Tournament

[Al Agnew]

Been going on since 1989 I believe; which is before most of us-with the exception of Al-were even fishing the Meramec. Therefore any and all talk about how detrimental this once a year tournament is to the overall fishery is purely speculation.

I will note, however, that the fishing on the Meramec in the 1970s, before tournaments and jetboats came onto the scene, was a lot better than it has been since the mid-1980s. I don't think tournaments are the biggest factor in the apparent decline, they are just one component of vastly more fishing pressure by more effective anglers, along with more efficient illegal gigging and at least an initial decline in spawning success due to boat wakes back when the jetboats first became popular.

[Old plug]

Like I posted one time I used to float the Meramec from Birds Best to Onadaga all the time in the 60s and early 70s. My wife Family comes out of Leasburg. I had not been back I guess in 30+ years at the least. A few years ago we had to go to a Funeral in Leasburg. While there I took a run down to the river at Onandaga. I was so shocked had all the campers floaters and what have you down there that it made me sick to my stomach. I will never go back. Tournaments on a river just sounds like more distruction.