Catfish Report -Greenfield 7/25/14

[Bitethis]

Put in at greenfield around 330pm, fished until 1030pm. Between my partner and myself we quit with 19 cats. Used shad for bait, was steady all day. Found most cats in less than 12' of water.

Now, on to conservation tip of the day: I am a believer in conservation, and want my kids and their kids to enjoy what we have in our outdoors here. I believe conservation agents, for the most part, do a good job. I believe in our conservation rules and follow them and enforce them. With all that said...I was tired, as it was late when we got off the water friday evening, and failed to count my fish correctly. In the dark, I counted 10 cats in my livewell, 8 cats in my partners. The conservation agent that checked us, correctly counted 11 in my live well and 8 in my partners. He wrote me a citation for 1 over the limit. He was not a jerk about it or anything, he was just doing his job. I, however, felt like such a looser! I have been checked 100 times before, never violated length or limit. I was so dissapointed in myself for that. However, it was a good reminder to count with a flashlight. Also, I am now considering a counting clicker, but I think I would still want to hand count them too which negates the clicker, and what I forget to click?

Anyways, hats off to the conservation agent for being a gentlemen and doing a good job, Kick in the a$$ to myself for being a lazy idiot. Lesson learned...now to see how much this is going to cost me.

[MarkinKC]

Don't be too hard on yourself. It is easy to see the difference between those who intentionally violate the rules and someone who made a mistake. It's harder to take because you are so conscientious. It takes class to share the story with the rest of us and compliment the agent on his professionalism.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

You will have great karma, maybe the agent will call you and remove the citation. My friend and I were fishing as teens, got checked, his license was expired, he didn't realize it, and was ticketed. The following day the agent called my buddy ad told him not to worry, the ticket was being dismissed.

[waterpossum]

I too really respect the fact that you have the class to report your mistake. This time of year I usually take a big cooler and ice the fish, which makes the counting easier, but with catfish you may need a pretty big cooler. Better yet, the last few years I have begun using a snap stringer to keep a count on fish. I tie a rope on the end of the snap stringer making it easier to pull it out of the live well. This is really helpful when the crappie fishing is extremely good. A friend of mine that catfishes a lot has even sharpened the tips of the snap stringer to make it easier to penetrate the mouth of his fish.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Things can happen, but the important thing is you accepted responsibility and didn't question the law. hats off to you.

[Bitethis]

Better yet, the last few years I have begun using a snap stringer to keep a count on fish. I tie a rope on the end of the snap stringer making it easier to pull it out of the live well. This is really helpful when the crappie fishing is extremely good. A friend of mine that catfishes a lot has even sharpened the tips of the snap stringer to make it easier to penetrate the mouth of his fish.

I may incorporate something like this into my trips...I like that idea, never thought of putting fish on a stringer, in a livewell, but guess you could and would make counting easier! Thanks for sharing!

[stuartsx5]

I use the stringer for counting. My boat has a small front live well that won't hold a limit so when it gets full I put them on a stringer and move them to the back. Makes counting a lot easier but I have got back to the ramp and discovered 16 crappie on my stringer also. Never been caught but its a little embarrassing when I have a buddy with me.