The MDC smallmouth study

[Quillback]

This statement surprises me: " They said that angler surveys showed no support for catch and release."

Who the heck are they surveying? I know several river smallmouth fishermen and they are all catch and release types. I know there are folks out there that keep their fish, but I have to think that at best they are about half the fishermen out there.

Pretty much invalidates a lot of what they are saying if they think that there is no support for catch and release fishing.

[Seth]

This statement surprises me: " They said that angler surveys showed no support for catch and release."

Who the heck are they surveying? I know several river smallmouth fishermen and they are all catch and release types. I know there are folks out there that keep their fish, but I have to think that at best they are about half the fishermen out there.

Pretty much invalidates a lot of what they are saying if they think that there is no support for catch and release fishing.

I agree. The only folks I know that keep smallmouth are guys that don't fish that much other than when they go floating. Every decent angler I know that fishes a lot puts back their smallmouth unless they are hooked deep and stand a good chance of dying. If they want fish to eat, they'll go after catfish, crappie, suckers, etc.

I guess those of us that fish often and prefer to release fish are the minority compared to the amount of anglers that rarely fish, but keep what they catch. Maybe that's what the results are insinuating?

[Quillback]

Yeah maybe that's it Seth. But I think they need to look at their survey process, because they must be missing some folks. Maybe all the catch and release guys are miles away from the launch (or wherever it is they do these surveys) by the time the surveyors show up.

[Justin Spencer]

I was personally shocked at how many of the tagged fish were released. My guess on the natural mortality rate is that they relied on recapture data. They have a percentage of the population that they assume they capture, by taking the number recaptured they can get an idea of how many tagged fish escaped capture and how many were dead. Take the dead number subtract the percentage harvested number and bingo you have percentage of natural mortality.

[MOPanfisher]

I suspect the comment "no support for catch and release only", would be more accurate if they stated that not enough support for catch and release only was found to prevent a major hue and outcry, and insulate the department from negative public comments.

[trythisonemv]

It seems that most were ok with catch and release they just didn't care about regulations. Which would make since. Most people don't even read wildlife regs or codes. They just do like they've always done. If like you guys said and we had more agents out and about I think even to just educate, we would see a sizeable difference in pole responses. Sometimes those of us who have been educated and have fished as a passion for years forget that not all people were brought up like we were.

[Ham]

Sometimes those of us who have fished as a passion for years forget that not all people were brought up like we were.

I tweaked it a little, but this is what I think is hard for a lot of us. To me, the obvious think is to make Smallmouth total catch and release everywhere, but that's not based on science nor does it take into account the desires of any other user group. It's just something I really want.

[dtrs5kprs]

As a "furner", I have been frequently shocked by the meat fishing that goes on in MO, and even more so in AR. I kind of expect that in KS and IA, both very much meat fishing states, but thought MO at least would be a little more friendly towards C&R, given the economic impact fishing has on the state.

Guess the old C&R drum needs to be banged a bit louder, and more often, and perhaps in new places.

[mjk86]

As a "furner", I have been frequently shocked by the meat fishing that goes on in MO, and even more so in AR. I kind of expect that in KS and IA, both very much meat fishing states, but thought MO at least would be a little more friendly towards C&R, given the economic impact fishing has on the state.

Guess the old C&R drum needs to be banged a bit louder, and more often, and perhaps in new places.

I ALWAYS catch and release drum. Wouldnt even know how to clean one?

[Ham]

They make a fish soup out of drum in Louisiana. If done correctly, I have heard it is very good. I'm total catch and release on Gaspergoo as well as smallies. They are a fun fish to catch.