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Old 11-01-2017, 09:53 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: West Edmonton
Posts: 5,174
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huntsfurfish View Post
not arguing.
Most anglers back then did not travel far to fish or have the equipment they do now(though pickeral rigs worked in both time periods). Most fishermen did not come home with limits like those shown either. Weather patterns were different. Fish habitat was better(for the most part). Dont think they were putting a lot of stuff on the crops back then either which finds its way into the water.
Water quality was better. Lots of other reasons too. I was fishing Alberta from the late 50's to present. Population doesnt help. Larger amount of seniors now(dont require licence(dont show as licensed angler)) plus more leisure time to fish now than a person had back then too. Poaching larger issue now as well.
Population isnt the only factor but it is a factor and larger than you might think.
Anglers willing to travel farther is an advantage for the fish as it spreads the pressure out more evenly.

The few anglers now that take advantage of technology advancements do have an advantage but most anglers still are very basic and on average don't use fish finders etc. Our fish also have many advantages now too(highly restrictive limits, size restrictions, season closures etc) which negates many of these advantages.

Our angler population hasn't grown that much but one thing that has changed is that a significant portion of that population now fishes for sport rather then food.

Lots of people didn't fill their limits back then but most kept much of what they caught and I can almost guarantee you the pike/walleye kept per angler was significantly higher then it is now(I am guessing at least 10 fold). Many anglers back then could keep more pike/walleye in a day then what most people now keep in a year.

Many people like to say our fisheries would crash if we opened them to even to 1 fish limits with size restrictions but I think all the evidence points to this being very unlikely and the only real dangers come from poaching etc which of course is more prevalent now because it is almost the only way to keep a fish compared to being able to keep almost everything you caught back in the day...
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