Here we go again...Looks like there is more smoke on the horizon as the natives are becoming restless and the wagons are circling....This time it's trouble brewing on the lower Kennebec watershed...There is a lot of finger pointing and accusations directed at a certain Boothbay Harbor charter captain and his associates who are allegedly using their influence to help structure Maine fishing rules for their own personal benefit...That remains to be seen!!!
All of that contentious nonsense aside, I have read the DMR notice and have seen the proposed boundary line changes..It's my interpretation that if these rule changes pass....the special Kennebec regs would still cover the main stem of the Kennebec river and all of the fertile nursery areas of Merrymeeting bay and it's tributaries...most of the Sheepscot river would revert to the general state rules that governed it prior to 1990 as would the outer beaches and ledges between Cape Newagen and Small Pt. It also sounds like the special catch and release season rules would remain in place. The big difference is that in a further attempt to reduce the release mortality of native Kennebec Striped Bass, circle hooks are now mandated for bait fishing as opposed to J-hooks which were the standard when these special conservation rules were implemented 20 years ago...Part of the argument now is whether or not using bait on c-hooks now levels the playing field of release mortality vs. artificial baits fished on a j-hook...clearly using natural bait will be more effective 100% of the time...no one can argue that fact...It's the release mortality that comes into question....In various case studies, it has been shown that the use of a "inline circle hook" rather than a "J" hook, resulted in a significant reduction in deep hooking. It can therefore be inferred that requiring the use of "circle hooks" with natural baits in a catch and release program would result in a much higher increase in fish survival...these same studies indicate that deep hooking was reduced by as much as 81% over the course of the study by using non-offset circle hooks vs j hooks...Will a Striped Bass that's hooked in the corner of the mouth with a circle hook be just as likely to survive after being released as a fish thats hooked in the same place with a fly or artificial bait???...My own experience leads me to say yes...Thats where things get complicated for me...I'm all for conservation and fully support the way the current special Kennebec rules are structured...however times have changed and so have some of the other rules concerning the types of hooks we can now use...if the mandated use of circle hooks is proven to level the playing field then I can understand how making some amendments to the current rules has some merit...Either way i'm going to support or oppose these rule changes based on science and not emotion...regardless of what happens i'd like to see the special Kennebec catch & release season stay in place...also many folks would like to see the 20"-26" slot limit be replaced with the old 36" limit for keeper fish...I'd support that if the science backed it up...but thats a battle for another day
Obviously there are lots of varying opinions regarding this issue...my thoughts are that if a guide or an angler chooses not to fish bait for their own philosophical reasons and they practice what they preach, I think thats cool and I fully respect that because those guys are keeping it real!!!...It's the guys that preach one thing and practice the other that lose credibility in my eyes...Yeah...I have a problem with that!!! It's easy for everyone to be all self righteous and to get caught up in the drama and I find it a more than a little funny that some of the same Kennebec guides that are in an uproar over these proposed rule changes are the same guys that are causing traffic jams at the Kennebec Angler and at Sheldons bait dock on July 1st, buying all the bait that they can carry and are stacking fish up on the docks like cordwood??? If the new rules pass these same guides will most likely be the first ones, in May or June, to have their sports drifting live eels or bloodworms??? Anyone else find that to be ironic?...It's often said that every cloud has a sliver lining...well in this case it seems like the pocket of every hypocrite guide has a green lining$$$
I hate to say this but there are a lot of big ego players that fish the kennebec watershed and all of them think that they have the answer as to what the right way and what the wrong way is to manage this fishery...Unlike some of these close minded, card carrying, doom & gloom zealots out there whom apparently think of themselves as expert fisheries biologists, I don't have that qualification so I've chosen to keep an open mind about exploring these rule amendments and not pass a quick judgement until I've been fully educated about them by folks who are more qualified...
Yes the motives for establishing these new rules are starting to smell a little more fishy to me as time passes and additional info becomes available...I'm sure that it'll all come out at the public hearing when Recreational Fishing Alliance Rep.- Capt. Barry Gibson gives his testimony...more than likely if these proposed rule changes turn out to be bogus they will hopefully be crushed quickly...How this is handled by the Maine DMR will be a good barometer of how the new administration is going handle future important recreational fishing issues...most of us are not optimistic!!!
If you have strong feelings one way or the other about these proposed rule changes, please submit your written comments or better yet voice them at the upcoming public hearing!!! Read Details BelowDepartment of Marine Resources: NOTICE OF RULEMAKING
Chapter 42.03 Striped Bass
(Kennebec River and Sheepscot river areas)
The proposed rulemaking would remove the marine bait prohibition and replace it with the requirement to use circle hooks while using marine bait when fishing in the Kennebec River closed area during the established May 1 to June 30th season. The closed area is also proposed to change from upstream and inside the line drawn from Cape Small to Cape Newagen to a line upstream and inside from Fort Popham, Phippsburg to Kennebec Point to Indian Point, Georgetown, and upstream from a line in the area called Robinhood between Lowe Point, Phippsburg to Newdick Point, Westport and downstream of the Route 144 Westport Island Bridge therefore removing the Sheepscot River from the Kennebec rules and placing it under the statewide regulations.
This request was made by the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) - Barry Bibson of Boothbay Harbor who is the rep. for RFA in Maine.
PUBLIC HEARING: April 4, 2011, 6pm, Bath City Hall, 1st Floor Auditorium, 55 Front Street, Bath
DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS: April 14, 2011
CONTACT PERSONS: Bruce Joule (207-633-9505) or Pat Keliher (207-287-9973)
For more information: Online the web link for a copy of the proposed rules is: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rulemaking/
Or, to obtain a hardcopy by US mail write: Dept. of Marine Resources, attn: L. Churchill, PO Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04575-0008 TEL: 207-633-9584, or
EMAIL: laurice.churchill@maine.gov, FAX: (207) 633-9579 or TTY: (207) 633-9500
To receive future rulemaking notices by email please use contact info above.
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