Dugger said:
.... two teenage girls with a big bag of sunnies??? Wow, what a rare sighting, sounds like a scene from a Frederico Fellini film.
I never see females fishing down here let alone that bizarre sighting.
I agree, Catfish, you have to kill them humanely or keep them alive in a humane manner ie: aerated cooler etc. and also, depending on the size of water, sunfish population numbers, some kind of self-imposed conservation limits must come into play. But that is asking a lot I know of many "anglers" we cross paths with out there.
There are bodies of water where the "sunfish" population is so stunted, large harvests in a year would not make a negative impact. I know of some man-made reservoirs where sunfish and crappie populations have exploded yet their food supply is limited and there are literally thousands and thousands of 3 to 5 inch fish.
The trouble with justifying taking 50 sunnies a day a couple of times a week even, is that you need to have your finger on the pulse of the health of the lake and make a conscious decision whether harvesting that many will make a negative impact or not.
I don't wanna judge but, ok i will, I am doubting heavily two teenage girls "did the math" before filling their bag.
Fishing females!?! Where?!? Wonder if they want to see my new rod!?!? I hear it's great for throwing crankbaits detailed enough to have irritated anuses!?!
that was the best, along with the dollar store thread... Female anglers sure are a rarity in my area...
Like the Catfish and Dugger, I 100% believe that you need to kill your fish in a quick and relatively painless manner such as a quick bonk on the head. Again, I totally agree with self made regulations with in the official regulations based on the body of water and the fish population with in that body, common sense goes a long way! A "finger on the pulse of the health of the lake" is a must, and I must admit, I assumed that the body of water, Lotro was fishing, did not have a huge population of bass and was like my area where a bass is a rare treat, while at big lakes like Rice Lake, they are a common occurrence. If only more anglers were like the great ones on OFF!
I have seen my fair share of ponds and lakes where the sunfish are stunted to even smaller then the size, Dugger was talking about and I agree that it is a good thing for some of these fish to be taken out in order to increase the average size, however keeping your limit for that reason after the fish are no longer stunted, is absurd and I believe that after a hand full of people keep their limit, people should wait to see if the average size went to an acceptable 5-8 inches then practice C&R or keep a few but not limit out.
My making of an assumption was wrong, and I appologize to you Lotro, I hope to make it out with you one day and that the bass tasted great! Nothing is as good as food over a campfire.
If I come across an old rapala knife, I'll let you know. Try some antique shows, I saw a bunch of old fishing equipment when I went to a few last year including some old reels, lures and rods, none in good enough condition to use, though a knife can be sharpened up nice and put in working condition much easier then a reel, lure or rod. I do not want to infringe on your rights, so go ahead, keep your limit and ENJOY the fish!
remyboy said:
it is great to see that people are thinking about something other than trout and salmon for a change--reassuring that we "locusts" are realizing there are more fish species that need our help..
Remy, I know I was hard on your ass, for locations, and don't worry, I will still continue to remind you that the rule doesn't apply everywhere.
:lol: :lol: :lol: (I hope you know I'm kidding, your a good guy) But I'm totally with you on warm water species needing attention, in my opinion more areas with stricter exceptions to the regulations, especially in urban areas and areas with more relaxed exceptions to the regulations.
NADO said:
how does a thread about a fish finder and fillet knife turn into a C&R thread????
Limit on bass is 6 for sport fishing and 2 for conservation. Me and my friend brought home 8 smallies between the two of us last weekend after catching over 200 combined and im sure this guys stringer of bass was within the limits as well. As for the two teenage girls if they are under 18 and dont have a license they are allowed to keep the conservation limit which is 25 each and if they do have a license then they can keep 50 each. The bag being bloody doesnt mean they were killed inhumanely. They probably did the best thing to keep the meat in good condition which is to bleed the fish. I dont see any reason to be upset about a couple of teenage girls taking their limit of sunfish, good for them! Sunfish like perch can sustain big harvests and they arent often targeted which is why the limit is so high.
