The striper cup and other striped bass kill tourneys - what is the point!

[storminsteve]

I was fishing the rocks of a jetty this morning. The fishing just was not happening. Some of the guys there and I got to talking about the tourneys about the striper cup. They said guys were throwing back 25pound bass dead, if they got a bigger one,

What's up with that?
I have some questions for you guys who do this a lot -

1. Why have "kill" tournaments to begin with?

2. Why can't you have a tournament where the size of the biggest fish is posted daily on the internet? That way if the winning fish is 40 pounds, and you catch one that is 30, you know immediately that you won;t win, and you can put it back to breed again.

3. What is the ego trip about these big fish. The guys at the jetty told me about these 2 brothers, the LaGrossa brothers or something like that, who have over 100 big bass over 30llbs for this season already. How many fish can you fit in your freezer?

4. I honestly don't know if I would throw a 40pouind fish back, but for those guys who are going out every day and scoring big, either from the surf or boat, HOW MANY FISH DO YOU NEED? DOES IT MAKE YOU A BETTER MAN THAN THE GUY NEXT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU CAUGHT A BIGGER ONE?

[bababooey]

HOW MANY FISH DO YOU NEED? DOES IT MAKE YOU A BETTER MAN THAN THE GUY NEXT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU CAUGHT A BIGGER ONE?

Steve, maybe for some of these guys they weren't endowed with a "big one" so they have to compensate in some way. Kind of like the 50 year old guy who has to have the flashiest car around with the ghetto wheels. If you are really successful in life you usually don't feel the need to flaunt it.

[Monty]

4. I honestly don't know if I would throw a 40pouind fish back, but for those guys who are going out every day and scoring big, either from the surf or boat, HOW MANY FISH DO YOU NEED? DOES IT MAKE YOU A BETTER MAN THAN THE GUY NEXT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU CAUGHT A BIGGER ONE?

Steve I agree 100% with you. People have no respect for others or anything. They just don't think about what is important, common sense. Dark mentioned in a post 70% of the people fishing "don't get it". I don't know what its going to take to stop people like those brothers from relentlessly killing big bass. Peer pressure? Surf/boat fishing vigilantes? Its so out of control with charter/party boats and idiots like those brothers.

[surferman]

I don't understand why these clubs can't have a tournament where you catch and take a pic of your biggest fish. If you fish with a friend, he can be a witness to your catch, along with the digital pic and the tape. You can take length and girth measurements, documented by pics, and come up with a very close approx of weight. You can also weigh it on a boga. Although a lot of guys only have bogas that go to 30#, for the tournaments they should make it mandatory that everyone has the 60# one. that way everyone is on a level playing field.

If they are worried about guys cheating, let them sign notarized statements stating what they caught, under penalty of law. If a guy gets caught cheating, he would be expelled from the club forever. I really think something like that would work. Why couldn't they do that?

[finchaser]

Never going to happen tackle stores encourage people to weigh in fish it's good for there business.You can't believe how many idiots stop in because fish are in that area ask what the fish was caught on and then purchase it. Plus clubs fish out of a particular shop and guys want the bragging rights and need a signed weigh slip for there club awards. Boga's and self taken pictures don't count on club scene there are no awards for C&R just killed fish on the point system usually a point per pound.

[clamchucker]

I will never participate in a tourney any more because of this reason. I do not weigh in fish any more because of it either. In my younger years I have killed a lot of bass and entered the tourneys. I do not see the glory in in at this point in my life. I wish they could encourage catch and release as you hoped for surferman. As finchaser said, I do not think it is realistic.

[surfstix1963]

If they want to ban something it should be tourneys and the clubs that still have weigh in tourneys should wake up.