Hey Guys/Gals, been a while since I have had a chance to drop by the forum. (It has been a wee bit rough at work lately).

However after reading an article in the January 2006 In-Fisherman magazine I had to drop by and see if anyone else has read it. The article in question is called 20/20 Bassin'. Basically it is all about how to catch Bass off the spawning beds. Is it just me or is this a little bit counter productive and short-sighted for a magazine that should be promoting active management and protection of our natural resources? (Yes I understand that many of the tips included are intended for Pro tournament fisherman but doesn't that make it even worse? Pro's promoting the depletion of a natural resource, intentional or otherwise due to fishing a species at the worst time possible?)

The article does make reference to a few scientists/researchers and their negative findings/opinions on 'bed-fishing' but then refutes their input with that of people who make a living guiding people to the spawning beds in search of bass.... hmmm... conflict of interest perhaps?

At worst the negative comments they make in the article center around bass not returning to the same bed... though they never mention the fact that during the time the fish is off the bed either the nest could be getting robbed, or they could be stressing the fish or the fish could be dropping eggs/milt when off the bed due to handling.

Maybe I am off the mark but I am seeing this trend written about and on TV programs more and more... in the effort to catch the biggest, egg or milt laden bass they are targeting those most vulnerable and often the easiest to catch with the worst consequences.

Sorry for the rant. ; )

P.S. I am not even going to get started on how 'Professional' Bass fishing seems to have become a serious misnomer... with all of the electronics in use today, now even including Biosonic fish activating sonic attracters... it seems to me the "Pro's" are treading on the doorstep of being rank amateurs in all respects. In my opinion a Pro is someone that protects the resource, actively pursues the betterment of the sport and the 'arena' in which it is played and does so without the use of every skill reducing gadget going. I expect un-skilled fisherman to suck up the gimmicks to compensate, but the top guys? Come on. Hell they might as well skip the casting and just throw a stick of dynamite in...

Ooops.... started ranting again... slightly off topic non-the-less.

I had to chime in on this one it hit a hot button. I hate the whole idea of fishing tournaments for money and "Pro" fishing. In Minnesota it has always been tradition and law that one cannot make money off a natural resource that belongs to the public. So you wouldn't think we could justify fishing tournaments, but we do. In Minnesota all tournament fishing is done on public waters. I agree with Pottsy, these guys aren't "Pros", there just guys with enough money, time and greed to spend their lives beating the water and harming a resource that belongs to all of us. If I had my way I'd make all fishing for money illegal. The same way that you can't catch wild fish or shoot wild ducks and sell them you should not be able to catch fish for profit. I know some will argue that the fishing equipment industry is strengthened by this kind of thing. In my opinion we don't need an equipment industry like we have. Look what it's turned into. Sure you can buy just about anything, no self sufficiency or creativity required. Along with at least a 500% profit margin on everything. What ever happened to the days when a person went out and caught fish for fun and a meal based upon skill not on gadgets? I can't count how many times I've gone to my favorite bass lake only to find I can't even get at the boat landing because of some tournament. Then if you can get on the water you are surrounded by idiots flailing their arms off trying to keep the lure in the water and cover the most territory the fastest. And of course you gotta have a boat that goes 90 mph too. That's what I call sport! It's just greed at the expense of the rest of us. The next few days after the tournament there's dead fish floating all over. Now I hear about this new angle. Never thought about it but of course if you can catch big hawgs before they lay eggs you'll get some heavy ones. Again, real sport! I don't think you need a scientific study to tell you that this is not good resource management. No apologies for the ranting. I'd just like to know if I'm the only red neck who feels this way.

Pottsy and bz,

1000% agreement with you both here. It's why I no longer fish public waters which are easily accessible to these so called "pros". Through our ponds we can have an environment for fishing that we prefer....but not everyone can afford the time and/or money required for ponds.

For a "pro" magazine to promote LMB bed fishing is the height of ignorance, in my opinion. However, we "taxpayers" continue to silently allow those "pros" to rape public waters essentially without regulation or compensation.

