Current And Jacks Fork Need Help

[Guest]

Great post tanvat. Sums up how a lot of us feel about such a precious and fragile resource.

[Smalliebigs]

tanvat, wait until 09/15/2012 that's when the gigging starts and it's in our heritgae as Ozarkians to be able to go gig......lol what an fing joke. The clear and low water conditions across the Ozarks are going to create a perfect storm of slaughter for the giggers who are poachers......the likes of which we haven't seen in a bit.....the end result will be many trout and smallmouth skewered and it will take a long time for the smallies to recover but the trout can just be restocked. I'm praying for a deluge of rain for months that clouds the rivers with high water until spring....not to pull a Todd Akin but that's what I want....otherwise it's going to be slaughter city out there.

[Greasy B]

Ultimately, it seems to be just a value issues - some people appreciate the remaining natural attributes of the rivers and others want a playground on which they can pretty much do as they please irrespective of demonstrable negative impacts on the resource.

Yes it's governance of the people by the people. Problem is the people are idiots.

[tanvat]

Smallie, I'm sure there are responsible giggers just like there are responsible jet boaters and ATVers....just may be few and far b/t. Aside from the likely "bycatch," it seems that most of these folks have no sense of basic outdoor etiquette. For instance, on a trip I did last September, a buddy and I camped near Twin Rocks above Two Rivers - from about 9 p.m. until it started storming at 10:00 - a FULL *#$%# HOUR - two gigging boats went back and forth up and down the pool we were camped on pretty much blinding us with halogen bulbs the whole time. Same thing at Bee Bluff in Sept. 2010, thought that was only for 20 minutes or so - then they ran up and down the river a few times - that is nice to hear at 10:30 at night.. I just don't understand how one thinks it is OK to spotlight someone's campsite at close range for nearly an hour and run a 40 horse motor 30' away from a camp - it was Monday night - there were basically no other gravel bar campers out and they still did not have the basic manners to just go to the next spot. That attitude - a lack of respect - applies to other people and to the resource. Unfortunately, Greasy B is right.... In the meantime, I'll be back on the river to enjoy the nice things it has to offer - way better than the Meramec, a poster-child for pretty much all that can go wrong with a formerly great Ozark river.

[Mitch f]

I've always wondered why giggers can't be limited to certain areas. Especially when it comes to special management areas. Geez, we have so many limits as fishermen that it makes no sense they can't be limited as well. I used to think the closer you get to St Louis, the worse the resource abusers. I've changed my mind in the last few years after witnessing the gigging abuses that have been documented. I think it was cwc87 that recently posted that illegal gigging awareness is at an all time high, let's hope that makes poachers think twice about sticking a bass.