tjm

Yes I can often release trout by simply slacking the line as they get into shallow water and renew the fight. And when they don't self release a slight push with the release tool does the trick. I rarely carry a net, unless I'm keeping fish. However that still is not science to support a barbless regulation.

Doesn't matter what the regs are, you can't be serious about enforcing them? It's an honor system, always has been. Total enforcement would probably require equal numbers of anglers and officers; think of the cost. Be good for the economy though, to employ that many new Agents.

@netboyThat is primarily why I mash barbs, or buy barbless, they come out of me so much easier. It can make releasing fish easier too, but I don't think it helps with mortality and I don't think it should be a regulation.

I don't think the science supports barbless hooks over barbed hooks either, and that has been studied a bunch. I do "debarb" most (there's always 1 or 2 that slip by) hooks when tying flies, but I would not bet that all or even most of the hooks with mashed down barbs would pass a stocking or cotton ball test. Nearly all hooks that I've mashed or broken barbs on required filing to insure they wouldn't grab a fiber. Several summaries of studies that I've seen on barbed vs barbless all say "no statistically significant differences in hooking mortality"

What science justifies single point hooks on flies and trebles on literally any thing else? Most regulations start with someone's desire and find science to justify it.

Single hooks would include treble hooks. Single hook means one hook it does not limit the number of points. Currently in "pole and line" fishing we are allowed three hooks and that can be as many points as you want, actually it may even be more than three hooks because the definition of "hook" says " A multiple-pronged hook or two (2) or more hooks employed to hold a single bait, shall be considered a single hook in counting the allowable total in use." However with flies we can only use single point hooks, so I'm fine with extending that rule to lures and baits. You could then have three single point hooks per lure or three lures each with a single point. And science had nothing to do with restricting flies to single point hooks either. Very few fish and game regulations have scientific foundations.

Single hook? or single point hook? I would rather people use three single point hooks than to see them use a single treble hook. I would have no objection to single point hooks statewide for all species. But agree that until enforcement catches up, all regulations are useless. I'll also say that place or species specific regulations are more difficult to apply than general statewide regulations. The more specific the area the less apt people are to comply, they will just say "oh I don't know where Fall Creek is from here". Make the regulation fit the entire lake or the entire river or all trout water and the confusion is removed.

I prefer zero back casting space and ample shade. Actually I try not to wade at all if the stream is less than 50' wide. Of course sometimes wading is necessary for positioning, but back casting space is only rarely needed, like when slinging a spoon. Most (all that I recall) of Bennett seems way too mowed, manicured and paved. Even noticed there are slanted ditches for the waders to enter the stream without having to get down off a bank. Years ago I wondered if those were dug or just worn in. Last time I was there I saw they are still being used.

Busting my butt or falling isn't a good enough reason to go back there either. Although I'm sure that I will one day, if I'm nearby for some other reason. But, I would have no idea which section you call the hole. My usual approach is to find a section with the fewest number of cars .... But, in my view it hasn't changed that much over the past forty years as a destination. Which was the point of my post. You watch it the changes happen and it makes you aware of small differences that I would not notice.

I doubt that I saw all it the handful of times that I was there, but, I recall a lot of parking lot and not many shaded stretches. I don't recall any riffles or pockets, but if you say they are there, I'll take your word for it. But, the first time I fished it was ~40 years ago and the last time was the past spring; and in my mind it's just chitty now as it was then, and just as good. No doubt a good class room and anyone at all should be able to find a fish, but it has zero aesthetic attraction. It puts to lie the old saw about trout living in beautiful places. If it was less than an hour away I'm sure I'd fish it often, just because the parking lots make for easy access, but ~200 miles make a "destination", and there are probably fifty or more places between here and there that I'd rather fly fish. Nearly all of them with less macadam and more trees. I'm really more of a small stream type.

It reminds me a lot of fishing in a mall parking lot. Wouldn't make any difference if every other cast hooked an eight pound trout, it wouldn't be highly desirable as a destination. But then all destinations become overcrowded and worn out simply because they are destinations.

Sure they have speckled trout and gray trout, both drum, btw. But apparently there is a doctor in the Tallahassee area that stocks his pond each winter with rainbow, there are a couple of YouTube videos of it that I stumbled on. The hand made sign in the vid said fly fishing only, may keep one fish, 25$ per person. No contact info was given but I imagine it's out there if one wanted to find it.

Nobody needs FFS, not anywhere. For that matter no one needs any kind of electronics, all a matter of wanting to have a crutch.

The cockroach is natural, where the rainbow trout is said to be entirely synthetic. I am surprised that so many states have stocked them though, I would have guessed 35-40 states at most.

Probably. But they won't enforce it any more than they do the current limits.

or canned mackerel or salmon, whole wheat pita bread dipped/spread with olive oil, cottage cheese or yogurt, fresh grapes I had an assigned nutritionist for a while with the VA, all kinds of easy to do healthy food according to her. Low salt canned veggies may not be pretty but they are nutritional and quick. She did say to limit dried fruits like raisins though because apparently they have heaps more sugar than fresh fruit or it's more concentrated. On the sardines, I prefer canned in Poland or Norway since they stopped canning them in the USA.

Can of sardines, jar of olives, whole wheat saltines. raisins for desert.

https://www.troutresource.com/2023/06/11/state-best-trout-fishing/

I thought Neosho bass also inhabit the Illinois and some other Ok. streams? It is true that stocking has and will slur the distinction between any similar "breeds". The stocking of Tennessee ‘lake strain’ SMB in Tenkiller would have impacted the native bass in the Illinois. I read years ago that the Centerton Hatchery had at on time inadvertently mixed two or three "species" of rock bass and I've caught Ozark Bass lookalikes as well as a couple of Shadow Bass lookalikes in an Elk trib that would have been stocked by that hatchery back then. But, I guess all the rock bass in this region were imported at some point.

I just think our expectations of animal intelligence has had too much influence by Disney Creatures, to the point that we often set up "proofs" founded on "expectations".

That doesn't surprise me the stuff is toxic with N-propyl disulfide and other sulfur compounds. Worse in it's powder form than raw.

How positive can we be that the learned responses in gamefish are not simply reinforcements of instinctual behavior? I haven't checked lately, but do we have any proven knowledge of how instincts even work? or how they are formed? can a future generation of bass be hatched with the instinct to flee trolling sounds?

Isn't it anthropomorphism to assume that fish brains control their actions? They respond to stimuli primarily on instinct in the same way a newly hatched spider can build a perfect web.

It's strange to think that in half a century of bass fishing that I've never once caught a small mouth bass. I thought I had, many times. I've probably released a couple World Record NB. Just shows that we don't know what we don't know. I'll probably continue to refer to NB as SMB.

Does that mean anglers will have to access DNA testing before submitting a catch?