Click here to order with free shipping.Team Iceshanty Patches! Most iceshanty boards are represented
I don't post here much anymore but just happened to see this topic; I have a physical copy of the new 2018 lawbook and it looks to me ALL flowing waters (Rivers, Streams, Brooks, etc) have max length limit now of 25" for (atlantic) landlocked salmon and brown trout and I imagine any specific (mostly coastal) lakes & ponds that potentially could have atlantic salmon (overwintering or what not) will still have an S-33 rule (Maximum length on landlocked salmon and brown trout: 25 inches.)My only gripe with this rule is it punishes anglers who can correctly identify a brown trout using the vomerine teeth I.D. method.
ive seen the men in green misidentify a brown maybe they added that for those folk
Honestly, I wish they would impose a maximum size limit on all gamefish species everywhere. I keep and eat tons of small to midsize fish of many different species every year, but I just don’t see the need to kill the big ones with how easy it is to capture the memory through digital photos, video, and replica mounts. Look at redfish, tarpon, and snook down south for example. I think the regs down there require all big fish to be released, and the result is a great fishery with tons of big fish despite way more fishing pressure than we have around here.
When I see new laws made for this reason It makes me remember how great the stocking program was 65 years ago. the quality of the hatcheries and the numbers of them .Today they have been reduced in numbers and quality. This state just wants to receive and not spend. If the state had kept up the great program they had back then The State of Maine would have the best fisheries in the country. .All they continue to do is promote catch and release reduce limit numbers and size . Sad Sad Sad.
what was the difference back then? did they just stock more fish?
A warden misidentifying a fish doesn't surprise me at all (especially from just a photo, anyone can make that mistake) but a biologist should have no issue at all. Correct me if i'm wrong but the vomerine teeth i.d. method is foolproof (in identifying a salmon vs a brown trout).While i agree with you completely on your sentiment that killing big fish is unnecessary (especially now in the age of reproduction mounts), I don't think it's right that if an angler were to catch a big a** brown trout (i.e. over 25") in a river and they wanted to keep it for whatever reason, they legally can't and are being punished for others' innability (or ignorance) in proper fish identification. I totally get why they're doing it though (applying S-33 to all flowing waters in the state), mainly for law book simplification and a lot of people struggle with fish identification.
So, for the West Branch between Rip Dam and the Telos Road, the minimum size limit on salmon is 26 inches. Which rule applies? Seems to contradict the argument about protecting the precious sea run salmon.