Quote:
Originally Posted by chubbdarter
i forgot to vote....any suggestions?
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I have a "suggestion" but it's not on how you vote...
Anywhoooo...... HunterDave, I think the issue is that by looking at special regs on our streams (the Bow, North Ram, etc, you can see what a difference they make). You can not tell me that fishing on the Bow would be as good or as much fun if there weren't 20"+ fish in there, and a lot of them. We want similar experiences on stillwater fisheries as well.
And NO, bullshead is not enough... there are over a million people in Calgary and many, many fishermen. It's not enough.
And the lakes that you do regularly catch 20" fish, you better guard them like the holy grail, because there will be less and less isolated lakes and more and more fishermen. My guess is that in 5 years you will be back on this forum complaining that the places you used to be able to catch bigger fish and find a little solitude, are not nearly what they used to be. That is of course, unless more restrictive regs and better stocking rates are implemented on MANY more waterbodies (no, not all...relax) to better reflect the growing number of anglers and the concerns of those anglers.
And let me again attempt to tackle the "easier" question that you keep bringing up. I love fishing the North Raven River. I love flyfishing there because it is a fantastic challenge. Even though there are a lot of fish in there, and many, many big fish, you can't go there expecting to catch one of them. I've been skunked a few times (usually really early in the year) but I've also experienced some phenomenal fishing days with several fish over 20" on the dry. I prefer the flyrod there because it just adds to the challenge. If it wasn't so difficult or as technical of a fishery and had lots of tiny fish, I wouldn't love going there nearly as much. With the amount of fishing pressure it gets, I know I'm not alone.
Same thing goes for lakes. It's easy catching 5 little hatchery fish that have just been stocked. Heck, I could probably just tie a fly that looks like the fish pellets they feed them and have a hay-day catching everything in sight. However, for there to be much sport in it, then there does need to be a chance of catching a big fish. The old saying, "they don't get big by being stupid," is true in most lakes. Catching a big fish isn't just about its size but about the challenge of not only hooking it, but in trying to get the beast to the boat as well. If anything, I don't want easier fishing, I want more difficult fishing (at least for the larger ones. If there are still some stocked yearly, there should still be some push-over fish for kids and beginners to get into).
Fishing is a "sport" still right? Maybe you like to play hockey against a bunch of kids and call that sport, but I don't. Maybe you like to go fishing just to fill your freezer, but again, that's not sport; that's subsidizing your grocery bill (although it would be much cheaper just to buy 5 fish from your grocery store).
You talk about how great the Bow is but then when someone wants a similar experience on a lake, suddenly it's a big deal? I don't get it. Unless of course, you don't think the Bow is that great of a fishery, in which case, enjoy Disneyland!
Cheers.