Gigging Is Stupid

[Stoneroller]

It is close enough to snagging season that we may as well address this senseless and brutal form of sport fishing as well. Look at the countless smallmouth that are malicously earmarked because of someones careless use of snagging equipment. Put 4 clowns in a poontoon boat dragging thousand lb snagging line down the lake and nothing in its path is safe. Smallmouth , turtles, hogmollies and trotlines all suffer at the expense of snagging. Gigging and snagging should forever be banned from the folklore of the ozarks.

I agree.

[laker67]

I agree.

I am not surprised. These methods have been around for a lot longer than any modern day bass equipment and should be preserved as a true ozark heritage. It does not appear that bass populations have suffered any. I see numerous reports of 17 to 20 plus inch smallmouth being caught. Throw in those dreaded spots, river otters, and blue heron, and you guys still continue to catch huge smallmouth.

[Iandb86]

Giggin is an Ozark tradition. Eating suckers is a Ozark tradition. Granted if you cant tell the difference between a smallie and a sucker you probably shouldn't gig. Learn to identify the difference between the two fish then have fun giggin, if your not sure if its a sucker dont gig it. Same rules apply for hunting if your not sure if its a human or a gobbler dont blast at it like a fool.

[bigredbirdfan]

Yep S bombs and F bombs....sucks....stupid....BS bombs.

Typical conservation thread.

Now I don't personally take bass home unless there is an accident that kills one and I don't recall every fileting a SM and I really think that SM are one of the coolest species of fish but if there was a real endangerment issue I'm pretty sure that the beloved almighty MDC would be well aware of it and would adjust accordingly. I mean they seem to have different limits on almost every river and even sections of them.

I just think a lot of the anger stems from the fact that while some choose not to harvest fish within their legal right others do and it becomes an emotionally angry situation.

[Mark]

There was an article recently in the Missouri Conservationist magazine about the Ozarks tradition of gigging for suckers and buffalo. The article talked about the tradition of several men getting together and catching enough fish for friends and relatives to have a big fish fry.

I have mixed feelings on gigging fish. I don't see it as much of a sport (but, then again, I don't see much of a sport sitting in a stand in the trees in the woods waiting for a deer to wander along. I call it "deer waiting".) And I don't buy the "tradition" thing - there were lots of dumb unethical traditions from the old days - that doesn't make them right.

I understand that probably the majority of people who gig are ethical hunters (can't really call the sport "fishing"). But then why don't we allow nets strung across rivers, or better yet, dynamite! (Being facetious, no need to respond.)

I have a feeling that pole and line fishermen are doing more poaching than giggers.

I don't know of anyone that gigs suckers and buffalo here in eastern MO. If we are keeping this "tradition" alive for a couple hundred people that are ethical, but it leads to poaching by as many people that this thread indicates, maybe it is time for this tradition to die off.

I guess I am most curious as to how many people still actually get out in the rivers and gig during the season.

Maybe a special "gigging license" for a couple of dollars would help eliminate some of the poaching? What's a couple dollars for someone taking tens of pounds of fish out of our streams.

Yet, I do think frog gigging is a sport. I guess I am as wishy washy as a Presidential candidate on this one. Just my thoughts......

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

There was an article recently in the Missouri Conservationist magazine about the Ozarks tradition of gigging for suckers and buffalo. The article talked about the tradition of several men getting together and catching enough fish for friends and relatives to have a big fish fry.

I have mixed feelings on gigging fish. I don't see it as much of a sport (but, then again, I don't see much of a sport sitting in a stand in the trees in the woods waiting for a deer to wander along. I call it "deer waiting".) And I don't buy the "tradition" thing - there were lots of dumb unethical traditions from the old days - that doesn't make them right.

I understand that probably the majority of people who gig are ethical hunters (can't really call the sport "fishing"). But then why don't we allow nets strung across rivers, or better yet, dynamite! (Being facetious, no need to respond.)

I have a feeling that pole and line fishermen are doing more poaching than giggers.

I don't know of anyone that gigs suckers and buffalo here in eastern MO. If we are keeping this "tradition" alive for a couple hundred people that are ethical, but it leads to poaching by as many people that this thread indicates, maybe it is time for this tradition to die off.

I guess I am most curious as to how many people still actually get out in the rivers and gig during the season.

Maybe a special "gigging license" for a couple of dollars would help eliminate some of the poaching? What's a couple dollars for someone taking tens of pounds of fish out of our streams.

I don't know how an extra fee will stop people from poaching. If someone wants to break the law, they sure aren't gonna pay more for the assumed allowance. Outlawing this even if only a couple hundred people are doing it legally, is not gonna stop those who do it illegally. We are dealing with a similiar problem with sudafed and Meth in Jefferson county. Do not punish the good people for the actions of the bad people.

Giggers pay a fee for the priviledge. It is included with the price of the license we all pay for to fish.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Obviously many on here have no idea about how much money some giggers have in their rigs.

Their is nothing wrong with using a resource, but unfortunatly the MDC has kept a good distance between themselves and giggers. This is to be expected because that is their phiosophy on everything. They only want protect the survival of a resource and protect the money fish.

Grabbers have their days also. I watched a guy grabbing whites on Swan, it was deliberate and he was throwing them back. I'm sure if the MDC had approached him he would have claimed it was an accident, but he was having lots of them.

[Greasy B]

The tradition of gigging as it is practiced began with the arrival of high intensity discharge lights and the jet pump, about 1980.

[Gavin]

Here's an interesting interview on the subject..Fox Hunting & Gigging

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow50316.htm

[Greasy B]

You go boy!