Salt Spray (SaltWaterFishin)

[Seminole Red]

at least he eats good....lol

[100lbStriper]

check this guy out.............

[Seminole Red]

wonderful sunday morning take...lollol...tyty

[Mariner*]

Fishing can be dangerous!

[Seminole Red]

CROCKETT, Texas -- The sadly misunderstood alligator gar, reviled for its frighteningly huge and prehistoric appearance and rows of razor-sharp teeth, has been hunted for centuries.

Fishermen despise the gar because they believe the fish devour prized bass and crappie. Swimmers and boaters fear the gar's alligator-shaped jaws could take a chunk out of them in the water.

Gar Guides Lead Hunt for Big Fish
View Slideshow

Bass Pro Shops

John Paul Morris, the son of Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris, sizes up the jaws of the 8-foot-3-inch long alligator gar he caught on a bow fishing trip.
..But in recent times, alligator gar have experienced a kind of trash-to-trophy renaissance as sportsmen discovered the thrill of hunting the beasts, which can weigh up to 300 pounds and reach 8 feet in length. Gar hunting, with rod-and-reel as well as crossbow, has spawned a booming market for guides who charge as much as $750 a day to lead their clients deep into the muddy backwaters of Texas where the monster fish thrive.

In the rural South, the prospect of bagging a trophy gator gar inspires a special brand of enthusiasm. "I don't consider myself a redneck, but sometimes I do redneck stuff," says Mark Malfa, a gar guide in central Texas.

Paula Boudra, an athletic 32-year-old, drove nearly six hours from Sheridan, Ark., one night earlier this month for the chance to kill her first alligator gar with a crossbow. Armed with stainless-steel, prong-tipped arrows that can pierce the gar's thick scales, her guides, Sam Lovell and Steve Barclay, steered their flat-bottom boat into the brambly creeks of East Texas's Trinity River.

Conversation flagged as everyone scanned the water for a glimpse of the gar's cigar-shaped body rolling to the surface. "This is a slow and patient game we are playing," said Mr. Lovell.

It was the alligator gar's growing popularity as a target for sportsmen that finally spurred Texas wildlife officials earlier this year to impose a one-gar-per-day-per-person bag limit, which takes effect Sept. 1. Gar populations were thinning as dam and dike construction ruined spawning sites, and wildlife experts worried the fish would become endangered.

The limit has infuriated commercial fishermen, who catch gar by the hundreds to export to Mexico, where they are a popular menu item. Some hunting guides worry the limit could ruin their business, too. The mere notion that alligator gar would need protecting strikes even some of the fish's biggest fans as ridiculous. "Even if we wanted to kill 'em all, these fish are too smart," says Mr. Barclay.


The misunderstood alligator gar, reviled for its frighteningly huge, prehistoric appearance and rows of razor-sharp teeth, has been ruthlessly hunted for centuries. Now, conservationists seek to protect it. Tom Benning reports from Texas.
.Through history, the alligator gar's biggest problem -- and best defense -- has been its fearsome appearance and tough construction. Scientists track gar's tenure on earth back 150 million years, to about the time birds began to fly.

There are several different varieties. Needle-nose gar have long skinny snouts. Shortnose gar have only one row of teeth. But the biggest and scariest is the alligator gar. The fish's hard, thick scales are as big as a 50-cent piece. Primitive lungs and gills mean it occasionally needs to breathe air -- but also that it can survive two hours after being pulled from the water.

Two rows of dagger-pointed teeth and a powerfully muscled body make it a voracious predator, and present a terrifying aspect to humans who dare to swim in the brackish inland waters that gar populate. Staff at Sam Rayburn Marina Resort in southeast Texas keep a file of gar facts to reassure parents worried about their children swimming in Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Marine biologists scoff at such fears. "No self-respecting gar would go after a human," says Allyse Ferrara, a gar expert at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

For decades, many sport fisherman believed gar were feasting on all their game fish. In 1930, a federal wildlife official wrote, "This odd fish is called by a dozen names, none of which is intended to be complimentary."

