Posted by Brad on August 05, 2002 at 19:25:46:
In Reply to: Questions for the fisherman-fisherwomen posted by Tribes on August 05, 2002 at 08:05:59:
I have sportfished in these waters year around since 84', always stepping lightly.
I remember my first trip to Catalina. We fished by Eagle Rock at the west end. We caught black and yellow rockfish, kelp rockfish, cabazon, treefish, whitefish, lingcod, etc. We even caught a couple of triggerfish. I had caught a treefish and the deckhand told me that that fish was 20 years old....
That hit me like a ton of bricks.
Over a thousand fishing trips later, i had only taken 3 (three) rockfish.
From 84' till 91', i fished in a flatbottom skiff that was 15'10". I went to Catalina over 2 hundred times. I went to San Clemente island a half a dozen times. During all of those trips, i only took one limit of fish... Three WSB at the breakwater in 86'.
In 91' , designed and built the good skiff. For the next decade i fished year around. I spent an average of 40 nights (and surrounding days) a year on the water. I fished everywhere from Begg Rock to Cortes, to the 43. I never fished sandbass, barricuda, or any other nearshore specie. When all of the other skiffs were fishing at the flats or catalina, i was at Nic or the tanner, or the backside of San Clemente. During those 10 years, i kept an average of 10 fish per year, in spite of having spent 40 nights a year on the water. I kept one calico bass (incidental, badly hooked) zero sandbass, zero sheephead, absolutely no rockfish. I always fished with the biggest bait i could find to eliminate hooking small fish. I never threw a bait on a fish that i didn't intend to eat fresh.
I NEVER played catch-injure-release!
I only kept halibut, WSB, yellowtail and tuna- Period!
I released EVERY fish that was hooked well enough to ensure that it would survive. (what a thrill to release big healthy fish!)
I landed EVERY fish except halibut by hand.
When the proposals for the no-take reserves first appeared, i thought for sure that my fellow fisherman would have seen the incredible opportunity we had to protect that which we valued so much!
The sportfishing industry is driver by hype and BS, so it wasn't long before the money interests went to work...
They somehow convinced anglers that all was well out there ant the government was just trying to take away more of their rights. The nature of sportfishing being what it is, this message took hold very fast. Soon the united anglers (whos motto used to be 'Fish for the Future') succumbed to the pressure of the industry money makers and abandoned their sacred tennet and declared 'war' against the most comprehensive (fish for the future) measure ever proposed for OUR waters.
I attended the very first meeting of the UASC in that tuna club house in the back waters of Alamitos bay...
Those men spoke about conservation, preservation of the sport. They told stories about the 40 thieves, the gillnet threat, they spoke about the need to preserve the fisheries....
Here we are some 15 years later and i can't help but feel betrayed by the current leadership.
When they declared WAR against the reserves, i quit fishing...
I gave away all of my gear and removed all vestiges of fishing equipment from the good skiff.
Now i still spend just as much time on the water, but my efforts are devoted entirely to underwater photography, my time on the water has never been more rewarding...