Killing Sailfish

[firstshot]

There have been dozens of sails hooked up on the panhandle piers this summer and fall. Out of all these, only three or four that I know of have been killed, the rest have been released by simply popping off the fish at the pier, never removed from the water. Even if every single sail hooked off the piers was killed the impact would be insignificant compared to all the sailfish killed on boats, both intentionally and unintentionally by mishandling. Do any of you understand the rarity of catching a sail off a pier in a normal year? It is indeed the catch of a lifetime for most people. I personally would release if possible, but can't blame anyone for keeping a LEGAL fish if they so desire.

[dannyscat]

I release all billfish ,but that is my choice. I know a lot of people keep them some as a food source ,and some as a trophy(the latter is despicable). but if it is legal size and not going to waste it is entirely the individuals choice to make . I went only once this year and released a nice white marlin at the spencer canyon.

[SkirtChaser32']

Originally Posted by Desperado79

wether or not they kill it is not my beef.I personally dont kill them but the way they are doing it is what bothers me.There will alot more killed that cold possibly be well undersized.There is no way for them to measure the fish at that distance.Is it fair to other sport fisherman?I think everyone is entitled to there limit but kill first measure later will result in several undersize dead fish that will be carried off the pier like it never happened.they have killed several in the past few weeks and only reported a couple openly

Why does it bother you if a "small" billfish is killed over a larger legal one? Most people won't kill billfish period..I've never heard someone take issue with the size of ones that are harvested. The bigger ones are havin the babies

[Blythe1022]

It is pretty amazing that people go into hystarics over a legal catch of a lifetime for 3 kids. Did they have to make a pretty close call on the fishes size? Yes. Were they right about the fish being legal? Yes. Does any angler get a 100% perfect measurement on any fish of that size while it is in the water? No. Even if you have the bill in your hand and dangle a measuring tape in the water beside him you could be several inches off. Only the dead ones lay out flat and hold still while you measure. Every fisherman has to be able to use good judgement based on experience in some situations. These kids might have just been lucky but they guessed right. Leave them alone. They are more than likely not going to have a shot at another sailfish off of a pier. If it was in fact gut hooked, bleeding and going to die why not stick it? I did it once in Cabo with a Stripe we could not revive after a gut hooking. I gave the fish to the captain and mate and they ate it. I didn't feel bad knowing that it didn't end up as shark food. Nobody called me a murderer for it. I haven't knowingly killed another billfish in my life. That does not mean that I wouldn't under extenuating circumstances in the future. All the no tollerance folks go ahead and cast your perverbial internet stones. If you never want to harm a billfish never drag a bait in the waters that they swim in. Things can and will happen. I advocate the release of all billfish with that being said.

[Joe Lane]

I dont kill bill fish, but with so many damn fisheries being closed sail fish are going to be the only fish you can actually keep.