Yesterday some goodness happened in Florida.
The Boca Grande Jig was declared illegal in Florida.
The BG Jig
The jig fueled the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series. This is what that looked like:
Here’s the thing… the jig is really designed to do one thing… snag tarpon. Snagging fish shouldn’t be the aim of any angler and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission agreed.
This victory is largely due to the work of Save the Tarpon. Damn fine job, guys.
Save the Tarpon must be pretty effective. How else can you explain the PTTS deciding to sue Save the Tarpon basically to tell them to hush up their mouths?
(For those not familiar, Save the Tarpon is a group dedicated to preserving the tarpon fishery at Boca Grande in Florida where the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series holds it’s annual “competition, an event full of the snagging and mishandling of tarpon to the extent that reasonable people start to get kind of pissed off.)
PTTS is claiming $500,000 in damages because those pesky radicals at Save the Tarpon insist on exercising their First Amendment Rights. The nerve!
I’d say things are going just swimmingly.
Way to go Save the Tarpon. Keep it up.
Sounds like a great idea.
Looks like the PTTS could be dealt a major blow (and that would be divine justice) as Tarpon look set to be declared a Catch and Release species in Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to move forward with plans to put an end to “gaff and drag,” PTTS-style fishing by making tarpon a catch-and-release only species. All seven FWC commissioners endorsed the measure. (from Save the Tarpon)
Ah… so good to see some things moving in the right direction. The PTTS being drug to the trash heap of history would be things moving in such a direction.
Good job to those who have been pushing on this.
Awesome shot by Jim Klug.
