Off shore Fishing Gulf of Mexico: I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could...

BA Loc: Pace Florida

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could possibly get I was on the open waters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past 60 years and not any of them are for the good but I still enjoy being out there. I am all for conservation to ensure my children and grandchildren can enjoy what I’ve had enjoyed. Some of the rules are absolutely ridiculous such as; size limit on red snapper. Sounds great in Tallahassee where they decide on this rule but in real life you are trying to return undersized good eating fish back to their environment where statistically most will die no matter what method you use for release. Common sense solution would be no matter what size you catch you have to keep. Raise the limit to six per and a hefty fine if you throw any undersized overboard. The only mortality rate would be on your dinner table. Another change I’ve seen is with other fishermen. The last few years people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. Hello!! This is a big gulf of Mexico with hundreds and thousands of public readings there is no possible reason two crowd other fisherman. Not only is it irritating it can be dangerous! I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance. Another thing I’ve noticed has changed over the years is that we have trained porpoises /dolphins to get their dinner from the fish we are pulling up and the undersize we are trying to send back to the bottom. Every boat out there is guilty of training and making a nuisance of these beautiful mammals. Why? We are forced by law to return all undersized. I’ve questioned this for many years the answer I get from the law enforcement “it returns them to the food chain” ? There’s plenty more gripes I could share but for today this is plenty. I have a few years left hopefully I can enjoy deep-sea fishing you betcha I will be out there every chance I can.

ripogenu Loc: norfolk, MA

BA wrote:

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could possibly get I was on the open waters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past 60 years and not any of them are for the good but I still enjoy being out there. I am all for conservation to ensure my children and grandchildren can enjoy what I’ve had enjoyed. Some of the rules are absolutely ridiculous such as; size limit on red snapper. Sounds great in Tallahassee where they decide on this rule but in real life you are trying to return undersized good eating fish back to their environment where statistically most will die no matter what method you use for release. Common sense solution would be no matter what size you catch you have to keep. Raise the limit to six per and a hefty fine if you throw any undersized overboard. The only mortality rate would be on your dinner table. Another change I’ve seen is with other fishermen. The last few years people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. Hello!! This is a big gulf of Mexico with hundreds and thousands of public readings there is no possible reason two crowd other fisherman. Not only is it irritating it can be dangerous! I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance. Another thing I’ve noticed has changed over the years is that we have trained porpoises /dolphins to get their dinner from the fish we are pulling up and the undersize we are trying to send back to the bottom. Every boat out there is guilty of training and making a nuisance of these beautiful mammals. Why? We are forced by law to return all undersized. I’ve questioned this for many years the answer I get from the law enforcement “it returns them to the food chain” ? There’s plenty more gripes I could share but for today this is plenty. I have a few years left hopefully I can enjoy deep-sea fishing you betcha I will be out there every chance I can.

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young b... (show quote)

nice intro pic Ba, welcome aboard. I'll be down your way first two weeks of May.

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

Nice 👍

Jeremy Loc: America

BA wrote:

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could possibly get I was on the open waters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past 60 years and not any of them are for the good but I still enjoy being out there. I am all for conservation to ensure my children and grandchildren can enjoy what I’ve had enjoyed. Some of the rules are absolutely ridiculous such as; size limit on red snapper. Sounds great in Tallahassee where they decide on this rule but in real life you are trying to return undersized good eating fish back to their environment where statistically most will die no matter what method you use for release. Common sense solution would be no matter what size you catch you have to keep. Raise the limit to six per and a hefty fine if you throw any undersized overboard. The only mortality rate would be on your dinner table. Another change I’ve seen is with other fishermen. The last few years people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. Hello!! This is a big gulf of Mexico with hundreds and thousands of public readings there is no possible reason two crowd other fisherman. Not only is it irritating it can be dangerous! I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance. Another thing I’ve noticed has changed over the years is that we have trained porpoises /dolphins to get their dinner from the fish we are pulling up and the undersize we are trying to send back to the bottom. Every boat out there is guilty of training and making a nuisance of these beautiful mammals. Why? We are forced by law to return all undersized. I’ve questioned this for many years the answer I get from the law enforcement “it returns them to the food chain” ? There’s plenty more gripes I could share but for today this is plenty. I have a few years left hopefully I can enjoy deep-sea fishing you betcha I will be out there every chance I can.

