48 Dolphin in the boat, fishing Bimini last Monday

RiskTaker · 06-07-2006, 02:13 PM

Ya Mon, what a wild fishing experience we had this weekend while fishing in Bimini. We seemed to hook-up a few small dolphin everytime were in trolling mode.

Monday turned out to be a fishing day that I have not personally experienced in many years of dolphin fishing. We held a school of dolphin for over an hour. In that time we caught more than 48 dolphin. The final tally was 48 in the boat, after throwing several of the smaller ones back. One small one that was hooked in the eye was recycled back into the herd, as bait strips and the rest of the body went out in search of something larger.

We never managed to catch any large size dolphin, or anything else higher up the chain: they were all schoolies in the 20 -30" range.

Interestingly, we first hooked up in about 40-60 feet of water just North of Bimini channel, with a quad. We were using all rigged ballyhoo, with an assortment of dressings: naked, hooded, large Blue/white Islander, small islander; they all worked for those ravenous fish.

We kept two fish behind the boat and continued trolling out to deeper water at an idle speed, with auto-pilot taking up on our slack to pilot the boat. After a couple more fish were caught, we got into the groove. Finlander was fishing the port side and I was on the starboard, standing on the motor platform. Andy volunteered to be the de-hooker as long as we kept passing him decent fish. Andy did a great job at grabbing the "green" fish, slapping them between his legs and by "hook and crook" grabbing that hook and getting it off of the fish. Then gently handing the hook back to a place on the gunnel then sliding the fish into the box. These fish were astute enough not to bite a naked hook, so we had to keep some bait on the feathers at all times. To my great satisfaction with all the fish and lines flying, nobody got hooked themselves.

After an hour we were all sweating hard, so I simply had to stop fishing. Andy was exhausted too, probably more so since he was working the pit for two anglers pitching him a fish in alternating sequence, nearly without a break. Finlander was so excited about this wild feeding frenzy, he mentioned that we could start filling the other fish hold. But we knew that we had easily boated more than 30 fish and the first hold we full, full to the top, and the thoughts of filleting this amount of fish was creaping into the back of my mind. So that was it: we stopped. Back at the dock, we finally counted the fish and it totalled 48. (May be able to post a photo later on. )

We realized that we have a 6 per person fish limit (combination of dolphin, wahoo and kingfish). So when we included the rest of the crew that included my family and Andie's family, we were at 8 people overall. So let's say that we legally limited out with dolphin even though 3 anglers/2 rods, did the bulk of the work.

I haven't seen that kind of action in Florida since the 1970's when I was a kid and first starting to experience what getting into a school was all about. But it is sure fun when that kind of action comes together once in a while.

We also caught a few Yellowtail snapper by night fishing, but we kept getting cut off by Cudas, most likely, and those were all probably the bigger fish since they took longer to get to the boat.

And the weather was perfect: mostly calm.

quack quack · 06-07-2006, 02:25 PM

nice trip RT

We did the same on the way home from Lucaya on Sun.We stopped at 20 because the coolers were smack full of yellow tail and grouper meat :lol:

Venice Tunaman · 06-07-2006, 05:25 PM

Awesome! The dolphin fishing this year is very impressive!

Relentless33 · 06-10-2006, 03:18 PM

Just got back, we were upgrading the size of the ballyhoo as much as possible to get rid of the baby peanuts, we had two fly-fishermen onboard that went nuts with the schools of hundreds beside the boat.
I had a few occasions of watching fish dart out from under the boat when we were running back to the house.
Overall, the trip was great and I enjoyed seeing peanut dolphin look like live bait as they leaped out of the water in schools of 50 or more.

captadamr · 10-30-2006, 03:42 PM

I guess this is the reason the Bahamian Goverment is Revising the Limits..........

RiskTaker · 10-31-2006, 08:07 AM

Captadamr:

I suppose that was a wise crack. Or is the Bahamian governement actually going to revise the dolphin/king/wahoo limits?

