How do you educate someone who refuses to listen

General musky fishing discussions and questions.

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Bomba
Posts: 615
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:19 am
Location: Birch Run

How do you educate someone who refuses to listen

Post by Bomba » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:06 am

Last night I decided to stop into the Local Bait shop.... What a mistake!!!! On their little brag board were pictures of 6 fish,
50", 49", 47", 43", 42", 42"... ALL WERE KEPT....The gentleman working started telling me how the one guy ( who had 3 of the fish) gutted the 43" out and it had 5 bluegills in it.. And how those big fish eat anything they want, perch walleye bluegill and crappie.. I tried to explain to him that yes they will eat those fish but it's not their first choice, carp, suckers, would be their choice if they had it, which they do in this lake..
Then he started telling me how the guy who had caught 3 of the fish was fishing, he cathces small bluegill throws them on a hook with a bobber and leaves them sit out...This guy keeps every musky he catches doing this and he fishes EVERY SINGLE DAY like this...he supposedly even keeps the undersize fish, but no one has actually seen him do it, just talk about it..
then the guy in the shop starts telling me about a tournament this September that is being held on the lake and that they catch and keep all of these fish because the lake is overrun with them.. they need thinned out.. I told him I thought the tournament was a catch and release event and he told me no it's a catch and kill, they weigh them in at the park.
At that point, being totally pi$$ed off, I introduced myself to him as the tournament director of the MMA, the guy who was putting on the tournament we was telling me about. He turned kinda red-faced and said oh, umm, then you probably know whats going on with the muskie tournament.... After that point he did a 180 and started trying to tell me where he see's musky when he is bass fishing, and where other guys see them..... and how good a musky is for the ecosystem of the lake.....
Needless to say I left there very disgusted and ready to puke!!!!!!!!! I will not be visiting this store again thats for sure.....
Now back the the bobber fisherman... In talking with Scott while fishing last night a few members of our club has seen this bobber fisherman
with more than 2 lines out, have called the RAP line on him with him only reeling in the extra rods when he see's other boats approaching. he's even called the RAP line on a couple members of the MMA for supposedly harassing him while fishing......
How do you stop someone from doing this? yes they are all legal size fish, and by law he has the right to keep them.. Sanford is a tough enough lake to fish as it is with out a major part of the "bigger fish" population being taken out by "joe local" who likes to eat them.
It was a restless night for me, i didn't get much sleep from being so sick and pi$$ed off....... :twisted: :twisted:
The MMA does alot of good things but obviously we aren't doing enough...
If its happening here I'm sure it's happening on other lakes as well....
Don Bomba




"PASS IT ON"

Scrappy
Posts: 380
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:02 pm
Location: Sanford, MI

Post by Scrappy » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:16 am

Singing to the choir there Don. Now you know the level of ignorance we Sanford locals experience on a near daily basis. It pains me that folks keep and cook the skis in Sanford but unless you catch them breaking the law, you can't stop them from keeping them over 42. You can talk to them, try to educate them and change their mind. After that, it's up to them. Frustrating, you bet... but like my Mom says, you can only bang your head against the wall so many times before you drive yourself crazy.

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MuskyPimp
Posts: 255
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 2:27 am
Location: Manistee, MI

Post by MuskyPimp » Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:18 am

You could fire bomb his tow vehicle :wink: Okay, I am kidding!!!!! But on a serious note, you have to have a camera with you, so before calling the rap line get some pics of his multiple lines since this is his only infraction .
It sucks to see big fish taken out of system but it is legal. Last weekend I fished a big water tourney(salmon) after the 1st days weigh-in we ran to a sports shop to grab more cut bait, while I was there wearing a musky hunter hat I had a guy come up to me and start talking muskie fishing. It seems he caught a 54" saturday and a 43"sunday(he had the pics) from Elk the prior weekend, not only did he keep the 1st fish but after checking the price for a mount he ended up steaking it and giving it to his fathers neighbors, in return they gave him some old muskie tackle which he used to catch the 43" the next day. The second fish was also given to the neighbors and he received more equipment. I hope that after our 35 minute conversation that he may think twice about keeping every muskie he catches, but with the exchange program he has who knows?
As for the bait shop maybe you can get them to post some lit. or signs promoting catch and release? I believe that is the same baitshop that Kevin and I stopped into a few years back and were shocked by the number of pictures labled pike from 30"-38",they had in a drawer, mostly from ice fishing and better than half of them MUSKIES!
All you can do is keep trying to enlighten those guys who have to keep every big fish they catch to prove their manhood, because I doubt many of the "meat-fishers" will ever change their mind. :evil:
David Anderson

The more we count the blessings we have, the less we crave the luxuries we don't have - William Ward

muskyguy
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 6:10 pm
Location: escanaba

Post by muskyguy » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:32 pm

We've got the same problem up here in the U.P. It's bad enough that some guys up here are keeping fish, but 90% of these fish are destined for a trash can after the angler has burned 10 rolls of film and dragged their conquest all over town just to prove how big his testicles are. What really bugs me is the pictures you see of a guy in his garage or next to his truck hefting a fish and the captions read "caught and released". Right, released where; the fry pan or the trash can. It's enough to make my blood boil.

GREG
GREG

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Mike Stinson
Posts: 127
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:29 am
Location: Rockford, MI

Post by Mike Stinson » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:29 pm

Ok, this is kind of a New Topic but creates some of the same General Feelings for me:

My favorite has to be the picture in the Aug/Sept MH magazine of the 53” held by a young man that is standing in the grass next to the boat on the trailer; this fish was caught in Antrim County Mi. My second favorite picture would have to be the picture on the same page of a 47” being held by the Gill Plates. Hell, the only type of Picture that was missing from this issue is someone holding a Muskie by the eye balls, but I’m sure they are saving that for the fall issue. My letter has been sent, and this is my last issue!

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