5 minute freewrite 2754 prompt measure this

This is my post for #freewriters prompt measure this hosted by @mariannewest

When I first started trout fishing, we could keep as many as we could catch as long as they were over 12 inches, there was no size limit on the bigger ones. Then the size we could keep went to 14 inches, and we could still keep the big ones. Now it is still 15 inches, but we can not keep any over 24 inches, and can only have 75 head which now seems to be a dream to catch that many. The sport fishermen can keep them over 24 inches, which makes no sense because there are many more sport fishermen than commercial fishermen.

The black thing next to the trout is my measuring stick, it is what I used to measure this trout with. It was over 24 inches, and I had to throw it back. When I threw it back,

I saw a Bull shark hit it, and up popped the front half. Someone could have eaten this fish.

I picked up the half the shark did not get and took this photo, I threw it back because I still did not know if it was legal for me to keep.

What people do not realize is that when you reel a fish in, the fish is tired, it has been fighting the line all the way to your boat or shore. Then you have to de-hook it and measure it, which keeps it from the water longer, no matter how fast you try to be, you weaken the fish more, and it does not stand a chance if a shark or dolphin is in the area.

In my area of Florida, this fish was always called a Channel Bass, but when the recipe for blackened redfish became popular, everyone started calling them redfish. We used to sell them, but once they became known for this recipe, we were no longer allowed to sell them, but we (commercial fishermen) could keep one to eat. Now no one can keep one.

In my lifetime as a commercial fisherman, we have never been allowed to sell a snook, and the only time we caught one was when we fished for trout. We were allowed to catch trout in June, July, and August. Snook went out of season on June 1st and did not open until September 1st. I always found this unfair to the commercial fishermen who liked to eat this fish, but now they have extended our trout season from May 1st to September 30th, so we can now keep one to eat, but there is a 4 inch slot to keep one, they have to be between 28 and 32 inches, nothing smaller and nothing bigger, which is hard to do.

Now, none of this matters since the river is in such bad shape. My husband's last two days fishing he went north of Grant and fished all day, he said he never got a bite from any type of fish. The next day, he went 40 miles south to Vero Beach and caught one barely legal trout. The last day my sister and I fished, we came in with one bluefish. This is heartbreaking.
photos are mine