Just as an FYI - I have not limited out in dolphin for at least a decade prior to this limit. So every boat has its day, once in a while. We were a crew of 8 so each person had their limit of 6 fish: any combination of dolphin/wahoo or king fish.

So I would not call this an abuse of resources by any means. If I average out the weight of the fish per the cost of the trip, I suppose we were paying in excess of $25 a lb. The Bahamian tourist economy received at least $US 1500 for our weekend fishing trip.

It doesn't seem to be in the best interest to over-restrict; although, it is expected that the Bahamas' governement will mange the resources effectively. Pelagic Dolphin that are highly migratory and reproduce like rabbits should be the last fish on their list to put additional restrictions on. I can think of at least a half dozen other considerations that hit my priority list.

Your comment was so noted and feel free to provide constructive criticism on any abuse of the fisheries, as needed. RT

captadamr · 10-31-2006, 04:23 PM

The comment was directed to those that abuse the current limits. ie boats traveling to the exuma sound during the spring and killing 100 dolphin a day, or boats that run in, clear customs and fish all day to never inject a penny into the local economy, those that fish in Bahamian waters and never check in and those that simply don’t give a rats ass about the catch limits. I sure do hope that there are no members of this online community that do that, as there seems to be a great number of individuals who are pro-conservation. It is good to find an online community that hosts such a wealth of information.

My comment was also to let those know who already didn’t about the Bahamian Governments Plans to amend not only the pelagic limits, but the limits of Conch and Spiny Lobster.

Proposed New Limits:

Crawfish and conch from six per person per day to six per vessel per day.

Demersal fish, such as snappers and groupers, when in season from 20 pounds per person per day to 20 pounds per vessel per day.

Dolphin, Kingfish and Wahoo from a total of six per person per day to three per vessel per day.

In additional, Mr Miller would like to establish a catch limit for tunas, and include these species in the pelagic fish category. He wants to establish a requirement that all fish retained be kept with head and tail intact until landed ashore, to facilitate identification and eliminate the production of fillets while the vessel is at sea..

RiskTaker, It is unfortunate that those in your situation who do contribute to the local economy and who do not abuse the current limits, to be affected by the new catch limits. Personally I would rather see the current limits retained, and enforced. I suppose that the old saying about a few bad apples is quite relevant here. Only time will tell what The Bahamian Government plans to do.

CaptainEd · 12-09-2006, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Crawfish and conch from six per person per day to six per vessel per day.
Dolphin, Kingfish and Wahoo from a total of six per person per day to three per vessel per day

The current regulations are reasonable. They are fair and it's an equal exchange for the fee's and large expenses for everything we do when visiting the Bahamas. A lot of times the fishing sucks in the Bahamas so it's not like everyone is limiting out all the time. Most fisherman and tourists I know are conservation minded. They respect the Bahamians, follow their laws/regs and pay a lot of their hard earned money to visit the islands.

The alleged proposed limits you mentioned are absurd. If they're going to use those new regs they ought to add this in the new alleged proposal:

1.) Losing the 4 dollar a gallon gas.

2.) Losing the 150. and 300. dollar entry fees.

3) Losing the 2.50+ a foot slip fees.

4.) Give each Captain A complimentary suite at his hotel of choice with a complimentary open bar tab.

Momentum · 12-13-2006, 04:13 PM

I had the opportunity to kill 48 peanuts on trip 1/2 this summer in Bimini, but I kept 6 or 7 which I ate off of for a long time.

Broadbill · 12-15-2006, 09:19 AM

I am glad to see the Bahamian Government stepping up and reducing catch limits. I have been going to the Bahamas since I was born and have watched outlaw A$$holes rape and pillage there for years. Do you really need to go there and dive up every conch you see that day, or take 400 lobsters off a plane wreck, or 60 dolphin, and 25 tuna just because they are there???? That's bullshit! People think because they are out of their waters they can run 100 miles and rape the ocean. My family has enjoyed the Bahamas for years, I have fished from the bottom to the top of the islands and have always been respectful and taken enough for dinner that night. I guess if frozen freezer burnt fish is your game congrats!