I don't consider either of your comments a rant...just common sense.

Wow I agree with you guys 100 percent too. I haven't taken the boat out to public waters in two years as the experience is no longer high quality. Wall to wall cottages and wall to wall people with no regard for the average fisherman. I'd like to make my boat into an electroshocker boat and keep it on the property to manage the ponds.

On a past issue of PondBoss magazine, I was disappointed to see a picture of the founder of BASS, the organization that began the current trend of "professional" bass fishermen and tournaments, standing beside Bob Lusk.

That about sums up my thoughts abut "professional" bass fishermen and tournaments...

I also quit using public waters due to this, and other jerks trying to be 'pros'.

BUT... why didnt you tell me before I waded in so deep.

I have to weigh in here since I am the president of a local bass club here in Lincoln, BTW our club, like most other small clubs, catches, measures, and releases our fish at the boat. Most clubs like ours practice paper tournaments rather than live weigh ins and there is hardly any money involved at the end of the day. Most of the tournaments we fish are about fun, friendship and visiting lakes would nornamlly wouldn't go to on our own.

Tournament fishing for bass has changed a lot in the last 35 plus years, pro anglers do make it a high prioirty to release fish alive, there are penalties for bringing dead fish to the scales and lots has changed since the days where everything that was caught was simple put on a stringer and killed. Without a push from the pros and organizations like BASS you probably would not see the sophisticated live wells we have today with timers, air stones, or catch and release formulas. The very notion of catch and release has it's origins in tournament angling for LMB.

There are good and bad things with eveything, tournament angling included. I would encourage anyone who encounters any rude tournament fisherman on the water to find the tournament director and make a complaint, there are rules againts participants behaving badly against others not involved in the tournamant and this will usually trigger a DQ of the contestant.

BTW - at least for me, tournament angling makes me appreciate our pond that much more becuase you simply can't catch fish on public waters like you can at a private pond.

I also find tournament fishing repulsive, however, if I could reduce the number of bass in my pond by catching them off the nest it would save me a lot of trouble culling later on. Only drawback I see is that you tend to take the biggest fish off the nest, thereby deselecting for size to some degree. Other than that I am for taking bass off the nest since they overpopulate so easily.

Actually building a pond can be cheaper than many of those bass boats, and when you think about the expenses and hassle involved with trailering the boat around well...

Good points but what makes you think no matter how careful you are with those bass there isn't a delayed mortality?

I once saw a fellow put ALL THE BASS from one tournament into his livewell and take them out to the lake to release them. Any idea how stressful putting what appeared to be 50 or 60 bass in one livewell can be?

I used to live on a lake and I could always count on seeing at least one dead bass in the water a day or two after the tournament.

I also contend the spread of LMBV is largely due to bass tournaments.

Funny I was repulsed too. However in defense of Bob I think that individual has some intersting concepts and experience managing bass in ponds.

Absolutley there is small percentage of delayed mortality involved in any catch and release fishing, and this delayed mortality is not just limited to tournament anglers but to evey angler who practices catch and release on a regular basis.

BTW - it's not the pulling of LMB off the beds that concerns me, it is the hot summer months of late June, July, and August where delayed mortality is at it's highest from tournament angling that bothers me. Just so you know, Missouri does not allow live weighs in in July and August because of the high delayed mortality rates.

That is simply bad practice from one tournament director, with NE Bass Federation tournaments that I occasionally fish the LMB are simply released back into the water next to the weigh in sight after they have been weighed. In most bigger money tournaments there is a specially designed boat that they use to release the fish back into the main lake.

No real complaints here, Cecil; just razzing.
The round trip in time and money(750 mi) makes for an expensive new hobby, but in 4 or 5 yrs. at retirement time, it will be just right.
I tought, cut down few trees, put in some more fish, no problem. Then I started reading Pond Boss forum(asked Santa for the mag). Now have aeration, feeders, 5 tons lime, trash pump, pier, etc. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Sorry to dissappoint you but have no problem with it. My friend hates Pro fishing and has for years called it BED Masters. The tournament trail starts in south and goes north to max chances at catching bedding fish. He is right butit makes for good TV though. Not much fun to watch folks not catching anything.

