Fishing withdrawal

ernesto

Guest
I asked the question awhile back and no one replied. Are the really big ones safe to eat or is mercury a factor? I caught a 175 lb bull shark fishing with Crazy Charlie years ago and it was amazing on the grill . Anyone know?
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
They are okay to eat. Where mercury becomes an issue is more in pelagic fish (like bluefin tuna) that have a higher fat content. Those big ones can have a high mercury content. Also, the longer lived the fish, the higher the mercury content.

You'd have to eat a lot of fish over a long period of time though for the mercury content to become a real issue, but it does happen. I'm talking about eating fish 4 or 5 times a week.

On Edit: Here's a really good link about mercury levels in fish.

 
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Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
They are okay to eat. Where mercury becomes an issue is more in pelagic fish (like bluefin tuna) that have a higher fat content. Those big ones can have a high mercury content. Also, the longer lived the fish, the higher the mercury content.

You'd have to eat a lot of fish over a long period of time though for the mercury content to become a real issue, but it does happen. I'm talking about eating fish 4 or 5 times a week.

On Edit: Here's a really good link about mercury levels in fish.

I could have sworn that shark has higher mercury content too. But as Stuart said, I've also read articles that say you would have to be consuming fish 5 or 6 times a week which is almost once a day. I love all types of fish/seafood but I could never eat fish 6 days a week. I think once a week or once every couple of weeks is great. Most of my protein comes from chicken/pork. I cook a big loin or a couple of pounds of chicken thigh at the beginning of the week and then we can make multiple meals out of it throughout the weak. Basically, meal prepping.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Go get 'em!

I used to take my boat up to PLEZ. We were in a back cove and I kept hearing something hitting the surface hard. Motored slowly over and there was a huge striper struggling just under the surface. Netted his happy ass.

Upon close examination, the pig striper had a damned large bluegill wedged sideways, stuck in his gill plates and couldn't swallow it or expel it.

Took my knife, cut the bluegill out, a little worse for wear, but still alive, then released him. The striper was still alive, but was toast. He went into the cooler and a nice dinner was had that night.

One of those weird fishing adventures!
Stuart, someone recently caught a 21 lb'r out of Plez a few months ago and the regular catches that I see posted on AZ Striper page are consistently getting bigger in the average 4lb range. Another picture I saw in the last month from Plez was a HUGE 20lb class Striper that had ingested or tried to ingest another Striper and it had choked itself to death just like you're speaking of. The boaters came across it and pulled it in for pictures. Pretty sure Striper are considered PELAGIC. The last 3 summers I've been taking the jet ski out there to chase the FOAMERS. I figure it's actually really good practice for ocean fishing. Locating bait balls on the sounder and then jigging. I absolutely suck and or the Striper are VERY fragile lower in the water column. I still have yet to jig a striper. Top water is a different story. I really need to try and get a video of it but these things absolutely go OFF!!! FOAMING so hard just like tuna. The water becomes white, literally FOAMING. 100 + Striper in unison absolutely crashing the surface. Nuts.

The crazy thing about Plez right now is the amount of threadfin shad or white shad. Just balls on balls on balls. I wish I could have taken screen shots of the graph yesterday. It's insane. When I was a kid I was pretty avid about snorkeling. Haven't done it in years and now I have the itch to maybe freedive/spearfish. Bought some Cressi masks and dry snorkel. We spent the first two hours yesterday in a more protected cove snorkeling. The vis was kind of garbage but later in the day it calmed a little and you could pry see 10 feet in the shade. I am really surprised at how many largemouth bass I saw. I mean just loads of smaller fingerlings and maybe a few older juveniles from last years spawn. Really encouraging for that fishery. I grew up bass fishing but Plez in the early 2000's took a huge hit and became really hard to get fish there. My buddy always preferred Sag so we would go there more often. Now in my later years and after getting into the inshore ocean game, I've kind of lost my interest in bass fishing. But Plez offers the Striper fishery so that has peaked my interest in the last 3 years. Trying to get better but it's hard. Lot's of guys go out at night with anchovies and green lights submerged to attract the shad.... I don't know about everyone but IMHO you're not a real fisherman unless you can convince a fish to hit artificial. I've had my fair share on top when they're foaming but trying to get better at my vertical game. Lot of guys right now using diamond jigs and spoons just like vertical ocean fishing. Producing little bigger averages too. Striper yesterday were holding anywhere from 35-90 feet in the column. Bait was in the 35' area.... until they push the ball to the surface and go crazy!

So report from yesterday. Only got the opportunity on two foam piles... I was jigging during the first so reeling up from 90' and before I could get to the foam they had ceased and went back down. Second opportunity, the shad were literally "airborn". My ZARA SPOOK landed right in the middle of the FOAMERS and boom the plug got hit so hard that it flew up in the air about 16" LOL and then that was it, nothing. They went back down. We hung around for another 10 minutes but we had a 10 minute paddle and it was getting close to 745pm. I tried jigging with butterfly jigs and a 1oz jig head/swim shad while being anchored and the "archs" were thick and never the left the right side of my screen. They were down there but nothing.... until next time. The challenge pisses me off but I won't stop until I figure out how to get these guys.... maybe it's my retrieve action????! !!!!
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
I've had similar experiences chasing the stripers at Pleasant. They are there, along with the bait balls, but damned if I could get one to hit anything.