If I sound like a tree-hugger I applogize, but our oceans are soon to be in deep shit because of this nonscence!!!!!!!

CaptainEd · 12-16-2006, 10:25 PM

Quote:

I was born and have watched outlaw A$$holes rape and pillage there for years. Do you really need to go there and dive up every conch you see that day, or take 400 lobsters off a plane wreck, or 60 dolphin, and 25 tuna just because they are there????

So what does that have to do with the current regs or the absurd new proposed regs? Punish those of us who follow the law because of the few that don't? If they want to protect their fishery then they should enforce some regs on the Bahamians.

You're a dumbass

Broadbill · 12-17-2006, 11:50 AM

I agree they deffinetely need to enforce their own people. I just think they are stepping in the right direction, 6 pelagic fish is plenty in a day. The bottom fish limit is a bit ridiculous (20 #'s), although with 100's of boats with electric reels it doesn't take long to wipe out a patch of reef. Regardless, they need to enforce whatever rules they create because it is completely over-fished and dived.

Captain Ed, maybe you should catch bigger fish then you would have plenty within those limits. It's a shame you can't voice your opinion without some total ASSHOLE like yourself calling people a "dumbass", which I believe is actually two words, DUMB ASS!!!!!!!

FINSnTAILS · 12-17-2006, 06:44 PM

Warrior · 12-18-2006, 11:14 AM

What the hell was all that about? What a Dumb Ass!
Ed, tell me one thing. Why do you go to the Bahamas to fish anyway? Is it because you like to pay $4.00 for fuel, or is it because your home waters were fished out by your Dumb Ass forefathers?
It just goes to show, they will give a license to anyone! Idiot!

The BEAST · 12-18-2006, 11:51 AM

Broadbill,

The point that seems to escape you is that the new Bahamian regs only pertain to Foreign boats. In other words the 5 pelagic, 20# bottom fish rules only pertain to you the American in Bahamian waters.

The Bahamians are exempt.

Extremely intelligent conservation methods???

Warrior,

Most of us at my dock went over there to catch fish that do not frequent our area, like some of the deep drop snappers and yellowfin tuna, large marlin, etc.

Do any of you blame the occasional fishing tourist for over fishing our waters. I've never heard that said when discussin conservation in the US.

The Bahamians are only restricting foreign fisherman not the actual people putting the fishing pressure on their stock, THEMSELVES!

This is typical of most of the worlds view on Americans, "Give me your money, shut up, and get out!" I don't know about you guys but I CAN do something about this. I'm going to start excersising conservation of the US dollar.

They will never get another dollar from me!!!!!!!!!!!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

Broadbill · 12-18-2006, 12:44 PM

Thanks Beast. I fully understand the amount of pressure by Bahamians, but I think a lot of you don't realize what "we" do. We own a house in the Bahamas and around our island you will have a hard time catching dinner anymore. It used to be nothing to go dive up a couple lobsters and shoot a hog or two for supper. Those days are long gone, and where our island is located it is not due to natives, but good old Florida Honkeys who don't follow rules. We have people on our island with compressors bigger than your local dive store. They all sneak out and tank dive and pretty much obliterate the reef. From 15-125' nothing is safe. This is the kind of crap that I can't stand. It is surely a shame to dive (free dive) all day and not end up with enough lobster for dinner. Then you watch the other yahoos come in in a 65' enclosed bridge sportfish with 100 dolphin that wouldn't make a sandwich????? Then my personal favorite, the deep drop guys who catch enough yellow eyes and queens in an afternoon to feed all of our boys in Iraq for a month. I guess if this makes me a "dumbass" for wanting a rule change so be it. I don't agree with not limiting Bahamians, although diving and fishing is their only means of income in some remote areas, and it is their country. Do you go to Canada deer hunting and get mad because you can only kill one buck and Canadians can kill more? Or do you feel it is better to break the rules and kill as many deer as possible for the good of the continent? Regardless, I think the new regualtions will get people thinking about what they are doing and hopefully help with conservation. I can tell you the biggest problem they have with out a doubt is enforcement. All the antics I described above and all the time at our place and I have never seen a patrol boat, ever! The closest one I have ever seen was at Green Turtle and that's a good piece away.