Some states made it illegal to throw a live gar back in the water. Some tried dynamiting the fish. In Texas, Col. J.G. Burr, a state wildlife researcher in the 1930s, was so obsessed with eliminating gar that he rigged up the "Electrical Gar Destroyer," a boat that sent a strong, stunning electrical current into the water, to kill gar.

Elroy Krueger, a retired fishing guide in south Texas, saw alligator gar overrun Choke Canyon Reservoir in the early 1990s. Mr. Krueger tried to fish them to extinction. He succeeded in beating them back, but now he sees the gar populations rising again.

"This lake is doomed," says Mr. Krueger.

Researchers disagree. Alligator gar will eat whatever is most abundant, including bass, but mainly feeder fish and invasive species like carp.

After September, every Southern state with gar populations except Louisiana will have some kind of alligator gar fishing limits.

The bag limit won't deter hunters gaming for bragging rights to a monster gar, say Texas guides Mr. Barclay and Mr. Lovell, who call themselves the "Gar Guys" and promote their services on a Web site.

Hunting gar is part fishing, part tracking and part target shooting. In the muddy, oxygen-thin water of inland lakes and bayous, gar will rise to the surface and roll, gulping air. In the middle of the day, they will float near the surface, sunning themselves. That makes them a tempting target for bow-fishermen such as Ms. Boudra, one of the Gar Guys' recent clients.

The guides maneuvered their boat down a vine-choked offshoot of the Trinity River. Chase Echols and Richard Jordan, gar hunters from Conroe, Texas, were along for the ride, hoping for a chance at a monster trophy. Just 10 minutes into the trip, Mr. Jordan leveled a shot at a 7-foot gar not 10 feet from the boat, but the arrow glanced off its back. "That gar just sat there and grinned at me," said Mr. Jordan.

For the remainder of the day, the big gar kept rolling just out of range, frustrating the hunters. Then Mr. Barclay spotted a baby about 3 feet long. It swam straight for the boat through the chocolate-milk-colored water. Ms. Boudra waited until its head was nearly bumping the boat before firing. Her arrow pierced the 30-pound gar dead center on its back.

Hauling her small prize into the boat, Ms. Boudra could hardly claim it as a trophy. But she wasn't discouraged.

"This gives me a reason to come back," she said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124631318638370373.html

[Seminole Red]

amazing

[Jim Bishop]

Now this is a different way to fish.

http://tymcm.blogspot.com/2009/06/seriously-dude-theres-reason-fishing.html

[Seminole Red]

U.S. OPEN GOLF contest for FREE membership.....
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=2442
Rules:

1. You pick 5 players for the tournament. You can only pick 1 player from the top 5 in the world ranking. The top 5 are Woods, Mickelson, Casey, Garcia and Ogilvy.

You must also pick a tie breaker total score...even par for the 4 rounds is 280.

2. Teams must be submitted prior to the first group teeing off on Thursday June 18th.

3. Must have fun

4. The winner will be the team with the highest total dollar total at the end of the Tournament.

5. Points will be deducted for spelling mistakes and poor punctuation.

6. All of Fred's decisions are final.

7. No gimmees or mulligans allowed.

8. Void where prohibited.

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=2442

[Seminole Red]

GREENBELT, Md., June 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Golden Eye Seafood LLC and owner, Robert Lumpkins of St. Mary's County, Md., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to and violating the Lacey Act, by falsely recording the amount and weight of striped bass, also known as rockfish, that were harvested by local fisherman and checked-in through Golden Eye from 2003 to 2007, announced United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.




