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[basscatfan]

Seth your 100% correct. I'd say that most people that want it banned because of a few bad apples have never even been. I have been gigging since I was old enough to get in a boat with my dad and grandpa. And now I take my son. We have friends and family down to the river for a fish fry anytime the weather allows. So yes it is a tradition that I'm proud to pass down to my son.

[Smalliebigs]

I have gigged before and we had fish fry and it was a pretty fun time. Most of the people I gigged with were very experienced and we're quite efficient. I on the other hand sucked but, was able to stab a few. Even with all the very experienced giggers I have gone with only on the current and Meramec people those nights mis identified species and stuck walleye and largemouth and catfish. No body either of the times I have gone gigged smallies but, let's just say it is dangerous to sport fish. As well if you had bad motives and have any eye to hand c ordination you could put a beat down on some fish. I just don't think it is something you let some half cocked

kids do because they will stick some bass. I don't know if it should be outlawed because honestly that is against my moral character to outlaw something because a select few can't control their pathetic urges to harvest the shiot out of some meat. I do know accidental stabs on game fish occur all the time as I see the corpses at ramp in the winter where people obviously saw they had a game fish and dumped it. The illegal gigging pisses me off big time...I just wish the MDC could do something about it but, it seem futal. Anybody that denies it just isn't out on the river very much in the winter or just not very observant. I'm talking in c ices now so I am not a big fan because I personally think it is outside of the fair chase law we should all follow when observe or catch wildlife.

[basscatfan]

Ya smallie your right. We should never take a kid gigging because they MIGHT accidentally gig a game fish. And we should never take them hunting either because they Might make a pore shot and wound an animal. Let's just keep them inside playing video games.

[MOsmallies]

Ya smallie your right. We should never take a kid gigging because they MIGHT accidentally gig a game fish. And we should never take them hunting either because they Might make a pore shot and wound an animal. Let's just keep them inside playing video games.

That's not exactly what he's saying.... Basically if you are going to gig then you need to be 100% sure what you are getting ready to stab or don't stab it at all... We've both heard several stories over the past couple winters from locals on the Meramec who have claimed that young, inexperienced, but coordinated giggers in their boats have accidentally gigged trophy smallmouth, largemouth, and walleye. This may not have been their intention but the end result is equally as devastating. The first thing ethical giggers should be teaching the next generation is to not gig anything unless you are 100% sure it's a legally giggable species.

The same applies to your example of hunting... Hunters should be teaching the next generation to hunt ethically. They should be teaching young hunters to only take good, safe shots. If there's any doubt or obstacle in the way that could compromise the shot and raise the risk of injuring the animal as opposed to killing it, then don't take the shot... It's that simple... If you are going to kill a resource then make sure you are absolutely sure before just taking a shot in the dark.

It's called practicing good conservation.

[Smalliebigs]

Ya smallie your right. We should never take a kid gigging because they MIGHT accidentally gig a game fish. And we should never take them hunting either because they Might make a pore shot and wound an animal. Let's just keep them inside playing video games.

HEY if your kid can't identify the difference between a white suckers or a hog nose and a walleye or a bass then yes keep their butt away from any gigging. I don't know if you want him playing video games?? If you can't see or care how devistating illegal or mis identified gigged Bass and

Walleye is because of slow growth rates or endangered numbers then frankly I don't give a shiot what you think. The simple fact of the matter is nothing will be done about it by the MDC because they are under funded and under manned. I will always carry a smart phone and video and take pics of plates and evidence and will always turn it in to agents. If you have problems with that then bring it. I know of a guy who the illegal giggers actually tried to scare him with threatening behavior because he mentioned illegal gigging in a local paper....I will NOT be scared off this issue....bring it.... I never said to outlaw gigging but, I do only advocate gigging invasive species...if you guys want to gig rough fish and eat them go for it but, don't pretend like you don't stab game fish on accident. Most fisherman who have never gigged look at the actual process as a tad unfair as it pertains to fair chase. It's not a big deal I have friends who think I'm a barbarian because I hook fish in the mouth and throw them back

[Seth]

Ya smallie your right. We should never take a kid gigging because they MIGHT accidentally gig a game fish. And we should never take them hunting either because they Might make a pore shot and wound an animal. Let's just keep them inside playing video games.

Don't misinterpret what he means. We've had some pretty heated arguments in the past over this type of thing. Now he buys me beer at smallmouth seminars. LOL. He's a good dude and I definitely agree with what he said. He only means well.

