Mine is mine and yours is mine! Divide & conquer! Funny how one group of sportsman think that their needs outweigh others.
I ice fish, open water fish, fly, bait; salmon to bluegills...
Ice fishing vs Open water: I have caught (2) 29 inch salmon from Squam Lake while ice fishing, let both of them go. I have to tell you it took a lot of skill to catch both those fish, frozen hands, fingers, keeping the line free (thought I had huge lakers on) ... Released so they could be caught by an open water fisherman. Is this fair?
BASS vs Ice Fishermen: Years ago I figured out how to catch trophy largemouth ice fishing...then comes along BASS with their policy to place severe restrictions on keeping bass caught through the ice...here in ME we are now permitted to keep one bass caught by ice fishing yet up to five during open water. Is this fair? A dead fish is a dead fish whether caught by ice fishing or open water. What I can't believe is the bass tourmaments held during the pre-spawn and when the bass are bedding. Take bass off their beds, run them to the other end of the lake and release them after weigh in. Once those fish are removed from the beds; those beds are dead! If bass are protected during the pre-spawn and spawning season they will do just fine maintaining their population.
Or how about placing smallmouth bass in the live well during the summer when surface water exceeds 75F (which is about max for smallmouths)taking them to the other end of the lake and releasing them, stessed, away from their territory...I fished Saunders Bay one summer on Monday after the tourmament that was run out of Silver Sands and every smallmouth we caught that had been caught and released had fin rot on their dorsal fins, the flesh between the spines had rotted away...
Fly fishing vs... having grown up fly fishing I can tell it is a myth that flies don't injure fish, I caught many brookies that have inhaled the fly, gill hooked; or hit so that the fly turns into their eye, as a sportsman those fish are promptly dispatched and kept for dinner.
I guess I'll throw my two cent in for what its worth. I love to ice fish too, but I usually target warmwater species with my ice fishing. I'll occasionally chase a laker or two, but I'd rather get a mess of yellow or white perch given the chance. I just think that the salmon are too valuable to yank out of a hole onto the ice....I'd much rather see them tailwalking in May than flopping in Feb. Just my opinion.
As for as the TU guys making waters inaccessable by fly fishing only regulation, remember that FFO waters are accessible to all for the cost of a cheap fly rod. Just think how much it costs to access the salmon fishery in Winni.....An awful lot of money goes into managing a salmon fishery for a fairly small number of fishermen(women) who can ante up the cost of a boat, riggers, specialized tackle....the list goes on. I could look like I fell out of an Orvis catalog for much less than my salmon boat costs me each year!! Other than a couple of weeks in the spring when shore-based anglers can reach the salmon, it takes a lot of expensive equipment to chase salmon on the lake. This puts the salmon fishery out of reach of many of the anglers in NH. I'll bet the TU guys might feel that those salmon $$ would be better spent stocking rivers with brookies and rainbows.....It just seems a little more clear if you try to see it from both sides of the coin.
Well, I guess we are all right and all wrong at the same time, so I guess Fish and Game should continue to call the shots, listening to inputs from all of us.
Allot of very good points by all,
John S.
"Who's waiting for ice so I can watch the boys do thier thing, from a spectators view, too **** cold fer me"
