[Jimboy]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

Howdy Jimboy.

I believe everyone gets where you are coming from. You had some fabulous fishing back in the good old days when fishermen were few and far between and there was lots of fish to go around and then around again. Back then rules were lax and limits were high and old timers could fill their freezers and eat regulars meals of tasty fish.


We all have those stories about when we were young and the new kids today will tell the same story of sorts in 50 years.

Trouble with stories is the message you are reading is not what most of us are hearing.


We hear...

1. caught and killed most fish we hooked.
   
2. There are not as many fish around place now and now we can get skunked
   
3. Transferred sucker minnows all over the Province.
   
4. We hated people fishing our spots
   
5. We hated the influx of fishermen consuming our fish
   
6. We hated having regulations implemented to protect fish stocks in general
   
7. We want to just stock and restock rather than have any naturally reproducing viable fisheries.
   
8. We loved it when it was cheap back in the 50's...before inflation and time made things cost more.
   
9. When we flyfished...it was cool...when others started they were lame.
   
10. I can't catch fish on barbless spinners in the river any more.
    
11. The petroleum industry has destroyed the glass jar business.
    
12. Guys that like to fish just for the relaxation and enjoyment are stupid.
    
13. If you ain't killing...you ain't fishing.
    
14. People that own land along the river suck cause they stopped us from trespassing with gates and fences.
    
15. I don't believe in conservation...it is just a conspiracy of the wealthy elite to restrict my right to kill everything.
    
16. All Bow River fishermen are idiots.
    
17. If I can't kill a large supper...I ain't fishing.
    
18. There was tons of fish in the olden days...lots now...more people fishing...conservation is stupid...don't know if the Bow is stocked...don't fish it anymore...but I can still tell you what is up with that!

Jimboy.

Problem with getting old...besides getting old is trying not to become self absorbed and egocentric. Fishing is not about one person. Fishing is about all sportsmen in Alberta. If the regulations from the 1950's...liberal limits (what was it 10 or 20 trout a day), $2 licence, no anti poaching regulations etc... Can you really look someone in the eye on this forum...take any 12 year old new to fishing and tell him...guarantee ya sonny...the fishing would of been just as good today as it was in the 50's...without all the regulations. The 10,000 X increase in anglers...the 10,000% increase in cost of living over that time...the continued illegal transport of fish...nothing would have negatively impacted the fishery.

Sigh....still Jimboy...all of us that were not fishing in the 50's are envious...not because of the rules we have today...but because you got to experience fishing of such a fine quality before your generation ruined it for the rest of us.

If your generation protected our resource better (can't really fault you because most of the problem was a combination of ignorance, politics and selfish greed) wow...what a fishery we would have today...and the impacts are now hindsight...

IMHO

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA , man you sure are an exageurating story teller .
When my generation ruined it for you , HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA , theres just as many fish now as there was back then , probably more , fish renew themselves by the millions .