Interesting, At Least To Me

[LarrySTL]

Something interesting ( at least to me) just occurred to me: Is SM fishing pressure a two edged sword ?

The more people fish, and the more they fish for SM with better equipment, and better information and speed of light transmittal of that information here and on other websites, and with GPS locations, graphite rods, fluoro lines, etc, the more pressure there is on the fish, Even if its 99 % C&R pressure, many of those fish are getting sore-mouthed, maybe the day before *my* fishing trip, a few of them are dying from it , probably a few of the largest ones are being kept and mounted. And that other 1 % is, quite legally, killing every legal SM they can.

But..flip side....

The more people fish for SM, maybe the more public sentiment ends up on MDC for C&R rivers/streams or one fish limits, more public willingness to support an MDC budget that can give better enforcement. I dont think there is any way to get the non-fishing folks, my neighbors, the people in your office, etc to care at all about SM regulations. I am not sure half of them can identify a bass, let alone LM v SM v KY, let alone *care* about any of them.

If there are going to be more stringent regulations, and enforcement of them, about SM fishing, doesn't the pressure for it have to come from "us" rather than all the "thems", and the more of us there is, isn't there more pressure on the SM ?

[fishinwrench]

A nice balance would be ideal. Enough people that love the rivers so they are protected, but not so many that they are loved to death.

In all reality we're probably about as close to that balance as we'll ever get.

[Mitch f]

I can't see how being better educated could ever be a bad thing.

I don't have much faith that a certain segment of the population will ever change their ways.

[Old plug]

The pressure on the fish does not come from a rod the line or any other alleged improvement it comes the hand that guides the rod. More people understand how to catch them now 90% is technique. That's why the old saying 90% of the fish or caught by 10% of the fisherman.

[Al Agnew]

Yes, it's a double edged sword, and in my opinion, having fished for both wild trout and smallmouth a lot, smallmouth "learn" from fishing pressure much more than trout. I've fished some very popular trout waters where there is tremendous catch and release pressure, and the fishing is still excellent. But on smallmouth streams that get a lot of pressure, fishing gets tough, whether or not a lot of fish are being caught.

But we need the advocacy of lots of anglers, and we need as many of them as possible to be on the same page and to band together to have a stronger voice.

[Old plug]

I believe they learn. But I also think we rarely fool a bass into thinking that some piece of plastic that looks like a crawfish really is a crawfish. I think when they are hitting lures well its got to do with something psychological. I do know they will strike out if anger, greed and just plain curiosity. An example would be a school of feeding white bass. I am sure it is greed drives those frenzied feeding feedings.Anyone who has been around shad enough should know very well a shad has a distinct smell and I do not care what they put in a bottle i have never found one that matches the smell of a shad. You need good conservation practices. I am not sure you get that as much as you should now days from the MDC. Politics are into everything.

[Chief Grey Bear]

You need good conservation practices. I am not sure you get that as much as you should now days from the MDC. Politics are into everything.

Is it they are not implementing good, solid, science based practices, or just not doing it how we personally think they should.

I will say though, I think we need a change in unimpounded water regulations. And soon!

[Old plug]

I just have lost trust chief. Larry Dabblemount has been reporting on some of the shenanigans for sometime. They GAVE a million bucks to PBS for that big display they are building. They have been paying some judge thousands of dollars to leave a big hunk of land for a game preserve that is more like a private hunting compound. Then there is some of advice. They ran around here telling people you could not shoot armadillos because as wildlife they were protected. They went on to say there was no worry anyway because they could not survive our winters. We got armadillos running all over the place. I assure you people are going to get rid of them best they can and it is not easy.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Ahh Dablemont. Now there is a source of of truth. I love his rant on the Judge from Western Missouri. What Larry doesn't tell you, because it doesn't fit his agenda, which is really a vendetta against the MDC, is that this land in enrolled in a CRP type program that is offered and also used by other landowners around the state. But he sure has wrote a doozie of a story about it over the years.

As for the Million $$$ to PBS, does anyone have any documentation of this? I have never heard of it. I will find out though.

Armadillo's. I just happened to have a conversation with a retired Research Scientist from the MDC just last weekend. We actually took a float together. He also suggested that the Armadillo was protected. I didn't think they were either but since they came on their own and were not introduced, apparently we can't just shoot them. I didn't think they could survive the winter either. But when you think about it, we don't have much of a winter anymore. Not like we used too anyway.

[Quillback]

Had a darned cold winter here in NWA a couple of years ago, hit -14 one morning, also had a record setting snowfall. Didn't seem to put a dent in the armadillo population.