Warrior · 12-18-2006, 01:59 PM

Perfect... One Less Dumb Ass In The Bahamas!!!!!!!

The BEAST · 12-18-2006, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

Perfect... One Less Dumb Ass In The Bahamas!!!!!!!

Exactly, and your comment makes two of us, with you being the biggest and dummest of all! Dumb means you can't speak, dum means stupid, you Dummy!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

CaptainEd · 12-18-2006, 02:36 PM

"internet" Warrior and Broadbill

Nope seems like there will be plenty of dumb asses like yourselves still wasting your money... not mine.

About giving anyone a license... well only a dumb ass like you would make a statement like that.

Quote:

and where our island is located it is not due to natives, but good old Florida Honkeys who don't follow rules.

bullsh*t! It's from Bahamians.

Broadbill

Quote:

Captain Ed, maybe you should catch bigger fish then you would have plenty within those limits. It's a shame you can't voice your opinion without some total ASSHOLE like yourself calling people a "dumbass", which I believe is actually two words, DUMB ASS!!!!!!!

I call it like I see it. Gee you're smart... so my thumb missed the space bar dumb ass.

Right. Like you know about the fish I catch. I've never broken a fishing reg in my life. It's a shame your second sentence makes no sense Mr Rhode's Scholar. You are in fact a true dumb ass.

Well I'll leave this post before the rest of your girlfriends try and gang up on me. I say we leave the forum and continue this at the docks. My boats at the Dania Beach Marina right across from the pier. I'm there every morning except Sundays. Then we'll see how much you want to run your mouth(s).

captadamr · 12-18-2006, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainEd

"internet" Warrior and Broadbill

Nope seems like there will be plenty of dumb asses like yourselves still wasting your money... not mine.

About giving anyone a license... well only a dumb ass like you would make a statement like that.

bullsh*t! It's from Bahamians.

Broadbill I call it like I see it. Gee you're smart... so my thumb missed the space bar dumb ass.

Right. Like you know about the fish I catch. I've never broken a fishing reg in my life. It's a shame your second sentence makes no sense Mr Rhode's Scholar. You are in fact a true dumb ass.

Well I'll leave this post before the rest of your girlfriends try and gang up on me. I say we leave the forum and continue this at the docks. My boats at the Dania Beach Marina right across from the pier. I'm there every morning except Sundays. Then we'll see how much you want to run your mouth(s).

TO Warrior and Broadbill, im glad there are 2 other clear thinking individuals on this forum

