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Post by UPS VT on Mar 14, 2011 18:41:42 GMT -5
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Post by vtbass on Mar 15, 2011 21:22:48 GMT -5
How is this any different than a dead bass from our tournament? Or someone harvesting this same 6 pounder in the summer? It's not illegal and doesn't make them a criminal.
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Post by UPS VT on Mar 16, 2011 6:26:10 GMT -5
I did not say it is criminal. I just do not like how the ice fishing derbies nail fish to the board and do not have catch and release options. They kill more fish in one tournament than we do in most seasons.
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Post by brianchico on Mar 16, 2011 9:26:35 GMT -5
I have no problems with the ice derbies catching bass. I trust our F&W department to regulate the take of fish. I have participated in and weighed in fish at these derbies. I have also take my share of bass home to eat.
These derbies are used for good cause. The Lake Bomoseen derby is hosted by the Castleton Lions Club. They use the proceeds from that derby and from the fish fry, which they usedall of the fish weighed in for, to give scholarships to high school seniors going to college the next year. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of one of those. It bought books for me for two semesters. Considering my financial situation when I started college, it was very much appreciated.
Catch and release is very hard while ice fishing. I have been out days when the fish would freeze almost instantly when pulled form the lake. But, it is possible, I have heard that the 22 pound pike that won this derby was released alive after weigh-in.
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Post by vtbass on Mar 16, 2011 10:27:31 GMT -5
I do hope that, like Brian, more people trust the fact that the Department of Fish & Wildlife has dedicated fisheries biologists whose job is to monitor and manage fisheries resources for all user groups. And that includes folks who want to harvest a fish, regardless of the size.
Winter or summer, nailed to a board or hung on stringer over the side of a boat, a dead bass is a dead bass. I've heard these complaints for years, that all those 5-lb and 6-lb bass are getting taken out of the lake by people fishing for money in winter derbies. Interestingly, those complaints often come from people who want to catch those same fish in the summer for money.
People still seems to catch 5 and 6 lb bass, even though fish this size have been harvested in both the summer and winter for years. Why? Beacuse we have good habitat, healthy lakes, abundant natural reproduction, plentiful food resources, and excellent size and age structure and growth rates in our bass populations.
I don't understand the feeling of wanting to cry because someone has caught and decided to keep a nice bass. Biologically, there's nothing to support the opinion that this is harmful to the population.
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Post by UPS VT on Mar 17, 2011 6:35:28 GMT -5
I do trust our biologists, or at least some of them  ;D I would be just as upset if we nailed our fish to a board. If they have a fish fry at the end of the derby great!!! I have "heard" that several of these derbies just leave fish on the ice to waste. I don't know if it really happens because I do not have first hand knowledge of it. If that is true, I would have a serious problem with that. |
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;D