[hairbone]

Just wanted to say I am discusted that the A/C kept a 66 & 78 pounder and a few of the other monster cod I have seen posted lately.

I think that it is wrong to target & keep the whales during the spring spawn as you are removing the largest, oldest and obviously the better gene pool from your areas. Additionally, all it will take is a reporter spinning some news and public opinion will be an outcry for closure of the inshore grounds during the spring spawn.

I have no problem with keeping a whale caught on the banks during the rest of the open season. HB

 

[CaptPaul]

I'm wondering, are you petting that dear in your lap, after feeding it an apple and picking a few ticks off of it?

Paul

 

[JC30967]

Public outcry???

CaptPaul wrote:
I'm wondering, are you petting that dear in your lap, after feeding it an apple and picking a few ticks off of it?

Paul

Capt.Paul, haha! So true!

Public outcry, you say? I think you are confusing "whale cod" with actual whales .

And, aren't these "spawners" still spawners even after they leave the inshore areas? Why is it ok to kill them offshore but not inshore? I mean, does it really matter where/when they're caught? Once they're dead, they can't spawn again.

 

[rastamon]

Nice deer, that one won't pass on it's genes. You shoulda shot a spike and let that one breed

 

[FishWisher]

Yup, that deer's spawning days are over. Big Bamby's out of the gene pool. Look, those big cod eat a lot of herring and macs. And these valuable baitfish are needed to help support the flagging dogfish population. The feds practically have a bounty out on cod over 40lb.

Kidding aside, have you seen many cod over 50lb come up? They are surprisingly fragile animals. Most of the time the big fish are DOA, just lying there in shock with their gills pale pink and not even curling the tail. Now, even if you whale cod is showing signs of life, you want to get your jig out of the fish, right? It doesn't need any bling. You'll also probbaly want to weigh it, and maybe take a couple of pictures, too. So, you have to get it aboard somehow. This necessitates a gaff hook around the lower jaw and a 6' lift, followed by a 6' drop back in the water. All this considered, what do you think the release mortality might be?

And I really don't get the part where you "have no problem with keeping a whale caught on the banks during the rest of the open season". Dead is dead, regardless of where you killed it. Or do you feel that it's not sporting to "hammer" on those fish when they are "concetrated" on the inshore grounds? Catching them isn't as easy as the reports make it sound. I've fished there a bunch of times last year, and the whole boat didn't get a fish over 20lb. Come on down and see what it's like. You can ask the crew to cut off your whale cod if you feel like playing at PETA Commando.

 

[crabcake]

Go Green!!! LOL!!

 

[hairbone]

I was just making a point about harvesting the biggest of a species during the spring spawn and taking them out of the gene pool. Catching one on the banks during the rest of the year would be a true trophy. It is kinda like bear hunting over bait. Park over a site long enough and you will get one.

As far as pulling a fish out of 300 feet you are pulling up a lot of dead weight the last 100. If it is dead it is dead but when the markets are on the banks in good numbers leaving the whale cod alone is a good conservation practice.

Speaking of conservation practice. With the GOM cod closure you have boats targeting cod to the south all winter long. With the good fishing south of the GOM this past winter expect to see big crowds this winter with a lower size limit banging away at them on every good day to sail. The cod I saw in February on Coxes Ledge were green and fresh from the GOM. I myself would rather catch a cod in the GOM.

As far as the deer, I grew it in the Adirondacks of NY. We have 5 acres of food plots we work our buts off on all summer and we killed 2 bucks. This 5 point and a rag horn spike. We left over (20) 21/2 year old or better bucks for next year as I have the trail cam pics to prove it Considering the winter we had we could have thinned the heard a lot more. That is conservation in my eyes. Hairbone

 

[seamister63]

Hypothetical question

A guy hires you to take him on a deer hunt on your land. All of the camps around you are hunting their food plots, and sending their customers home with big bucks, or at least the chance to kill a big buck. Would you let your customer hunt over your plot, and kill the big buck (with nice horns and good genetics), in hope that that hunter would come back and hire your services again, or would you take him to another area, where theres a decidedly smaller chance of killing a good buck, and have him shoot a spike, because it might be better for the herd? Then he goes down to the check station and hears the other guys checking in the smashers shot at other camps, chances are he'll book with someone else.

Personally, Id rather eat a market cod vs. a whale cod, same way I'd rather eat a skipper over a big ol buck. It just turns into a tough marketing ploy when you get down to the bottom line.

-Tim

 

[hairbone]

Seamister63, Great Hypothetical question!

