"Bill McKee" wrote in message
ink.net...
Next time, unless mounting the striper, release the big ones and keep the
12# and under. They taste better, and the big ones are females, and those
big females make lots of eggs.

Well, I understand your sentiment, but we are allowed a creel of 2/per
person here, and are limited to fishing to within 3 miles of the shore thus
preventing us from chasing the "real big ones" that are farther out. (And
USCG boats were on hand to enforce the "3 mile line" all day...)

Also, our minimum length on coastal stripers is 28". Anything 28"+ out there
will likely be thick enough to weigh 12lbs at a minimum IMO, so finding
anything "that small" where we were, would be a challenge, and obviously,
anything under 28" has to go back in the water to begin with. We're
basically commanded to keep 12+ lb'ers I guess is what I am trying to say.
In ocean waters off NC anyway. (Here are the legal specs, right from the NC
Marine Fisheries website:
http://www.ncfisheries.net/recreational/recguide.htm )

And I can say with 100% certainty, is that the taste of a fish exactly that
big is just fine. I grilled up several pieces of it last night for dinner.
We split this fish, and the other one we kept, among the 4 of us on the
boat. (Gently) Cut loose all the rest and every single Blue we caught (which
was 25 or so, average weight of which was about 12 lbs per believe it or
not).

Now, were this inland fish, absolutely. We'd keep the smallest we could if
we wanted the meat. And as it is, there were 4 of us on the boat, and we
only kept 2 fish total (out of 8 possible). Honestly though, very seldom if
ever do we keep any inland fish we catch outside of a small bucket of crappy
on occasion when we're getting a "fish fry" together for us and friends.

So I ain't trying to change your philosophy, far from it, but I am saying
that our "rules" out here prevent us from keeping anything as small as you
indicate as being ok. And when they allow 2 per person/per day, you can't
expect us not to keep some, especially a big one, at least every so often.
Really, you should come fuss at the netting boats that were out there
harvesting them commerically (I counted 4 of them around us on Saturday)
before you get on us recreational fishermen. I mean we caught a handful and
kept 2, and I doubt they culled 2 all day...and kept the rest. And probably
killed a bottle nosed dolphin or two in the process with their nets...(we
were surrounded by them all day, at least several pods or whatever they're
called, which was a beautiful sight to behold. If the water hadn't been 50º
and the air temp not been in the 40s, I'd have wanted to swim with
them...lol)


"SimRacer" wrote in message
...

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"SimRacer" wrote in message
nk.net...
With the continuing "relatively nice for the time" weather we've had
here
in NC, me and a fishing buddy linked up and went out to the OBX to
get
in
on some of this winter Striped Bass fishing we've been hearing so
much
of
the past few years. We went out this past Saturday (Dec 31) off
Hatteras
Island (NC) out of Oregon Inlet and managed to catch a few really
nice
stripers. There were a ton of folks on the water, I was even
surprised
at
the amount of charter boats we saw out there chasing these winter
bass.
The "3 mile line" kept us all clumped up along the various stretches
of
shore from Kitty Hawk/Duck NC past Oregon Inlet and the Bodie Island
Lighthouse all the way South to Hatteras Village and the lighthouse
itself. So we just jumped into the trolling line that was more like a
fleet by mid morning, and all "followed the birds" looking for
schools
of
bait fish.

We caught this particular striper about 10 miles North of the
Hatteras
Lighthouse, about 2 miles off the beach:
(this is my buddy in the photos, he reeled her in, so we gave him the
glory)

http://home.earthlink.net/~simracer5...b_striper5.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~simracer5...b_striper1.jpg

We had her certified for a state citation when we got back in, which
is
35lbs here in NC. Weighed 42 lbs on the dot according to the
"official/certified" scales at the tackle shop. Our best rough
measurements were 45" long, 28" girth. Nowhere near the *rumored* new
record set this past week during a tournament of over 60 lbs, which
was
the record from 1971 until this past week if said rumor is true. (We
heard
several weights through the rumor mill; 62, 63 and 65 pounds, so
apparentlly a large one above 60 lbs was caught)

Hope everyone here at rofb had enjoyable holidays.

That's a beast!

Hehe! Yes it is. The possibility of catching something "like this" was
the
very reason we braved the ocean, the weather, etc in the first place,
this
time of year.

With fishing pressure seemingly ever increasing around here during the
"warm
months" I've made a committment to try to fish more of the off-season,
and
it paid off this time. Now, here's hoping when I get on the flat water
nearby chasing the largemouth shortly, that we're as fortunate. Me and
the
fella in these photos plan on LM bass fishing every spare day in
Feburary
that is above freezing that we can...

--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com