Thread: Trolling Too Effective (?)

Originally Posted by striperking

Butch, that goes for the GA DNR also. Never see them checking limits. I have turned in several people on the lake that said they caught a limit earlier in the morning and took them back to the truck and back out fishing that afternoon.To me that's just stealing from the other sportsman that obey the laws.

Oh, I agree Doug. DNR told me they didnt have the resourses to patrol the lakes like it should be. But when someone calls in a lawbreaker the DNR should get there....no excuses. I guess it doesnt matter as much to them as they make out. Dunno.

one thousand fishermen will have three thousand opinions hears mine.it has been said on this board the reason for 8in. limit is so these smaller fish can lay eggs. I cant see a fish less then 8 in. laying more eggs or better eggs then a 12 in. or better fish. hear is my opinion "its only an opinion" put a slot on crappie 8in. to 12 in. use however many rods you want to but when you catch your 20 in the slot quit == wether it takes 10 minuets or 10 hours. 20 and out. 2nd opinion now that there seems to be plenty crappie I don't hear much about the perch killing them out == I think fishermen kill more crappie then any other predator they have by means of culling catch 100 fish and throw 80 back and 50 of that 80 die. take care of your sport fellers the dnr aint gonna do it for you.3rd opinion hope I didn't make nobody mad I don't care if crappie get so thick you can dip um up with a dip net or fish for a week and not see one we don't have nobody or nothing to blame but ourselves

Just to throw in my opinion for what little it means, but I don't think fishermen long-lining or other methods is hurting the population that bad if they are sticking to the creel limits and then quitting for the day. I know of a family that fishes on a multi-slip dock that has brush out and then I am pretty sure they put bait out to attract minnows. I talked with one of them and he said he had caught probably 500 crappie this year and was now giving them away. Yet, I still see them down there fishing almost every time I see that dock. No matter what the method, people that catch over the limit or just continue to catch and never release no matter how many they take are a bigger problem.

Originally Posted by MidHillbilly

Just to throw in my opinion for what little it means, but I don't think fishermen long-lining or other methods is hurting the population that bad if they are sticking to the creel limits and then quitting for the day. I know of a family that fishes on a multi-slip dock that has brush out and then I am pretty sure they put bait out to attract minnows. I talked with one of them and he said he had caught probably 500 crappie this year and was now giving them away. Yet, I still see them down there fishing almost every time I see that dock. No matter what the method, people that catch over the limit or just continue to catch and never release no matter how many they take are a bigger problem.

I believe that family should have a little visit from DNR to take care of that matter !!!

Not regulation but 24 hour enforcement is key however I am in favor of one 'trophy lake' per state like Grenada, MS. 3 rod,
11" minimum. Slab City USA! It's on my bucket list for sure.

Originally Posted by strmwalker

I believe that family should have a little visit from DNR to take care of that matter !!!

I am not really sure they are breaking any laws. A family of 4 could catch 80 a day and not be in violation. I suspect they had days where just one or two were there and went over the limit but do not know that for sure. But they fish almost every day and it is really more like when is enough enough.

I'm in agreement with what most have said. Instead of new laws, we need to have the current ones enforced. 20 fish is just that, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get them. I was opposed to the 8" limit, but once I saw what I had to throw back I was no longer concerned. I'm not a big fan of size limits of any kind though. I feel like you should be able to keep whatever size fish you want up to your daily creel limit. That goes for all species.

I hear talk of a potential 15 per person limit and 10" minimum possibly on the way and I'm highly against that on both accounts, but primarily for the length. I enjoy eating a 9" fish much more than a larger crappie as do a lot of folks I know.

As far as catching large numbers of fish like the family fishing off their dock, I don't see any issue as long as they are not keeping more than daily limit. When I'm catching fish I'm going to go back fishing LOL it's silly for me to think someone would stop going fishing because they are catching too many. We've had years where between my dad, uncle, and me we've kept well over a 1000 crappie. But, that's 3 families that eat fish on an almost weekly basis and we give a lot of fish to elderly folks and others that are unable to go. Not to mention hosting a few large fish fry events. None of what we catch goes to waste.

I guess it's all opinions in the end, and I feel like if everyone abides by the laws everything will be ok. The problem is with those "spawn" fishermen taking double limits and more from our waters.

I wasn't going to reply any further on this thread, but wanted to point out that rod and creel limits being mandated on a statewide basis was the DNR's way of simplifying things for themselves. Crappie populations on certain bodies of water, Santee, Wateree, and Clarkshill in particular are in fantastic shape as reports show. Laws are enacted based on a few bodies of water, Murray, Wylie, Greenwood, and Hartwell where crappie populations have declined. These lakes were allowed to be over developed, which in turn allowed home owners to remove all shoreline wood cover and vegetation. This removed all favorable spawning habitats. Of coarse, Metro areas will also receive the highest amount of fishing pressure too. My point being, we don't need statewide laws, we need laws specific for each lake, just like there are specific laws for each waterway for striper. We have state fishery biologist that can monitor fishing pressure, spawn success, fish mortality and adjust laws on a yearly basis if necessary to ensure a healthy Ecosystem.