These are not gigged bass

[Chief Grey Bear]

11 minutes ago, grizzly said:

I think the "One example of a situation that would probably result in a citation is if a person repeatedly gigs gamefish." statement puts a bit of a hole in the "unfounded, unsubstantiated conspiracy theory" jargon you are throwing around.  Realistically, gigging puts an MDC agent in a difficult situation. We all make mistakes, but a gigging mistake hurts just a tad more than a barbed fly in a barbless only area.  The agent is a human and may take mitigating factors into account despite the fact that it seems that this law is one of strict liability.  Personally, I don't know what I would do if I was the agent in a small town where everyone knows each other. . . 

The word "accidently" never surfaced until an MDC office person added to the conversation. 

[Hog Wally]

It's good to see the thoughts running around in your heads.  I don't have a good answer to the obvious problem.  I have gigged for 30 years and it's a blast   I've accident ly stuck small bass    I don't target big fish cause I only eat little suckers anyway.  It happens though. No ifs ands or buts 

[Chief Grey Bear]

10 minutes ago, Hog Wally said:

It's good to see the thoughts running around in your heads.  I don't have a good answer to the obvious problem.  I have gigged for 30 years and it's a blast   I've accident ly stuck small bass    I don't target big fish cause I only eat little suckers anyway.  It happens though. No ifs ands or buts 

I appriciate your honesty. 

[dtrs5kprs]

2 hours ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

I appriciate your honesty. 

Indeed.

[Al Agnew]

I've gigged enough to know how it all works.  If you see the fish clearly, and you've been doing it any length of time and have seen some of each species in the light, there is just no way you misidentify a bass as a sucker.  And again, the cardinal rule of hunting, and gigging is certainly more like hunting than fishing, is to be sure of your target.  If you can't see the fish clearly, you don't gig it, in my opinion.  Not meaning to single out Hog Wally due to his statement, but I'm surprised that somebody of his experience has gigged bass thinking they were suckers.

[SpoonDog]

Sounds like what the fisheries specialist (not an agent) is saying is that intentionally gigging sportfish is illegal.  No one can stop you from using his admission that in the real world accidents happen as evidence of MDC's anti-smallmouth position.  I hate to break the C&R bubble but if you're catching 50 smallmouth a day you're killing a few, and if you think MDC should be fining you for doing so you can petition them to do it. 

 

I don't know how you guys rationally justify banning gigging for a decade or more on a stream section when conventional anglers are removing 25%-30% of the population in some reaches every year.  If you guys think giggin's such a big problem, I know you're gonna sit on your hands this season.  That's never going to happen because the discussion is never "What can WE do?" but rather "What can we get MDC/Giggers/Meat Anglers/Anyone Except Us to do?" 

 

It's couched as "conservation"  or "protecting"  when really it's just looking out for one's self-interest.  There's nothing inherently wrong with that- just be honest.

[fishinwrench]

Well Spoon, killing a bass with hook and line is legal.   Killing them with gigs, arrows, electricity, and dynamite is not. 

The point of conflict is that a blind eye is being turned, and guys like you and Chief don't seem to mind.  Others do.

[Seth]

5 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

I've gigged enough to know how it all works.  If you see the fish clearly, and you've been doing it any length of time and have seen some of each species in the light, there is just no way you misidentify a bass as a sucker.  And again, the cardinal rule of hunting, and gigging is certainly more like hunting than fishing, is to be sure of your target.  If you can't see the fish clearly, you don't gig it, in my opinion.  Not meaning to single out Hog Wally due to his statement, but I'm surprised that somebody of his experience has gigged bass thinking they were suckers.

You can add me to the same group as Hog Wally. While it's rare, the occasional bass does get stuck while gigging in my boat as well. I'd say 90% of the time, it isn't even remotely an issue because we are in swifter riffles. The risk of encountering bass goes up a lot when the suckers are hanging out on rock in slower water. Even so, the few bass that I can remember being stuck have been small. Nice bass are easy to ID, especially if the water is clear. The small ones aren't quite a easy to determine especially when the fish are tucked in tight to cover. I've always stressed to the giggers to lean on the side of caution since there will be plenty of chances to stick more suckers. That works most of the time, but there is the occasional screw up.

[Hog Wally]

21 hours ago, Jerry Rapp said:

just curious, how many gigging guides are there?  Gigging outfitters?  Resorts catering to giggers?

None that I know of 

[Seth]

20 hours ago, Jerry Rapp said:

If gigging was banned, it wouldn't hurt MDC's revenue at all.  Ban it for 5 years and see what happens.  I guess all the gigging outfitters will go out of business, and Cowtown will survive.

I'm not sure if a gigging guide is even a thing. I've never heard of it if there is. If you want to gig, it ain't hard to find somebody around these parts that will take you. The #1 rule is don't take somebody up on the offer and then not help clean fish afterwards. That's how you never get invited back.

Cowtown always has an agent on hand to verify that boats aren't bringing in illegal or too many fish. I know that doesn't stop it from happening, but it also shows that they want contestants to respect the laws and if be punished they don't.