Sorry to say but feel removing bass from beds on public water does not limit the carrying capacity of bass on these reservoirs. Many other factors that have far greater consequences on population than that. Now delayed mortality is more of an issue. However they have done alot to increase the chances of 100% survival in these tournaments.

I say to each his own I do not like to tell others what they can not do. If it gets folks out enjoying the environment then ok. If you would rather sit on your dock drink a cold beer and catch a few catfish go for it. However why criticize others if their way of fun is diff than yours.

On Ray Scott.. although I do not agree on many fronts, he has overall I believe only benefited the fishing industry as a whole.

I'm all for live and let live...but I draw the line when what you do (the tournament angler in this case) adversely affects me or my family. Tournament bass fishing(and the mentality and behavior that accompanies it) has not helped the majority of fishing people. Their way(tournaments) of fun adversely impacts my way of fun and the overwhelming majority of the taxpayers who use public waters. Tournaments benefit a small minority at the expense of a greater majority. Rather than getting folks out to enjoy the environment, it discourages people from using public waters...waters which their tax dollars have paid for.

Shorty thanks for not taking offense to my comments. Looking back they seemed rather harsh and I put everyone into one category which is not fair.

Yes, any catch and release had the potential to kill fish. I have found that out on my ponds. One reason I don't do it much anymore with a few exceptions.

I concur completely on the hot water temps. Even a fish farmer will tell you this is not a time to be handling fish. Sounds like your state is a little ahead in their thinking. Mine is always the last to do anything.

And the fact that you guys release your fish right way after measuring is impressive.

My state fish and game thinks removing bass off the beds does not effect carrying capacity either so you're not alone. But I've also seen data on private lakes in New England that did not get fished at all, and the age and size distribution was remarkable with bass up to 25 inches. The number of pounds of quality bass of all sizes was astonding.

Random thoughts on "Pro" bass fishermen:

Many pros are great ambassadors for fishing. I think a significant number of people watch them on TV and get into fishing. Fishing programs and tournaments encourage not only fishermen, but encourage states to create more lakes, and better maintain existing waters. I'm sure many private ponds have been built because of the influence of pro bass fishermen.

Many pros remind me of TV evangelists. They always look good for the cameras and preach to people to make a buck. Most of them look pretty silly in the process.

Ray Scott's videos helped encourage me to build a pond.

I think bass pros embody the "good old boy network". Outsiders need not apply, no matter how good a fisherman they are.

Many bass pro films are filmed in private "honey hole" ponds. You just don't catch 10 pounder after 10 pounder in public waters.

Catching bass off of beds is generally harmless, except for a few unusual situations. It is not even bad sportsmanship.

ML, an excerpt from one of your posts: "Tournaments benefit a small minority at the expense of a greater majority."

This is a statement that is worth further analysis. It is my belief that when a tournament comes to town, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and more likely millions of dollars are infused into the town and surrounding area. Just considering hotels (side question: why is "Patel" the best guess for the last name of a hotel owner?), restaurants, retail, and marina activities, there are a lot of people benefiting there. The trickle down to the less afluent is real also. It is also my belief that fishing by locals increases before and after the tournament, and this has it's own trickle down.

If you consider damage to a body of water, this needs real evidence, and I can't say either way as to what damage is done; it should be analyzed in short, medium, and long term considerations.

As far as Ray Scott, you have to give credit where credit is due. This man is a visionary, like it or not. He blazed the way for other national, regional, and local clubs. He helped TV shows, lure companies, boat companies, etc. to become thriving business, which created massive trickle down, by organizing a sport.

Truly, I could care less one way or another. I subscribe to Bassmaster Magazine because I like some of the information content, but I could care less who was angler of the year. It's just like Playboy - I only get it for the articles.

