Sucker's

[coearle]

I was down at the South Saskatchewan River yesterday and I must say I'm shocked at how some people treat these fish. Every time I am down there I see people kicking them back into the water and then watch them float away. I understand that some people don't like them because they are notorious bait stealers, but they are part of the river and a fact of life if you choose to fish these places. Ultimately I don't understand why anyone would kill them by kicking them into the water. If all I catch when I'm fishing these areas are sucker's - I'm a happy man, better than being skunked and better than working!

Just my 2 cent's.

[Jasonp]

We caught one with an elastic band over its gills.

[Jimboy]

Originally Posted by coearle

I was down at the South Saskatchewan River yesterday and I must say I'm shocked at how some people treat these fish. Every time I am down there I see people kicking them back into the water and then watch them float away. I understand that some people don't like them because they are notorious bait stealers, but they are part of the river and a fact of life if you choose to fish these places. Ultimately I don't understand why anyone would kill them by kicking them into the water. If all I catch when I'm fishing these areas are sucker's - I'm a happy man, better than being skunked and better than working!

Just my 2 cent's.

They are equivalent to a mudhen in the middle of a bunch of mallards in the duck population , eatum if you like , but with a mouth like a condom , l dont touch them .
l guess what turned me off suckers was back when the dr Ballard dog food plant was at the end of nose creek as it entered the bow in Calgary , there was a cestpool there where all the blood from the slaughter house was drained into along with feces and guts , was also drained into the river , well the stench was so bad you couldnt get within 100 ft of it , walked past it once with hankie over my face , the place was loaded with suckers having a field day in there , hope l didnt ruin your supper of suckers , lf l catch one ,l,ll give it the boot as well , ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[FishingFrenzy]

Originally Posted by Jimboy

They are equivalent to a mudhen in the middle of a bunch of mallards in the duck population , eatum if you like , but with a mouth like a condom , l dont touch them .
l guess what turned me off suckers was back when the dr Ballard dog food plant was at the end of nose creek as it entered the bow in Calgary , there was a cestpool there where all the blood from the slaughter house was drained into along with feces and guts , was also drained into the river , well the stench was so bad you couldnt get within 100 ft of it , walked past it once with hankie over my face , the place was loaded with suckers having a field day in there , hope l didnt ruin your supper of suckers , lf l catch one ,l,ll give it the boot as well , ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Wow. People like you...
Just because you dont want to eat them there's no reason to kill them pointlessly. Just pull out the hook and release them like any other fish.. You cant eat walleye out of the NSR but do you kill them and then throw them back? I doubt it...
So basically you kill suckers because you don't like what they eat? Its a fact that suckers are bottom feeders.. along with sturgeon. Yes that means they eat waste matter.. but who gives? They recycle matter and are an important part of the aquatic ecosystem..

And if were considering this merely from a sportfishing perspective without considering enviromental impact.. suckers put up as good a fight as most other fish in Alberta.. yes, there not much for eating but there are plenty of waterbodies where you cant keep fish anyway...

[Albertafisher]

Originally Posted by FishingFrenzy

Wow. People like you...
Just because you dont want to eat them there's no reason to kill them pointlessly. Just pull out the hook and release them like any other fish.. You cant eat walleye out of the NSR but do you kill them and then throw them back? I doubt it...
So basically you kill suckers because you don't like what they eat? Its a fact that suckers are bottom feeders.. along with sturgeon. Yes that means they eat waste matter.. but who gives? They recycle matter and are an important part of the aquatic ecosystem..

And if were considering this merely from a sportfishing perspective without considering enviromental impact.. suckers put up as good a fight as most other fish in Alberta.. yes, there not much for eating but there are plenty of waterbodies where you cant keep fish anyway...

2X,
We don't need to harm fish regardless of species, size slot, or whatever. Just treat the fish with respect, and good fishing karma will follow you.

[trigger7mm]

X3!!

[zabbo]

Valuable part of the river system. The one that cleans up all the crap.
Not pretty to look at, but the river may not be so pretty to look at without them.

[drifter]

Originally Posted by Jasonp

We caught one with an elastic band over its gills.

I can't believe that some one would actually do this.

[Alberta Bigbore]

if there was no suckers... Buckmaster would have nothing to catch !!!!

[TyreeUM]

Originally Posted by Jimboy

They are equivalent to a mudhen in the middle of a bunch of mallards in the duck population , eatum if you like , but with a mouth like a condom , l dont touch them .
l guess what turned me off suckers was back when the dr Ballard dog food plant was at the end of nose creek as it entered the bow in Calgary , there was a cestpool there where all the blood from the slaughter house was drained into along with feces and guts , was also drained into the river , well the stench was so bad you couldnt get within 100 ft of it , walked past it once with hankie over my face , the place was loaded with suckers having a field day in there , hope l didnt ruin your supper of suckers , lf l catch one ,l,ll give it the boot as well , ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I take them suckers and boot em right back into the crick them things came outa, I ain't gots no purpose for them and I reckon they aint gots no real good purpose for bein theres either. Dad always learned me to kill any fish that aint no pickerel or jackfish cus there just aint enough room for all em. You don't need no book learnin to know them things aint no good...