06-07-2006, 02:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,961	48 Dolphin in the boat, fishing Bimini last Monday Ya Mon, what a wild fishing experience we had this weekend while fishing in Bimini. We seemed to hook-up a few small dolphin everytime were in trolling mode. Monday turned out to be a fishing day that I have not personally experienced in many years of dolphin fishing. We held a school of dolphin for over an hour. In that time we caught more than 48 dolphin. The final tally was 48 in the boat, after throwing several of the smaller ones back. One small one that was hooked in the eye was recycled back into the herd, as bait strips and the rest of the body went out in search of something larger. We never managed to catch any large size dolphin, or anything else higher up the chain: they were all schoolies in the 20 -30" range. Interestingly, we first hooked up in about 40-60 feet of water just North of Bimini channel, with a quad. We were using all rigged ballyhoo, with an assortment of dressings: naked, hooded, large Blue/white Islander, small islander; they all worked for those ravenous fish. We kept two fish behind the boat and continued trolling out to deeper water at an idle speed, with auto-pilot taking up on our slack to pilot the boat. After a couple more fish were caught, we got into the groove. Finlander was fishing the port side and I was on the starboard, standing on the motor platform. Andy volunteered to be the de-hooker as long as we kept passing him decent fish. Andy did a great job at grabbing the "green" fish, slapping them between his legs and by "hook and crook" grabbing that hook and getting it off of the fish. Then gently handing the hook back to a place on the gunnel then sliding the fish into the box. These fish were astute enough not to bite a naked hook, so we had to keep some bait on the feathers at all times. To my great satisfaction with all the fish and lines flying, nobody got hooked themselves. After an hour we were all sweating hard, so I simply had to stop fishing. Andy was exhausted too, probably more so since he was working the pit for two anglers pitching him a fish in alternating sequence, nearly without a break. Finlander was so excited about this wild feeding frenzy, he mentioned that we could start filling the other fish hold. But we knew that we had easily boated more than 30 fish and the first hold we full, full to the top, and the thoughts of filleting this amount of fish was creaping into the back of my mind. So that was it: we stopped. Back at the dock, we finally counted the fish and it totalled 48. (May be able to post a photo later on. ) We realized that we have a 6 per person fish limit (combination of dolphin, wahoo and kingfish). So when we included the rest of the crew that included my family and Andie's family, we were at 8 people overall. So let's say that we legally limited out with dolphin even though 3 anglers/2 rods, did the bulk of the work. I haven't seen that kind of action in Florida since the 1970's when I was a kid and first starting to experience what getting into a school was all about. But it is sure fun when that kind of action comes together once in a while. We also caught a few Yellowtail snapper by night fishing, but we kept getting cut off by Cudas, most likely, and those were all probably the bigger fish since they took longer to get to the boat. And the weather was perfect: mostly calm.

06-07-2006, 02:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
quack quack Old Salt Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: lake worth Best Catch: 25lb codfish 5 yrs old first hanger Posts: 4,452	nice trip RT We did the same on the way home from Lucaya on Sun.We stopped at 20 because the coolers were smack full of yellow tail and grouper meat :lol: __________________ Either we can be a part of the solution or we can be the victims of a decision.

06-07-2006, 05:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
Venice Tunaman Hooked Up Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Venice Louisiana Posts: 205	Awesome! The dolphin fishing this year is very impressive!

06-10-2006, 03:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
Relentless33 Grander Join Date: Apr 2006 Best Catch: 81" sword Posts: 2,908	Just got back, we were upgrading the size of the ballyhoo as much as possible to get rid of the baby peanuts, we had two fly-fishermen onboard that went nuts with the schools of hundreds beside the boat. I had a few occasions of watching fish dart out from under the boat when we were running back to the house. Overall, the trip was great and I enjoyed seeing peanut dolphin look like live bait as they leaped out of the water in schools of 50 or more.

10-30-2006, 03:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
captadamr Hooked Up Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Nassau, Bahamas Boat: 2 Hats, 1 Post and a Tiara Best Catch: Blue Marlin 135" 600+ Occupation: Captain Posts: 233	I guess this is the reason the Bahamian Goverment is Revising the Limits..........