Now some of us could have the feeling that he took what we consider to be a sacred hobby or interest, and blew it up into something that is not so far behind NASCAR. We may not like the wheels of progress sometimes, but let's not get crushed by them either. An example would be if you discover a music band that you really like, before they made it big; once they make it big, a lot of people would say they sold out. I think that the greater reality is that the band is just way more popular now.

Final comment for now: I would estimate that the Bassmasters Classic, that was in Pitt. a few months back, spent in the range of $10,000 to $20,000.00 in the efforts to keep the fish alive in order to be put back in the native water. There was a pretty sophisticated operation set up right under the weigh-in table platform. In one way to look at it, they want those fish to become bigger more than the locals.

I have no strong feelings about Bass tournaments one way or the other. After reading all the pros and cons above, I will say that I doubt they will ever bother me as much as the extremely heavy non-fishing use of public waters - the ski boats, the pontoon boats constituting floating celebrations, and the "personal watercraft."

Many issues all mixed up with folks with different ideas from different parts of the country. I will try to stick to the facts for each to put into the equation so they can form their own opinion.

The effects of bed or sight fishing has been studied with mixed results depending on location and type of fish. It is not limited to LMB but also BG. In general bed fishing has little effect on either specie in southern waters but can cause harm in northern waters. The factors in the differences are the length of the spawn period and the productivity of the water (growing season and trophic classification). With a short and compact spawn period for bass in northern climes and a short growing season along with the cold winters effects on yoy bass survival taking bass off the nest can cause serious recruitment problems if the bass are kept off the nest for long. This is not so for southern lakes which do not have these factors. The spawn in southern waters is more spread out and may span several mths. between late Feb. to June and fish who are not successful may spawn again. Not so up north usualy one mth. in length. Same for BG with a few different factors. Yes it is possible to take to many large Male BG off the nests up north and cause an imbalance in BG populations with the resulting problems of stunting .

Most of the public $ that go into fishing come from 2 sources -- fishing lisc. fees and Fed. $ from Wallop-Breaux ( a tax on fishing and boating equip. paid by boaters and fisherman same for hunting). Not only does it fund lakes and hatcheries and State agencies but also research at univ. around the country. Very little general fund tax dollars go to fishing and hunting.

Public waters are a mess mostly because of jet ski and boat traffic not fishermen. An exception is when 200 bass boats take off at once accross a lake.

Bass is not run by Scott and in some respects he has a different opinion on some subjects like private property. Bass is often anti-private property when it comes to water rights and envior. matters. Scott is pro-private property and is one of several founders of a group to protect landowners rights to do things like build a pond. Bass has fought hard to keep all Wallop-Breaux funds restricted to fishing and hunting when the envior. wackos and antis and their reps. try to divert it to other uses. I am a Bass member but am against many of their positions esp. as they relate to private property rights. Enough for now. ewest

I'm kinda ambivalent about the whole matter of tournament fishing. Like Sunil says, it does bring in a lot of $ to the small towns that spring up around rural bodies of water. Without tournaments, a lot of them would be hurting. Since tax dollars build the lakes, plus provide the initial and subsequent stockings, I think the tourney guys have the same rights that I do. Rude people operating personal watercraft is another matter but we can't do much about the sorry bastards.

Sunil, you show great potential. Your remark about Playboy qualifies you for honorary Texan status. Send $19.95 and you will receive your own select grade meadow muffin suitable for framing. We're overstocked on BS down here. I've collected quite a few beauties while searching for a giant economy size for Theo.

Quote: “Many pros are great ambassadors for fishing. I think a significant number of people watch them on TV and get into fishing. Fishing programs and tournaments encourage not only fishermen, but encourage states to create more lakes, and better maintain existing waters. I'm sure many private ponds have been built because of the influence of pro bass fishermen”

Quote: “As far as Ray Scott, you have to give credit where credit is due. This man is a visionary, like it or not. He blazed the way for other national, regional, and local clubs. He helped TV shows, lure companies, boat companies, etc. to become thriving business, which created massive trickle down, by organizing a sport.”

