I'm Really, Really Sick Of This...

[Al Agnew]

My winter smallie fishing guru told me that in his best winter smallmouth hole, he just saw a 21 incher dead, gigged. And caught 5 more fish from that hole that had gig marks on them.

I want to ignore or downplay the gigging problem, but I'm afraid we're just spitting into the wind with all the talk of better regulations as long as crap like this still happens. This year, the fishing in the fall was excellent when the rivers were fishable--they weren't fishable all the time because of all the rain we had, but that rain also made gigging practically impossible until just the last few weeks. So you see what happens. I catch 6 fish the last time I go, and 2 of them had fresh gig marks. He sees this in his best pool. It happens every winter.

I wouldn't mind gigging--I've done it myself and it's fun. But it has the potential of being THE biggest limiting factor on big smallmouth. Unlike anglers, who don't and can't specifically target the largest fish, giggers can and often do find and stick the biggest fish in the river. An angler might put his lure in front of a dozen big fish in a day without even knowing it because they don't take it--it's their choice, so to speak. And even the worst angling poacher won't be good enough to catch many really big fish. But the gigger in good conditions can SEE those fish, and simply select the biggest ones. Having gigged myself, I know that with the right conditions I could have gigged the majority of fish over 18 inches in a given stretch in one night.

And it's a sport that's practically impossible to police. My guru's winter pool is a short distance (one riffle) below a stretch of river with several cabins, and the last time I was there two jetboats with gig rails were parked at those cabins. It's a long way to the nearest public access. You gotta believe that whoever gigged that hole probably came from those cabins, and the chances of an agent even getting that far away from the public access after dark are pretty slim, let alone being there on a night when something happens. Sitting and checking giggers at the public access isn't going to ever catch these guys, nor will it ever catch even those who use the public accesses but who gig and discard smallmouth away from the access.

I don't know what could be done about this problem. Realistically, I know there's no chance of banning gigging, nor would that be fair to the many giggers who do it legally. But this truly is a sport where it only takes one or two bad apples to make a very significant impact. I could live with the occasional mistake when some gigger accidentally sticks a game fish, even though that's no excuse...if you can't positively identify it, you shouldn't try to gig it. But when that many smallmouth are being gigged out of one wintering hole, when they are all congregated and easy to find, it ain't an accident.

I know we've hashed this one out before...just had to vent.

[RSBreth]

I'm with you one this one. I know there are good guys that gig and stay legal, but I've seen this far too often for it to be the "one or two bad apples" type thing. I have a relative (thankfully not blood but by marriage, actually two marriages ) who is a poacher and gigger of game fish, and early in our relationship he was stunned that I said if he told me where and when any of these activities took place, I'd "drop a dime" on him in a second. But I know the type. And I know how you feel, and the need to vent.

[eric1978]

I've just gotten to the "shrug your shoulders" point on this one. What really can be done? As mentioned, gigging will never be outlawed, and there will always be some scumbags who poach...period. It's the human condition.

However, I think it would be reasonable (although probably not popular) to outlaw gigging on some stretches that are SMAs. This might be difficult on rivers like the Big, where the SMA is very long. But the Meramec SMA, for example, I think would be a good prospect to try it. There is plenty of other water nearby to gig in if you have to.

Another idea would be to outlaw any motorized watercraft on certain skinny stretches of river above a point where it's just too dangerous to have one up there anyway. Obviously, this wouldn't protect the fish in the bigger and probably better water downstream, but like we always end up saying, it would be better than nothing.

I don't expect this problem to ever go away. This one REALLY is an issue with enforcement, because the one agent in the county is probably getting ready for bed when the violation is taking place. As usual, this problem is one that can only be addressed by changing laws and increasing enforcement, and I'm really losing confidence that the powers that be are interested in taking progressive steps to increase protection of smallmouth. If it's simply left up to the conscience of the average human to do what is right, without possibility of consequences to do what is wrong...well, that battle has already been lost.

[fishgypsy]

I've gone out gigging a few times, but gave it up in disgust. I'd go out with ten or a dozen folks, and invariably one or two were content violating game laws, sticking any fish they saw- suckers, bass, catfish, turtles, shad- anything. My issue wasn't with the sport- it is a lot of fun. Just a few of the people who practiced it poorly.

