Thread: No more regulations!

Originally Posted by Outlaw1&2

Jeff, I'm glad you're thinking about this, but remember this, the squeeky wheel always gets the grease, has your wheel squeeked lately? For sure they're gonna take your money and do nothing, because they think you're satisfied with the present situation, especially if you don't say anything about it.

I agree with your post.
But asking the DNR to do something about the crappie population such as restocking a lake is very much different than asking the DNR to impose more regulations that would include fines for non-compliance.
Persuading the DNR to invest the dollars obtained from such fees as fishing license back into our lakes would be more beneficial to the fish population than a financial penalty from the very seldom checked dink keeper.
Nothing against the big game hunters of our great state. If their getting the benefits more so than the avid crappie fisher... perhaps fishers need to figure out how to get a bigger piece of that pie.
I still think enacting legislation to increase the minimum size alone will not attain the over all goal. There's more to this than over fishing of smaller fish.
To add validity to the issue, all avenues and possible solutions should be considered before we add one more regulation that may or may not work.

Not trying to pick with you or nothing Jeff but please click this link and reflect on these 6 pages of pics maybe you can see better about how it might or might not work. All these people are just average Joes and Jills except for a couple. I don't care how good you are or how much you've got, if the fish ain't there you ain't gonna catch em.

Fishing Photos

you know, i used to love to hunt. still do. but i went to walmart yesterday and saw these two fellas at the computer to get their license and

A. they looked lost
B. they looked like they were fillin out an application.

where is too far? i support ANYTHING that promotes the fishing, or any animal population. to get people to do something, and make it successful, you have to get them interested and WANT to do it. let em know, hey man, you wanna fish 10 years from now? then stop doin dumb things. sure its not as simple as that, but it boils down to it. i have a lot of fish in my freezer but the reality is, ive let more go than ive kept. the lake im in is ate up with bass, but theyre healthy. so i let em go. if i ever catch a malnurished fish, i will start targeting them and catch as many as i can and keep em. thin em out to a number that the lake can sustain. people gotta be smart about this and realize that the population of humans are growing more and more. we need to keep our resources in check and not deplete em. the problem with most is, no integrity. some have zero. these people just need to sell their rods, guns, and outdoor equipment to people who have integrity, understanding, and respect for what theyre doing. yea dnr could enforce these rules, but the idiots are still gonna be out there and are still gonna be doin what they do whether or not they get caught. so the main focus should be education, and the most important, instilling in our children the right things to do. when it comes down to it, your favorite spot, knowledge, and habits are going to be passed down. they will do what you teach them. EVERYBODY has a way, or style that somebody in their family has taught them. in conclusion, it boils down to education, integrity, and the children. i just dont want it to turn into a fullblown background check, urine sample, credit check scenario so i can just go out in my boat to throw a line in the water. i believe in the regs we have, i support them, and if they werent in place, i would still do them. but i dont believe in going communist on what we have now. i DO NOT like being told when i can fish, where, with what, and so on. and if any of you idiots are reading this,im talking about the whole hearted keep 100, dont care about chemicals, throw trash around person. here is my opinion on you. youre ruining it for many people who love the pasttime to spend with family, or just to get away for a bit. you are a burden on society and should sell your equipment to those who respect it more. for those who are just, blissfully ignorant of the cause, pick up good habits, keep only what youre willing to eat, and clean, and start taking a child fishing and show them the proper way to do it. this is honestly the only hobby i really enjoy because i dont have to pay an arm and a leg to do it, and its peaceful. i dont have to pay 700 a year to fish(unlike hunting nowadays). people are generally gracious with their lakes(unlike hunting properties too, also because of nonsense hunters either suing or leaving loads of trash). and its something i can teach my future children to do and we can have a personal father child hobby together. for those doin right. keep it up, best of luck. and, for those who just whine. do something about it. quit whining, get out ther and vote, join an association, be proactive. whining doesnt do anything.

Just curious , but how many of you 10" limit naysayers would turn down an all expense paid, boat and everything furnished, guided trip to a trophy crappie lake because of your convictions not to be regulated?

