[fish raptor]

Headed up to the Cape from near Saratoga New York to do some fishing on the boat. Have been going every 2 or 3 weeks for the weekend. This weekend was an exact duplicate of 2 weeks ago. 1 Schoolie, 1 34" and 1 37" striper. All caught on Saturday 7/9/16, returned the schoolie and 34"er and kept the 37" for the table. I only had a 24" cooler and the 37" didn't fit in it too well with 2 bags of ice and I new that I was going out again on Sunday and was confident on getting another so I filleted the 37" and put them in the cooler. Sunday left the motel at 6am not to come back as I was going to head back to new york immediately after my days fishing. So I went to Taylors launch in Buzzards bay. I knew I had to bring the cooler with me to keep any new catch fresh but was nervous about the fillets in it so I video'd the fillets and launch and gentlemen who worked there who helped me launch the boat and the video was time stamped and dated so I had proof that cooler fillets were "brought there" and from day befores catch plus I had a picture of that 37" fish draped over my mako's 35" wide seat proving size which was also was dated and time stamped on my cell phone.... saturday 11am July 9th.

So I went fishing in Buzzards bay and only caught a dog shark, was surprised not to get anything. it was 5pm and i headed back to Taylors launch taking the boat out of the water when the Enviromental conservation officer pulled up in his truck. I took the boat out of the water... pulled pass him and stopped to strap boat down and get things ready for trip back home to new york as my fishing vacation was over. He pulled up along side me as I was tidying my boat up and asked "how'd you do".... I advised got skunked today except for dog shark but had a good day yesterday....1 schoolie, 1 34 which I returned and a 37"er which I kept. He asked where it was and if it still had the skin on it ????? I told him in the cooler but I had to fillet it as there was no room for another fish if I caught today because of it's size and yes it still had the skin on it. He asked if he could see it so I got the cooler for him. He looked at the 2 fillets each 2 feet long and seemed to get very frustrated and called his leutenant. After a long conversation with his boss he came over and advised he was going to fine me $120 dollars. I asked him why and he said he had no idea if the fish was the required 28" since I filleted the fish. I kind of chuckled and told him " you have to be kidding me" look at the size of those fillets, I told him I had to fillet the fish as I had no room in the cooler in case I got another one and also told him I video'd the fillets prior to getting on the boat with time and date stamp proving they were brought in the truck to the launch this morning plus I had a picture of the 37" striper on the seat of the mako (draping over each side of the 35" wide seat) which proved huge size and also time and date stamped saturday 11am the day before. He said that I could not prove size of fish ? He said I should have left it intact, not filleted it. I asked him since I am from New York when I caught a fish at the Cape when can I fillet it and after a very long time he finally stated that I should wait till I get back to New York to fillet it. ?????? So I asked him.... if I left it in the back of the truck would that have been O.K. and he said NO.... we have the authority to check truck. So I asked him.... how would I prove to you that I caught one fish on saturday and another on Sunday (if I got one) and he said he did not know the answer to that??? I told him I stay at a motel and hence when I leave early Sunday morning to go fishing I HAVE to bring all of my belongings with me including the fish that I caught .... so if you telling me I can't leave fish in truck (filleted or not) and I cannot bring cooler on the boat to keep Sundays fish fresh what do I do... He did not know the answer to that question which really surprised me and was a little upsetting.

He called his leutenant since he was a "newbie" (ie. only started in noverber) and his leutenant advised he was coming over to Taylors launch to assess the situation. We waited about 20 minutes or so for his boss to arrive. After a 5 minute pow wow with the 1st officer the leutenant came over to me and advised they would have to fine me the $120. I told him that anyone with any knowledge of fish what so ever could easily EASILY tell that those fillets were from a HUGE fish, so with that he asked to see the fillets. When the 1st officer pulled out the fillets from the cooler and placed them on the tailgate of the truck the leutenant quickly realized that it was a BIG fish so he pulled the 1st officer aside for a second pow wow. He came back and told me they were going to let me go BUT.....they were going to keep the fillets for the "homeless people"......

So..... even though I had a time/date stamped video...
a Picture of the 37" fish draped over the makos drivers seat EASILY proving it's huge size also time and date stamped.....

I got stung...

My boat registration was in order...
My fishing license was in order....
and I was very polite....

and to this very second I still don't know how I am going to go to the Cape for the weekend (leaving Sunday night) fishing both Sat and sun and be able to bring home 2 fish without getting fined.....since I will have to have both fish in my possession on sunday..... and in regards to the 1st officers comment that I should not fillet the fish till I get back to new york ??? what if I come up to the cape for a 3 or 4 or week long fishing vacation ???? That's crazy.....

Lastly, I did shake hands and thank both men for not giving me the 120 fine and even gave them 2 bags of ice to keep MY fillets fresh for the "homeless".

I did tell them earlier that I learned a long time ago from the gentlemen who gave me my pistol safety course..... "USING GOOD DISCRETION AND USING GOOD MORAL JUDGEMENT.... PRECEDES EVERYTHING"

what I am trying to say is these two men were professionals and see stripers almost everyday and it was more than OBVIOUS that the fish was very very big. A 2 foot fish fillet would only require a 2" head and a 2" tail to be legal. when's the last time you saw a fish that produced 2 foot long fillets that only had a 2" long head and 2" long tail ?

I am Including the pic of the 37" fish on the 35" wide seat that I showed both gentlemen.

I was planning on buying a very large cooler capable of holding big fish but everyone knows that it just makes sense to fillet ASAP to get the best tasting fillets plus that still won't solve my (1 per day problem) as I have to have everything with me on the last day?????

I can see that I have to solve this problem before I head back.

I also didn't get the "skin part".... what difference does it make wether the fillets did or did not have the skin on them. He said for identification purposes..... so if I had taken the skin off ????????