coast fish freeze

[skeeterboud]

i say a year or 2 increase the size limit to 17 minimum would do wonders for all the skinny dink 14.75 trout that get kept.. that might offset the dent put by this freeze..

but if its within the law and im hungry for trout you darn right Im keeping some table fare

^^^^ i'm right there w/you kingranch.. and i don't think a single person will starve(or even lose a lb!)

[HNT ETX]

Either the resource can withstand a harvest at a particular level or it can't.

Exactly!

The notion of banning guides is misguided and short sighted.

No more so than someone suggesting that me turning loose my catch the few times a year that I get to Matty will impact the fishery.

I was more pointing out the silliness of asking your average Joe to help save the bay by not keeping fish the few times a year he gets to go.

Also, I know you know that you are one of the 10%ers that can flat catch fish, whether you are guiding or not. Your clientele is made up primarily of the 90% that can not. So no, time on the water with a guide is not equal to time spent on the water without.

I never said ban guides. I respect what you do and Hope you keep full books. Guys that guide full time to make a living and raise a family is a commitment and you may be one of them. But seems to be alot of craigslist and facebook guides that could use a real job. Me and the group I fish with have no trouble catching fish, and i even have a couple in my circle that post adds when they get time off or get on them good, trust me...I don't cut them any slack.

[walker1983]

If there are more fisherman on the water and less fish in the bay systems than years before - TPWD should should assess populations and set limits/restrictions accordingly.

If the state says I can keep my "keepers" then they are going on ice because I love to eat fish, and I can only make it to the saltwater a couple times a year.

Drop the trout limit to 3 - raise the minimum size - keeper redfish to 2 - I am on board with any change that allows me catch more quality fish, keep populations high, and eat a few fish dinners.

[bboswell]

i say a year or 2 increase the size limit to 17 minimum would do wonders for all the skinny dink 14.75 trout that get kept.. that might offset the dent put by this freeze..

but if its within the law and im hungry for trout you darn right Im keeping some table fare

that would shift all of the pressure to the females which is exactly the fish we don't want to over harvest. A little reading up on trout age/size base on sex makes LA's 12" min more logical

[bloodtrailer28]

that would shift all of the pressure to the females which is exactly the fish we don't want to over harvest. A little reading up on trout age/size base on sex makes LA's 12" min more logical

Exactly my thoughts on increasing the size limits. From what I have read it would seem like all your doing is removing more females from the breeding population which is what we wouldn't want.

[bloodtrailer28]

If there are more fisherman on the water and less fish in the bay systems than years before - TPWD should should assess populations and set limits/restrictions accordingly.

If the state says I can keep my "keepers" then they are going on ice because I love to eat fish, and I can only make it to the saltwater a couple times a year.

Drop the trout limit to 3 - raise the minimum size - keeper redfish to 2 - I am on board with any change that allows me catch more quality fish, keep populations high, and eat a few fish dinners.

We have more redfish in our bay systems than we probably ever have. Why would you want to take the limit down to 2?
Lowest trout limits we've ever had and let's take that down to...while raising the size limit which means more females are taken. None of that makes any sense whatsoever

[skeeterboud]

what, if anything, can we do to have a great fishery? i'm pretty sure all these reds are eating lots of trout. years ago we often had big/giant trout attack and try to eat the small ones we hooked. i think the lack of giant trout is why we have so many 8-12" trout these days. of course, it was impossible to land one with the lure in the 14" trout's mouth. we had it happen in baffin a few times, and in the s padre surf many times, estes flats, emb often. i have a good friend that i took to emb 4 yrs ago that only fished salt a few times in his life. we made one drift on the way back to dry off, and he hooked a 13" trt. an honest 28-29 swallowed it at the boat! i don't even carry a net, and i don't think it would have helped. after a few runs it just opened it's mouth and out popped a scarred up dead trout. that was the last time it has happened to me/us..

[skeeterboud]

i'm still catching hell for not having a net

[DUKFVR]

that would shift all of the pressure to the females which is exactly the fish we don't want to over harvest. A little reading up on trout age/size base on sex makes LA's 12" min more logical

This!