I’ve watched quiet few fishing shows in my time, and a couple I remember are/were a good influence and surely introduced many into the sport. The others are out and our hucksters, including the gentleman on PB magazzine cover with Mr. Lusk.

I suppose I do have to give him some credit tho – I believe he was removed from his position with BASS before the current craze pf “pro” fishermen running up and down the lake in Nascar outfits, dancing and hollering on the deck of their $50K monster boats, whenever catching a dink bass.

Just my opinion for what it’s worth.

Actually that is very common practice at the amatuer level of tournament fishing that I do, we draw for partners and your partner verifys the length and the fish is released. This is the norm on most of the club tournement fishing around here. There are close to 30 clubs that are affiliated with the NE BASS Federation, most of them practice this type of paper tournament all the time, having a live weigh in requires a lot of work to set up.

It is primarily in the bigger money tournements that people enter that live weigh ins occur, these are mostly at the professionally level, these usually occur on very large resevoirs. Even us amatuers at the larger events will have a live weigh ins once a year. The NE BASS Federation State Tournament rotates between Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Resevoir, Grand Lake of the Cherokees, and Table Rock. I can tell you that finding and locating LMBs on big resevoirs like that is a whole different ball game when it comes to catching fish. Frequently more than half the field gets blanked every day just trying to catch a 15" keeper and there are usually 150-200 guys NE State Tournament every year. As I said earlier, it make me appreciate the quality of the fishing in our pond that much more. On the same note, club fishing has made me a much better fisherman.

IMO, there are a lot of pleasure boaters out that cause more havoc on public waters than any other group, if you hate jet skiers, raise your hand.

Although my initial comments weren't directed entirely at Tournament Pro's I think the basic premise I am against is the same regardless of who does it. (I just expect better from so-called pro's and Professional establishment). If you want to take Bass or any other species off the spawning beds in your own private body of water as part of your management program or just for fun, that is one thing, but to do so in public waters where you are making a decision that may affect the enjoyment of said waters for a greater populace is wrong.

As for Tournament effects on fish populations. Even when the fish are all successfully released alive, whether they came off the spawning bed or not, relocating fish potentially miles away from where they were caught HAS to have some effect on the fishery. I know that one of my favourite lakes was a phenomenal bass fishery, top 5 in Ontario, UNTIL they started allowing tournaments, now it has dropped off the top 10 list. (I believe partly due to the fact the fish are released at the weigh-in boat ramp area which is 2+ miles up a river off the main lake.)

Sunil,

You make some good points regarding the local economy, although it is certainly arguable as to whether or not a national tournament actually increases or decreases the local fishing and enjoyment of public lakes.

My problem with "Pros" is much more a mental, attitude thing than it is an economic issue. The tournament mentality is not what I personally would like to see fishing become in the future.

You may call it progress to race all over a lake with 200 hp engines and every electronic device available to aid in catching every dink possible to make your weight higher. I don't. That is a personal choice. Competition in fishing should be between the fisher and the fish not among the fishers. Again, that's just my personal opinion.

Certainly, I'm not advocating restricting the freedoms of individuals to choose the manner in which they wish to fish. However, when those choices adversely affect others who pay their dues, then I think considerations should be made.

Tournament fishing isn't going to go away. If anything, it will probably grow with the huge $ being spent on marketing. If that's progress in your mind, so be it.

I wonder why we haven't seen the advent of "tournament hunting"? Maybe that also will be part of our future.

ML, those 21ft bass boats with 250 HP motors are not big enough on lakes like Lake of the Ozarks after Memorial day. There are simply just too many 30-40 ft pleasure boats running around putting out 4 and 5ft high boat wakes that make running a bass boat that size very hazardous on the weekends. I don't know if you have ever heard of Party Cove down at Lake of the Ozarks, during the summer there is an average of 4000 plus large pleasure boats partying in that cove on any given Friday or Saturday night. I know this because one of the guys in my club has a summer house on Lake of the Ozarks. On the fourth of July there are usually 70,000 boats on the water down there. IMO, a large money tournament with 200 contestents and 100 boats on a lake that size does not have any significant impact on others.

