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Maybe some of these trophy money lakes will start a one day a month public fishing day. Have a slot limit and let them carry home 30 small sunfish. That way people will see how well it can be if you could afford to fish there and keep larger fish. My favorite thing is to make a small fisher person to throw back the fish.
Government lakes refuse to lime and or fertilize lakes with heavy flow.a land locked impoundment can grow more fish and larger fish with optimum ph. Otherwise same discussion as to wealthy folks hunting in pens. Won't nobody know it was from an enclosure if it gets a wall mount. On the Deer shows they say what a big scoring rack . Why do the same for fish GOD put animals on earth for man to eat. I don't recall a Boone and Crockett in the bible. If you aren't helping the less fortunate on earth you are not following Christian principles. I own a 7 acre Trophy lake. Can't keep trespassers out. They do usually leave me some empty beer can floating in the shallows.
We need to stick together and support youth fishing opportunity. I let new fisher persons to keep 30 sunfish any size!! I just make sure they are taught how to clean them to eat!!
I was real serious yesterday when I brought up Bluegill tournaments. State Fishery depts. are Bass,crappie and Walleye crazy. The write off panfish as what the Poor folks fish no Money no Support for the panfish. That is in MS I have no knowledge of other states????
I think reduced limits do help in many cases, but not all. We had a local lake holding large numbers of nice bluegill and large bass that opened to the public. There was a 10 fish limit placed on the bluegill and red ear. Even without a boat ramp that lake was stripped of the largest fish. There were local people that made multiple trips per day during the spawn. It was more than the DNR could stay on top of .
There is another nice lake that the IDNR owns and is still 100 % closed to the public. I'm thinking the IDNR is trying to figure out how to open it and still avoid it's ruination.
I would like to see shore bedding areas rendered off limits in these type lakes. Extreme??? So is the problem.
I've seen this, too. People catch a limit, dump them in a cooler back in the car, then go back and repeat the process.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olegiller1
I couldnt even fathom doing that.
I think last year I kept all of 7 crappie for the table, that was all year! The year before I think it was only 9 gills all year. Dont get me wrong I like to eat fish, I just dont need a freezer busting full of them (maybe its because Im the only one in the house that likes to eat fish).
Catch and release everything.....unless you need dinner that nite then keep a few.
^^^ there is where some of the problem lies. People who do not eat fish or are the only ones in a house that eat em just dont understand how far a few fish go. Your 7 crappie or 9 gills that you ate all year would make 1 meal at my house and better be heavily loaded with coleslaw, french fries and hushpuppies to stretch that. But I can say I have NEVER wasted a fish that I kept period! But going fishing and getting a limit is far from my thoughts when I hook up in the morning. Sometimes it happens but more often than not I keep between 7 and 14 fish, sometimes I keep none. And the ones who feel that they can run to the grocery store and buy nice fresh fish, bs! I know exactly how my fish were kept from removal of hook to hitting the fryer. And to try and push 1 single strategy of fish management to cover all bodies of water is ludicrous. But I do hate the bucket brigade on the banks with 10 poles, no liscense, driving a caddy and keeping everything that comes up, also despise anyone who hauls multiple limits a day with people meeting them at ramps with coolers to haul away to return again. Which I believe is the bigger problem not a person keeping a legal limit on a days fishing.
I can come at this from different angles than most others! IMHO, Bluegill/Bream fishermen have waaaay to many obstacles to overcome!
My background comes from Bass and Walleye fishing first, then Crappie later....
Bass Fishermen view Bream as FORAGE ONLY! The Big Bull Bluegill to them, serve no purpose other than something to remove! Most Believe that Big Bull Bream can upset and harm the forage balance in lakes/ponds that are growing Big Bass.
You also have Bass Fishermen, Catfishermen, and Muskie/Pike fishermen, that catch and use any size bream possible for bait!
Like it or not, Bass Fishermen are the real drivers of the fishing industry...First you have to understand the Money that is behind the Bass Industry, compared to the Panfish industry...Billions and Billions of dollars....and in ALOT of ways this is the fault of Panfish-fishermen!
Everyone wants Pan-fishing to grow, but it remains a small market because of the stubborn continual use of live-bait and techniques not conducive to ALOT of Big sponsors like Bass Fishing is! BIG Money equals regulation and Management! If you want Companies to invest, you have to use their products and win or set records...Live Bait companies and sit down techniques are not Billion Dollar Sponsors! Without Money, you get no regulations or management!
Then You have to overcome the fact that Bream are just so easy to catch all year long, especially in Ohio....unlike Crappie, smaller Bream tend to stay close to shore, don't mind high temps, and can be caught year round, by even shore fishermen, which increases pressure even more than other fish.
To be honest, I cannot force myself to eat a dark meat fish...just cannot stand them...But I watch people around my home lake keeping buckets upon buckets of 4 inch fish...Heck, I have bigger fish in my aquarium than what they keep on a DAILY basis. People catch them to grind up for dog food, etc, Ethnic groups fry the entire small fish to eat, and since Bream are considered a high reproductive forage, there are no limits whatsoever in Ohio.
As someone said earlier, those who think even a Huge lake can't be fished out, are mis-informed. Fishing Pressure increases every year as populations increase, people are needing more and more food, or supplemental food to save money...and Bream can be caught year round! Add Enviromental or Natural weather extremes and the population can be destroyed!
At my home lake (2500 acres), my son caught a 10.5 inch bluegill 3 years ago on a 3 inch swimbait....TO THIS DAY, IT IS THE BIGGEST AND ONLY FISH THAT SIZE, THAT I HAVE SEEN OR HEARD OF, COME OUT OF THAT LAKE....SINCE 1974!
With the vast majority of Panfishermen set in their ways and not receptive to change, I don't see any Bream regulations or management of any kind, coming to Ohio in my lifetime!
Fortunately we have very limited bank access on the major bodies of water here. The lizards tend to that. We do have an aggregate limit of 50 per day of all panfish species not including Crappie. And although the water bodies may look heavily pressured, most are very dissapointed at the end of the day. I see so many anchored up by a tree in the morning and ask how they are doing and not to good. Go back by hours later and ask again, and great we got 5 so far. So yes we have tons of boats out fishing but most have very little impact. We just have so much water here everyone wants to partake and enjoy and do not spend time understanding everything about our rivers to be successful. Heck I get schooled by the river here regularly. 1 minor change and the whole game changes drastically.