[BW412]

i'm still catching hell for not having a net

Maybe a net ban would help.

[DUKFVR]

what, if anything, can we do to have a great fishery? i'm pretty sure all these reds are eating lots of trout. years ago we often had big/giant trout attack and try to eat the small ones we hooked. i think the lack of giant trout is why we have so many 8-12" trout these days. ..

We have a great fishery or had in between freezes. Mother nature puts the brakes on it every once in awhile with freezes. Not everyone cares to catch a big trout. Some of would just as soon catch good eating size fish. I don't keep anything over 22 or so inches. Usually won't even keep those a little smaller than 22. Would rather eat fish on the short side of the size limit. If big fish are your thing, that is good. Not knocking that at all. To each his own. I could be wrong ,but TPWD probably manages for numbers so everyone can get a few. Maybe you aren't catching big ones ,because you lost your A game!!!LOL!

[Mexico]

^^^ do not fool yourself for a second... it's becoming more and more obvious that population growth is starting the 'fight' for Texas' resources. so, don't take it personal when people take note of all the guides social media pages full of dead fish. people just don't see guides(esp. bay guides) the same any more.. what they do see is..well, scroll through the pictures on your facebook... many, heck, the majority of those fish would still be in the water if it was left up to your clients to catch their own fish.... some wouldn't have a boat..some wouldn't have the skill, etc. that, in itself, would leave many more fish in the bay..

now, i've fished out of the harbor and charlie's for over 30 yrs(i've even seen your al. rig w/the rails frequently) you can not tell me, honestly, that if you were NOT a guide, you would feel compelled to keep all the keepers you lawfully could.. i'm sure you can catch fish, so if you fished just a few times a month, you'd have more fish than your immediate family would ever want to eat..

glen, on the topic, why do you think no one has caught a water body record speckled trout in decades without a major freeze?(you can't really count bud rowland's, b/c it was never seen/weighed etc by txpwd) why have so many bass records been broken on our tx lakes this year alone? despite the pressure..

you are very correct, you do provide the means, etc as you mentioned on your post.. i'm not saying guiding is wrong, but i am saying guide boat's take a very large portion of fish out of the bays. people realize you are making a private living on a public resource.. bass tarpon bonefish billfish and many other types of fish are mostly released on guided trips..i think that is what hnt etx was conveying.

after the freeze, i posted something very much related.. got hammered by a few(heck, mexico called me a puta! but his opinion doesn't really matter b/c i hear he is the kind of guy that will shoot a buck that he himself has agreed to being off limits!)

a lot of people genuinely love the coast, and the fishery. and see where it's headed.. 12" dinks the norm.. you wrote that the general public should have a means to access the fishing public resource. i absolutely agree.. but there was a time long ago when pretty much everyone had access to productive hunting land as well.. not so long ago about anyone could commercial flounder, oyster or shrimp.. times are changing just as fast as our population

Haha... don't know how a deer got drug into a fish freeze kill thread but I kinda don't think your opinion matter's either. Lots of guys here feel the same way as there was plenty of head shaking going on off that thread and your post. Pretty obvios you don't know what you're talking about there fish killer, the deer or fish.

But hey you start a thread bashing " pop a top " .. to guides for killing fish and you yourself show pics of killing giant trout. Gotta take pictures and get that weight, that social media fame you so desire. Makes sense to me... you sound real legit!

[bloodtrailer28]

what, if anything, can we do to have a great fishery? i'm pretty sure all these reds are eating lots of trout. years ago we often had big/giant trout attack and try to eat the small ones we hooked. i think the lack of giant trout is why we have so many 8-12" trout these days. of course, it was impossible to land one with the lure in the 14" trout's mouth. we had it happen in baffin a few times, and in the s padre surf many times, estes flats, emb often. i have a good friend that i took to emb 4 yrs ago that only fished salt a few times in his life. we made one drift on the way back to dry off, and he hooked a 13" trt. an honest 28-29 swallowed it at the boat! i don't even carry a net, and i don't think it would have helped. after a few runs it just opened it's mouth and out popped a scarred up dead trout. that was the last time it has happened to me/us..