Back east, we'd slow troll surgical eels for them in the Chesapeake. Never tried it at Pleasant, but would be worth a shot. Don't know if you could even find one around here, but maybe online? Yup... these guys.


Same fish, just a different environment, and it's in their DNA to eat eels.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
I've had similar experiences chasing the stripers at Pleasant. They are there, along with the bait balls, but damned if I could get one to hit anything.

Back east, we'd slow troll surgical eels for them in the Chesapeake. Never tried it at Pleasant, but would be worth a shot. Don't know if you could even find one around here, but maybe online? Yup... these guys.


Same fish, just a different environment, and it's in their DNA to eat eels.
I watch this guy John Skinner on YouTube. He's out of the Long Island Sound area. He's written a few books and has some online courses that you can purchase on Salt Strong... One of his books is called Striper Pursuit and the other is about Fluke fishing. I've basically learned everything I apply to flounder fishing from this guy. He's apparently very good at what he does. He basically uses a high/low rig for both. His bread and butter is SAND EELS... There's ones called pork strips and other variations. I think GULP makes some too. Apparently the Striper love these sand eels. His go to for Fluke is the bucktail jig with a dropper loop grub above it. I've caught a handful of Flounder with that rig.

The crazy part about Striper fishing PLEZ right now is that a lot of these guys are finding the stomachs FILLED with CRAWDADS! Snorkeling and free diving Monday I was shocked to see so many crawdads down in the rocks. You'd see little air bubbles coming up, dive down to it and move the rocks away with your hand to reveal a cheeky little F'r right there with his claws up, like, you want some?! Apparently the Striper are gorging themselves on these things which is why people have been having a harder time catching them on frozen anchovies like the previous couple of summers. I know when I fished the Black River back when I was 14 that's how you approach that fishery for Smallies. Pick crawdads, fill your creel and then head up river fishing the crawdads in the deeper holes. Trapping crawdads is LEGAL in AZ with valid fishing license. I might try and see if I can get a few and go live lining for some bottom dweller Striper holding in the deep water as the column starts to warm up.
 

Kelney

Guest
A quick question for the inshore fisherman. I am heading down this weekend and would love to wet a line. Can I launch my float tube around the Cholla or competition hill area without getting arrested? My wife would rather not have to bail me out of jail even though I am game. I need to fish.
 

mondone

Whitecaps
This may not be good news for the banana boat guys:

Under new beach rules, they're too close for comfort.
Under new beach rules, they're too close for comfort.
‘New normal’ coming to Mexico’s beaches with new rules

4-meter social distancing will be required on the beach and in the water

Published on Wednesday, July 15, 2020
  • 292SHARES
A “new normal” is coming soon to Mexico’s beaches courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic.
By next week at the latest, federal authorities will publish new rules on the use of beaches aimed at reducing the risk of the coronavirus spreading among people enjoying the sand and surf along Mexico’s extensive coastline.
State and municipal governments will be required to enforce the rules for the foreseeable future regardless of the local coronavirus situation.

The director of Zofematac, the federal office of maritime land zones and coastal environments, told the newspaper Milenio that a new beach use agreement will be published shortly.
Rodrigo Hernández Aguilar said the emphasis will be on social distancing among beachgoers – people shouldn’t come within four meters of others while on the sand or in the water.
He said people will not be required to wear face masks while they’re on the sand or in the water but they will have to wear them at beach entry points and in any common areas such as public washrooms.
“The use of face masks is mandated to arrive at the beach because there could be crowds when you’re entering the beach, you might be leaving a hotel where there are people or traveling on public transit. That’s why you use [a face mask] when you arrive and go onto the beach and also when you leave. Once you’re on the beach you don’t need to use it,” Hernández said.
He said that authorities decided not to make face masks mandatory on beaches because there is scientific evidence that salty water, sunlight and high temperatures “are favorable for the inactivation of pathogenic agents.”

The new beach rules will establish a limit of 40 people per 1,000 square meters of beach space. On beaches that are part of hotel precincts, staff will be required to disinfect hammocks and deck chairs after beachgoers vacate them, Hernández said.
Beachgoers will be required to place towels over the latter before they use them, he added.
Hernández said that all group recreational and sporting activities will be banned on beaches and that only 15 people will be allowed in the water at the same time. People should visit the beach on their own, with their partner or in small family units, not large groups, he said.
The Zofematac chief also said that under the new agreement, municipal governments will be able to take bookings from people who wish to go to the beach. Hernández added that beachgoers who flout the new regulations could be fined or even arrested.
To draw up the new rules, authorities looked at what their counterparts in four European countries have done, he said.
“We gave ourselves the task of studying what France, Spain, Italy and Greece did, which were the most advanced [countries] … in separating [people on] beaches.”
Source: Milenio (sp)
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
A quick question for the inshore fisherman. I am heading down this weekend and would love to wet a line. Can I launch my float tube around the Cholla or competition hill area without getting arrested? My wife would rather not have to bail me out of jail even though I am game. I need to fish.
Due to covid or in general you mean? In general, yes, there is a hole in the fence and we've been taking my truck over there and hanging out on our own personal beach just west of Reef RV fence line. Water access at anything other than high tide is a little daunting as you would have to walk across that sharp volcanic rock over there... may be doable for you. Impossible for me. After they closed Tucson Beach to vehicles this was the next best thing for me.

For covid.... Good luck. "No beach" to me means if you get caught in the water you're pry paying a fine but I haven't been down since March so I'm not the one to ask about the new "covid rules".
 
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