10/14 north shore

[NormM]

Started at West beach around 5PM. Heavy chop and strong wind convinced us not to launch the kayaks. There was some sporadic bird action so we watched the guys shore fishing for a while to see if things would pick up. Saw nothing caught and no surface action so continued north. Nothing much doing on the Manchester beaches either. Gray beach in Magnolia was calm and there were a few fish breaking out off the pier so we launched. Within a few minutes the shoreline from the pier to out around the point erupted. Picked a few up on the fly before switching over to spin to combat the very strong east wind. Blitz lasted to dark. We ended up with about 50 between us nothing over 24-25".
Norm

[skyomish]

Norm, You should have parked the kayak and kept fishing from shore.... It lasted well after dark and the fish got bigger...
BTW: Can anyone substantiate a rumor of a 53" bass being caught on West or Singing Beach in the past week by a fly guy?

[Markymark]

To be honest, I would not doubt that rumor for a minute! I hooked up Tues. at West Beach with a fish so strong that I could not pull rod up from a horizontal position,pulled the line off the reel down to the backing in like 10 sec. ,never felt anything like it before except for the false albacore on Martha's Vineyardl--125-3

[CelticCowboy]

i can belive that about the 50+ incher. i almost got into a fist fight with a spin guy on singing beach last week. he took a 40+ incher and left it to suffocate on the beach. he had no idea why it would make me so angry. i couldnt do much as he had a big bowie knife on his hip, i walked off to magnolia in disgust and threw several keepers back later that night.
i think i love these fish too much if thats possible

[gcwilk]

You wrote:

"i couldnt do much as he had a big bowie knife on his hip"

I don't get it - what could/would you have done if he didn't have that knife? I don't carry a knife on my hip - would I be in trouble if I kept a fish and bumped into you at the same time?

[Bob Parsons]

If the fish was a legal keeper then he was justified in keeping it and no confrontation should have even been considered.

[CelticCowboy]

my point was that he left the fish to suffocate on the beach without killing it first. i am not from this area but was taught to kill fish quickly instead of leaving them to suffer in this fashion. let me point out now that a legal fish is a legal fish and while i would not encourage people to keep every legal catch (this fishery is still in an early stage of recovery) i have kept and eaten my fair share.

[Conveyor Man]

When I was younger I would just through a fish I intended to keep on the beach or in a bucket and keep fishing. Later I would Bang it on the head to kill it quickly. I keep so few fish that I rarely give it any thought But I just had a fish that I kept because I had played it to long on to light a rod and I know it wouldn’t have lived but it made me think.

I don’t know whether suffocating is particularly painful but it would seem to me the worst thing about it would be the knowledge that you were dying so you would be struggling to breath. Fish have no brain per say, just a cerebral cortex no frontal lobes, so they can’t understand there mortality. Would suffocating really be better than being bashed on the head? Would a prolonged death be worse than a fast very painful one? And since we can’t take the fishes pulse are we sure we’ve killed it because it stops twitching? What if it is still conscious but can’t move and suffocates with a really bad headache. Anyway, like I said I just killed my first fish in a long time so it started me thinking.

On the lighter side, my wife cooked some of it last night in a Cajun sauce and it was incredible.

[CelticCowboy]

i prefer to break a fishes neck, which can be done quite easily, even on larger fish. that way you know it's dead. when i have my nephews with me i do it away from them. it introduces them subtely to the concept and even though they know the fish is being killed it is much better then them seeing a graceful beast writhing, seemingly in agony. i take your point about pain/mortality etc but i think it horibly unfair that these creatures be forced to endure such a death without dignity. i think that if you are going to reap such a bounty that leaving a fish in this humiliating state can only induce some bad karma.

[Hal_Brain]

Hey Cowboy,
What is the technique for breaking a fishes neck?
- Hal

[fleshfly]

that was heavy, do what you like with your fish, save the poetry for Valentines day....... I like to bang them accross the top of their skull with this little bat I keep tied to my stripping basket. it is cool by cool I mean totaly sweet.

[CelticCowboy]

all i'm saying is i respect the fishing gods & they have more than returned the compliment. a bash over the head sounds good to me.

[Ken Buke]

Looks like I have to buy a Bowie knife...so I won't be attacked by some crazed PETA member. :)

The best way (taste included) is to slit the fish's main artery (where the gills end, under the fish). Quick, easy, little mess and it makes the bass taste better (the most important part)

If you want to turn-off people from fishing, just start bashing a blue fish on the head and see it flap/bleed all over the boat.

Very dangerous also...

[CelticCowboy]

thats it ken,
for larger fish thats the way to go, a bit more time consuming than a quick break of a neck. this morning is not the day to label me a peta member either after last night, i'm ready to f^(1$g snap.
i didnt think i'd be admonished for asking that people not leave a fish to suffocate on a beach. whether you slit an artery or twist its neck its better than what this bozo did but if you guys want to defend some thug who was covered in prison ink go right ahead. my belief is that it was this type of angler which put the fishery in danger in the first place.

[Bob Parsons]

Just want to clarify my response. When I had read the post I thought the issue was that he was keeping a fish. I had not realized the issue was the way he kept it. I'm in the cut the gill artery group for fish that you plan on keeping.

If the person was approached with the concept that slitting it's throat with that big knife would have produced a better tasting fish, I bet it would have simplified the matter.

[fleshfly]

Cowgirl- A "thug in prison ink" is a bit more refreshing than the site of a dozen dudes wearing breathable waders on singing beach. Your assumptions are amusing.

[CelticCowboy]

bob,
the way things went was i saw this guy throw the fish up on the beach and return to the water. i watched for a moment and and when he bagan to recast i thought i'd missed him kill the fish then out of the corner of my eye i saw the fish flapping around. i went over to ask him if he intended on killing it to which his reply was a request that i have adult relations with myself! i told him that it would take 10 ses to kill it to which he told me to fu(k off, then he lifted his jacket to show me the knife. when that happens what can you do. i could have let my pride and ego get me into a knife fight where there was only one knife but i just shrugged my soldiers and walked off. it was funny thinking about it later, a year ago i probably would have asked the dude was he prepared for when i took that knife off him in a fight but i started a family a year ago and the only thing i thought about this time is that my first resposibility is that i make it home every nght to my wife and daughter. anyway thats the story, i'm glad too that you cleared you point up for me, i thought all and sundry were killing fish in this way. i hit magnolia at first light this morning and some awesome blitzes went one. about a dozen schoolies and 2 legal fish, one of which has a date with the grill this evening!