# New speckled trout limits for NC recs and comms



## jeffreyweeks (Feb 5, 2009)

New speckled trout size and creel limits will go into effect for NC anglers starting Nov 30 for coastal anglers, and commercial fishermen will be prohibited from possession or sale of speckled trout on the weekend.

*New speckled trout limits for NC recreational and commercial fishermen*


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*Fair enough...*

Law is about 10yrs too late though.......


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## drum junky (Jan 23, 2008)

Nice!


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## jay b (Dec 1, 2002)

Congrats to the NCG&F folks for the right decision, now all we need to do is convince the State of Virginia to do the same


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Drumdum said:


> Law is about 10yrs too late though.......


I hear ya on that. Our Weakfish limit is 1 fish per angler per day 13 inches or bigger.


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## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

RuddeDogg said:


> I hear ya on that. Our Weakfish limit is 1 fish per angler per day 13 inches or bigger.


and on several outing in sc, i catch over 3 weakfish

I dont see the need for the regs to go from 10 fish a day to 1 a day in a year

I feel like there are plenty of weakfish
I would appreciate something like 3-5 weaks a day at 13 inches each vs 1 a day.


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## smacks fanatic (Oct 16, 2010)

ours is four fish a day in fl


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Having spent some time pulling nets, unless the nets are left on the dock, the now illegal weekend Specs will die anyway......

It will probably keep the Beach Seine Hauler's out of the Spec holes on the weekends so fellas can throw their Mirrolures....fish don't seem to follow the 40 day workweek that the Marine Fisheries subscribes to.. I doubt an ocean drop netter or gill netter in the Pamlico is going to stay on the dock, if his kids need milk...I know if I was still in the boats, I would have to go out, it is a seven day a week proposition.

When Puppy Drum limit was 13" I caught a great deal of 12.75" Fish

When they raised Puppy Drum to 18" I caught a great deal of 17.75"

I would raise the Spec Trout limit to 24"

I would close Grey Trout in NC for three years for every one

Raise Flounder to 24"

Make a .05 Cent Bounty on Spiny Dogfish and $1.00 Bounty on Cownose rays
barbs.

Correction .10 Cent Bounty on Spiny critters, require that to receive bounty they must be kept them on ice to feed some poor folks...And you have to keep the Cownose wings on ice also, makes for nice scallop Poorboys...


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## smacks fanatic (Oct 16, 2010)

well its good for the fish...


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Garboman said:


> Having spent some time pulling nets, unless the nets are left on the dock, the now illegal weekend Specs will die anyway......
> 
> It will probably keep the Beach Seine Hauler's out of the Spec holes on the weekends so fellas can throw their Mirrolures....fish don't seem to follow the 40 day workweek that the Marine Fisheries subscribes to.. I doubt an ocean drop netter or gill netter in the Pamlico is going to stay on the dock, if his kids need milk...I know if I was still in the boats, I would have to go out, it is a seven day a week proposition.
> 
> ...


 From what I'm gathering,your opinion is to close the grey trout,and specks to the coms because they will be harvested anyway?? And place the size limit almost out of the question for the avg rec,and close the grey trout as well??

If this was done,as you said in 3yr segments,it WOULD WORK to achieve one of the best populations of trout on the Atlantic seaboard... While you're writing the laws,howabout the same 3yr segment for the harvest of menhaden?? 

Bountys on spinies and rays would be awsume!!! Course they still think the spinie is overharvested anyway,so that be kinda a mute point......


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

bluefish1928 said:


> and on several outing in sc, i catch over 3 weakfish
> 
> I dont see the need for the regs to go from 10 fish a day to 1 a day in a year
> 
> ...


I would as well but, here in Nazi Jersey, and I know I'm gonna piss some people off here, but it's a fact, the live nettin here has put a hurtin on the fishery here.


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## dirtyhandslopez (Nov 17, 2006)

Drumdum said:


> While you're writing the laws,howabout the same 3yr segment for the harvest of menhaden??
> 
> 
> Bountys on spinies and rays would be awsume!!! Course they still think the spinie is overharvested anyway,so that be kinda a mute point......


