFTs or around 800 lbs of fish. They pay 35 cents a pound to have it dressed, drag it home in coolers throw it in the freezer and next year throw more than half of it away. Now I know some people eat it all but I'll bet its damn few that do.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT HOW FAR THAT 35-45 CENT A POUND CLEANING FEE GOES? IT FEEDS A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE WAY OF BUYING GROCERIES!!!

I RECOMMEND WHEN YOU CHARTER FISH NEXT TIME TO INFORM THE CREW THAT YOUR PARTY ONLY WANTS ONE FISH PER PERSON.....THAT WILL HELP FOR CERTAIN IN KEEPING THE STOCKS UP....

HAVING REVIEWED YOUR POSTS ON SFC....I FEEL YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH US ...THE FISHING COMMUNITY ...AND SFC.....COME ON DUDE....LIFE IS GOOD....ROCK & ROLL A LITTLE.....SMILE EVERY NOW AND THEN.....SHOW US SOME COPIES OF YOUR PAST LETTERS TO CONGRESS COMPLAINING OF YOUR CONCERNS...YOUR REPRESENTATIVES....AND GIVE ME THE RESULTS OF YOUR AREA FISHING COMMISSION HEARINGS AND I'LL SHUT THE F -UP..........
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JBROB ...................................AND WAHOONBOX

Sportfishing to me is something done for recreation not some cult left over from the Papa Hemingway days of hanging up evert\ything yu catch. this site is more dedicated to those in the industry of sportfishing not sportfishing per se though some here exhibit the traits.

I still contend that laying 18 to twenty yellow fin tuna on the dock is a waste of the resource just like th 12 or so stripers a day.

As for me personally I do alert the captain that I want very few fish to take home, perhaps a meal or two and maybe two more for some friends of mine but one yellow fin of any size is enough. As for billfish I have killed one in 1979 and wish I had not killed that one, but ffrom the mid80s on no one brought in billfish so not killing em is nothing to brag on today. And I wonder how many of those fish that have been released on J-hooks have survived? Not as many for sure if they had been released using circles.

I am out of step with many of the folks here. I don't see anything cool about slabbing up large quantities of these fish. But when you are doing it for the money I can understand your viewpoint and respect it though I don't agree with it.