According to his plea agreement, from at least 2003 to the present, Lumpkins was a fish wholesaler, doing business from his residence in Piney Point, Maryland, under the name Golden Eye Seafood. Lumpkins, through, Golden Eye, acted as a commercial striped bass check-in station for the state of Maryland. Lumpkins admitted that from on numerous occasions from 2003 to 2007, he falsely recorded the amount of striped bass that fisherman harvested and failed to record some of the striped bass that was caught or recorded a lower weight of striped bass than was actually caught. Lumpkins and the fisherman would also falsely inflate the actual number of fish harvested. By under-reporting the weight of fish harvested, and over-reporting the number of fish taken, the records would make it appear that the fishermen had failed to reach the maximum poundage quota for the year, but had nonetheless run out of tags. As a result, the state would issue additional tags that could be used by the fishermen allowing them to catch striped bass above their maximum poundage quota amount. Lumpkins and Golden Eye shipped the majority of the fish to purchasers in Maryland and in other states.



Golden Eye Seafood faces a maximum fine of $500,000 on each of the three counts to which it pleaded guilty and Robert Lumpkins faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the four counts to which he pleaded guilty. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte has scheduled the sentencing hearing for September 22 and 23, 2009.



Additionally, John Evans, a commercial fisherman who operated in St. Mary's County and the surrounding waters of the Chesapeake Bay, was charged with a violation of the Lacey Act for overfishing striped bass. Two other fishermen, Joseph Peter Nelson Jr. of Great Mills, Md., and his father Joseph Peter Nelson of Avenue, Md., have been indicted in the District of Maryland and are awaiting trial.



Sentencing dates for the remaining defendants who have pleaded guilty to similar charges are listed below.



Kenneth Dent, July 2, 2009, 9:30 AM

Jerry Decatur Sr., July 1, 2009, 9:30 AM

Jerry Decatur Jr., August 12, 2009, 9:30 AM



Cannon Seafood, a Washington, D.C., fish wholesaler, its owner, Robert Moore Sr. and his son Robert Moore Jr. pleaded guilty to similar charges. Cannon Seafood was ordered to pay restitution of $28,000 and a fine of $80,000. Robert Moore, Sr. and Robert Moore, Jr. were each sentenced to 36 months probation, ordered to pay restitution of $15,000 and $10,000, and a fine of $40,000 and $30,000, respectively.



Thomas L. Hallock, a commercial fisherman licensed in Maryland, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, for illegally overfishing rockfish and was ordered to pay restitution of $40,000 and a fine of $4,000. Commercial fisherman Thomas Crowder was sentenced to 15 months in prison, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and restitution of $96,250 and Charles Quade was sentenced to five months in prison, followed by five months of home detention. Quade was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and restitution of $5,000. Keith Collins was sentenced to 13 months in prison and was ordered to pay $70,569 in restitution and a fine of $4,500. All of the restitution is to be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass Restoration Account.



As a result of the investigation and prosecution, two fish wholesalers and a total of 15 individuals have been charged for illegally harvesting and underreporting their catch of striped bass, including today's defendants. Eleven individuals and two wholesale companies have pleaded guilty.



The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stacy Dawson Belf and Christen Sproule for the District of Maryland and Senior Trial Attorney Wayne Hettenbach of the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section.





SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

[fuagf]

red, yours a welcome relief now .. lol, can't yet see it mentions
my leisurely hand-line fishing for leather jackets off Blues Point.

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=blues+point+sydney

lol, just kidding of course .. thanks will be interesting to browse ..

that was many years ago

[Seminole Red]

try this link for fishing australia

http://www.australianfishingcharters.com/

[fuagf]

Matt, sorry looks like i'm no help yet. This is the reply i got from my friend.

hello mate - how are you - all good here - The barrier reef is a long way from
here - but by all means share my email - I am in kakadu territory! Cheers Steve

Lol, as you can see he is a short and sweet kind of guy. I told him i wouldn't
pass on his email, but now i'm thinking why not. More options never hurt anybody.

lol, i'll get it. [e-mail]>

Heh, just realized in the earlier brain-snap moment i had him in Cairns instead of Darwin.