Agreed on the top part.

All that would need to happen for rays and skates to become a commercial target is a name change, some PR, and some recipes the restruant can get stuck into. And a little tweaking of the laws.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Since this is Thanksgiving and DNR will let me write some laws for today only

$1.00 from every NC licence would go to a fund to compensate Reedsville Virginia with Omega being compensated similar to the Tobacco buyout

This would be necessary due to the total ban on ocean seining of Menhaden off the NC coast. NC Gill Netters would be exempt as their catch is incidental and does not target the large schools of Fatback with industrial efficency

DD what ever happened with that proposed NC Law to make Menhaden off limits to out of State Netters? Reedsville lobbyists make a play? When Omega discovered people would injest fish pills as a suppliment the fertilizer industry went from on its way out to a means to keep NC gamefish from ever getting back on their fins..

Grey Trout have been near eliminated in my lifetime...Specs are not far behind....It worked on large Drum and Chesapeake Stripers......give em a break to regroup.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

> DD what ever happened with that proposed NC Law to make Menhaden off limits to out of State Netters? Reedsville lobbyists make a play?


 As I understood it on the radio the other day.. They said all purse netting operations for menhaden *south of cape lookout* are to be ceased...

The laws about dropnetting mirror these....


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## Fishwander (Jul 2, 2010)

dirtyhandslopez:


> All that would need to happen for rays and skates to become a commercial target is a name change, some PR, and some recipes the restaurant can get stuck into. And a little tweaking of the laws.


That has already been done.
Which would you prefer to eat:
#1 Patagonian Toothfish
#2 Chilean Sea Bass

Hint : They are both *the same fish !! *

c/o Wikipedia 
source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonian_toothfish

information: The name Chilean Sea Bass supposedly originated as part of a marketing gimmick to make the fish more marketable (as opposed to selling Patagonian Toothfish). [1]

[1] Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Dissostichus eleginoides" in FishBase. November 2005 version. 

They created a new fish commodity, and market , by virtue of a name change.

Fishwander


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## Fishwander (Jul 2, 2010)

Drumdum:


> As I understood it on the radio the other day.. They said all purse netting operations for menhaden south of cape lookout are to be ceased...


That is a blessing as in the north East / New England area ,many fishermen have noticed a reduction in the size of the 2003 year- class stripers. Also noted is the fact that many schoolies are being caught that look underfed , and have less girth than would be expected for their year-class.

Many fishermen in the Northeast / New England area attibute the reduction in size and girth to the commercial menhadden fishery by Omega in the Chesapeake area. Add to the commercial harvesting of the forage base of menhadden, the increase in surface polutants and agriculture fertilizer run-off into the Chesapeake watershed, these fry / fingerlings are already under stress.

Hopefully we will not see a crash of the striper (Rock Fish) fishery as they expierienced in the 70's

Fishwander


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Fishwander said:


> Drumdum:
> 
> That is a blessing as in the north East / New England area ,many fishermen have noticed a reduction in the size of the 2003 year- class stripers. Also noted is the fact that many schoolies are being caught that look underfed , and have less girth than would be expected for their year-class.
> 
> ...


 I think you are missunderstanding me... King mackerel are the "hotbuttun" with me.... They stopped dropnetting years back.. It was only stopped BELOW Cape Lookout,and they allowed it above Cape Lookout,which left Hatteras to rape the kings with a dropnet,thus inshore kings are now close to non-existent.... 

Now they come out with a pursesiene law that mirrors the dropnetting law,and will allow the pogie boats to rape the menhaden here in Hatteras,while giving another pass to bellow Cape Lookout... If they make a law like this,why not have the cahonas to close purse siening for ALL NC waters???


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## surf rat (Jun 30, 2004)

*dosen't matter*

No one can catch a limit down there anyway. Much less two over 24 the same day.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

"The cahonas to close purse siening for ALL NC waters???"

