Canoeranger

Al, I hate to hear that, I can only speak for myself and those giggers I know. Like you I have seen over the years several fish that had old gig marks in them that had healed over time, but nothing like what you speak of. I guess we have the advantage of having both National Park Service and MDC Agents patrolling the waters and banks. I do believe your right though when you say that only a few bad apples really spoil it for the rest of us. Sounds like they need a few more agents working in that area. Hope things improve in the near future.

I'd have to agree with Little Red Fisherman. I'm sure it was nothing more than a mistake in fish identification. I grew up on Current River and to this day I still consider it one of the better gigging rivers in Missouri. It is my personal belief that too many people tend to jump to conclusions and don’t take the time to consider all the facts. In all my years that I have gigged, from my younger teens till now (I’m 35 so that’s been a few years), I have never mistaken a fish that I gigged. It's easier not to gig at anything, than to chance gigging a sport fish and get fined for it. Numerous times I have had encounters with Conservation agents that run their boats in the dark and sneak up from behind you while gigging. The noise of the generator covers the sound of their boat. After speaking with some of the different agents, I have concluded that many giggers are being more responsible than they used to be, due to the increasing contacts on the water from the conservation agents, and the steep fines for illegally gigging game fish and possessing game fish. I know of other giggers who have mistaken fish they'd gigged. They usually try to rake it off the gig and get it back in the water as soon as possible. I know they felt bad about it because they'd make reference to it the rest of the evening. In the presence of other experienced giggers it’s almost shameful to gig a game fish. I guess what I’m trying to say is that too many times people like to complain because they have nothing better to do. If you feel that strongly about the topic of gigging then it is your responsibility to go out and spend some time on the water with Missouri giggers and see for yourself what is really going on. I bet you'll find that over 90% of the folks you go gigging with are also conservation minded as well. They live on and around those same rivers and enjoy catching the same game fish you do.

Hello, My name is David Burton and I'm from the St. Louis area. Just recently found this website and have found it to be most informative. I grew up in Van Buren, MO and spent most of my younger days fishing on Current River for small mouth. After spending some time in the Military I learned to fly fish while I was stationed in Alaska, and learned to appreciate my home waters even more since there was quite an impressive population of trout on the upper part of the river. Now that I’m older and have kids I'm trying to spend more time getting my children involved in the outdoors and eventually be able to take them canoeing, camping, hunting and fly fishing with me. So there it is. Now you know a little about me and I'm interested to learn more about yall and you fishing experiences and knowledge. David Burton