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young b... (show quote)

Reded Loc: Now Virginia, after NJ then NY

People are rude, that is for sure, and a lot of the refs and politics don’t make much sense or do either us or fish any good.
That’s some gorgeous snapper there.
I wish I could connect with you or some other good fisherman if/when I get down again

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

BA wrote:

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could possibly get I was on the open waters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past 60 years and not any of them are for the good but I still enjoy being out there. I am all for conservation to ensure my children and grandchildren can enjoy what I’ve had enjoyed. Some of the rules are absolutely ridiculous such as; size limit on red snapper. Sounds great in Tallahassee where they decide on this rule but in real life you are trying to return undersized good eating fish back to their environment where statistically most will die no matter what method you use for release. Common sense solution would be no matter what size you catch you have to keep. Raise the limit to six per and a hefty fine if you throw any undersized overboard. The only mortality rate would be on your dinner table. Another change I’ve seen is with other fishermen. The last few years people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. Hello!! This is a big gulf of Mexico with hundreds and thousands of public readings there is no possible reason two crowd other fisherman. Not only is it irritating it can be dangerous! I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance. Another thing I’ve noticed has changed over the years is that we have trained porpoises /dolphins to get their dinner from the fish we are pulling up and the undersize we are trying to send back to the bottom. Every boat out there is guilty of training and making a nuisance of these beautiful mammals. Why? We are forced by law to return all undersized. I’ve questioned this for many years the answer I get from the law enforcement “it returns them to the food chain” ? There’s plenty more gripes I could share but for today this is plenty. I have a few years left hopefully I can enjoy deep-sea fishing you betcha I will be out there every chance I can.

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young b... (show quote)

Welcome to the Stage BA. Beautiful intro fish and pictures. Unfortunately the moron population is growing faster every day.

lorafa93 Loc: North Venice, Florida

Very nice catches. Congratulations

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

BA wrote:

...people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance.

People are adopting rude attitudes like a badge of honor...they are equating being able to be rude and obnoxious with personal freedom...look at how obnoxious and violent people are getting on airplanes

As you say, there is no reason to be within +/-100 feet of an anchored boat that got there first...it's common sense and decency, the decency part seems to be what is being lost. At some point people get fed up and someone gets hurt...

And what happens when two obnoxious people anchor on top of each other? You can bet that these same people being intentionally rude would be doing a freakout over someone else anchoring on top of them.

We were raised with courtesy and respect being a major component of everyday interactions with people, my parents insisted on courteous interactions...now look at the behavior that is being shown to their kids.

Bstrong Loc: Las Vegas, NV

lorafa93 Loc: North Venice, Florida

I’ve had a few run ins with rude people while fishing on the South jetty in Venice Florida. I always take a chair with me when I go to the jetty because I can’t stand or sit all day long. I got broken off in the rocks and while I’m rigging up another hook this guy walks up and starts fishing right in front of my chair. When I was ready to cast my line I asked the guy to move over since I had been fishing right there. He copped an attitude saying that my name isn’t on the rock. Instead of arguing with him I just started casting my line out real close to him. I guess he was afraid he might get hooked so he moved. I had another guy do the same thing when I was there about a month earlier. He wouldn’t move so I just kept casting my line right next to him. He wasn’t catching anything so he finally moved when I caught a Spanish Mackerel right in front of him.
I’ve had a few older guys complaining about getting tangled up with someone else’s line. Like you can control it. The tide is coming in and sweeping everyone’s lines down the channel. Getting tangled is inevitable.
Some people really need to learn some manners and learn to be courteous to other fishermen.
I’ll be 64 years old in a few weeks and I struggle to keep my cool sometimes when dealing with rude people. It takes the fun out of your day of fishing when that happens.
Tight lines everyone. 🐟🎣🐟

