----- Original Message -----
From: "SimRacer"
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.bass
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 1:06 PM
Subject: New Year's Eve striper trip results in 42lb fish

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.
snip

Nice fish Sim! Heck, the fish that won the recent 3 day annual striper derby
out here on the left coast only weighed 38.5#. There's been some local 40+
pounders weighed recently though. Not bad for furiners. d:^)

Btw, the minimum keeper size out here is only 18". I believe Bill is also a
left coaster. Also, most of the stripers caught out here are in the delta,
not the ocean. For that reason alone many folks do not keep the larger fish
around here. Water quality issues. I say if you have a license and your fish
is legal, keep your 2 limit, any size. It's the unlicensed guys keeping the
under size fish that really chap my hide.

-phish