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

[Al Agnew]

I couldn't stay away forever, just a quick hit: I'm real happy to see the amount of levelheadedness on this this thread, especially from those associated with the smallmouth alliance. Listen, I haven't put a smallmouth on a stringer in 20 years, and my son has been raised the same. There are giggers who'll blindly deny there is a problem in our ranks, but I'm not one of 'em. If anything, I'm more frustrated than those of you who are haters, because smallmouth fishing is affected AND I have a legion of cannibalistic "sportsmen" who don't want me to eat suckers in January.

'Course there will be those (Wayne et.al.) who are convinced all giggers are scoundrels, and there's no convincing them otherwise. Clearly, a gigger has at one time peed in your Wheaties... and for that I am sorry. I appreciate Taxidermy's honesty, and there's a bunch of you all who could save yourselves some time typing by just cutting and pasting his post.

Bottom line- Al this is especially targeted to you- the "argument" that enforcement is impossible is flat wrong. It is flat-out wrong and it is disingenuous for those of you out there to say there's nothing to be done except to take it away from everybody.

I'm telling you, if there was a CA rig with a jet boat parked at the slab at Hootentown one night, Delaware access another night, the word would get out all up and down the James River. They wouldn't even have to launch the boat... just be there at dusk. Come talk to the folks setting up, let them know you're there. Maybe you'll be back, maybe not. Maybe you'll launch, maybe you won't. This is all I ask, a token presence. A little outreach. The CA's are more than welcome in our camp... I'll bring an extra chair and we'll feed 'em.

Until then, it's dishonest to say the laws can't be enforced... no attempt is being made.

On a happier note, I am the proud owner of my first large-arbor fly reel, and I've got a new vest on the way! I'm gonna sit by the fire tonight, watch a movie, and organize some tackle... good times

Forsythian, I think if you look back through my posts, I've said repeatedly that I don't think gigging CAN be outlawed, nor do I wish to have it outlawed. You may be right...it may be that just the presence of agents and their boats at accesses would be enough to discourage a lot of it. Perhaps my assertion that it's impossible to police was mainly my frustration at the present situation talking. I still don't think the agents have much chance of catching the kind of giggers that operate on the Meramec, who apparently are gigging bass (both largemouth and smallmouth, Chief!) and leaving them. It's wanton waste on top of everything else, just gigging them for the heck of it. Like I said, an agent would have to be watching them when they did it, and that's practically impossible, since they are often several miles from the nearest access. However, maybe the agent's visible presence at the accesses would make them think twice. I hope it would, because that's really the only practical way I can see to do much about the situation.

By the way, Chief, I live 1.5 hours from the nearest place where I fish in the winter. If I lived closer, I might be willing to get together with one or two other like-minded people and hang out at the accesses at night during the gigging season, and do the things you suggested. It might be a good idea. But as cwc mentioned, some of these guys are NOT people you want to confront, even in a friendly fashion. If they bother to learn where you live and leave dead smallmouth in your mailbox, they might just be capable of something worse.

However, I WILL be photographing every dead and scarred smallmouth I see from now on. Sending the pictures to MDC is a good idea. Don't know why I haven't done it before.

[jdmidwest]

Gigging has been a problem as long as I can remember around where I live. Locals used to use smallies as a big target to practice on as the eyes show up so well. Thank god the MDC started stocking Otters on the Castor River and eliminated the problem with the gigged Smallies.

I for one am for a NO CREEL on smallies anywhere in the state. They taste like fish and are full of worms from all of the herons we saved when we banned DDT and made the herons a protected species.

[fishgypsy]

I for one am for a NO CREEL on smallies anywhere in the state. They taste like fish and are full of worms from all of the herons we saved when we banned DDT and made the herons a protected species.

I've noticed that too, JD. In fact, most of the fish I catch and eat seem to taste like...well, like fish.