I don't gig as much as I used to, but I just can't stand to ban something because of a few idiots. When I do take new folks, I make sure they have somebody experienced besides them. Another big thing to keep them from sticking illegal fish is to keep them in water that more than likely will not hold any game fish. Areas with current and not much cover are perfect. Suckers still like these areas, but your bass and other fish will most likely be in deeper water with cover. About the only game fish we may come across are a walleye or a catfish and those SHOULD be very obvious. Accidents are going to happen from time to time, but it's been a rare occurrence in the past several years when I've been gigging with folks.

I just wish the punishments were WAY more severe for people that purposely go out and poach fish and game. When all you lose is a couple hundred bucks and then you can get right back in the saddle and do it again, that's no much of a reason to worry about getting caught. A few hundred bucks is nothing to most folks. Make the punishment severe enough that people actually think twice before doing illegal activities.

[Al Agnew]

I've done enough gigging to know that if visibility is good, it's easy enough to ID game fish. Only exception, supposedly, is trout, since their fin placement is similar to suckers. "Accidents" do happen, but I'd venture to say that nearly all of them are taking a shot at a moving fish or one that's close to limits of visibility..."hey, there's a big fish, see if I can hit it". It is NO different than shooting the wrong species of duck because you had to make a snap shot and wasn't sure but thought it might be a permissible species. The duck wardens don't take that as an excuse and ethical duck hunters don't either.

But actually I don't have a big problem with the occasional accident. The guys that are decimating big bass and walleye aren't doing it by accident, just like this guy. And since I've done enough gigging to know, I know you can kill a lot of good fish, and a lot of the biggest game fish in the river, by gigging. That's what makes this sport so problematical...ONE, just ONE, gigger or team of giggers can have a huge effect on the population of large, adult fish in a given stretch of river, yet penalizing everybody for that one team of giggers goes against what most of us would consider basic fairness. Yet catching that one team of giggers is exceedingly tough, especially since they are probably using private accesses. I don't know of many sports where one bad apple can have such a tremendous effect, and be so difficult to catch. Spotlighting deer? Well, it has to be done on roads, and how many big bucks you can kill is limited to how many happen to be close to the road the nights you're out. Keeping fish out of season, or more than your limit? You'll never be a good enough angler to be able to pick and choose all the biggest fish or to catch a bunch of bigger fish every time.

I don't have an answer, and neither does anybody else. I might look with envy at other states where gigging is not allowed, but I know it will never be banned here. And I don't want to penalize the many ethical giggers. But I think we have to accept the fact that on some streams illegal gigging is a major limiting factor on the number of big game fish, even though it has little effect on the overall numbers of game fish. Maybe that can eventually change with energetic enforcement, constant vigilance from those of us who care about it, and peer pressure from ethical giggers, since it really doesn't seem to be as big a problem on some rivers as others.

[Justin Spencer]

I fish a lot more than I gig, and promise I have accidently killed many more game fish catch and release fishing than I have gigging. As catch and release fishermen you must realize that your activities can hurt fish as well. It is generally accepted with smallmouth that 2-3% of catch and release fish will die due to rough handling, high water temp, deep hooking, out of water too long etc. I read posts of 50-100 fish days all the time, so you must assume at least a couple of those fish will probably die. I fish with a lot of different people and most don't handle fish as carefully as they should. My most common complaint is handling fish with dry hands, doesn't seem like a big deal but hurting that slime coat can cause delayed mortality due to fungal or bacterial infections, even on the coldest days I always wet my hands before picking up a fish, next time you fish with me watch, it is just habit at this point.

I have no problem with ethical giggers, if a kid (or adult) gigs an accidental game fish it should be used as a learning experience and the fish should not be kept. I expect the gigger will feel bad as he has wasted a life, and that lesson will stick with most people making them more careful in the future. The ethical giggers I know around here rarely make mistakes anymore, and out of 100 fish gigged mistakes are way below 2-3%.

I wish fines would be higher for game violations, but not enough people really care about fish to create public outrage.

Is gigging allowed in trophy smallmouth areas?

[Hog Wally]

I like gigging myself. Sick of dead fish everywhere

[cwc87]

Gigging is banned on a few selected trout waters. I may be wrong but I think the blue trout areas are the areas where gigging is banned.

The red ribbon area on the Meramec gets alot of gigging pressure and right below that starts the smallmouth area and it receives heavy pressure because of public access and close proximity of Cuba/Steelville.

I've gigged two times this year both times on Huzzah creek once in October and once in December My 11 yr old nephew gigged a smallie while I was the boat driver and my buddy along side of my nephew tried to stop him but it was too late. It was accicidental.

The case in ripely county was a individual who targeted bass and that just makes me sick.

Al made perfect sense. Gigging tradition probably won't change However, MDC put regs on trout waters so why not smallmouth management areas?

As the season ends tomorrow night we shall not forget that when season starts again on September 15 we have to endure this same process. There is just not a easy solution period.