Keeping Fish

[D3NAL1]

Do you ever see any cobia around your fishing spots here in MD? Always wanted to catch one. John (silasvirus) and I may be making a trip down to you sometime in the next month or so, will keep you posted. Looking forward to fishing with you in some new (to me) waters.

Cobia were out by the target ship last year

[D3NAL1]

Okay guys, I have my Hobie Outback all rigged up and ready for Rock season. I just have one small question. After you catch a big old pig of a rock, how do you transport/store it for the journey back?? Now I'm not talking little 25" and under. I'm talking about the big boys. So if you can share some insight or even a pic or two that would be great.

Back to your original question. I use my newly found stringer. Havent had any problem yet. This is why i dont post much on this site. Too many people will advise you to let it go. For me, nothing goes wasted. I dont only target rockfish, i fish year round in my yak. Some people only target rockfish, then complain about people keeping them. Cant keep everybody happy.

[yakscientist]

I go to great lengths to release just about all my fish...usually fill my freezer with keepers by June and the rest of the year it is all C&R...barbless hooks makes it a lot easier...and I swap out my trebles for single replacement hooks...I have a rope stringer with galvanized steel hooks (10)...love really big white perch for the table- 12-14 inch perch are the best...and I do not keep any fish over 30 inches...except one...love me some Cobia...absolute yumm no matter how big they get- my personal best is a 60 pound cobia...caught off Rodanthe Fishing pier...and it was really great table fare- as good as any...that and big mahi-mahi ...

Do you ever see any cobia around your fishing spots here in MD? Always wanted to catch one. John (silasvirus) and I may be making a trip down to you sometime in the next month or so, will keep you posted. Looking forward to fishing with you in some new (to me) waters.

[ronaultmtd]

I go to great lengths to release just about all my fish...usually fill my freezer with keepers by June and the rest of the year it is all C&R...barbless hooks makes it a lot easier...and I swap out my trebles for single replacement hooks...I have a rope stringer with galvanized steel hooks (10)...love really big white perch for the table- 12-14 inch perch are the best...and I do not keep any fish over 30 inches...except one...love me some Cobia...absolute yumm no matter how big they get- my personal best is a 60 pound cobia...caught off Rodanthe Fishing pier...and it was really great table fare- as good as any...that and big mahi-mahi ...

[kuljc]

Seems like you got a lot of opinions... not about transporting fish...

If you ever go down to FL to fish the pelagics they use one of the very large cooler bags that strap to the front of the yak. You can look some up by Reliable Fishing or ice Mule. if the fish doesn't fit, just leave the tail hanging out. But these get expensive, and are mainly used to keep fish cold for 6 hours+ of florida heat.

But realistically around here, you won't be too far from shore and it won't be too hot when the big rocks are around. So you can just kill it, strap it to the back of your yak, and head back to shore.

[yakscientist]

Okay, First off, I am NOT, I say again NOT looking for a fight, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Now that's out of the way. I have been really torn over this issue of kill and grill or catch and release. There seems to be a lot of literature about the ills of C&R. It would seem that it's not as good as it's been portrayed. Here's a good link, http://anglingunlimited.com/fishing/...ease-properly/

Now with this different look at C&R what are your thoughts now?? There are a lot of areas that are open to C&R during the spawn. Do you feel that they should be off limits till after the spawning season is over??

Y'all can thank yakscientist for this. He keeps posting stuff for me to read. If he doesn't stop I may end up believing in Global Warming.

Don't you put this on me! C&R mortality is a serious thing though, especially once the water starts warming up. In the summer and fall I will often move away from schools of fish that clearly aren't yielding keepers, just because although it's really fun to catch 15-19" fish on light tackle all day, it just isn't worth stressing out all those fish. I personally would like to see the 20-28" limit in place all year, with maybe a shift from 1-2 fish per person, and then during trophy season, a max of 1 30-35" fish per boat. A limit that conservative will never get passed though, at least not anytime soon. They could also shorten the trophy season, and make it only the first 2 weeks in May, with the 20-28" limit in effect in the last 2 weeks in April. I think unfortunately it'll take a big crash in the yearly recruitment of the rockfish for them to make any big changes. I think a good compromise would be extending the 20-28" limit in the rivers to year-round, while doing either of the things I suggested earlier. Also I would like to see much stiffer penalties for repeat offenders, or blatantly disregarding the rules (a cooler full of sub 20" fish). A man can dream...

