I don't know everything but I do know this isn't how you hold an over 38" pre-spawn female striped bass that you plan on releasing. Yes, there a boatload, no pun intended, of striped bass in the Raritan Bay right now, and not all of them are between 28-38", those are hitting the deck and then the cooler, at least the ones caught on the first drop, like the ones below. It's funny this fishing thing. There's the meat
eaters that look, legally so, at the striped bass as table fare. Drop, cast, soak, however, the goal is to catch and kill and eat it. Then there's the other side, those who would catch that above larger fish, hold it with reverence, and then ensure they've done everything they can to reduce it's chance of mortality, and watch as it swims away.
At the end of each of these coming days imagine if all of the harvested fish, from the New York and New Jersey boats and surfcasters were put into one central pile....guys it's not sustainable. Something has to change. We are short sighted. One day the moratorium will return.