Progressive Fish Management

[crappiekeith]

In my father's day catching fish was all about filling limits.
They prided themselves as food providers and to take a limit was almost
a mark of how good of a provider you were.

This type of thinking has had a profound effect on our fisheries.
The effect is simple and I have heard it way too many times.
It goes like this...."I just can't find those quality fish anymore"!
It's not the fishermen's ability in question here.
It's all due to the fact that those quality fish are not there anymore.
They have been caught and reduced to a fisherman's limit.
I was guilty of fishing with that old mentality.

There were lakes in the past that I'd load up with those quality fish.
I'd come back home with my chest stuck out and say look at these
when I returned home.
Yet those very same lakes have become fished out of those quality fish.
What once had 14" slabs ,now have loads of stunted fish.
If you catch a 12" slab you have found the best it has in it and those slabs are
far and few in between.
Being ignorant was my only excuse. After witnessing what has happened I've learned
catch and release is the only way I can do my part in helping that fishery to recover.

Taking the smaller ones for food has nothing to do with my abilities as a fisherman.
The thought of what you cull as part of ones manhood is no longer an issue.
Releasing those fish is and has in some circles replaced that old thinking.

We can look to the Mille Lacs Lake muskie. It used to be that one went to Ontario for monster ski's.
With the progressive management practices of CPR we are now expecting the next record to come from this body of water.
The smallmouth bass are also making a huge come back due in part to the regulations applied to Mille Lacs concerning those bronzebacks.3,4,5 and even 6 pound bruisers are now being caught thanks due in part to the MNDNR for those tighter restrictions.

Sure the game fish have excelled to some extent from the CPR practices.
We can see how the quality and numbers have excelled from these aggressive management practices,but what about pan fish.
Pan fish have been the target over the years by filling pails of them.
During a hot bite the word spreads quickly and in a very short time frame those quality fish are gone.
As fishermen and women concerned about the future of these fisheries,we need to treat those pannies as we are now doing with game fish.

The DNR has already implemented some tighter restrictions on some lakes to see how those
pan fish respond and I am positive that the same result will be achieved as it has with
the game fish we have in our state.
Those that complain will I'm sure eventually come around in their thinking that it was
a good thing. They will be catching those quality fish once again,yet there's more that can be done without
having big brother leaning on us.
Letting those brood fish go is so imperative to rebuilding our quality fish that are still there.
Thinning out the smaller fish for table fare if you so choose will in the end bring us back to the golden age of fishing.

[CrappieHound]

I'm for management. Would like to see em' drop the limit to 20 and no fish below 12 in. on Kentucky Lake. That is what Miss. has gone to and I think it will benefit us too in the long run. Many people object but I'm looking forward into the future and not what we have today.

The problem with not changing the law is people will continue to do the same old thing until the resources are gone. Then the complaining and gnashing of teeth begins with, "where are the fish", Blah, blah, blah. Everyone wants to wear those big fish out every trip, including me, but at some point it will and is hurting our resources. Taking a picture and throwing some of those hawgs back isn't a bad thing. I don't catch enough big fish to hurt em' though.

The Hound

[crappiekeith]

I'm amazed there's not more opinion here!

[CrappiePappy]

I'm amazed there's not more opinion here!

just don't expect that many of them to be expressed in 9hrs (on a Sunday)


.. cp

[deathb4disco]

You should have titled the thread "Who Uses Mr. Crappie Line for Progressive Fish Management?" You would've gotten dozens of responses. :D

(Just poking fun at the incessant "what's a good line" threads -- not taking issue with your post, which is a good one.)

[Kit Papermouth]

Limits are the key. What works for some lakes doesn't work for others. The Biologist are still trying to figure out the formulas.

Eat what ya keep
let the others go so they get bigger to reap.

[beagle man]

not much on big fish and dont mind going home with less than my limit,dont understand the people who have to have a big limit and sometimes two or three limits in a day, my favorite lake is Stockton Lake been fishing it since 1970 and have seen dry years(low fish numbers) banner years nice size fish and plenty of them. seems like every four or five years it cycles so maby to much pressure at the wrong time is bad we probably dont get the pressure the southern lakes get because of the winters we have. shorter fishing season for some. on the northern lakes maby every one is tired of sitting in the cold for so long when warm weather get there it's fishing time and lot's of it... anyway with a little help nature will help take care of some of the problems the rest orgnize and put pressure on the state game commission's letters and phone call cant hurt... m2cw

[Crappiepalooza]

I'm sure the various state DNRs are besieged by amateur fisheries biologists. BUT...

Here in Iowa we have a number of lakes that are in pretty bad shape fishery wise. Huge numbers of stunted crappies, lakes with nothing but 12"-14" bass, and it doesn't seem like anything is ever done. The overpopulated bass lake I'm thinking of still has a 15" minimum length limit! I know we probably don't have the budget here that MN does, and we certainly don't have the motivation (little economic activity surrounding the fishing biz here), but it seems like the only management tool ever used is draining the lake and starting over. I'd love to see some more creative approaches.

[crappiekeith]

I'd start a limit on those pannies to begin with.
A slot would help too,but then again this comes from an armchair quarterback.