MDC Survey

[snagged in outlet 3]

7 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Well if they obviously ignored the mail-in survey, I can only imagine how quickly they'll swipe away the email variety.  

I'd rather get on here and pick a fight with @Quillback

You quit on @Quillbacktoo.   😂You said you didn’t really care.  

[fishinwrench]

2 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

You quit on @Quillbacktoo.   😂You said you didn’t really care.  

No he quit on me first.   Failed to answer the main question I asked him, and tried to change the subject.

[Al Agnew]

The problem they have with smallmouth management is multi-faceted.
1.  River tournament guys will scream bloody murder if MDC even hints that they might put special regulations on the stream sections where most of the tournaments are fished.  The river tournament guys pretty much squelched putting special regs on middle Current River, even though the research showed that they would do a lot of good for that fishery.
2.  The enforcement people want to keep regs as simple as possible, so that their jobs are as simple as possible.  They always advocate one size fits all regs.
3.  Many in MDC are still of the mindset that their job is to maximize "harvest".  They seem to have a pathological fear of meat fishermen.
4.  Truth be known, the special regulations as currently implemented have not proved to make a huge difference in the smallmouth population.  And some of the old guard at MDC were freaked out when the initial studies showed a precipitous drop in the number of anglers fishing some of the special regs areas when the regs were put in place.  I think it was an aberration, and so do many of the biologists at MDC, but it still freaked them out.
Oops, wasn't done, hit the wrong button.
5.  Somehow they have gotten the mindset from studies done on small lakes that slot limits won't work in the rivers, which is what I've advocated for many years.  It makes little sense to put on a 1 fish, 15 inch limit if you are wanting to have larger fish make up a bigger percentage of the overall population.  It seems to me that the streams are tailor-made for slot limits, which would allow harvest of the abundant smaller fish and protect the bigger ones until they got really big.
6.  I think they would rather keep the public off smaller creeks, to avoid confrontations with landowners, rather than give those smaller creeks the protection they need.
The personnel at MDC are a mixed bag. Some of the biologists are great, a few are not.  Many of the higher ups are bureaucrats, but some genuinely care about the resource.

[David Goddard]

35 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

The problem they have with smallmouth management is multi-faceted.
1.  River tournament guys will scream bloody murder if MDC even hints that they might put special regulations on the stream sections where most of the tournaments are fished.  The river tournament guys pretty much squelched putting special regs on middle Current River, even though the research showed that they would do a lot of good for that fishery.
2.  The enforcement people want to keep regs as simple as possible, so that their jobs are as simple as possible.  They always advocate one size fits all regs.
3.  Many in MDC are still of the mindset that their job is to maximize "harvest".  They seem to have a pathological fear of meat fishermen.
4.  Truth be known, the special regulations as currently implemented have not proved to make a huge difference in the smallmouth population.  And some of the old guard at MDC were freaked out when the initial studies showed a precipitous drop in the number of anglers fishing some of the special regs areas when the regs were put in place.  I think it was an aberration, and so do many of the biologists at MDC, but it still freaked them out.
Oops, wasn't done, hit the wrong button.
5.  Somehow they have gotten the mindset from studies done on small lakes that slot limits won't work in the rivers, which is what I've advocated for many years.  It makes little sense to put on a 1 fish, 15 inch limit if you are wanting to have larger fish make up a bigger percentage of the overall population.  It seems to me that the streams are tailor-made for slot limits, which would allow harvest of the abundant smaller fish and protect the bigger ones until they got really big.
6.  I think they would rather keep the public off smaller creeks, to avoid confrontations with landowners, rather than give those smaller creeks the protection they need.
The personnel at MDC are a mixed bag. Some of the biologists are great, a few are not.  Many of the higher ups are bureaucrats, but some genuinely care about the resource. I would like smallmouth to be solely catch and release. Look at mille lacs and how they've brought walleye back. Catch and release works.

Al I agree. I like special regs and I'm all for them if data supports them. Unfortunayely I doubt the MDC actually has any finite data that proves whether or not the work. As far as enforcement goes I feel that as an officer you should be able to learn/remember the regs regardless. They can't be that complicated. I personally disagree with river tournaments and don't think they should really be promoted.  Rivers fish too small for there to be tournaments on in my opinion. As far as keeping people off small streams if the trend continues with "YouTubers" plastering creeks all over the web, I think that land owners are about start letting air out of tires or worse. 

I did NOT make this post to argue or stir the pot. I just thought maybe we could voice our opinion to MDC. Since I seem to already have stirred it, the left is coming for all your guns, the right is killing everyone with covid, and who wants to talk religion? Lol (all totally a sarcastic joke)

[fishinwrench]

The MDC disgusts me.   They should be in our (anglers/outdoorsmen) corner when it comes to stream/river access.  But instead they pander to tax paying landowners and corporations in far too many situations.  

The tired old saw about how fortunate we are to have MDC because some states  hunting/fishing opportunities suck in comparison, is just lame.   They could do SO MUCH better with zero effort at all.    Stroke of a pen.    They don't even realize how special Smallmouth bass and clean streams are to this region, they'd rather piss away time, money, and efforts on rediculous crap like Urban trout, Hybrid stripers, Spoonbill, and chasing ghost prions that they can't even do anything with when they find them,...ad infinitum.

It's so frustrating that I can't even shut-up about it....even though I'm sick of hearing myself rattle on about it.  🙄

Their mission was never to "Teach and Promote", it was to Protect and preserve.

[Gavin]

I haven't seen anything I've really liked from MDC Fisheries since they changed the trout regulations 20 years ago. Last round of smallmouth regs was a huge flop IMO.

[MoCarp]

The amount of pressure on all fisheries is up, and will continue to go up, riparian habitat is degrading… the area downstream from grand falls on shoal creek is an abomination and and embarrassment to its former self…need to put teeth in the regulations for the poachers….as far as meat fishing,,,,,seems people wheel and deal more than is thought,,,

[Johnsfolly]

14 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I never keep any.  

Smoked logpech on toast points, maybe with a little spoonbill caviar 😉.

[Cameron Gillespie]

It doesn’t matter what regulations they put on the books if they don’t enforce them. Here in AR, I fish a stream that I won’t name  that has special regulations, yet I’ve only been checked once since 2006. Luckily it doesn’t get a ton of pressure, but people are shocked when I throw a nice smallmouth back. Unfortunately the mentality in this area is to keep every fish that is caught and kill everything in the woods that moves. It’s no surprise that deer, turkey, and bear were nearly wiped out here in the early 20th century. AGFC has some good biologists, but it’s mired in politics and spends a lot of money tooting it’s own horn. I’ve always thought MDX did a better job than AGFC. 

[Terrierman]

No survey here.  

I've aged out of needing fishing permit even though I bought a lifetime hunting and fishing license about ten years or so ago.  So I guess I've aged out of the survey population too.

They would not like what I would have to say anyway so no big loss.