Well someone asked me how's it been fishing this year so far, and do I have any pic's of my trips. Well Im sorry to report that I have been fishing but once this year and even tho I caught a few I dont have pics.

I had a very bad winter health wise, in October I felt a pinch behind my left sholder blade, I thought it was a pinched nerve (pin's & needels down whole left arm) It felt like when you hit your elbow funny bone but it didn't go away. But my neuro said "no it's the MS". It took therr months to go away, then hit me again late winter into spring. Then in may as quickly as it hit me it went away and I feel much better.

Back to fishing, what else is a huge problem is the darn gas & food prices (dont get me started) DW & I are both on fixed income's and this is realy hitting us hard, money I would normaly use to go fishing I now have to use to survive. You have no idea how mad I am at Bush for letting this happen to us.

Then there are the new fishing regulations. Here in NY our main summer time target is Fluke (flounder), the people who make the regs have been tightening the noose for the past several years, and what realy hurts is the species is not in danger. Some reg writer's way back in the 70's set a quota number which was suppose to bring the fishery back from danger did in deed work, but the number's are way too high for the fish to reproduce at the set rate.

As a result over the past few years the fluke regs are getting too tight. In 2006 the regs were a fluke had to be 18" to keep and a 4 fish limit, thats up from 17.5" in 05'. Mid May to late October. In 07' they raised it to 19.5" with the same time span, however in mid season they closed the season because they said we went over the quota. How the heck do they know? There's never anyone counting our catch!

Now in 08's they raised the size limit again, now to 20.5". This hurts the industry big time because a 20.5" fish is almost trophy size! Most of the party boats here on long Island go half day trips, it is not going to be worth going because chances of all the customers on the boat getting a 20.5" fish is not good! This is going to cause fishermen to hang up there rods and the party boats to go out of business! (not to mantion the cost of fule raising the fair)

Thats how fish'n has been! Sorry if I sound bitter but I have a right to be because now that I am retired I thought I would be doing a lot of fishing but the government it taking it away from me & all the other fishermen/women.
Don

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Don,

If you and the DW can make it to CA in August, I will take you two to our favorite fishing spot in the Sierra Nevada's.

Our annual trip was pushed back to August to accommodate another event this month, so just let me know and I will make the arrangements.

We will stay at a condo in Mammoth Lakes (for the sake of comfort) and drive to the best fishing area each day (only 10-15 miles away).

On another note, I understand your frustration completely about how outdated regulations can cause huge, snowballing problems. In my business, we see this happen all of the time and it takes action by the California Supreme Court to correct the problems...after three years of deliberations.

-Vic

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Don, Well I hope you catch some big ones <*)))---<<

What a nice thing to say! Thank you! We would take you up on it if we could afford it!
Don
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Don't they just drive ya' nuts!?!? Next thing, some bigshot will bust a motor prop on one and manage somehow to shift the regs to bring them almost to extinction, then Eul Gibbons will magically rise up to save them all over again. Commercial regs should be separate from sport/individual leisure regs. Ugh! How did nature survive without the U.S. gov't???

I'm sad to report that I have not been on the river even once yet! The flippin' storms have them so high and muddied, I don't dare even attempt it yet. I'm hoping the levels will go down and let it clear up. I know there are some walleye in my favorite hole with my dad's skillet strapped to their backs.

It's also been tremendously windy here, and Vic will attest to my gentile nature when flycasting agin it.

Heeeeeerrre fishy, fishy, fishy...

Gentle Nature?

Look at what you did when you were realing in a big one in Jellystone!

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That brings up a good point! The recreational regs are different from Commercial fishing, at least they are here. But look what happened last year, the commercial (we call them "draggers") regs are by the pound (ton) not by size, so they can keep everything up to a certin weight. The "draggers" drag a net behind the boat catching everything! Last year some draggers were caught on video dumping there dead by-product over the side. This included short or undersizs fluke the we recreational fishermen are not allowed to keep. Well these fluke are not doing anyone any good now except maby for some sharks.

It's a shame, if a dragger can catch anything and everything, keep it all day until it dies, then discard anything that is "under market value" befor they head in to dock, then why is the DEC being so hard on the recreational guy's?

And many of those fish they throw away would be good table fair for people like me, not to mention that those fish will never grow & spawn. So how is it that the reg's are so hard on the recreational's when the commercial's are allowed to get away with this?

I say if the by-product is dead anyway they should be allowed to keep it and bring it back to the dock and either sell it at a discount or give it away at the dock for people who are in need. It would be good for poor people and it would make the commercials' look good in the press. I know I would be more then willing to go down to the dock's for some fish that would otherwise have been thrown to the sharks!

Don
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Excellent truth, Don. Get real, how many times have I had one die in the creel or on the stringer!?! I didn't pitch them just to float downstream and feed fat raccoons. I kept 'em!

They probably don't want to have to haul out anything more than what can be weighed. They could easily keep a barrel at the docks, many people would gladly go down on a daily basis to collect fresh-caught fish. It's gluttony to pitch them as chum. What a shame.

Geez! Don! You could go down and make some friends and become a dock monger! Put a few bucks in your pockets and keep chow coming in!

I caught these two last year when the regs were 19.5" but these were well over this years regs. A big problem is some of the boats are not going out because not enough people are showing up. I guess the figure they are not going to catch anything that big.

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