In regards to your hypothetical question I will say I have hunted in many camps and places and it is not always about the kill but the experience for me. If it where about the kill I would go to south Texas and sit in a box blind waiting for the feeder to go off and pay the trophy fee and return to a luxury camp with a chef cooked evening meal.

Putting your question in fishing perspective there are a number of captains fishing the grounds of the GOM that are true highliners and we all know who they are and respect them very much. These are the top 10% and offer the better trips and the better experience. We gladly shell out the extra bucks and the long rides for the better chance of catching numbers of groundfish. We all watch the fishing reports and I will say boats like the Bunny Clark boat lots of trophys during a season and many swim free for another day. I think that is a great practice that alot of their patrons participate in.

As far as the marketting ploy, it is nice to post pictures of giant fish in a brochure & on the web to generate interest but we will all suffer if a natural resource is depleted and that is easy to do today with technology on both land & sea. Take your 6 pac boat that is parked over a spot day in & out hammering the big guys and posting pics every day on the web. Sooner or later a fleet will show up and finish off an area.

Like I said " you are removing the largest, oldest and obviously the better gene pool from your areas" and sometimes a measure of conserving for the future is a wise decision.

 

[DandJfish]

The fact of the matter is very simple. The taking of these fish is perfectly legal. Advertising the fact that they caught those giant Cod is nothing more than good publicity for the Boat. As fisherman many of us target the largest of any species that we are currently fishing for, and Cod are certainally no exception. The option to keep or release these big fish is purely a personal option (if a successful release is possible). Also, you seem to have no problem with killing these big fish if they were taken in another area ? Fact is, a dead Cod is a Dead Cod no matter where it was harvested. Simple as that.

 

[Codkiller]

They dragged and gillnetted those big fish for years and years before the rolling closures and yet they still came back. Right now is probably the best they ever had it.

Bob

 

[Smelter]

This brings bad memories of a thread I started two years after a "research" vessel did a tow right through the spawning ground off Hampton Beach and pulled up 27,000 lbs. of spawners in that one tow! Since the market price was only $4.00 lb. for those fish they had to come back and do it the next night again. Fortunately, there was such an outcry over the issue that I don't think they went back afterward.
The research program continues but I think the five boats involved may be on their fifth and final year.

 

[Smelter]

By the way, if anyone wants to know more about this wonderful research program go to www.mass.gov/division of Marine fisheries.
When you find the program listed, go right to the pictures section and weep!! Keep in mind that these boats have no closed season, no closed areas, no limits and are operating with your tax dollars. I'm done! A picture of one of the whale cod tows is in there.

This post edited by Smelter 03:20 PM 05/28/2008

 

[DaveB]

They look like this

 

[Codkiller]

I wouldn't worry about a few jig or bait caught cod.

This post edited by Codkiller 04:37 PM 05/28/2008

 

[willie864]

I see no problem going after the large cod. If you fish sooner or later you are going to catch a large spawner of some type of fish, cod or other. The porgy run is on, and those people fishing for tuem are catching the spawners, not a word is said. Same with the seabass.Fisherman target large fish, all of these are spawners at one time or another. You cant satisfy everyone nor can you criticize those catching the big fish. I will be going to Hampton tomorrow and if I catch a whale cod, I will be very happy.

 

[AUDREYMAE]

Sad Facts

95 percent of the draggers in N.H. and Mass. tow till they get their 800 lbs and go home, sometimes only towing 30 minutes in the area. Then you have a couple nitwits that make the other's look bad. They'll tow the same area for 20 hours after getting their 800 lbs of cod just to get 75 lbs of flounder an hour at the expense of dumping tons of cod in that 20 hours. We have one in our harbor and The Merrimac has one. Needless to say all the other Comm. guys dislike these 2 guys.

 

[rastamon]

On the site less than 5 full months and a reservation on the good ship hypocrisy already. Bad to catch them here, okay to catch them there. Dead is dead.

 

[kramelop]

certain rights...

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Opinions, much like a person's knowledge, grow and change with time. Even at 40, I cant say that I havent had my fair share of brain-dead blunders. At least HB had a thought process... it wasnt a statement expressed with no forethought.

When I used to fish largemouth bass, I had a set of standards for fish that I kept that were personal preferences. Just because my set didn't line up with someone elses didnt make me (or them) a hypocrit. I'd reserve the hypocrisy label for those fools like Al Gore buying and selling carbon offsets. In my book, you cant pay someone else to make up for your own needless extravagance.

Mark

 

[JC30967]

kramelop-

Agreed! Although my opinion obviously differs from Haribone's, he, and anyone else regardless of when they registered on this site, are entitled to their own opinions.