[jdmidwest]

I hate that fishy taste in my mouth most of the time. Better to catch and release and catch again on most small streams. Not to mention again that most bass are infested with the worms of a transitional fluke where the heron is a passer on of the parasite.

[ozark trout fisher]

It's not selfishness FG, it's just a matter of what's realistic and what's not. I too carry out a bag of other people's garbage when I float, but if I see a beer can 100 yards up a hillside, I'm not parking the canoe and making the hike to get it. I truly admire and appreciate the time and effort that some folks put in to take care of our streams, but some of us just aren't blessed with that kind of time.

I think I made about a dozen trips to a stream in 2009, all of which were one-day trips or shorter. I saw a grand total of one gigging boat last year, because I just wasn't out there at night very much. And I tell you what, I don't know if they had illegal fish or not, but I wasn't about to play "vigilante conservation agent" and check their creel. That's not my right or my job. If I would have seen them in violation I would have certainly reported them as soon as I could, but I can't promise you I would have confronted them right then and there, because they could have been dangerous nut-jobs for all I knew. There's only so much an ordinary citizen can safely do.

I wish I had the ability to be more involved, but I don't, and that's just reality, not selfishness.

That's what I was trying to tell Chief earlier. You all can call it laziness or excuses, or whatever you please, but it is just life with a job, and limited finances. I don't have time or money to be on the stream all the time being the guy alerting all the giggers that they shouldn't be gigging gamefish. I don't see that as selfishness. I simply have too many other responsibilities. And frankly, the idea of walking up to some gigger in the middle of the night, and telling them what they should or should not be doing seems like a good way to get my butt kicked. No thanks.

[fozzype]

I have gigged nearly every major river in the ozarks since I was 6 years old. I also have fished all these rivers. I also tournament bass fish. I have seen a very few people kill game fish. HOWEVER, THEY ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF GIGGERS DO NOT KILL GAME FISH. I would say on average that there are more smallmouth taken due to floaters who fish taking more than there own limits or keeping short fish. DO WE WANT TO BAN FLOAT FISHING OR TROUT FISHERMEN WHO REALEASE FISH THAT DIE, OR BASS TOURNAMENTS THAT WEIGH DEAD FISH. (I believe bass tournaments are great, and all fish are hanled very carefully to stay alive, what fish die are eaten) As outdoorsmen we need to utilize our God given resources while understanding that we are not perfect stewards, but that we do care and try are best. I believe all of you that want to ban gigging probably also think conceal carry is bad, smaller magazines in pistols prevent crimes, and the government can fix everything.

[ozark trout fisher]

I believe all of you that want to ban gigging probably also think conceal carry is bad, smaller magazines in pistols prevent crimes, and the government can fix everything.

And you'd be wrong. I support concealed carry, I am opposed to most forms of gun control, and I certainly do not believe the government can fix everything. But maybe they can at least help out a little on this one.

[jdmidwest]

That's what I was trying to tell Chief earlier. You all can call it laziness or excuses, or whatever you please, but it is just life with a job, and limited finances. I don't have time or money to be on the stream all the time being the guy alerting all the giggers that they shouldn't be gigging gamefish. I don't see that as selfishness. I simply have too many other responsibilities. And frankly, the idea of walking up to some gigger in the middle of the night, and telling them what they should or should not be doing seems like a good way to get my butt kicked. No thanks.

Man up buddy, fish cops only solve crimes, citizens prevent them! If you see a violation, confront them. They are the worthless cowards and will usually cut and run.

[fozzype]

Probably a little strong language, but I did say BAN GIGGING. I do believe additional enforcement would deter bad apples.

[ozark trout fisher]

Man up buddy, fish cops only solve crimes, citizens prevent them! If you see a violation, confront them. They are the worthless cowards and will usually cut and run.

Some of them are also quite drunk, and they are carrying around gigs for Christ sake. Once again, no thanks. I would report them, but I am probably not going to confront a bunch of gig-wielding poachers in the middle of the night. It just doesn't seem like a good idea for some reason.