Gigging Is Stupid

[Tightline]

Very well put Vonreed.

I have seen this gigging thread come up alot in the 7 years I been a member and it always amazes me that( some )people think that thier favorite fish and method are the best and they are the premier fishermen,and like to put us all in categorys from the least desirable to the most desirable methods and species.

Just try to look at the big picture when you talk of banning a method because of a few idiots.

Suckers are very big eaters.If you haven't ever seen a group of hog suckers attack a smallmouth while on the nest then you probably don't know that they are a predator too.The smallmouth can defend against blugill and perch but let 6 or 7 suckers move in and its just no contest the suckers will pick it clean in just minutes. I have seen this happen.

Theres always a certain amount of yellow and hog suckers that stay up in the upper portions of our streams way past the spawn of bass,perch,goggle eye, etc. They (suckers) eat everything that the smallmouth fry need to eat to survive, if they (the fry) get to hatch. So lets put a few thousand more suckers in the streams and rivers every year because gigging and grabbing was banned and see what happens in about 5 years.

I like to fish for about anything and have nothing against anyones methods as long as its legal.

The smallmouth streams I visit the populations are clearly hurt by catch and keep bait (crawdads) fishermen not giggers or grabbers. JMO

[Mitch f]

Very well put Vonreed.

I have seen this gigging thread come up alot in the 7 years I been a member and it always amazes me that( some )people think that thier favorite fish and method are the best and they are the premier fishermen,and like to put us all in categorys from the least desirable to the most desirable methods and species.

Just try to look at the big picture when you talk of banning a method because of a few idiots.

Suckers are very big eaters.If you haven't ever seen a group of hog suckers attack a smallmouth while on the nest then you probably don't know that they are a predator too.The smallmouth can defend against blugill and perch but let 6 or 7 suckers move in and its just no contest the suckers will pick it clean in just minutes. I have seen this happen.

Theres always a certain amount of yellow and hog suckers that stay up in the upper portions of our streams way past the spawn of bass,perch,goggle eye, etc. They (suckers) eat everything that the smallmouth fry need to eat to survive, if they (the fry) get to hatch. So lets put a few thousand more suckers in the streams and rivers every year because gigging and grabbing was banned and see what happens in about 5 years.

I like to fish for about anything and have nothing against anyones methods as long as its legal.

The smallmouth streams I visit the populations are clearly hurt by catch and keep bait (crawdads) fishermen not giggers or grabbers. JMO

Tightline, your point is well taken. It just seems to me the poaching from the illegal giggers seems to be getting worse and something has to be done.

[Tightline]

Well Mitch then the guys that see this happen and know where its going to happen need to get it together and stop the poachers by turning them in,its that simple.They don't need to get on here and call people stupid white trash hicks,that just shows imaturity.

Years ago the grabbing of walleye on Swan got so bad that it really put a dent in the population, and they blamed all that on sucker grabbers when in reality it was alot of rod and reel fishermen who couldn't catch a walleye legally,some were locals some were not.But it was the locals who raised enough cain with MDC and turned these pochers in that eventually got it stopped.

I also see alot of bashing about Ozarks traditions.If you have ever eaten deep fried freshly caught yellow sucker fillets on a gravel bar or just anywhere then you would know why its been a tradition for so long.Theres just not anything better.The guys I know that gig or grab wouldn't trade just a few yellow suckers for a whole tub of wormy smallmouth.

I'd say if somebody really really doesn't like our Ozark traditions then they ought to go back to where they come from and or don't visit. MO

[laker67]

Well Mitch then the guys that see this happen and know where its going to happen need to get it together and stop the poachers by turning them in,its that simple.They don't need to get on here and call people stupid white trash hicks,that just shows imaturity.

Years ago the grabbing of walleye on Swan got so bad that it really put a dent in the population, and they blamed all that on sucker grabbers when in reality it was alot of rod and reel fishermen who couldn't catch a walleye legally,some were locals some were not.But it was the locals who raised enough cain with MDC and turned these pochers in that eventually got it stopped.

I also see alot of bashing about Ozarks traditions.If you have ever eaten deep fried freshly caught yellow sucker fillets on a gravel bar or just anywhere then you would know why its been a tradition for so long.Theres just not anything better.The guys I know that gig or grab wouldn't trade just a few yellow suckers for a whole tub of wormy smallmouth.

I'd say if somebody really really doesn't like our Ozark traditions then they ought to go back to where they come from and or don't visit. MO

Well TL this has been my thoughts all along, you just said it better. Seems to be alot of pictures of so called gig marks, has anyone given the possibility that they are otter wounds instead?

[rangerman]

Ok, ok,

I have checked more than a couple of boats this past season that had walleye or sauger in the boat,,,,Thier explanantion for the violation; "Uhhhhhh, I thought it wa a sucker." Hmmmmm, never seen a suckers eyes glow when lights hits it. There are bad apples in every sport: I understand this, however, i have seen hidden piles of gigged gamefish on the Meremac that would make a person puke.