[Steve6902]

Okay, First off, I am NOT, I say again NOT looking for a fight, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Now that's out of the way. I have been really torn over this issue of kill and grill or catch and release. There seems to be a lot of literature about the ills of C&R. It would seem that it's not as good as it's been portrayed. Here's a good link, http://anglingunlimited.com/fishing/...ease-properly/

Now with this different look at C&R what are your thoughts now?? There are a lot of areas that are open to C&R during the spawn. Do you feel that they should be off limits till after the spawning season is over??

Y'all can thank yakscientist for this. He keeps posting stuff for me to read. If he doesn't stop I may end up believing in Global Warming.

[yakscientist]

Okay so I read on the NJ DNR site that ANY striper over 40" is a female and should be returned to the water. So if I hook one over 40" I will set it free, however if it's 35-39 7/8" it's going home with me.

Sadly the only way to truly verify a rockfish's sex is to cut it open and see if it has testes or eggs. There may be a way to tell from the scales, but I'm not aware of it. Males do get larger than that 40" mark but tend to be much much older, since they typically grow faster... "starting at age 4, females grow faster than males." The charter captain who I've worked with before has caught a few males over that 40" mark, one with a fully intact 20" rockfish in its stomach. They really are a bada** fish. But yeah for health reasons, I would stay away from harvesting too many fish above that 40" mark, or eating it too often. Larger, older, fish are just going to be more full of PCBs, and other contaminants. Also, in my experience, you do get a lot of meat, but it doesn't last as long in the freezer before it starts to taste very strong. But like I said, I fully support the harvesting of legal size fish, so long as they don't go to waste; but I would also favor tighter restrictions on harvesting the large fish during the spring season. That's why I usually only keep 1 large fish per year....not that I catch more than that haha.
https://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/fish-facts/striped-bass

[Steve6902]

Okay so I read on the NJ DNR site that ANY striper over 40" is a female and should be returned to the water. So if I hook one over 40" I will set it free, however if it's 35-39 7/8" it's going home with me.

[kevinfry]

Kevinfry, now that's a nice drum. ��

made a heck of a wallmount

[Steve6902]

Kevinfry, now that's a nice drum. ��

[kevinfry]

You know, I asked a simple question, how do you guys keep your rockfish in your yaks. That's it, nothing else. Only 2 people (ccchrisccc and fishmoken) answered it. Everyone else, except for Sega, wants to tell me how we are conservationists, and let the big ones go, not to post keepers, and about the Drum in FL. I didn't ask about those things. Sega hit it on the head with it's MY fish. I go to the bay to catch fish and consume their flesh. If I want to catch a 40" plus Rock and eat it, so be it. I drove the hour plus to catch fish. I did not ask for a lecture, I asked a question. Oh and if I want to post my big ass fish on here and it upsets someone, to bad. They have an issue not me. This forum has been real nice, with lots of good info, but for some reason this just sit's in my Hillbilly craw. You do what you want with your fish and I'll do what I want with mine. Oh and ccchrisccc, fishmoken and sega, thanks.

I personally struggle to catch rockfish greater than 23"
however, this is how I transport big drum......when the slot limit permits it
Warm weather does not seem to effect the quality



time to lighten up gentlemen

btw...since most large fish are caught in the cooler months and take up so much deck space, if you chose to keep a large legal fish...as you are entitled...Id just throw it between my legs and paddle to the truck

[ComeOnFish]

Living the Dream,
I hope you catch the big one soon.

I carry a large spearfishing stringer, and also carry a 12' rope/twine rated over 100 LB test. The rope was used for multi purposes. i always carry this utility rope in my tackle bag.

Fish don't get spoiled within few hours even on a hot summer day. Trust me on this. Stringer the large fish using the rope and come back to the launch immediately if you are several miles off the launch. It is hard to fish when dragging a big fish.
If you are tired and are miles off the launch, kill the fish and put the fish behind the seat (across the the tank well,). A dead fish won't slide off the kayak. Make sure that the rudder holes are above the sea level. You may not able to see the rudder holes because of the cooler/milk crate. Have other kayakers verify the rudder holes are above the sea level.

Pedal back immediately and have a party.

Joe

[Seasalt]

Steve6902, thanks for asking the question. I was actually looking for a cooler bag to transport fish I'm bringing home. Some of the Amazon bags seems promising, the prices range from 50 to lowest 10. Just search for "cooler bags".

On the side note, I don't see anything illegal about keeping fish that meets DNR regulation. If someone wants to take one home, go for it! I'm also all for crucifying people who keep illegal fish though. Personally for me, I don't keep any spawning rockfish.

[buzz]

It's just not cool to hijack someone else's thread for one's debate.

+1 on the insulated bag. Takes up very little room unless you score.
Just don't use it for catfish. They poke right thru.


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