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.

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😀

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.

Yes we have trained those dolphins for easy freebies. They are a nuisance I have pulled the hook and ran a couple of miles to another spot all to have them follow me and start it over again. Also when they show up a lot of times The bite can slow. Sometimes the only deterrent is to take advantage other boats coming to fish where you’re at let them hook up a couple then drift several hundred yards before you crank up the motors and go to another spot. Hopefully you leave the Dolphins there 😂. Our governor DeSantis has really helped the recreational fishing offshore as to increase the Open season for red snapper he told the feds he can manage the snapper conservation in his state which he has! But we have to wait until June sometime,but by then it gets very hot early And the risk of getting cought in a summer thunderstorm increases😬 Just take the bad with the good and enjoy yourself every chance you can. The worst day of fishing is a whole lot better than the best day of honey do list