Anyway, just now in searching for a map with cities on it i could
copy i've been to a number of places. Here are a couple of them.

Reefs Around Cairns
This map shows the Great Barrier Reef, and identifies the major reefs visited
by the multi-day liveaboard dive boats operating out of Cairns and Port Douglas.


http://www.divethereef.com/mapindex.asp#

It's search link
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=map+showing+cairns+and+the+great+barrier+reef

Lol, you have me hooked on finding a personal experience for
you. Have you tried googling for them? It didn't work for me.

Now i better take a step to fix up that dooble post of mine.

[fuagf]

Hokey dokey. Ta.

[CPTMatt]

Thanks Fuagf, looks like August now instead of October.

[fuagf]

LT... no personal experience of the place yet, but have an ex-teacher
colleague friend in Cairns now i think and will put your October query to him.

For now, heh .. guess you have googled plenty, but anyway this is the result of my first ask ..


http://www.fishinginternational.com/location/auscairn.htm

.. chit they're beautiful creatures .. heh .. sorry to mention it but have to .. hate
to see them hassled .. happens though so .. lol .. this is the search list it's from
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+personal+experiences+snorkling+and+big+game+marlin+fishing+great+barrier+reef&btnG=Search&cts=1243918681878&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Good luck .. will pass it on to my friend ..

oops forgot .. red..... put me onto your post ..

[fuagf]

LT... no personal experience of the place yet, but have an ex-teacher
colleague friend in Cairns now i think and will put your October query to him.

For now, heh .. guess you have googled plenty, but anyway this is the result of my first ask ..


http://www.fishinginternational.com/location/auscairn.htm

.. chit they're beautiful creatures .. heh .. sorry to mention it but have to .. hate
to see them hassled .. happens though so .. lol .. this is the search list it's from
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+personal+experiences+snorkling+and+big+game+marlin+fishing+great+barrier+reef&btnG=Search&cts=1243918681878&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Good luck .. will pass it on to my friend ..

[permitonfly]

Matt:Read "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson.

[CPTMatt]

Board question - Any tips for Australia?

A buddy and myself are planning on taking leave (from Iraq) and going to Australia in October of '09.

I'd like to snorkel/scuba the Great Barrier Reef and do some of the world class black marlin fishing (or any other) while there.

Curious if anyone has recommendations from personal experiences.

Thanks!

Matt

[Seminole Red]

LOL...what a story...

[iamshazzam]

For your morning reading pleasure:

I LOVE MY JOB

If you don't laugh out loud after you read this you are in a coma!

This is even funnier when you realize it's real!

Next time you have a bad day at work think of this guy.

Bob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister.

She then sent it to radio station 103.5 on FM dial in Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest. Needless to say, she won. Read his letter below.

Hi Sue,

Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all. Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wet suit. This time of year the water is quite cool.

So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel powered industrial water heater.

This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose. Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wet suit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi. Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse.



Within a few seconds my ass started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it, however, the crack of my ass was not as fortunate.

When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my ass.



I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically. Needless to say, I aborted the dive. I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression. When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't shit for two days because my ass was swollen shut.



So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your ass.



Now repeat to yourself, 'I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.'

Whenever you have a bad day, ask yourself, is this a jellyfish bad day?

May you NEVER have a jellyfish bad day! !!!!

Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.~

Regards,

Bob

[Seminole Red]

probably coming to a town near you SOON....they cant stop fishin

[frankie_fillet]

every fish these people examine is in dire straights.... the goal i think is to completely ban fishing except for the huge foriegn fleets.

real

[Jim Bishop]

Ya I guess that would be a concern. Hope it works out.

[bbgold]

Trip is in the Air for now

The swine flu has half the group concerned, but some Good news is out there. Will probably have to wait until the last minute before everyone decides.
Use the + on the first map to zoom in and see details
http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/

http://www.hautter.com/facts-about-swine-flu

[Jim Bishop]

I hope so too. Hey I did the same thing with the pvc pipe that 8/9 Sage that I took down there. Works great, and cheap too.