I would imagine that there is a Political Action Committee funded by Omega that contributed handsomely to NC politicians. The closing of waters only below Cape Lookout is total BS. One can look at a map and see that something is amiss.

I felt the law was originally proposed with Omega in mind, to keep the Virginia boats out, looks like the process was CORRUPTED along the way.

Perhaps some of the Southern NC fellas can chime in, but I would think Omega spends little time south of Cape Lookout and their base of operations is Virginia Capes, Chesapeake Bay and the OBX.

Stopping Omega would do more for King Mackerel, Drum and Striped Bass than any effort on reducing commercial and recreational harvest.

I would be happy to retract my statement if provided evidence to the contrary but it appears to be political influence and lobby pressure as the Industrial Fishing occurs North of the restricted area.....The Politicians will speak of the need to "Compromise" which is due to a well funded "Judas"...pressuring the decision.

Trace the vote on the changes to the Bill and you will find the politician who took the money and sold out NC Fisheries.....

For all those that have sinned there will come a reckoning....


__________________


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

surf rat said:


> No one can catch a limit down there anyway. Much less two over 24 the same day.


 On the other side of the sound they have,but over this way,you are totally correct....


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Garboman said:


> "The cahonas to close purse siening for ALL NC waters???"
> 
> I would imagine that there is a Political Action Committee funded by Omega that contributed handsomely to NC politicians. The closing of waters only below Cape Lookout is total BS. One can look at a map and see that something is amiss.
> 
> ...


 No doubt,but it is also the equivelent of the law that stopped dropnetting below Cape Lookout.. Imho,lobbiest groups involved in that one as well...

Shame of it all is obx is in the center of the crosshairs on both of these laws.. And the fish and resource is in a "loose loose" situation.... S*cks all the way around.... Also,if you don't think drum and stripers are sucked up along with the fatback you are sadly mistaken...

Garboman was fishing Rodanthe at the same time I was,when there were actually drum freejumping out of the water and over a hundred were caught in less than 24hr span... Next morning with the same thing happening (fish everywhere) about 7 pogie boats arrived on the scene,no more fish the rest of the season...

Sorry for the hijacked thread,but this is stuff that folks need to know and ncdmf and dmf need to open their eyes to....


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## dirtyhandslopez (Nov 17, 2006)

Garboman said:


> "The cahonas to close purse siening for ALL NC waters???"
> 
> I would imagine that there is a Political Action Committee funded by Omega that contributed handsomely to NC politicians. The closing of waters only below Cape Lookout is total BS. One can look at a map and see that something is amiss.
> 
> ...


Well said. Omega is always going to play the loss of jobs angle to do whatever it wants.


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## SNDFLEE (Sep 8, 2010)

Boy the last part of your statement sure is true! Perfectly put!


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## PoBenda (Sep 6, 2010)

Ahhhh.... The beauty of commercial fishing. The real irony is there are hundreds of species of fish that could be sustainably harvested for generations without bycatch or or overconsumption, but we don't do it. We throw away fish that are of the incorrect size and shape to efficiently pack so that we can completely fill the holds of our fishing boats. We find and perfect the means of harvesting millions of tons of fish, and maybe 1/2 makes it to the dinner table.

It's gotten so bad that NMFS instigated the creation of an international commission to regulate Halibut, and totally closed the Canary Rockfish Fishery in the Northwest. Then, when we couldn't do it to our own fisheries anymore, we commenced the systematic extermination of a fish that was beyond the ability of NMFS to protect. Someone brought it up earlier, Chilean Sea Bass.

If you want to really sicken yourself (and I know we all do ) there's a book about the Chilean Sea Bass (and extinction of sea life in general) called "Hooked." It's about the Australian Coast Guard chasing down a boat that was illegally catching a protected fish and selling them in american fish markets and restaurants.


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## Oldscout2 (Sep 15, 2008)

Caught a 13" Speck on t'giving day and gave him the benefit of the 30th regs and a pardon. Guess all we can do is our part, personally think North Carolina is acting in the best interest of the fishery and protecting the species.

Cheers/George


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