Originally Posted by Outlaw1&2

Not trying to pick with you or nothing Jeff but please click this link and reflect on these 6 pages of pics maybe you can see better about how it might or might not work. All these people are just average Joes and Jills except for a couple. I don't care how good you are or how much you've got, if the fish ain't there you ain't gonna catch em.

Fishing Photos

Nice fish

Originally Posted by DaltonTrollers

Thank you POfisher for your well-written response. You have said all I wanted to say and said it well. I,too, only keep fish that are fillet size and only keep what I will eat. I am all for bettering our fisheries, but we can regulate ourselves without government interference. What about fish that swallow a hook - must we return a dead fish to the water? We don't want a law that prevents keeping a kid's fish.

We can regulate ourselves, but we can't regulate the people who don't understand the "Southern Gentlemens agreement". Several guys from MO were slaying the crappie down here in our lakes in MS. Overfishing them and carrying them back to MO and I believe trying to sell them commercially. I don't know all the details, but that's not the important part anyway. Self regulation is a rediculous proposition, as it just doesn't work. Not eveyone cares, not every one respects the reason behind the regulation, or even attempts to understand it. I.E. this thread! If self regulation were even a practical answer, we wouldn't even need a game warden to beging with!

Bottom line is, you don't need to catch enough to fish to feed all your family, your neighbors and half the folks at work!! A lack of sustainable fish is what prompts these regulations you are complaining about, to begin with. If you don't like them, you should first EDUCATE yourself on the reason behind the regulation, then take an active role in helping solve the problem instead of just sitting back and complaining about someone implementing a workable solution, i.e. regulations.

It's really kind of scary to me that we have reached a point where we actually must build hatcheries and stock our natural lakes, streams, and rivers to sustain adequate numbers of not just gamefish, but predators like gar, certain types of carp, etc. The fisherman are a good gauge of the problems, but honestly, I trust the biologist a lot more than the fishermen when it comes to understanding these issues. We fishermen are a longstanding lot of well known liars! I want and will support clean water, and abundant fish without tumors and mercury poisoning for my grandchildren! WHATEVER it takes to get that is alright by me!

If you guys (na sayers)would look at what we have done in Ms on several of our COE lakes and seen what it has and will continue to do, I think you would see it another way.

A few years ago Tennessee went thru this same thing. People were signing petitions and hand carrying them to TWRA. It was for a 10" limit and a possesion of 15. Several of my friends hooped and hollared complaining about how it would ruin the fishing. Well it passed anyway and the crappie fishing in the places I fish is better. We are catching more quality fish. IMHO 15 crappie is plenty of fish. The previous post by Duckiller is right on IMHO.

Originally Posted by Outlaw1&2

Hey guys and gals you didn't think I would let this die since so many are interested in this subject did you? I know a lot of people are not educated on what our surrounding States are doing as far size limits to enhance crappie growth and protect juvenile crappie from being harvested by unsportsmen like folks, just wanted to enlighten you

South Carolina - Lake Murray - 20 fish per day -8" minumum

Alabama - Lake Weiss - 30 fish per day - 10" minumum

Tennessee - 15 fish per day - 10" minumum - State Wide - except Region 1 - 30 and 10" min.

Florida - Lake Talquin - 25 fish per day - 10'" limit

I don't make this stuff up it comes straight from their regs if anyone doubts this info ,please feel free to research them. The notion that other surrounding States would not cooperate in conservation efforts for Crappie is total bull. They are already doing a better job of it than the State of Ga as far as this subject is concerned. It is up to us as adults to teach our children and I guess some wives ( my wife will laugh you out of the boat for keeping small fish- she throws back 2 lbers and so do I) though some posts I have read that it is true unsportsmen like conduct to keep small fish, if my younguns want to brag about a catch, I keep a camera handy at all times for that sort of thing and return the fish unharmed to be caught when it grows up as I explain to them why, so please be more responsible when you run into this situation. If you would like a small fish whole fryed may I suggest catching some equally tasty bream for that. That's what I do for my mother in law and she prefers those over crappie.

n.c has 10'' and 8'' limit
s.c is talking about 8'' state wide with 10'' on some lakes.