[bbgold]

Thanks Jim

Ya, I think I only have two piece fly rods, but might have a travel one in storage. I know I have some light travel spinning kits, just need to find them lol. Last time I went I took a pvc pipe and capped it to make my own rod tube, Indestructable. Since only a short trip I don't think I am going to take it this time. Hopefully one of these years I will be able to manage a round the cape road trip. Will see how this trip goes and if Tess feels comfortable down there. She didn't like Cabo the last time we went but it was mid Sept and Hot and Humid and right after a Hurricane went through. So the water, the weather and her mood was Bad the entire trip, except for when she was bringing a tuna over the rail lol.

Hoping this trip is a constant smile on both our faces.

[Jim Bishop]

No we didn't even think about bringing any fish back home. We just ate some down there and let the captain have the rest.

I two two fly rods, 6wt and 9wt and reels/spools for both with floating and sink tip lines, plus a couple fly boxes. Both rods were 3 piece, no extra charge on the airline. I don't remember but I might have been able to stuff them in our luggage.

Have a good one.

[bbgold]

Ya, we are only in San Jose a few days

Pretty sure we will go out of there. I don't think Tess would like a panga but anything bigger than 32 with a comfy chair should suit her. I rigged up a half pole with a reel and she has been trying to hold and reel it but with only one hand working right she just can't do it, ugh. Hopefully she will be Happy just watching some fish get over the rail. I am not taking any tackle and most likely the fishing will be a one day deal. Any kind of fish will make me Happy. Were you able to bring the fish back on the plane or just ate it all down there? The one year we went to Cabo we brought back about 30 lbs of Yellowfin tuna, some smoked, some frozen, but not sure if they still allow that as luggage lol. Did you take down your own fly poles? I know they are going to charge us $15 for one baggage and $35 every extra, yikes, so don't think I take any poles with me, unless I put a breakdown lite rig in my suitcase. Hmm, I better find those before I go.
I just hope I can get my teeth into some of the fish rather than them giving me the bite lol. Ya, it's amazing how fish in the ocean have Big teeth and eat meat. The freshwater trout we have around here would be Bait for even the smallest Sea trout eh? Let alone anything bigger.

Well, glad I am talking about fishing anyway, as it is getting me in the mood to dig out some of my rigs/baits/etc and at least get em ready.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

[Jim Bishop]

We stayed in San Jose once. I hired a guide and panga through a 3rd party out of Cabo for half a day. I was assured the guide spoke great English and knew all about fly fishing.

If he knew English he didn't admit it. He definitely knew nothing about fly fishing and either didn't understand or ignored all my requests/instructions.

However my wife had fun catching some 15-25lb Dorado...wasn't as much fun for me using 5-6' rods suitable for marlin or halibut.

Ran into some friends from Edmonton in Cabo one day, they were also staying in San Jose, so the 6 of us hired a guide with about a 36' Bertram and we managed to get some big Dorado on lighter tackle and one 150' Striped Marlin.

They insisted on killing all the fish so we were eating sushi at the fish cleaning table and took about 10lb of Dorado and 10lb Marlin with us, gave the rest to ????

Only fly fishing I did was in the surf off the beaches...that was fun but I never did figure out what most of what I caught were. I will say though, that they all had big teeth. Nothing big though, other than the teeth. But it was fun.

[bbgold]

Thanks Jim!

I really like that Mexfish.com
I have been to this beach before and saw all the boats but it was evening and no fish coming in. I think it is close to the area the hotel is in, maybe.
http://www.mexfish.com/apgs/gord/gordobankspangas.htm
Looks like the start of striped marlin season so Hopefully will get a hookup. Tess was not too happy that I mentioned it would most likely be catch and release. When I showed her the pictures of some of the Dorado that we could Keep her smile came back lol. Not sure if I will be trying any fly fishing but the variety of fish sure looks enticing. Will definitely put up some pics when I get back and hope to see more links and information to check out before we go.