We have a great fishery and have for many years....we will still have a great fishery for years to come. Your acting like it's been the dead sea out there and that's FAR from the truth. There's been nothing wrong with our fishery for a long time.

There's plenty of fish that eat little trout including like you said big trout. My little brother had had a 28-30 in trout all the way to the boat and I went to grab it. Came undone and the trout swam off...only to see that he had about a 12in trout hooked and big mama ate him.

[Leemo]

what, if anything, can we do to have a great fishery? i'm pretty sure all these reds are eating lots of trout. years ago we often had big/giant trout attack and try to eat the small ones we hooked. i think the lack of giant trout is why we have so many 8-12" trout these days. of course, it was impossible to land one with the lure in the 14" trout's mouth. we had it happen in baffin a few times, and in the s padre surf many times, estes flats, emb often. i have a good friend that i took to emb 4 yrs ago that only fished salt a few times in his life. we made one drift on the way back to dry off, and he hooked a 13" trt. an honest 28-29 swallowed it at the boat! i don't even carry a net, and i don't think it would have helped. after a few runs it just opened it's mouth and out popped a scarred up dead trout. that was the last time it has happened to me/us..

The reason you don’t see any 10(+) pound trout caught out of East Bay is because you don’t know what you’re doing!!!! 6,489 go fast boats running up and down the shore line all day spooking fish doesn’t help.......
If you saw the numbers of big dead trout I saw 2 weeks ago on a Monday you would have scratched your head, I called Glenn and two retired Biologists to let them know.....
But , it’s probably just me , I don’t know squat

[sneaky freak]

^^^ do not fool yourself for a second... it's becoming more and more obvious that population growth is starting the 'fight' for Texas' resources. so, don't take it personal when people take note of all the guides social media pages full of dead fish. people just don't see guides(esp. bay guides) the same any more.. what they do see is..well, scroll through the pictures on your facebook... many, heck, the majority of those fish would still be in the water if it was left up to your clients to catch their own fish.... some wouldn't have a boat..some wouldn't have the skill, etc. that, in itself, would leave many more fish in the bay..

now, i've fished out of the harbor and charlie's for over 30 yrs(i've even seen your al. rig w/the rails frequently) you can not tell me, honestly, that if you were NOT a guide, you would feel compelled to keep all the keepers you lawfully could.. i'm sure you can catch fish, so if you fished just a few times a month, you'd have more fish than your immediate family would ever want to eat..

glen, on the topic, why do you think no one has caught a water body record speckled trout in decades without a major freeze?(you can't really count bud rowland's, b/c it was never seen/weighed etc by txpwd) why have so many bass records been broken on our tx lakes this year alone? despite the pressure..

you are very correct, you do provide the means, etc as you mentioned on your post.. i'm not saying guiding is wrong, but i am saying guide boat's take a very large portion of fish out of the bays. people realize you are making a private living on a public resource.. bass tarpon bonefish billfish and many other types of fish are mostly released on guided trips..i think that is what hnt etx was conveying.

after the freeze, i posted something very much related.. got hammered by a few(heck, mexico called me a puta! but his opinion doesn't really matter b/c i hear he is the kind of guy that will shoot a buck that he himself has agreed to being off limits!)

a lot of people genuinely love the coast, and the fishery. and see where it's headed.. 12" dinks the norm.. you wrote that the general public should have a means to access the fishing public resource. i absolutely agree.. but there was a time long ago when pretty much everyone had access to productive hunting land as well.. not so long ago about anyone could commercial flounder, oyster or shrimp.. times are changing just as fast as our population

This, most think because they can go catch a limit of keeper trout that the fishery is great, it was great when it was a 6-7 lb average, I also could care less who keeps what especially if they only fishing a couple times a yr, we live on the water and can go anytime off work, we release most and do keep a few to eat from time to time. Any one that thinks 10 lbers are every where these days are either lying or just dont know what they are talking about, if that were true more 10 lb era would be showing up at the big tournaments that the best fisherman on this coast fish. And it just dont happen regularly