[Mitch f]

Well Mitch then the guys that see this happen and know where its going to happen need to get it together and stop the poachers by turning them in,its that simple.They don't need to get on here and call people stupid white trash hicks,that just shows imaturity.

Years ago the grabbing of walleye on Swan got so bad that it really put a dent in the population, and they blamed all that on sucker grabbers when in reality it was alot of rod and reel fishermen who couldn't catch a walleye legally,some were locals some were not.But it was the locals who raised enough cain with MDC and turned these pochers in that eventually got it stopped.

I also see alot of bashing about Ozarks traditions.If you have ever eaten deep fried freshly caught yellow sucker fillets on a gravel bar or just anywhere then you would know why its been a tradition for so long.Theres just not anything better.The guys I know that gig or grab wouldn't trade just a few yellow suckers for a whole tub of wormy smallmouth.

I'd say if somebody really really doesn't like our Ozark traditions then they ought to go back to where they come from and or don't visit. MO

The problem is the only people who actually see it happen are the ones in the boat with the guys who are doing it. All that's left is the evidence of scars on the gamefish. All of our jaw flopping has been useless so far and something needs to be done. I know of a movement underway to start to make a positive change.

[Tightline]

OK, rangerman then there is a problem on the Meremac,what would you suggest be done? Ban ALL gigging because of these boneheads or go directly to the problem.They (the MDC) for most part have taken care of the problem on Swan creek with the walleye.

If your checking boats then you must be with the MDC?

[Mitch f]

Well TL this has been my thoughts all along, you just said it better. Seems to be alot of pictures of so called gig marks, has anyone given the possibility that they are otter wounds instead?

I think otters would finish the job, the pics we posted are way more than likely from gigs

[Al Agnew]

Aarrgghh!!! Look guys, I have not advocated banning gigging, but if I hear one more ridiculous suggestion that what we're seeing is ANYTHING but gig marks, I'm gonna puke. It ain't otters!!! I know what otter teeth look like, I know how close otter canine teeth are together and how big they are. There is absolutely NO WAY the marks we're seeing are otters, herons, eagles, or sasquatch. When you see two, three, or four vertical wounds that are big holes or scrapes, perfectly spaced the distance that fish gig tines are, and you ONLY see fresh wounds like this during gigging season and half healed wounds after gigging season, what the heck else could it be??? And when you only see the wounds on bass on rivers that get a lot of jetboat gigging pressure (remember that I also fish upper Big River a lot during the gigging season and the rest of the year and NEVER see wounds like this on fish on Big River, which doesn't get gigged much and isn't jetboatable but has plenty of predators), doesn't that seem like pretty good evidence that it's gigging? Please, please, do not insult my intelligence by suggesting it's some natural predator again, or I'll seriously consider finding you and gigging your rear end just to see if the marks match.

[Al Agnew]

Very well put Vonreed.

I have seen this gigging thread come up alot in the 7 years I been a member and it always amazes me that( some )people think that thier favorite fish and method are the best and they are the premier fishermen,and like to put us all in categorys from the least desirable to the most desirable methods and species.

Just try to look at the big picture when you talk of banning a method because of a few idiots.

Suckers are very big eaters.If you haven't ever seen a group of hog suckers attack a smallmouth while on the nest then you probably don't know that they are a predator too.The smallmouth can defend against blugill and perch but let 6 or 7 suckers move in and its just no contest the suckers will pick it clean in just minutes. I have seen this happen.

Theres always a certain amount of yellow and hog suckers that stay up in the upper portions of our streams way past the spawn of bass,perch,goggle eye, etc. They (suckers) eat everything that the smallmouth fry need to eat to survive, if they (the fry) get to hatch. So lets put a few thousand more suckers in the streams and rivers every year because gigging and grabbing was banned and see what happens in about 5 years.

I like to fish for about anything and have nothing against anyones methods as long as its legal.

The smallmouth streams I visit the populations are clearly hurt by catch and keep bait (crawdads) fishermen not giggers or grabbers. JMO

Tightline, not all streams get a lot of gigging. Funny how you can catch as many or more fish from streams that are too small or too murky to gig a lot or run a jetboat. Smallmouth evolved to survive and thrive with large numbers of redhorse and hogsuckers, and streams all over the country that do not allow gigging and have lots of various sucker species also have lots and lots of smallies. So I don't buy your assertion that those suckers have to be taken out or they'll eat all the smallmouth eggs and starve the fry that hatch. Yep, suckers will eat smallmouth eggs, and may eat some of the things that baby smallmouth eat, but I seriously doubt that they are a limiting factor on smallmouth populations.

I am not advocating banning gigging, as a few people on here are. But on streams like the Meramec, those of us who fish in the winter are dead certain that gigging is seriously damaging the population of large bass. If it is a matter of "all methods having equal merit", consider this...if what we're saying is correct and the illegal giggers are killing a lot of big smallmouth, then they are seriously affecting OUR preferred method of fishing and target fish, while we are doing absolutely nothing to affect the target fish of giggers. And we are tired of seeing the carnage.