Capt. Troy Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Looks like changes are coming. I suggest you guys take a peak and make comments before the meeting coming up. Check the link as issue b on the agenda is trout and you can read the summary. Myself and a couple of guides met with the biologist a few weeks ago. I asked for a couple of things. Game fish status for trout. Change the now current slot for commercial harvest if they are going to continue to allow it. Currently they have a 150 fish a day limit with a slot of 15 to 24 inches. No retention of limits for the guide on guided trips just like the do with snook. It should be that way for all fish IMHO. Raise the minimum slot from 15 to 17 and keep the 20 inch max with 1 fish over. I don't get the dropping the max to 19 inches. Seems it will make for more confusion as it has been at 1 over 20 for a long time. Ain't no meat on a 15 inch trout. https://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/october-2019/ For comments go to https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/rulemaking/saltwater-public-comments/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 So if they give Trout Gamefish status, that will eliminate commercial harvest. Correct? I haven't seen any large Trout in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted September 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 47 minutes ago, hurricane said: So if they give Trout Gamefish status, that will eliminate commercial harvest. Correct? I haven't seen any large Trout in a few years. Yes, but I doubt they will. We begged for it in 2012. Trout are in big trouble in my area. I would call it an absolute collapse in just 5 years. Too much pressure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted September 24, 2019 Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 On 9/23/2019 at 10:12 AM, Capt. Troy said: Yes, but I doubt they will. We begged for it in 2012. Trout are in big trouble in my area. I would call it an absolute collapse in just 5 years. Too much pressure. What in the world makes people think Trout could be a commercially sustainable fish?Mind blowing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted September 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 15 hours ago, hurricane said: What in the world makes people think Trout could be a commercially sustainable fish?Mind blowing! They were actually targeted with gill nets back before the ban. I did quite well on them when I was a netter. They paid a buck a pound for them back then. Environmental events, and the ever increasing recreational pressure has become the issue now. It wasn't uncommon to see in excess of 100 trout cleaned an afternoon at my marina. Lots of these retired guys would take 2 limits a day as you didn't have to go far to get them. Then there were the guides that some of them were taking their limit for the clients. 2 or 3 guides 10 times a month keeping 5 trout extra adds up real quick. Especially when we are talking just my observations from one marina. We use the I angler app for the big tournament out of the Vinoy every October. 70 guides, 2 days and 200 plus anglers. The results over the last few years are very concerning. Less fish and smaller fish every year in the Trout category. Steady trending down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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