Shorty,

Yep, I fished Lake of the Ozarks many times long before "pros" were ever even a dream. Fished Table Rock with plastic worms before the lake and the plastic worm were "discovered". In fact, have probably fished every public water system in Southwest Missouri. I didn't need 250 hp then to catch fish, nor do I need them now....but to each his own.

The older I get the less "stuff" I want or need. Just give me a couple of feathers, a hook, and fly rod and I'll catch my share of fish....heck don't even have to have the fly rod, for that matter.

I don't know why the "stuff" is no longer important to me, but it is just not important...does not mean anyone else is wrong, just means I'm getting older, I guess.

My personal opinion is that pro tournament fishing takes the pleasure out of catching fish and makes fishing seem more like work. It is the primary reason I have no interest in fishing on a pro level.

BTW - I came real close to getting killed down at Lake of the Ozarks this Spring during NE Fed tournament, having bass boats bump hulls at 50 mph is realy spooky, especially when the nose of the other boat came over the front deck of the boat I was a passenger in.

ML wrote: "If that's progress in your mind, so be it."

I agree with you, ML, that progress can be good and bad. However, just because I think that the new advancements in fish finders, etc. are kind of bogus and not reflective of one's fishing skills, it does not mean that one can't call it progress. A good example is stem cells and stem cell research.

Dave D. Thanks. I try. I will proudly mount any meadow muffins that you care to send, prominently on my home's walls for all to see.

Re: watercraft, skiers and such. I did my share of skiing as a kid; but people are not as aware of what their fun can do to others as in the'good ole days'. I would like skiers and watercraft operators to be required to purchase some kind of usage license on public waters.

Lot's of good points being discussed. My main problem is that no one should be able to make money off a limited resource that belongs to all of us. Because as soon as you allow this you destroy the ability of the average guy to enjoy the resource. Just look at Europe. Any ideas how hard it is for the common guy to fish or hunt there? Doesn't happen, you have to have money. Things got that way for different reasons there in that they let wealthy people own waters that are considered public in this country. Even if we never let people own the lakes the affect is the same if they either dominate the water or make it too expensive to fish. Thankfully in Minnesota we've always protected any decent sized lake as public. But we have had instances where land owners try to get public access closed so they can have the lakes to themselves. Then they can keep the resource to themselves, charge people for access to the lakes, or reserve it for tournaments with lots of money. Thankfully there have only been a few isolated attempts to do this but more money will make it happen more often. That's my objection. Go ahead and have the clubs and groups that have contests for fun but as soon as big money is involved people get greedy.

I agree with bz about lots of good points being discussed. I don't hold a strong opinion on the subject, but have been fascinated with the good quality, civil discussion. That's one of the greatest things about this forum. Exchange of ideas without excessive hurt feelings or injured egos. It's inestimable how much I've learned here.

Public interest will always attract bug bucks which fuels further public interest/marketing. It gives the incentive for product innovation; not all of which pays off for the developer(s). Risk management goes just so far, then the purchasers make the final decision. Without public interest, the F1 bass prograns, hybrid stripers and a lot of things would not have been developed. I think BASS and competitive fishing have been key to these developments.

I don't need a $50,000 boat to catch fish. Nor do I need to use a $15 crank bait. Although I own neither if those things, I'm glad I have the opportunity to purchase and use them. Competitive participants are active consumers of these products; I'm passive.

Bruce, you've also handed out an inestimable amount of information here. Thanks to you and a bunch of others! My knowledge has really evolved here. At one time, I thought I knew what I was doing on water holes. Now, I realize that I have only scratched the surface. Hope I never stop itching.

