offshore anglers.....tuna overfished?

[cmdrost]

LDWF has a 3 per person limit on yellowfin tuna. Anyone think tuna as a species are over-fished? What do you see as the future of this species? Tremendously popular! Very commercially fished. Think recreational fisherman will eventually suffer like we do with red snapper?

[Hopedale Hustler]

well for one..we do not suffer with red snapper..i offshore fish alot..more than your average fisherman..its a job for me so i see it in a totally different perspective..red snapper is a nuisance once your done catching your limit...you cant get your bait down long enough or far enough to catch amber jack or grouper half of the time...the snapper limit should be raised to 5 no doubt and there are many people fighting for this to happen right now....tuna on the other hand is good where its at..there are plenty of yellow fin to go around..if we are not careful though with the comercial fishing we may run into problems in our future as fisherman..

[Raymond]

No, tuna are not over fished recreationally but I do not believe this is the case on the commercial side.
You will never convince me that recreational fishermen can Ever over fish a species. I have had that discussion with a professor at UL before and the Commercials can't back up any claim that recreational fishermen destroy the resources. Look at it this way; Big game fishing/hunting is a limited venue for a finite number of people. There just aren't enough people with the resources to be able the damage the species.

Shrimping by-catch has been cited for most of the red snapper mortality, how is lowering the recreational snapper limit going to address this primary issue? Reducing the limits for recreational anglers is like pouring a cup of oil in the ocean it will not make much of a difference to the resource one way or another.

The Feds need to concentrate their efforts on enforcement of existing commercial quota's and leave the rod and reel fishermen alone.

[LaAngler]

what about the mullet/pogie migrations having an effect on the tuna?

[cmdrost]

"The Feds need to concentrate their efforts on enforcement of existing commercial quota's and leave the rod and reel fishermen alone."
__________________________

Agreed! Unfortunately the commercial side is all about the $$$ and the lobbyist. That is why we the recreational angler got screwed on snapper. I don't think it will happen with tuna, but just starting conversation.

[cmdrost]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

what about the mullet/pogie migrations having an effect on the tuna?

not to hi-jack my own thread, but this is why we no longer catch tarpon in and around SWLA. Imagine catching a tarpon one hot summer afternoon on big lake!

[Ray]

Where I work, we see a lot of tuna. Blackfin and yellowfin.

[LaAngler]

Originally Posted by cmdrost

not to hi-jack my own thread, but this is why we no longer catch tarpon in and around SWLA. Imagine catching a tarpon one hot summer afternoon on big lake!

i thought the ship channel was the reason for that. sorry for hijack

we saw some outside the jettys a long time ago

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by cmdrost

"The Feds need to concentrate their efforts on enforcement of existing commercial quota's and leave the rod and reel fishermen alone."
__________________________

Agreed! Unfortunately the commercial side is all about the $$$ and the lobbyist. That is why we the recreational angler got screwed on snapper. I don't think it will happen with tuna, but just starting conversation.

Not growing up in Lake Charles I have no knowledge of what the lake was like prior to GCCA forcing the gill netters out. Can someone describe fishing prior to that period of time. I believe it is something that would be worth revisiting.

[cmdrost]

George Paret tells stories all the time of his dad catching Tarpon in Prien Lake back in the day.

Trout fishing sucked before the net bans. A 5 pounder was considered rare and a trophy.

Redfishing has always been constant, but is the best its ever been.

[LaAngler]

Way off topic now but I went to school with George's son Lock. There used to be a boy scout camp on prien lake i think (by will's old house), the lake was more fresh water and clear from what i've heard....cypress trees, etc

[cmdrost]

I've heard mixed reports on what the prien used to look like. But supposedly the pogie plants and boats at the mouth of the channel are the main reason we don't have tarpon here anymore......

Back on topic....any watch that show Tuna Wranglers on Discovery? What about new show Swords? That was a monster blue fin they caught!

Tuna Wranglers can quickly diminish the stock of the tuna fishery!

[Ray]

There is not much pogy anymore either. I remember fishing the schools of pogy when I was younger. You don't find the big schools anymore.
There was 3 plants in Cameron in it's heyday, now there is only 1 and it isn't doing very well.
Pogy is one of the bestest baits of all time for Snapper, Kings, Ling and Grouper. My ex-brother in law is a captain. I use to get the huge ones for offshore fish bait.

[Dink]

Have you seen the amount of tuna that are taken in Austrailia??? Thousands ata time from multiple boats everyday...........we couldn't fish em hard enough to make a dent,................Tim

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by cmdrost

I've heard mixed reports on what the prien used to look like. But supposedly the pogie plants and boats at the mouth of the channel are the main reason we don't have tarpon here anymore......

Back on topic....any watch that show Tuna Wranglers on Discovery? What about new show Swords? That was a monster blue fin they caught!

Tuna Wranglers can quickly diminish the stock of the tuna fishery!

I have watched the tuna wranglers before and IMO I believe they are under such restrictions, their actions should not harm the resource.
Not sure how I feel about the Swords show other than the constant cursing that is getting old. Looks like the catch is sold in Newfoundland
and their laws are probably very restrictive. The show will be a must watch if they would just act like adults and not a bunch of kids.

[Hopedale Hustler]

Originally Posted by cmdrost

George Paret tells stories all the time of his dad catching Tarpon in Prien Lake back in the day.

Trout fishing sucked before the net bans. A 5 pounder was considered rare and a trophy.

Redfishing has always been constant, but is the best its ever been.

I know for a fact that Tarpon Stack up in venice still outside the rocks...ive seen way to many caught there over the past few..some dude will just be fishing for bull reds and hook up with a 150 + lb. tarpon...

In Hopedale at the end of the MRGO on the rocks..although sorta rare you can catchsmall ones..one dayi was cleaning fish at the marina this summer for a lil extra change and these 2 black dudes pulled up next to the dock and said come here...they opened there ice chest (full of hard heads,gaf tops and black drum..and dug in there and pulled out 3 20-25 inch tarpon and said wat kinda fish this is....i said the kind you get jail time for keeping..well they threw them in the ater real fast...also the owner of BSM's ole lady caght a 3 footer this winter red fishing in stump lagoon..thats a small bay only 3 foot deep..so they are still around just very rare.

[cmdrost]

Originally Posted by Hopedale Hustler

I know for a fact that Tarpon Stack up in venice still outside the rocks...ive seen way to many caught there over the past few....so they are still around just very rare.

I've seen em in Venice too! Big ones! They catch em in Venice and they catch em in TX. Its just weird that we don't catch them anymore in between in SWLA.