10-31-2006, 08:07 AM	#6 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,961	Captadamr: I suppose that was a wise crack. Or is the Bahamian governement actually going to revise the dolphin/king/wahoo limits? Just as an FYI - I have not limited out in dolphin for at least a decade prior to this limit. So every boat has its day, once in a while. We were a crew of 8 so each person had their limit of 6 fish: any combination of dolphin/wahoo or king fish. So I would not call this an abuse of resources by any means. If I average out the weight of the fish per the cost of the trip, I suppose we were paying in excess of $25 a lb. The Bahamian tourist economy received at least $US 1500 for our weekend fishing trip. It doesn't seem to be in the best interest to over-restrict; although, it is expected that the Bahamas' governement will mange the resources effectively. Pelagic Dolphin that are highly migratory and reproduce like rabbits should be the last fish on their list to put additional restrictions on. I can think of at least a half dozen other considerations that hit my priority list. Your comment was so noted and feel free to provide constructive criticism on any abuse of the fisheries, as needed. RT

10-31-2006, 04:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
captadamr Hooked Up Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Nassau, Bahamas Boat: 2 Hats, 1 Post and a Tiara Best Catch: Blue Marlin 135" 600+ Occupation: Captain Posts: 233	The comment was directed to those that abuse the current limits. ie boats traveling to the exuma sound during the spring and killing 100 dolphin a day, or boats that run in, clear customs and fish all day to never inject a penny into the local economy, those that fish in Bahamian waters and never check in and those that simply don’t give a rats ass about the catch limits. I sure do hope that there are no members of this online community that do that, as there seems to be a great number of individuals who are pro-conservation. It is good to find an online community that hosts such a wealth of information. My comment was also to let those know who already didn’t about the Bahamian Governments Plans to amend not only the pelagic limits, but the limits of Conch and Spiny Lobster. Proposed New Limits: Crawfish and conch from six per person per day to six per vessel per day. Demersal fish, such as snappers and groupers, when in season from 20 pounds per person per day to 20 pounds per vessel per day. Dolphin, Kingfish and Wahoo from a total of six per person per day to three per vessel per day. In additional, Mr Miller would like to establish a catch limit for tunas, and include these species in the pelagic fish category. He wants to establish a requirement that all fish retained be kept with head and tail intact until landed ashore, to facilitate identification and eliminate the production of fillets while the vessel is at sea.. RiskTaker, It is unfortunate that those in your situation who do contribute to the local economy and who do not abuse the current limits, to be affected by the new catch limits. Personally I would rather see the current limits retained, and enforced. I suppose that the old saying about a few bad apples is quite relevant here. Only time will tell what The Bahamian Government plans to do.

12-13-2006, 04:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
Momentum Hooked Up Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 330	I had the opportunity to kill 48 peanuts on trip 1/2 this summer in Bimini, but I kept 6 or 7 which I ate off of for a long time.

12-15-2006, 09:19 AM	#10 (permalink)
Broadbill Hooked Up Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ft. Pierce, Fl Posts: 327	I am glad to see the Bahamian Government stepping up and reducing catch limits. I have been going to the Bahamas since I was born and have watched outlaw A$$holes rape and pillage there for years. Do you really need to go there and dive up every conch you see that day, or take 400 lobsters off a plane wreck, or 60 dolphin, and 25 tuna just because they are there???? That's bullshit! People think because they are out of their waters they can run 100 miles and rape the ocean. My family has enjoyed the Bahamas for years, I have fished from the bottom to the top of the islands and have always been respectful and taken enough for dinner that night. I guess if frozen freezer burnt fish is your game congrats! If I sound like a tree-hugger I applogize, but our oceans are soon to be in deep shit because of this nonscence!!!!!!!

12-17-2006, 11:50 AM	#12 (permalink)
Broadbill Hooked Up Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ft. Pierce, Fl Posts: 327	I agree they deffinetely need to enforce their own people. I just think they are stepping in the right direction, 6 pelagic fish is plenty in a day. The bottom fish limit is a bit ridiculous (20 #'s), although with 100's of boats with electric reels it doesn't take long to wipe out a patch of reef. Regardless, they need to enforce whatever rules they create because it is completely over-fished and dived. Captain Ed, maybe you should catch bigger fish then you would have plenty within those limits. It's a shame you can't voice your opinion without some total ASSHOLE like yourself calling people a "dumbass", which I believe is actually two words, DUMB ASS!!!!!!!