Good Fishing!

[Jim Bishop]

http://www.bajaparadise.com/fishing.htm

http://www.mexfish.com/ecap/ecap/pulmmp/pulmmp.htm

http://www.cabopulmoecopalapa.com/fly_fishing.html

[bbgold]

San Jose Del Cabo?

Anyone have some insights on this place?
I have stayed at Cabo San Lucas but not it's neighbor.
Kids are planning a few days there next month and Tess and I are invited. I know there is a Great reef preserve called Cabo Pulmo about an hour from there, been there before. Would like to drive the coast road from San Jose past Frailes to Cabo Pulmo but not sure how good the road is? Not sure of any good fishing boats there to look into? Any shore fishing? Last time I went was in 1998 and saw a Lot of ice chests as luggage. Do the airlines still let you bring back frozen fish from there?
Have ice chest, will travel for fish!
Thanks for any insights or suggestions!

[Seminole Red]

the jet ski looks good....2 red snapper for 1200 bucks dosent

[100lbStriper]

How bout this for $1200..................

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/29653354#29653354

[Seminole Red]

2 fish isnt much to pay for a 1200.00 dollar charter

[bbgold]

Makes sense!

Overall the Catchable fish are in higher abundance because of the rule changes. So of Course the Fishermen are gonna Haul All of them in and again back to Shortage. Interesting that with a 2 fish limit boats are going from a dozen to Forty fish and not concerned at all about conservation, just Limiting out lol.

Reminds me a rule change they wanted to affect for netting Tuna in the Phillipines. Larger net mesh would let more smaller fish escape to keep populations Up. Non of the fishermen wanted to do it even though there were already dead zones that had been so overfished the fish were Gone. Hard to get a fisherman to conserve unless they believe in Catch and Release eh?

Too bad they can't keep it going for the recreational fishermen though.

[Seminole Red]

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - After three decades as a charter fishing guide, Steve Amick says he's never seen red snapper as large or plentiful as he did last year off Georgia's Atlantic coast. Soon, catching them could be illegal.
Scientists for the federal government say the bountiful catch reported from Florida to North Carolina is a shallow illusion. The red snapper population, they say, is dwindling and needs a break from decades of overfishing.

A federal agency—the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council—voted 7-6 Thursday in favor of a six-month ban on red snapper fishing off the southern Atlantic seaboard, despite cries from fisherman that the fish are plentiful and their business will sink under any ban.

The measure, which requires final approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service, would make catching red snapper illegal for commercial and recreational fishermen in Atlantic waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina—which had a combined catch of 415,000 pounds in 2007.

The ban would likely take effect in the summer spawning season if granted final approval. The council could later seek to extend any ban another six months.

"I don't like having to do it," said Duane Harris, chairman of the council that sets fishing rules for the southern East Coast. "The big picture is that red snapper stocks are in very bad shape."

Commercial fishermen and charter guides fiercely oppose any ban. For most, red snapper supplements incomes when not chasing grouper, mackerel, tuna and other fish. But other fishermen rely almost exclusively on red snapper.

"For us, the red snapper is the whole ballgame," said Amick, a Savannah charter captain whose four boats take about 3,000 anglers to sea each year. "If we can't fish for red snapper, we'll probably lose 90 percent of our business."

Holly Reynolds, a charter boat captain from Jackonsville, Fla., choked back tears Thursday as she told the council a ban could drive her out of business, months after buying an $800,000 boat.

"Every single customer who comes on my boat wants to catch red snapper," Reynolds said of reservations booked until October. "We're going to have to try to convince them there are other fish to catch. But I'd say 75 percent of them will cancel no matter what."

Popular for its sweet, nutty flavor, red snapper has been coveted for decades by seafood connoisseurs and sushi lovers. Commercial fisherman fetch a high price—$4 or $5 a pound—for the fish. It's also prized by recreational anglers, who account for about three-fourths of the Atlantic catch.