[Albertafisher]

Originally Posted by TyreeUM

I take them suckers and boot em right back into the crick them things came outa, I ain't gots no purpose for them and I reckon they aint gots no real good purpose for bein theres either. Dad always learned me to kill any fish that aint no pickerel or jackfish cus there just aint enough room for all em. You don't need no book learnin to know them things aint no good...

[vcmm]

Originally Posted by zabbo

valuable part of the river system. The one that cleans up all the crap.
Not pretty to look at, but the river may not be so pretty to look at without them.

well said

[Teamprotz]

Originally Posted by TyreeUM

I take them suckers and boot em right back into the crick them things came outa, I ain't gots no purpose for them and I reckon they aint gots no real good purpose for bein theres either. Dad always learned me to kill any fish that aint no pickerel or jackfish cus there just aint enough room for all em. You don't need no book learnin to know them things aint no good...

That musta took some thinkin puttin those thoughts inta words !

[justinO]

Hahah x10 TyreeUM, There's a thread about rating Alberta's management system. Although I don't think our management is good at all. I believe pure ignorance and disregard for our wildlife by some people is worse. I wish I would see someone kicking a fish back The first thing I teach someone new I take out is respect for the fish or animal we pursue, that is the most important part of what we do.
And too the people who think you should mistreat a fish because how or what they eat I think you need to give your head a shake.
Look into what crustaceans and molluscs eat, and the most popular eating fish in the south the catfish what do they eat?? Hope I didn't ruin red lobsters popularity....

[TyreeUM]

not to mention they don't eat garbage, in fact they eat a lot of the same food trout do. They are also an incredibly important food source for pike and walleye and pound for pound are some of the best fighting fish in western canada. From a pure sporting prospective, I don't eat walleye out of the river and would much rather hook a 6 pound sucker than a walleye any day...

[TyreeUM]

Originally Posted by Teamprotz

That musta took some thinkin puttin those thoughts inta words !

I had to really dig deep into my southern roots to pull that one out...

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by Jimboy

They are equivalent to a mudhen in the middle of a bunch of mallards in the duck population , eatum if you like , but with a mouth like a condom , l dont touch them .
l guess what turned me off suckers was back when the dr Ballard dog food plant was at the end of nose creek as it entered the bow in Calgary , there was a cestpool there where all the blood from the slaughter house was drained into along with feces and guts , was also drained into the river , well the stench was so bad you couldnt get within 100 ft of it , walked past it once with hankie over my face , the place was loaded with suckers having a field day in there , hope l didnt ruin your supper of suckers , lf l catch one ,l,ll give it the boot as well , ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Just when I thought I'd heard it all, along comes Jimboy.

[drhu22]

re: You don't need no book learnin to know them things aint no good...

Book lernin aint al its craked up to be

redfrog that is one cool avatar!

[Pike'n'walleye]

I totally agree with the fact that Suckers clean up the rivers from all the junk! And regarding catching them...i dont know what people dont like about catching Suckers...Many species like suckers, Whitefish or goldeye are often overlooked however they give an awesome fight! have you every caught a 6 pound sucker on a 4 weight flyrod? Its fun...just toss them back in the water...they are not haming anyone in any way. Infact only keeping our water clean. They are not an invasive specie!

[BeeGuy]

I agree. A 2lb sucker is what makes a 25lb pike.

On another note: I've heard that in some water bodies there is one born every minute...

[TreeGuy]

Killing suckers is old school thinking that many of us were taught from childhood.

I grew up 500 yards away from a fine Atlantic salmon stream. Basically the school of thought was that they would eat all of the eggs of the salmon and trout. Thus by killing them you were protecting those more desirable species. And kill them we did.

Times have changed and most folks know better now.

[pattycr125]

i like catching fish, it's all good you never know what you got till its five feet away anyways

[Dust1n]

This is the same background the bull trout came from...Junkfish...a sucker has alot of roles in a eco system they eacts insects,provide food for larger game and eat other crap too. with out them say goodbye to 20lb pike/musky.
if we kill all of them off our moquito population would go up,less big pike,ect
we cant infer with it...

[Rascal4now]

Well said!

[chubbdarter]

a big sucker population isnt all good either

[TyreeUM]

Originally Posted by chubbdarter

a big sucker population isnt all good either

tell that to family radio...

[BGSH]

Have not caught a red tail sucker or a qualeback sucker yet this year in the n.s.r, all white suckers and longnose suckers, i always release them and if nothing elese is biting you know suckers all ways will. What a blast

[chubbdarter]

many a mountain stream has been destroyed by suckers after a dam has been built on the main trib

[scudman]

Originally Posted by chubbdarter

many a mountain stream has been destroyed by suckers after a dam has been built on the main trib

A few lakes I know of back in B.C have been overrun by suckers. Some were poisoned off to kill all the suckers and squawfish.

[carterM]

Originally Posted by chubbdarter

many a mountain stream has been destroyed by suckers after a dam has been built on the main trib

Well, I'd argue that it's not the suckers that destroyed that mountain stream but whoever decided to build a dam without knowing (caring??) what was going to happen afterwards. It's like people blaming wolves for declining caribou populations when the only reason the wolves can catch a caribou is because we've knocked down so much forest the wolves can run them donw.