My personal thoughts on Rosie aside, I was surprised to see your take on Florida shark fishing in your February 2012 issue. Somehow you feel that teaming up with the Humane Society to ban the offloading of legally caught sharks at a marina is a good thing. And now, the banning of hammerhead and tiger shark species retention is applauded. Let's see how you feel when it affects swordfish or when they make it illegal for you to offload your yellowfin in public, and you are forced to shove it into a makeshift body bag so no one can see the "death and destruction" or the "wasteful raping" of our planet's natural resources. Any Florida fishing captain will tell you that there is no shortage of hammerhead sharks in Florida, nor lemons, caribbean reefs, silkys, duskys etc. Every year they add a few more species, quietly, stealthly until the fishery is banned. Be careful of what you wish for as you may get it, until it hits home. Beware of your bedfellows.
Rosie, just admit dragging that to the dock is wrong and then send a check to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation in support of shark research.
We all do stupid things in life, but, when you do, admit your wrong doing, and do what you can to right the wrong.
But please don't lie and defend your stupidity, it just makes you look more stupid.
This is only reasonable. I have fished for these guys all my fishing life and I enjoy them on the table, but they are a slow-growing fish and they are really hammered by inshore headboats, charters and other anglers. During the sand bass bite when they are spawning, places like Long Beach, Seal Beach give up massive numbers of sport-caught fish. I believe that they are protected from commercials, and if not they should be! But sport anglers can really take large amounts of these guys and they do not grow quickly.
It's far too easy to blame anglers instead of natural cycles, changes in conditions, influx of un-natural predators (like millions of ravenous Humboldt squid), etc. I agree, though, while I don't think this was caused by anglers, I, like most private boaters I know, will continue to practice C&R on both species of bass. They're far too much fun to catch and not that great to eat.
Hello :-)
My first encounter with Dolpines was at Kay Biscane in the seventies.
Mr. Cook from the local Church of Christ took me first bass fishing into the Everglades and then a friend of him took me with his boat dolphine fishing.
We started early in the morning and after I caught a triggerfish, that ran like crazy, wie drifted along the sargassum weedbeds looking out for dolfines.
We caught a few small ones. I was fascinated by the golden glittering rainbow colores of this "Liberaces of the Sea".
Next fishig trip after years of savings was to the Bahamas and Key West.
I think it was at Nassau were we trolled for Dolphines. Vorgive me, it is now more than 40 years ago.
I caught some big eye tuna and some gorgeous bull dolpines. It was great.
I wanted so badly to live in such a fishing paradies.
I even bought me a nor-fin fly reel and a fenwick flyrod 10 weight.
Instead of my favorite destination in Florida we moved to Texas.
Breckenridge and lake Hubbard-Creek-Lake. Fishing was tough for me there, and later in Abilene Texas at Lake Fort-Phantom.
I took me two year to learn the local tricks and fishing locations.
Instaed of Dolpings I was happy to catch a bunch of sandbass and crappies.
I got a Bachelor at Hardin Simmons and a Masters at University of North Texas, all that did not enable me to go back to Florida where my enthusiasm started. I met Stu Apte, Lefty Krey and most of the fishing hall of famers in the Forth Worth Fly fishing Club. Thousand times thanks to the club!
I still love the dolphines and dream about them like Santiago in "The Old Man and the Sea" was dreaming about the Lions in Afrika.
Tight Lines Friends. Catch one dolpine for me and unhook him in the water.
He ist much too pretty to dye in a fishbox.
Bob
