Bigmouth Buffalo 100+ years old

[Phil Lilley]

https://bbc.com/future/article/20250109-bigmouth-buffalo-the-mysterious-fish-that-lives-for-a-century-and-doesnt-decline-with-age?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

[Quillback]

I watched a fishing show several years ago where they were fishing for them during their spawn.  They mentioned how old they can get which surprised me.  It would be a shame to kill one.

[tjm]

Apparently we are allowed to kill 20 per day, except on the Mississippi River which has a daily and possession limit of 100. https://mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/buffalo

Not in local waters here, but I can imagine that most people would consider them as "just carp" and toss on the bank after shooting them. That thought reminds me of the dumpster pictures that @MoCarp used to post.

[Ham]

It’s idiotic that Bowfishing is allowed for any non invasive fish. 

[BilletHead]

6 minutes ago, Ham said:

It’s idiotic that Bowfishing is allowed for any non invasive fish. 

            What about Brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout out West where they are trying to keep those fish out of native cutthroat ranges that are screwed up? 

[tjm]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

What about Brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout out West

Those are invasive species there and here, so  should be under a "no limit, any method, kill all you can eat" rule, as should  carp. No fish should be discarded though.

But there should be enormous fines  for any misidentification that leads to killing of non-invasives. One of the problems with our current regs is that even MDC doesn't want to learn to identify most species beyond the umbrella of "rough fish".  At a guess from streamside conversations over a lifetime 90% of anglers can't  tell the difference between a chub, a redhorse, a buffalo and a carp.  Just as they class all "sunfish" as "bluegill", they tend to class all "rough fish" as  carp and therefore "trash fish".

[Ham]

13 hours ago, BilletHead said:

            What about Brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout out West where they are trying to keep those fish out of native cutthroat ranges that are screwed up? 

Invasive vs Introduced. If Fish and Game Managers from days gone by made Bad choices and dumped Trout into waters that had native trout, it may be real tough to fix that. I sincerely doubt ppl are going to shoot expensive fishing arrows into rocky bottoms in the hope of killing a few rainbows and browns.

I am not unaware of Eastern gamefish foolishly introduced into Western waters. I know they are trying to reduce populations of Smallmouth Bass and Walleye. “Bowfishing” isn’t going to fix that either.

you’re conflating / expanding the argument about bowfishing. The wanton waste of guys with bows killing fish just for the thrill of killing them is not sustainable. They are robbing other people of opportunities to fish with a hook and line for many species and the fish don’t get to fulfill their role in the environment. Why do they get to damage populations of slow growing / slow maturing fish for their entertainment?

Hopefully, other states will follow Minnesota’s example and protect native fish better. We have to change the mindset of game fish vs rough fish (many would say trash fish). I value suckers and Buffalo as much or more than introduced trout. 
 

 

[tjm]

I don't necessarily want bowfishing prohibited; but anyone that kills a fish should be prepared to eat it. Wanton waste laws should apply to all wildlife.

But those dumpster pictures aren't really the result of bow fishing so much as they are of contest fishing. Imagine if we were to set up a deer hunting contest/tournament where dozens of hunters competed to weigh in the most deer carcasses in a time period, pay out on biggest of the day, and on most pounds per time period regardless of numbers and size. And discard the carcasses in dumpsters when weigh-in is completed.   Would such a contest be acceptable to either wildlife managers or to the public? yet we allow and encourage such contests with fish. We could even imagine a contest where deer are captured alive, caged with others  and hauled miles to a central location for weigh in and then all released at that point. Wonder if any would survive?   Stressed, disoriented, dislocated, and overcrowded at point of release; I wonder that any fish survive such treatment.

[fishinwrench]

I'll say this......The backend flats, where I do a large portion of my fishing, were way overpopulated with Buffalo and Carp before the bowfishers came along.   

I think that any species that is as hearty and long-living as Buffalo are, require some form of predation......and the bowfishers definitely took care of the imbalance that was undeniable where I fish 👍

While the piles of rotting carcasses at the boat ramps were a bit disturbing for awhile, there's no denying that SOMETHING had to be done......and bygod they got it done !  

[Quillback]

If you have any bow fishing buddies, send them to the James River arm above Flat Creek.  The gar are unbelievably thick up there.  I don't know if a lot of gar have an effect on the bass, but the bass fishing hasn't been too good up there the last couple of years.