I do have to say this is a tough one. I do agree that trout and some warmwater species need protected better in alot of places. As far as going to the store to buy fish to eat, for trout I agree, you will actually get a little better eating fish then stockers they put in the rivers. When I hear stockers I am use to AR and MO where they stock most streams as a put & take fishery. Bennette Springs, Roaring river, (MO) The little Red and a couple others in (AR) they stock these places either daily or weekly and thats why they do it so folks can come and fish and eat some of what they catch, for rainbows anyway. In MO they stock some small ponds and lakes with trout in the fall and allow fishing C&R only untill late winter early spring, becuse once the water temp warms up the fish will die off anyway.
Here on the Little Red we have a 5 fish limite with only one trout over 24" and anything between 16" and'24" you cant keep. Now they stock every week with bows but they do not stock with browns or cuts or brookies anymore. Most of the year thats fine, you normaly arent gonna catch a bunch of browns anyway, but in the late fall early winter when the browns spwan you can tear them up and like I said before folks let the bows go and keep 5 browns, I have talked with folks about changeing that. Like makeing a 2 or better yet no brown limite in the spwaning season, it usally falls on on deaf ears.
The two main problems with that is public relations and money, land owners, out of state fishers, and even locals that want to go to the river and catch fish and eat them are going to stop fishing and stop buying trout tags. Most conservation Dep. get most of their revanue from the sale of licenes and tags and they dont have enough to do what they need and want to do to start with so its hard for them to pass rules that will hurt them worse.
On another river north of me folks where really hurting teh brown trout dureing spawn and enough folks hollerd and now you can not fish that river at all for like 2-3 months of the year wich is fine unless I am a guide on that river( iam not) that losses 3 months worth of wages from out of state folks that want a shot at a trophy brown, then you have the ripple affect, if the guide dosent have the money they could have then they dont have the money to spend at the store the fishing shop, the walmart, you get the ideal.
Then if they do make C&R rules you have to worry about folks doing it right, not killing the fish the put back, wich 60 perecnt of more do not know how to do right, and you also have to worry about enforcing those laws, most conservation agents have 2-3 counties they cover.
The one good thing though is that with todays medea coverage and the push for C&R on trout and bass (seem to be the big two) and trophy fish there are alot of folks going to C&R on species of fish they didnt in the past, now if we could get the 75% to start useing a little common sense and doing the right thing to protect our fisheries.
I think as guides and conservation minded fishermen/ladies its up to us as well as the local conservation departments to talk to and teach others about not keeping all the fish you catch and the proper ways to practice C&R. I also keep my local conservation officers cell number as well as the local Sherrifes dept. number in my cell phone, if I see someone breaking game and fish laws or putting others at risk or littering I can just pull out the phone and hit a button.
Bear
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