[Ms Grit]

OK, so tonight I went out on a local party boat and several stripers came aboard, mine one of them, which had both sides of their tails which appeared to have been CLIPPED or CUT by scissors. These "Shorts" would have been keepers had the missing pieces of their tails actually been there. The mate mentioned that tonight was not the first time that he has seen stripers which appear to have had both sides of their tail clipped off by about 1/2 an inch or so.

Well, it got me to wondering if there might be any hard core striper advocates out there who would go to such measures as to clip the end of the tails of any stripers they caught before they released them that were just keeper size, or slightly below. This would cause legal size fish to become shorts and buy them another year should they be caught again by anglers who would keep legal size fish.

I was just wondering this as I have heard "stories" of some guys having already caught and released up to 60 fish in any one outting . . .

Anyone catch any fish with tails that have appeared to have been clipped? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[All Seasons]

Interesting[smirk]

 

[GhillieScout1]

[smirk]......I clipped a lts short tail with scissors a couple days ago[eyeroll], there were a couple keepers on board at the time[hihi]

 

[Thunderbolt]

My rule is, if you have to measure them throw em' back! That's just the way I fish! Especially with fluke, if a guy measure one and say that's 17", two hours later a CO gets on board and measure 16 3/4", you might have a problem! I do the same thing with Bass!

 

[Ms Grit]

I just thought it was a very interesting possibility of what might be occuring on some level. And I watched as EVERY fish that came over the rail got measured "just to be sure". You can't always eyeball, even if that fish is 29 inches, the size of the fish, but if somebody brings in a fish that is 28 1/2, then cuts of a little over 1/2 inch before releasing that fish, the next angler to come along and catch that fish, say maybe a first time striper angler, or a senior citizen who hasn't caught one in many years, that fish is no longer keeper size. I just wanted to see what everyone else thought about this as a real possibility, or if something else might be occuring to give this appearance, and what real impact it may or may not be having.

 

[SmackDown66]

Wow!! first i have herd of this and if "someone" is clipping tials of close fish. Did you get pics of these clipped tail fish to notify a co?? Im sure they would love to know this!!!

 

[Ms Grit]

No, I didn't take pics, but I will definately keep an eye out for it in the future, and my camera on hand. And I don't know if one person could really make an impact or if there could be another reason for this appearance on the fish. It was just an observation and a comment made by the mate.

 

[SmackDown66]

sounds "fishy"!! Dont be silly that 1 person cant make a differance!!!! Ur 1 woman that made a differance

 

[Ms Grit]

Maybe telefante could shed some light as to why some of the fish in this size range could and would look like this ??? They didn't appear to have had their tails bitten by larger fish. It looked like the tips of BOTH sides of their tails had been straight cut.

 

[GhillieScout1]

.....I've only seen this on a couple recent occasions[eyeroll]......pretty sure theres good reason for it[smirk].....but I can't quite figure it.....and I can't say for sure if its a practice that Trenton approves of though[up][hihi]....


......I did notice that being on the right side of the boat ,the one towards the horizon produces a larger abundance of stripers and keepers in General.....my cache is gone up[up][hihi][hihi]

 

[Schues41]

I can't say I've seen clipped tails. I've seen some that were bitten by blues or sharks.

 

[catfish hunter]

Bass are spawning now so they might be making beds wich would weàr down there tails. I have seen this on fish but never gave it much thought

 

[hammer4reel]

Just as catfish said, its more than likely males that have been breeding, they wear both sides fanning.

The Striper advocates YOU speak of would DEF rather have the small 28" male bass kept for the table, instead of the Giant females that are starting to be caught now.

What cracks me up is the mates adding to an excuse why a bass might not now be a keeper bass.
And to the supposed STORIES of great bass catches being reported.
Exspecialy since you were along for a night of EPIC fishing that im sure most would find hard pressed to believe.

The bass are here in great numbers right now, and putting time on the water with the right people proves that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like they say 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish while the others do all the crying about why THEY arent catching

 

[Ms Grit]

Yes Dan, I was along for an UNBELIEVABLE evening of Striper Fishing, one that I am sure will not ever be repeated for me, but the "Stories" of 60 or so fish being caught and released that I am referencing now are stories from this year already and I was not aware that the schools had come in such abundances yet.

 

[blackeyes]

Thats funny you mention this, cause i was out on a boat out of keyport yesterday morning, going for fluke. And even though i didnt see it, i did hear some guys mention that it seemed some of the fluke looked as though thier tails had been clipped. I even heard them joke that they were trying to get bit by bigger fish as they were getting pulled up.

 

[hammer4reel]

Guys reporting those trips HAVE ben catching them for well over a month.

The quality of the fish is def getting better size wise now, but there are plenty of 20 pound plus fish in the bay for a long time already.

There have been days this spring when our numbers where questioned by others REAL close not catching anything, yet they stopped REAL quick when THEIR boat was in our PICS backgrounds.

Many guys that post here DAILY have been also having a great year too,
they post pics showing their catches , which should take some of the doubt away.

It takes more than just being on a school of feeding fish to keep up the numbers.
their are no secret spots, but suttle changes in HOW we fish that makes the difference.

People not catching are always ready to complane instead of watching the people that are catching and seeing WHAT they are doing different.

Not all days can be great, but MOST can be better with little changes in presentation.

 

[jerseyhunter]

I believe their tails are being nipped by the bluefish. Many a times fluke or bass have been hit on the way up, or landed with a chunk taken out. Those yellow eyes are like piranhas. Just a thought.[patcheye]

 

[NJ Deer]

i caught a few clam bass this year that were liked what you had described...tthe tails looked to be very evenly "trimmed" i didnt give it much thought at the time but now that you mention it, the couple that were "clipped" were close to keeping size...