Ml, I too do not have a big bass boat but have more problems with boaters and jet skiers, etc than tournamanet fisherman. The tourneys do alot of good gettng kids involved. These kids may not have like you and I learned this from our dads taking us when we were young. They have kids casting days etc.

For 4 yrs I was responsible for data entry for tournament reports. This was required by every Bass Fed club in GA. ABout 300-500/yer. It supplied great trend data on catchbaility, etc. By professor reported some this info in In-Fisherman a few years ago from his 20 yrs of doing this. IMHO this supplies bilogist better info they can get from one afternoon of boat shocking. So this is another example of teh beneftis from these tournaments.

Actually I to have had the most problems on the public lakes with nonfisherman boaters. They have no concept of respect for anglers. And I have had property owners try and shut me out of a lake by harrassing me.

A few years back when I did a outdoor column for a local newspaper, I put out a feeler to see if there was interest in reviving a 10 mph speed limit in the morning on local lakes to give the average angler a level playing field. I did have lots of interest, and even had one tournament fisherman say he could live with it, as with the size of our local lakes (most under 200 acres) there was no need to be racing around the lake.

Problem was the boating law administrator that sat behind a desk in Indianapolis didn't know his butt from a hole in the ground. When I referred him to a lake on the Michigan line that had a 10 mph speed limit and that it worked quite well he said he WAS NOT AWARE OF ANY LAKES like that in INDIANA and would have to check with the head of law enforcement up there. (Obviously he had never been there as there is a big sign at the boat ramp saying so) I then informed him, "I hate to tell you this but that guy has been retired for at least 3 years!"

Anyway what it comes down to is it's a good idea but no one wants to go out on the limb to push for it. And anglers are not organized. They're too lazy. As far as DNR employees it would jeapordize their jobs of which they want to keep and collect a pension on. And it would be political suicide for a politician as the boating industry is very strong in this state. (We make most of the major brands of boat here)

Case in point: All of the major fishing programs in this state, musky program, trout program, walleye program, steelhead program etc have been started by private individuals and then the state takes over and takes the credit. State employees do not think out of the box! They want to play it safe.

Cecil,

This may be a far fetched line of thinking...but I wonder how much "tournament" fishing and the associated image of redneck good old boys has played to the average nonfishing person, who is constantly barraged by PETA and such organizations about the evils of fishing.

Isn't it possible that the tournament trend with the TV shows of screaming anglers slinging around their fish could very well play to the PETA propaganda and influence the thinking of the average nonfishing but boating loving person?

I know of a lot of people who, rightly or wrongly, point to the tournament behavior as exemplifing all fishing and I believe it gives the rest of us an image problem. Like I said, this may be a far fetched line of thinking, but tournament mentality has not helped the image of the average fisher in the minds of those who do not fish.

PETA DOES focus on the catch and release issue as a possible way to sway public opinion against fishing. Their agenda is what is know as "progressive", meaning that they will try to find an inroad, then move towards more and more extreme designs. Start with an attack on catch and release, then move to all fishing as immoral. An extremely interesting result of PETA motives can be seen on ESPN every Saturday morning. It used to be that in hunting shows you would never see the "impact" shot. The hunter would take aim, pull the trigger, and "voila", there would be a dead animal. There would never be the shot of the actual impact of bullet or arrow to flesh. PETA's argument was that if hunting's OK, then why are you afraid to show the viscious hit? Well, to their credit, ESPN now shows the impact. I applaud them for that because basically what we're saying is "we're not embarrassed that we function as a predator on this planet".

Look at the eyes of any animal (birds, mammals in particular) on this planet.

Eyes set to side of head = prey

This is necessary to see threats at a long distance and from any direction.

Eyes set to the front of head = predator

This is necessary to use stereoscopic vision to ascertain prey distance and movement.

Now look in the mirror.

If you're a PETA member, you can probably only do this with one eye at a time.

Bruce,

Very interesting post. I loudly applaud your statement about not being ashamed of being a predator.

Theo,