bob_G

What he said.

Interesting how times have changed. Prior to the fishery collapse, striped bass were never sold in restaurants or fish markets on Cape Cod. In spite of the minimum size being 16", these prime plate size fish were all but rejected. Virtually all striped bass went to NY. It wasn't until the fishery rebounded in the early 90s, and the minimum size reached 36" did striped bass finally gain acceptance in high end local restaurants and markets.

Brad, No offense meant towards legitimate first responders. My point was, the same ignorant people who against good advice, still insist on swimming among the GWs, will now be trained to administer to their wounds.

This Dan guy sounds like a new canal legend in the making.

I did the same about 10 years ago. I fou d the bag minutes before the tide covered it.

Sounds like the town of Orleans has already conceded defeat to the seals and GWs.

I think that's the way the vast majority of released albies end up. On the bottom as crab food.

There aren't many of those guys left.

All this hoopla. I usually just wipe my hands on my pants.

Sounds like another case of quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

If you want to see an abysmal failure just look how our river herring fishery has been managed. All our major runs are barely hanging on, with many disappearing entirely. I personally worked as a volunteer at the Bournedale run for over 20 years. Countless hours patrolling it, day and night. Cleaning and maintaining it. The state fishery managers rarely listened to anything we had to say. However, there remains one restoration project the federal managers can hang their hats and reputations on. That's the grey seals. They've restored them so well, they've become a borderline ecological menace and detriment to tourism.

An old fenwick blank and black ambassador. A canal classic.

He's fishing for seals.

Just curious, do you guys eat these fish?

I quit comm fishing about 10 years ago and never looked back. I used to put the money towards our winter vacations. But i began to feel guilty about depleting the fishery for a few bucks. Even though we were fishing on a quota, I just no longer wanted to participate. That said, I never judged those who did. After I quit, an interesting thing happened. The fun returned. It was enjoyable again. I didn't get all worked up if I lost a 30 pounder at my feet watching all those dollars swim away.