Closing Blue Ribbon Streams

[fishinwrench]

^^^^^^ What fisherman worth a piss hasn't ? And making it a criminal activity for the future up and coming....

Well that's just not cool.

[Justin Spencer]

Open season on blue herons would be at the top of my list. I'd pay good money. great idea Tim.

You mean it's not always open? :-)

[laker67]

You mean it's not always open? :-)

It is difficult to shoot them here at loz because they have a tendency to float into the main channel and be reported by some tree hugger who thinks they can prove who shot it and insist on a full investigation by the water patrol and mdc. Occasionally a few do expire from acute lead poisoning.

[drew03cmc]

None of these fish are native so what good are they if we can't fish for them.

You, sir, just hit the nail on the head. These fish are foreign to Missouri waters, season should remain as is.

[Big Brown Trout]

( I would love to see open season on herons about 6 weeks a year would be nice),

^ well i'm on board with this of course.

as far as the blue ribbon areas closed for spawning I could agree to it being closed. only thing is I have seen trout in spawning colors way out of season. (which confuses me b/c I am still learning a lot about trout and trout in spawn activity several months off of when they are supposed to be doesn't make sense...to me)

if trout do spawn out of a set timeframe then how do you regulate it? or if most spawn at one time and stragglers come in later, again how do you regulate it?

[fishinwrench]

(which confuses me b/c I am still learning a lot about trout and trout in spawn activity several months off of when they are supposed to be doesn't make sense...to me)

The reason.it doesn't make sense is because you have this belief that all the fish in Crane are wild McCloud rainbows. Personally I have had my doubts about that for years, so it makes perfect sense to me.

[Old plug]

i do not have a opinion on on heron but most the time arounf her they are looking for bluegill. But ido know of one case where a big Heron grab a good sized bass by the dock next door. Wrench might remember that also. you and Mike were working on a boat over there it happened right in front of you fo you remember that.was some years ago.

HORRAH HORRAH THIS might be my last post on the dam IPad. Wife has her new 15 " Apple all set up.

[DaddyO]

Seems like this doesn't pass the "common sense" test, to me. We don't get enough game warden enforcement on the regs that are in place, now. Why would anyone think that a new regulation would get enforced. If it isn't going to be enforced, why waste the tax payer money creating, sponsoring and funding the new regulation?

I do agree with the open season on the Herons.

[Big Brown Trout]

The reason.it doesn't make sense is because you have this belief that all the fish in Crane are wild McCloud rainbows. Personally I have had my doubts about that for years, so it makes perfect sense to me.

lol never been to Crane ( yet) the ones I saw in spawning colors were at Hickory and at Roaring River and believe me nothing about trout in Missouri makes sense to me. of course I love it though.

[Al Agnew]

Seems like this doesn't pass the "common sense" test, to me. We don't get enough game warden enforcement on the regs that are in place, now. Why would anyone think that a new regulation would get enforced. If it isn't going to be enforced, why waste the tax payer money creating, sponsoring and funding the new regulation?

I do agree with the open season on the Herons.

I'll start out by saying I don't think the original suggestion is necessary...because I don't think it's been shown that fishing during the spawn has a big impact on trout in the blue ribbon streams.

However, let me throw something out to you...there are a couple of different ways that regulations have an effect. The obvious one is that when enforced, they protect the resource by limiting how it's exploited. But the less obvious one is a matter of perception. A regulation that made it illegal to fish for trout during the spawn would say to anglers that they NEED to be protected then, and that the resource is valuable enough to deserve that kind of protection. The first way depends upon good enforcement to some extent, but that second way does not. Most anglers are basically law-abiding, and will follow a reg whether or not they think they'll be caught if they don't. And some who might otherwise pound those fish legally might have a change of heart and start releasing more of them.

So I don't agree with not putting on a reg just because you think the current ones aren't being enforced well enough. The act of putting on the reg, in itself, should have some impact. If it's a good idea, it should be done, period, and never mind about how well it will be enforced. As long as it's enforceable, that's enough.

And by the way, while herons are plentiful and eat lots of fish, I've never noticed a huge decline in adult game fish on streams where the herons are thick, at least not a decline that couldn't easily be explained by other factors. To me, this is another example of begrudging any predator that might eat something we want to catch ourselves, whether it be herons eating trout, hawks eating quail, bobcats eating rabbits, or wolves eating elk.