A 2008 stock assessment, the latest by the National Marine Fisheries Service, says the Atlantic snapper is in peril from being caught faster than they can sustainably reproduce for almost 50 years.

Researchers estimate the total population of spawning females in the Atlantic has dipped to 375 metric tons—about 3 percent of what's deemed a healthy population.

"Today's decision was a hard one, but it was necessary," said Holly Binns, who heads the Pew Environment Group's campaign to end overfishing in the South. "The science is clear."

But scientists' findings have fishermen baffled. They insist red snapper stocks are rebounding after 1992 regulations required them to throw back any snapper under 20 inches and limited recreational anglers to two fish per trip.

Several fishermen at Thursday's council session questioned the accuracy of scientists' assessments. Reynolds said it's now common for her customers to catch 40 snapper on a single trip, when they would have been lucky to catch a dozen about 10 years ago.

"This is the most absurd thing I've ever heard," said Sid Preskitt, a commercial fisherman from Daytona Beach, Fla. "There's more of an abundance of red snapper off the East Coast now than anybody's seen in generations."

Scientists say some unusually strong spawning seasons several years ago are confusing fishermen who are seeing a glut of larger fish at or above the 20-inch limit.

Environmental groups insist even a temporary ban in the Atlantic won't be enough to help the red snapper recover, noting many die as unwanted bycatch of fishermen pursuing other species. They support a more comprehensive action the council is drafting on a range of fish species sought for implementation next year.

___

[100lbStriper]

You'd be a legend !!!

[Seminole Red]

20".....man...20' red would be a world record in EVERY CLASS.....LOL

[100lbStriper]

LOL !!!! 3 of the 4 I will definately believe, but come on ...........

a 20' RED !!!!!!!!!!!

glad to hear your out fish'n. got about 2 months before i start again.

[Seminole Red]

was out in the kayak yesterday....got a 26" speckeled trout...a 20' RED A 31" RED and a 37" red that pulled the kayak 50 yards with the 2 lb. anchor down....

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

TO ALL:

It is my extreme pleasure to announce the first annual NASCAR on TALKZILLA SPRINT CUP CHALLENGE.

The contest will begin with the running of the Daytona 500 in February, 2009 and will run until the last race in November, 2009.

We have been holding the contest here on Ihub since 2006, but Bob Z. (AKA The Stig) invited us to move the contest to TalkZilla.

As an incentive, Bob is offering CASH prizes totaling $1000.

Anyone interested in NASCAR, or in making money, please join us on the TalkZilla NASCAR board.

Come have fun with us and take a chance on making some cash in the process.

There is no entry fee, and there are presently a few free lifetime memberships available to TalkZilla. Just register for TalkZilla and then post on the Talkzilla NASCAR board that you want to join the contest.

This link is to the TalkZilla sign up page:

http://cars.talkzilla.com/?mdc=21

Have fun,
Phil

[Seminole Red]

yep...dock grouper are short....we do get some legal ones in the intercoastal waterway from time to time...

[braden]

Night time is the right time to hit the docks for snook.Catch a few grouper also usually short though.

[Seminole Red]

not an abundance of snook here but night is the best time to get em an i dont fish at night anymore

[braden]

In the rivers here in tampa bay we often catch snook and bass on the same lure.

[Seminole Red]

fell asleep...lol...good morning....i havent caught a bass in the lagoon but i have caught em up some tributaries of the lagoon

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

What a worthless POS the "father of the internet" is.

Phil

[braden]

Yeah Ive had about enough of climate change myself.Summer is hot winter is cold,no need to give al gore 300million dollars (actual estimate of how much he has made off this so far)To fix it.Hey AL...Shut up and fish...lol

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

In the brackish waters here in VA we can catch both salt water and fresh water fish.

From croaker and spot to largemouth bass and bream all from the same water.

Is your lagoon like that?

Phil