TXF

Bottom fish have a very good chance of survival upon release as long as they are vented to relieve the Barotrauma. The swim bladder must be punctured so the fish can descend or a descending device maybe used. Florida just past a law on Feb 22nd of this year requiring that "all vessels" targeting reef fish be equipped a venting tool or a descending device, and that it be rigged and ready while fishing. Effective immediately. I've been venting fish for 30+ years. Never used a descending device.

Fishing Fool Loc: redding, ca

BA wrote:

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young boy with my father doing walk on charter fishing out of Pensacola and Destin. Every chance I could possibly get I was on the open waters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past 60 years and not any of them are for the good but I still enjoy being out there. I am all for conservation to ensure my children and grandchildren can enjoy what I’ve had enjoyed. Some of the rules are absolutely ridiculous such as; size limit on red snapper. Sounds great in Tallahassee where they decide on this rule but in real life you are trying to return undersized good eating fish back to their environment where statistically most will die no matter what method you use for release. Common sense solution would be no matter what size you catch you have to keep. Raise the limit to six per and a hefty fine if you throw any undersized overboard. The only mortality rate would be on your dinner table. Another change I’ve seen is with other fishermen. The last few years people are becoming absolutely rude. I’ve had people drop their anchor on my anchor of course always turn into a nightmare situation especially with a little bit of chop. Some fish so close to us we actually get tangled in their lines. Hello!! This is a big gulf of Mexico with hundreds and thousands of public readings there is no possible reason two crowd other fisherman. Not only is it irritating it can be dangerous! I sum it up as rude behavior or ignorance. Another thing I’ve noticed has changed over the years is that we have trained porpoises /dolphins to get their dinner from the fish we are pulling up and the undersize we are trying to send back to the bottom. Every boat out there is guilty of training and making a nuisance of these beautiful mammals. Why? We are forced by law to return all undersized. I’ve questioned this for many years the answer I get from the law enforcement “it returns them to the food chain” ? There’s plenty more gripes I could share but for today this is plenty. I have a few years left hopefully I can enjoy deep-sea fishing you betcha I will be out there every chance I can.

I have fished Gulf of Mexico sence I was a young b... (show quote)

I am wondering why you lose so many fish by releasing them? We rarely lose any fish as we use the Seaquilizer Descending Tool that is good for sending fish back to the depth they were caught up to 300 feet . All Yelloweyes on the Northern California Coast have to be released and it is rare you ever lose one to decompression. Maybe those folks who fish for bottom fish could get familiar with the correct tools for releasing them?

Papa Jack Loc: Indianapolis

Nice pictures and rant away! Common sense disappeared some time ago

BA Loc: Pace Florida

ripogenu wrote:

nice intro pic Ba, welcome aboard. I'll be down your way first two weeks of May.

That’s great! enjoy yourself my opinion it is the best time of the year to have A good time on the gulf coast. Everything is Biting

BA Loc: Pace Florida

Venting fish and hoping they make it back to the bottom and live a normal healthy life is hoping a lot. They have been studies on released reef fish and found a significant portion of them dead within a short time. I agree with you that sending them back down with heavy weights to the bottom to be released is the best method. There is a large program in the state of Florida it’s called “release em right” this method is effective but certainly not 100% When one comes out of the water with both eyeballs protruding from the sockets and a stream of intestines spewing out of his anus his float bladder protruding out of his mouth I have serious doubts about his survival no matter what method of release is used. These fish was wasted because maybe a quarter inch shy of the required length. Solution is change the law! you keep what you catch Regardless of the size. Smaller fish generally taste better anyway😀