All I can really do is echo Al's sentiment- I don't think gigging will be going away, but I hope there's a better way to manage that segment of the sporting population. There are game violators in every segment, I don't mean to single out giggers. But like Al said, a gig boat, with lights, in the dark, has the distinct advantage of being able to select what fish you kill- you can skim off the largest fish fairly easily.

I guess part of my frustration is I simply don't understand MDC's rationale for determining what is and is not a legal consumptive fishing method. Some traditional fishing techniques (noodling comes to mind), are illegal because they damage fish populations. Others (snagging, gigging) damage fish populations, but are given a pass. Why?

[Guest]

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[Al Agnew]

It's pointless to send pictures to MDC. It's simply a political reality that they aren't going to limit gigging, although I find it a little ironic that they did shut down some of the trout areas to gigging...gee, stocked trout are more important to protect than smallies? However, some in the department aren't willing to even entertain the idea that gigging game fish is a problem. I've heard at least one person in the department suggest that those dead and wounded fish we see have been attacked by herons. Yeah, right, herons routinely attack 20 inch smallmouth, in the winter when they are never up shallow enough for a heron to reach unless it has a 5 foot long neck.

But they also know they can't do anything about it short of shutting down gigging, either totally or in management areas at least. And like I said, political reality is they can't do that. So I don't particularly blame them for sticking their heads in the sand on the issue.

The difference between gigging and noodling is that there never were many people with the guts and inclination to noodle, so not allowing noodling isn't going to tick off enough people to matter. But gigging has always been a "traditional" sport practiced by many in the Ozarks. Never mind that the equipment and boats are about 100 times more effective than they "traditionally" were. But the time to outlaw gigging was back when MDC was first organized. Try to do it now and you'd have half the people in the Ozarks, even those who never gigged in their lives, screaming bloody murder about it.

When you look at it objectively and not through the lens of "tradition", it's pretty ridiculous. There aren't many states in the nation that allow spearing of game fish with lights. And of those who do, mainly some northern states that allow spearing of pike--and often by native American laws with non-Indians not allowed to do so--it invariably causes a lot of hard feelings between anglers and those who spear fish. But it's been going on for so long in this state that it's impossible to look at it from the standpoint of what's best for the resource; the politics will always get in the way.

[ozark trout fisher]

I wish it were banned. In my opinion, its just not a sporting method to take fish. I think a fish should be given a chance to at least give an honest fight, and gigging doesn't allow for that. Also, I think it is really bad for our image as fisherman and sportsmen in general. It will probably never be banned, but I'll consider myself to be in the camp that opposes it.

Needless to say there are a fair number of giggers that kill gamefish, probably for the most part on accident. If you are gigging, and you make a mistake, there is no "going back". You can't release the fish. I believe that any method that doesn't allow for fished to be released at least a good part of the time shouldn't be allowed.

[KCRIVERRAT]

A few questions, but my first one was gonna be "is gigging allowed by the MDC because of tradition?" Al suggested that with his second post. Next question is "are the fish that are LEGAL to gig a detriment to the river or the health of the river they reside in?" I could be wrong, but I'm guessing no. Third question, "are there just too many suckers in the rivers, and I know there are different species, that the MDC thinks gigging is a means to control them?" This question does tie into question two. If there are too many suckers not being caught by line and pole, does the MDC allow gigging to control their population?

I think it's a tradition thing... and I hate people who cheat or do not respect our resources!

I am not against gigging, but I hate to hear of gamefish and not rough fish be targeted by the bad seeds.

[Ham]

Gigging is the glue that holds society as we know it together. There apparently is no other Ozark tradition. So gigging must be maintained and upheld no matter what.

[Bman]

I would hope that if enough of us vent in the proper manner, whether it be by email, US mail, or phone. They just might pay some attention. There is strength in numbers.

If gigging has been restricted in some trout areas, that might be a start for the next shoe to drop? I wonder how those restrictions came to be. Maybe we could use the implementation of those restrictions as a model for action.