Never seen nothing like this

[bigben1]

Went to 3 mile slough between Camden and New JohnsonVille Tenn. and seen thousands of fish at the top of the water gasping for air.I seen hundreds of the biggest crappie and bluegill that Ive ever seen water actually smelled like sewage.talked to some locals and they said water had been drawn down so fast the last couple of days that it had depleted all the oxygen in the water.It was terrible,shad was dead by the thousands.Seen 5 or 6 lb.bass 10 lb catfish bluegill that weighed close to a pound and crappie that was probably 2 lb belly up really made me feel awful

[inkminers]

I used to get in some pretty wicked arguments at the fish and game club when the boys would get trash talking the "tree huggers." I always took the stance that we had far more in common than we had in differences. There won't be much to hunt and fish for, nor much place to do it if we don't take care of the world both we and the animals live in. This is a perfect example where a resource is managed simply to serve people, and to heck with everything else. Gotta be a better balance than that struck soon.

[XtopwaterkingX]

Makes ya sick. Don't keep a deep hooked fish that's bleeding cuz its too short an ya don't wanna spend a paycheck worth of fines but they can kill em by the thousands with minimal effort to save em or transport them cuz it cost to much. Happens more often than I like here in PA also

[icejohn]

I used to get in some pretty wicked arguments at the fish and game club when the boys would get trash talking the "tree huggers." I always took the stance that we had far more in common than we had in differences. There won't be much to hunt and fish for, nor much place to do it if we don't take care of the world both we and the animals live in. This is a perfect example where a resource is managed simply to serve people, and to heck with everything else. Gotta be a better balance than that struck

soon.

disagree...treehuggers and p.e.t.a. have totally different agenda than the average sportsman. if thdy had. their. way we would be overrun with sick deer and other animals...they don't want to "hurt" fish and
otherr critters . besides don't understand what that has to do with this thread. just another NY opinion .

[Crappitier]

seen thousands of fish at the top of the water gasping for air. really made me feel awful

I have experienced the same thing here in PA. I saw the once wonderful Susquehanna when this hot polluted water was killing tens of thousands of YOY smallmouth.

Twenty years ago, I could catch >100 beautiful smallmouth bass with my 5wt. Those days are gone. Now even the catfish and carp have "sores" on most of them! The male bass that are left are "unisexing" that is male bass with eggs inside?

You can't say "Global Warming" because everyone hates Al Gore so much!
You can't say "high nitrates" because the pig and chicken farmers will sue you!
You can't say "old overworked sewage plants" because there is no money to fix them!
You can't say "we are way too overpopulated" because the church folk don't like abortion!

I'm also frustrated. All you can do is enjoy while it's still fishable.

[inkminers]

disagree...treehuggers and p.e.t.a. have totally different agenda than the average sportsman. if thdy had. their. way we would be overrun with sick deer and other animals...they don't want to "hurt" fish and
otherr critters . besides don't understand what that has to do with this thread. just another NY opinion .

Have no argument with your assessment of PETA and the whole "anti" community - very unrealistic view of life! But we always defined "treehuggers" as 'environmentalists' - folks who love the environment just for it's own sake. They view the world around them as worth preserving in a healthy condition, even when it isn't convenient for humans. That's only different from sportsmen's interests in that we also want to harvest things from it. If we don't have water clean enough, or even enough water period, 'harvesting' stops. If there are no tracts of land large enough for animal populations to breed and thrive, harvesting stops. We're all savvy enough to realize everything's interconnected, so even if I'm really only concerned about the species I hunt and fish for, by extension, I'd better get concerned for all habitat because it all works together.

That all relates directly to Bendell's original statement about a body of water that just lost its fish population because it's managed for the short term benefit of humans and without consideration for the effects on all the critters that live in it, on it, or near it. It wasn't a natural phenomenon - it was a man made disaster. "Tree huggers" will be just as upset as Bendell at the destruction. Instead of a massacre, he might have had a great evening's fishing IF there had been better planning, IF there had been better water conservation in his area, IF management plans considered the wildlife as well as people's use, etc. There's too many of us, and we're too crowded together anymore to just 'let it be.' But combine the efforts of area sportsmen AND treehuggers, and you'll get a different management policy and no fish die-off next year. Ya can argue over whether or not to eat them later.

[Cane Pole]

I have no use for any of the treehuggers. They don't rake my yard or clean my fish.

[inkminers]

I have no use for any of the treehuggers. They don't rake my yard or clean my fish.

They sure don't, CP. But if it weren't for their efforts to get such legislation as acid rain reduction, clean waters act, historic rivers preservation, etc., you'd be spending a whole lot more time raking your yard 'cause there wouldn't be many places left from which you could eat the fish, if there were any left to catch.....

I grew up on the banks of the Hudson River when it stunk so bad on hot day, you needed to be upwind to enjoy the view. You could hook Catfish big enough that you had to keep an eye on your pole, so they didn't drag it into the water....but just as Crappitier noted, the open sores in their sides made them a bit unappealing. The Striped Bass spawning run in the Spring was down to scarey low levels. It took nearly 50 years to bring it back to where it is now, but you still can't eat most of the resident fish safely in any quantity. The eel fishery is still dead because you can catch them by the hundreds, but you can't eat or sell them - too many chemicals in their flesh. What was gained back was gained back by them same treehuggers raising holy cane in the legislature of New York until they finally did something about it, and they did it with the help of concerned sportsmen who were tired of watching their fishery die out. The "treehuggers" may tick you off on a regular basis, but you're on the same side.

[killum]

The ultimate environmentalist is an outdoorsman or woman. Many of those folks want to see a day when harvest is just as crucial to their goals of protecting the planet as getting legislation pushed through. Just remember every goober with a pole is not a fisherman either.

[icejohn]

I believe t he "tree huggers" have more of an agenda than tbe environment, the don't want anybody in "their " woods killing bambi. having said that, i do believe that we/states &fed should preserve and lrotect our environment. but kther than regulations we the sportsman do more toward that goal than the treehuggers.