Bman Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 There apparently is no other Ozark tradition. What about spot lighting? The only good line is a tight line
Forsythian Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 It's my understanding that gigging has been banned in trout management areas because trout are difficult to discern from suckers (esp redhorse). I don't know this firsthand, I've never gigged in waters that hold trout. Bass, walleye, catfish and etc. are super easy to discern. If you throw at a bass, you're doing it on purpose. Al, you and I have tangled on this topic before. Come talk to me when you get the goofy 5-smallmouth daily limit changed. Until then, you're going to have a hard time convincing people it's a true management issue rather than an anectodal "my sport is better than yours" issue. Cenosillicaphobiac
KCRIVERRAT Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 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. Ham... what the heck do you mean by that? Do you gig? And you know better than me there are lots' of ozark traditions. I'm just a city boy puttin' in my two cents. Giggin' must be maintained? Give me a break! KC HUMAN RELATIONS MANAGER @ OZARK FISHING EXPEDITIONS
fishgypsy Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 Ham... what the heck do you mean by that? Do you gig? And you know better than me there are lots' of ozark traditions. I'm just a city boy puttin' in my two cents. Giggin' must be maintained? Give me a break! KC I thought running dogs for deer was the glue that holds society together. Or cockfights. I can't remember. "I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people." - Jack Handy www.fishgypsy.wordpress.com
eric1978 Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 Ham... what the heck do you mean by that? Do you gig? And you know better than me there are lots' of ozark traditions. I'm just a city boy puttin' in my two cents. Giggin' must be maintained? Give me a break! KC I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm... At least I think it was... At least I hope it was...
Al Agnew Posted January 5, 2010 Author Posted January 5, 2010 I think Ham was being facetious. MDC allows and encourages gigging of suckers and other rough fish because they say that's the best way to utilize an otherwise under-utilized resource. It certainly is utilized. On streams big enough for jetboats, I defy you to find many good-sized suckers after a good season of gigging. And you absolutely won't see the big 4-6 pound redhorse that it's possible to grow (depending upon the species) in Ozark streams. I don't think that redhorse and hogsuckers, the usual targets of gigging, would be all that harmful to the other fish if they were more abundant. Forsythian, yep, it's anecdotal...because unless you close a good smallmouth section of stream to gigging for several years and see if there's a significant increase in the population of 18 inch plus bass and other game fish, there's no other way to scientifically prove that gigging has an impact. And I don't see MDC doing that. Sure would be interesting if they did, though. But I know what I've seen. I don't know how it is in other streams large enough for jetboats, but on the middle Meramec it's a problem that all of us who fish in the late fall and winter see all the time. Heck, it wouldn't even hurt so bad if they actually kept the fish, but it seems that they just stick them for fun and shake them off the gig, since otherwise why would they be lying dead, or swimming around with major gig scars?
Forsythian Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 I don't doubt for a minute that it happens... no more than I doubt other kinds of poaching takes place. But, if you're gonna ban a sport because of the poaching element, we all might as well take up knitting. Cenosillicaphobiac
KCRIVERRAT Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 I don't doubt for a minute that it happens... no more than I doubt other kinds of poaching takes place. But, if you're gonna ban a sport because of the poaching element, we all might as well take up knitting. Backwords thinking in my opinion... HUMAN RELATIONS MANAGER @ OZARK FISHING EXPEDITIONS
smallmouthjoe Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 A few weeks ago I was on Beaver Creek and saw three dead smallmouth lying on the stream bed all of them were about as big as the biggest smallmouth I've pulled out of that stream. On my way up river right at the access point where I started I saw twenty or so cut up suckers and a dead deer that had it's antlers cut off and the rest was left to rot in the river. I can only assume that the dead smallmouth were a result of giggers and if the deer was something that they were apart of then my god these must have been some very revolting people. If the conservation department doesn't have enough money to spend on law enforcement and they are unwilling to deny a small portion of people their right to gig, in certain areas or at all, all we can do is guard the streams ourselves. If I see anyone poaching or abusing wildlife or the land they live in I will turn them in, I wouldn't care if it was my own grandmother. It's sad but we have to deal with people who just don't care about the greater good of anything.
RSBreth Posted January 5, 2010 Posted January 5, 2010 A few weeks ago I was on Beaver Creek ... Aw, man. Beaver Creek? I haven't seen that there, but now, there it is. Idiots spread to every where.
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