Gigging Is Stupid

[Smalliebigs]

those bass must really be hurt by them gig marks if they were chasing a bait.....

the typical attitude that the Tactician pointed out.......thanks for showing us first hand

[exiledguide]

Exiledguide, if you think that I wouldn't confront a gigger that I witnessed illegally gigging or filleting up some smallies on a sand bar or boat ramp??? well you don't know me all that well. I appologize if you feel bullied by my statements.

You bully me? You are living in a dreamland.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I'm sure you can get an ear, after all as long as you and others call people stupid etc.there is no reason for them to want to hear what you have to say.

In the late 1980s the numbers of white suckers increased dramatically and, at times, exceeded the number of rainbow and brown trout captured during population surveys conducted by the Conservation Department.

Fisheries biologists were concerned about this abrupt increase in the white sucker population. They believed that competition between white suckers and trout for invertebrate organisms that comprised the bulk of the trout diet might cause a decline in the trout fishery.

I'm sure the MDC wants to ban gigging.

Once again, if you really want to see some changes for better protection of game fish in general, try to come up with some realistic arguments.

[Fishslayer88]

the typical attitude that the Tactician pointed out.......thanks for showing us first hand

I hardly think reading something on a web forum is first hand... I was honestly just trying to stir this thread up a little more because i like to laugh and the idiocy of this personal vendetta against gigging, I am on the river quite often in fact i am looking out my back door at the james right now and i hardly ever see gigged bass.

I would bet just about anything the reason you are seeing so many in your area is because some kids took daddy's boat out and went on a fish killing spree usually it is not hard to tell a bass from a sucker ( in good river conditions).

And as far as thinking all gigger's and snagger's dumb white trash rednecks, That is just narrow minded egocentricity rearing its ugly little head.

[ozark trout fisher]

I know I'll certainly be laughed at for putting it this way, but can't we ever just talk about fishing and get along? I know I'm as much of the problem as anyone else, but I'm tired of every thread turning into this crap. There's my 2 cents worth and I'll go away now.

[Feathers and Fins]

There are many things that were at one time " TRADITION " to sports such as Live baiting for waterfowl or Live decoys, Not all traditions are good for the resource.

[fishinwrench]

I know I'll certainly be laughed at for putting it this way, but can't we ever just talk about fishing and get along? I know I'm as much of the problem as anyone else, but I'm tired of every thread turning into this crap. There's my 2 cents worth and I'll go away now.

No you won't. And "every thread" doesn't turn into "this crap", but you knew full well that this one was going to go south when you first clicked on it, just by the thread title alone, now didn't ya?

So ok, your attempt to stir the dung while pretending to not want to, is noted. LMAO

[Greasy B]

There are many things that were at one time " TRADITION " to sports such as Live baiting for waterfowl or Live decoys, Not all traditions are good for the resource.

Subvert the dominate paradigm!

[jdmidwest]

There are many things that were at one time " TRADITION " to sports such as Live baiting for waterfowl or Live decoys, Not all traditions are good for the resource.

But this thread should have focused on the POACHERS that are gigging illegal fish, not all giggers in general.

Giggers gigging suckers are not harming any resource. Gigging is limited to rough fish that are not usually targets to sport fishermen.

Gigging in the olden days included sport fish, then it became regulated to protect the game fish. Gigging has been around long before the advent of the halogen bulb and jet motor. Many old jon boats with a pine log fire in the middle and no motor floated along with a couple of giggers. With the advent of the carbide light, gigging improved somewhat. Then it evolved into what it is today.

[Al Agnew]

A few points...

1. The suggestion that the wounds we're seeing on the bass are from eagles or herons is ridiculous when you think about it. These wounds only show up in the fall and winter. Bass, especially big bass, in daylight hours, in cool to cold weather, simply do not come up shallow enough to be a target for herons or eagles. Having spent a lot of time in super clear late fall/winter Ozark streams, I can say I've NEVER seen a bass shallow enough to be within reach of an eagle...eagles don't dive 5 feet to get a fish. And of course, the straight punctures and often the spacing of two or three holes in the fish argues against anything but a gig, too.

2. The fact that you might not be seeing gigged fish on your waters doesn't mean we aren't seeing them on ours. All of us who fish the Meramec in the winter see gigged fish.

3. Yep, three gigged bass hit my lures the other day. Did you see the pictures? Nasty infections. Bass are tough and resilient, but I suspect those fish will eventually die from the infections. But that isn't the point. If a major percentage of the bass we catch have been gigged, how many bass were gigged and did die?

4. Tradition. I understand that. But tradition doesn't include jetboats, generators, and 10,000 candlepower stadium lights.

5. Kids going on a killing spree? Funny, there must be a bunch of kids doing it, since we see it on 70 miles or more of the Meramec, and we see it EVERY YEAR, not just this one. One person who posts on here occasionally complained about the gigging problem on the Meramec (he lives close to the river) in the local newspaper, and a couple days later found his mailbox stuffed with gigged smallmouth a few years ago. This isn't kids and it isn't misidentification.

6. Would I like to see gigging banned? Yes, but it ain't gonna happen and probably shouldn't happen. There just has to be much better enforcement than we've seen on the Meramec.