520lber caught!

[gannet]

n4lly,better not mention sea fishing licences or permits on this Forum, maybe start another war when our American Cousins discover how much we Brits oppose any form of licensing.

 

[ 15. October 2005, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: gannet ]

[stan4massey]

Bottomfish,

 

just seems a waste to niggle away potential useful information we can use over this side of the pond. Then again this lot (not all of them) love a niggle.

 

There are an awful lot of them over here who are genuinely interested in trying to revive a dwindling fishery hence the emphasis on conservation. A few, as everywhere and in all aspects of life, take it to extremes.

 

I have no idea what the individuals spend on tackle and boats but I know a lot of them on this forum own small boats, say 16 - 25ft, 4x4`s to tow them and a lot of money on navigational and safety equipment. Dare say a fully equipped boat and towing wagon would run into many $1000`s I`ve had a number of boats over the years but none at present. A lot of the fishing is beachcasting (surf casting as you call it) and some of the surf rods can run to $400-600. (as Merrick tackle in New York say in their trade catalogue, "the brits don`t have a space programme so they channel all their energy into surf rods", 300+ yard casts) Multiplier reels (you call them conventional reels)for surf fishing can also be a couple of hundred dollars. I do a lot of blue water so I`ve got full sets of 20 through 80 chair rods and Penn Intys to match plus 12lb through 80-130lb stand-ups again with 2 speed Intys or Everols to match. Replacement value probably close on $8,000.00. That does`nt include the salmon, trout and carp gear or saltwater fly equipment. No doubt others will chip in with their tuppence worth (sorry two cents worth)

[stan4massey]

n4lly,

 

phew! thank god for that, Scopex can rest easy

[BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales]

stan4massey:

There is nor never has been a commercial blue shark fishery so anglers wiped them out, that simple.

Good morning Stan,

 

Glad to see you still here. We need more open minded, sensible guys like you over there if there's any chance of us helping you guys with your fishing future.

Keep in mind that we (us yanks) are visiting this forum due to comments found in our own forums regarding the outrage shown here for the photo posted of the sword. We began postings out of defense, and I agree with you that the thread has taken on a better air this morning. I think however it is because Scopex isn't posting.... boy, his ignorance really gets me going, if you hadn't already noticed .

Regarding your above quote about the blue sharks, I wish to respectfully set you straight. Having spent many years shark fishing off of NY & NJ, and more specifically, participating in many shark tourneys while promoting the sportfishing yacht lines we carried, I can tell you that recreational angling didn't decimate the blues. As bycatch on longlines these fish were just discarded to rot as they have no commercial value. Secondly, because of this lack of food value, recreational fisherman didn't keep them either, however when hook and line caught they are cut loose ALIVE and live to swim again. I won't say a few morons didn't bring a few back for bragging rights, but we all hae morons to deal with. In the tournaments we released almost all of the sharks... blues, small makos, tigers, threshers, etc. The largest shark won the tourneys. Skippers radioed in their catches and we all hear on our radios what went on. If you didn't boat something you felt would go bigger than what was already on the board, you simply cut it loose. Only if it could place in the tourney was it brought to dockside. So you see, anglers aren't the problem, m'anglers are.

[Ron@.38 Special]

OK, so while the debate continues on us killing swords over here, a report from last nights fishing may shed some light on the quantitiy of swords off our coast here in Florida.

 

Last nights trips by most boats was very short since a front moved thru and changed conditions from flat calm in the Gulf Stream to 6 foot seas in about 15 minutes. Most boats only fished a couple of hours but that was all that was needed last night.

 

Most boats hooked up putting their first baits in the water. I was reports from about 6 boats and everyone had at least 1 swordfish. Several boats had multiple hookups and at least one boat had three fish and back at the dock in about 2 hours of fishing.

 

This is what US style conservation can do for a fishery like the swordfish. We conserve, we release, we used areas closed to longlining to proptect the juvenile fish.

 

We are all required to have a Highly Migratory Species permit from the government and we are required to report our catch with 48 hours to a Marine Fisheries hotline. We get a call back to get info like when, where, what bait, kind of hook, and fisht time. Then we are given a confirmation number to verify that we have reported our fish. The report system is mainly to comply with ICCAT reporting requirements.

 

So last night was a great swording night off Florida but would have been better if the weather had not chased the fleet back into port early. In contrast, Thurs night had fewer boats, but most boats caught at least three fish. (That does not mean they kept the three fish!)

[stan4massey]

Boats Miami,

 

got the wrong tack M8, I was talking about the blue shark fishery in the English Channel area that was wiped out by the anglers.

[BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales]

gannet:

n4lly,better not mention sea fishing licences or permits on this Forum, maybe start another war when our American Cousins discover how much we Brits oppose any form of licensing.

Gannet,

 

Are you kidding me? If you feel you have no responsibility financially to give back to the fishery when it gives so much to you, you could be the poster child for cheap and careless fisherman who want it all but will not get off their lazy a$$es to do something for themselves. Don't bi+ch & moan, you apparently haven't earned that right.

 

Since you brits, for the most part, are passive people who let their government remove basic freedoms and rights from their lives, why should you learn to stand up for yourself now? It's easier to keep that status quo and whine in your beer? Get up, get out, and get moving to fix your fishery problems. Start a revolution... we once did!

 

[ 16. October 2005, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales ]

[BOTTOMFISH]

Stan,

Any help we can provide just ask. Glad to see you have Intys, I love them. My son and I use the 2-80 for Sword along with 2 of our 6-50's, the other 4 and 4-30's we use for trolling for Wahoo,Sailfish,Dolphin,Marlin and others. We also use them for some of those Grouper. Some have posted that we kill everything in reality you see the pics of what we catch and eat not what we release. I guess for some one that has never been here and seen the amount of fish we have it may seen wrong to take a large fish.

[BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales]

stan4massey:

Boats Miami,

 

got the wrong tack M8, I was talking about the blue shark fishery in the English Channel area that was wiped out by the anglers.

Gotcha Stan. Thanks for clarifying it.

[BOTTOMFISH]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BoatsMiami.com Yacht Sales:

[/qb]

---

Gannet,

 

Are you kidding me? If you feel you have no responsibility financially to give back to the fishery when it gives so much to you, you could be the poster child for cheap and careless fisherman who want it all but will not get off their lazy a$$es to do something for themselves. Don't bi+ch & moan, you apparently haven't earned that right.

 

Since you brits, for the most part, are passive people who let their government remove basic freedoms and rights from their lives, why should you learn to stand up for yourself now? It's easier to keep that status quo and wine in your beer? Get up, get out, and get moving to fix your fishery problems. Start a revolution... we once did! [/QB]

Boats you are on the money, I say you start a revolution. We will back you up.