12-17-2006, 06:44 PM	#13 (permalink)
FINSnTAILS Lines In Join Date: May 2005 Location: Coconut Creek Posts: 70

12-18-2006, 11:14 AM	#14 (permalink)
Warrior Hooked Up Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft.Pierce Boat: 60 Ocean SS/31 Contender Best Catch: 369# core Giant Bluefin Posts: 308	What the hell was all that about? What a Dumb Ass! Ed, tell me one thing. Why do you go to the Bahamas to fish anyway? Is it because you like to pay $4.00 for fuel, or is it because your home waters were fished out by your Dumb Ass forefathers? It just goes to show, they will give a license to anyone! Idiot!

12-18-2006, 11:51 AM	#15 (permalink)
The BEAST Charter Captain Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Miami/upper Keys Boat: 2007 WorldCat 330TE / 300 Suzuki's Best Catch: every catch is my best catch Occupation: charter captain Posts: 794	Broadbill, The point that seems to escape you is that the new Bahamian regs only pertain to Foreign boats. In other words the 5 pelagic, 20# bottom fish rules only pertain to you the American in Bahamian waters. The Bahamians are exempt. Extremely intelligent conservation methods??? Warrior, Most of us at my dock went over there to catch fish that do not frequent our area, like some of the deep drop snappers and yellowfin tuna, large marlin, etc. Do any of you blame the occasional fishing tourist for over fishing our waters. I've never heard that said when discussin conservation in the US. The Bahamians are only restricting foreign fisherman not the actual people putting the fishing pressure on their stock, THEMSELVES! This is typical of most of the worlds view on Americans, "Give me your money, shut up, and get out!" I don't know about you guys but I CAN do something about this. I'm going to start excersising conservation of the US dollar. They will never get another dollar from me!!!!!!!!!!! Capt. Jim The BEAST

12-18-2006, 12:44 PM	#16 (permalink)
Broadbill Hooked Up Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ft. Pierce, Fl Posts: 327	Thanks Beast. I fully understand the amount of pressure by Bahamians, but I think a lot of you don't realize what "we" do. We own a house in the Bahamas and around our island you will have a hard time catching dinner anymore. It used to be nothing to go dive up a couple lobsters and shoot a hog or two for supper. Those days are long gone, and where our island is located it is not due to natives, but good old Florida Honkeys who don't follow rules. We have people on our island with compressors bigger than your local dive store. They all sneak out and tank dive and pretty much obliterate the reef. From 15-125' nothing is safe. This is the kind of crap that I can't stand. It is surely a shame to dive (free dive) all day and not end up with enough lobster for dinner. Then you watch the other yahoos come in in a 65' enclosed bridge sportfish with 100 dolphin that wouldn't make a sandwich????? Then my personal favorite, the deep drop guys who catch enough yellow eyes and queens in an afternoon to feed all of our boys in Iraq for a month. I guess if this makes me a "dumbass" for wanting a rule change so be it. I don't agree with not limiting Bahamians, although diving and fishing is their only means of income in some remote areas, and it is their country. Do you go to Canada deer hunting and get mad because you can only kill one buck and Canadians can kill more? Or do you feel it is better to break the rules and kill as many deer as possible for the good of the continent? Regardless, I think the new regualtions will get people thinking about what they are doing and hopefully help with conservation. I can tell you the biggest problem they have with out a doubt is enforcement. All the antics I described above and all the time at our place and I have never seen a patrol boat, ever! The closest one I have ever seen was at Green Turtle and that's a good piece away.

12-18-2006, 01:59 PM	#17 (permalink)
Warrior Hooked Up Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft.Pierce Boat: 60 Ocean SS/31 Contender Best Catch: 369# core Giant Bluefin Posts: 308	Perfect... One Less Dumb Ass In The Bahamas!!!!!!!