Same with bass...they are doing well enough that even with a limit of 6 for a sport license the MNR was able to extend the season by an extra week in certain zones.
It turns into a C&R thread, because it is about a fillet knife, which as you can guess, is meant to take the meat off a fish ( once it is hopefully dead) which as you can guess is not C&R. C&R and keeping your fish are two options that come after you land your fish. The two go hand in hand, like menu options at a restaurant.
I never said, Lotro was over his limit and I believe that common sense, with in the regulations is the best. Please refer to the example from my experiences that I gave, it was well within the regulations, but did it make sense for that body of water? Absolutely not! In big lakes and systems where they can handle the removal of fish, sure, go ahead keep your limit, enjoy your meal, I for one assume that Lotro was fishing a body of water that fits into these categories and I have no problem keeping your limit, if the body of water can sustain it. For me, when people should refrain from limiting out, is when it is obvious that the water cannot sustain people keeping their limit. I for one do 99% of my fishing in an urban enviroment, where dog walkers, bike riders, hikers and families pass me everyday. It is hard enough to fish in an urban area, with out "crazies" trying to disrupt you, know imagine how hard it would be if these "crazies" saw people keeping fish. Do you think they would be happy to see me? Absolutely NOT! Not to mention that finding nice size game fish other then carp is hard enough, as water quality is not the best and the fishing pressure is out of the world. Lets say a local pond has a bass population of 45. If 1 person with a sports license, limits out, with 6 bass, he took roughly 13% of the total bass in that pond, now he comes back with his 2 buddies all with sports licenses, all who limit out. Now they took roughly 53% out of the original 45 bass in pond. Now, buddy 2 tells the guys at the tackle shop. 10 guys from the tackle shop drop by and they have conservation licenses, now their is only 1 bass left in the pond and with no one to spawn with... we know what happens... This is only from 12 fishing visits, something way under the number of visits local ponds in my area receive, so in one season the bass population is effectively reduced to 1 fish unable to spawn which will die in a few years at most. So in one season, with limited fishermen/women visiting a pond, the entire population of bass is gone... All the guys were within the regulations, but it doesn't make sense, to keep those fish from such a small pond. Like I said earlier, I agree with Dugger, on having your finger on the pulse of the health of the lake and it's fish population, and in your area, larger bass limits might be good, in mine the exact opposite would apply.
I believe that it is best for the condition of the meat, to keep the meat cool. Never heard of the inside of a garbage bag being cool in the summer... Like I said about bass, sunfish in my area are targeted cause their isn't that much of other species around, and the foundation for game fish are these so called bait fish or prey fish and excess harvesting of them can effectively eliminate their population. Lets say the same pond from the previous example has 300 sunfish, 6 people with conservation licenses limit out and there goes your no sunfish. No sunfish equals, no pike/bass/catfish/bowfin.Perch are targeted like crazy in the winter during the ice fishing season from my experience.
The MNR does some great things, like stocking, enforcing the regulations, and creating new exceptions to make the seasons better for us, fisherman. However, their officers who man the phone lines need to get it together, here's a play by play converstation I had with them when I called in to report 2 guys fishing for out of season bass, the third weekend in June:
Me: " Hello, I am in zone 16 and two men are fishing for bass when they are out of season, can you send a conservation officer to *********** and I know they are targeting bass, because I asked them and they are using 4 inch jitter bugs"
Officer: "Bass are in open in zone 16"
Me: "Are you sure? I don't think they are open"
Officer: "Yes they are"
Me: "Hmm okkkk"
*I go to my phone and check the regulations online, then call the MNR again"
Me: " Hello, I am in zone 16 and two men are fishing for bass when they are out of season, can you send a conservation officer to *********** and I know they are targeting bass, because I asked them and they are using 4 inch jitter bugs"
Officer: "Bass are in season"
Me: "No they aren't"
Officer: "Yes they are"
Me: "Please check the regulations on your website"
Officer: *Click, click* "Hmmm, your right, I'll send an officer over right away"
