[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Walleyedude

How did age classes get structured and normalize before people were fishing in these lakes? I'm pretty sure nature can look after itself on that one...

Stunting is not normal or unavoidable by any stretch. It requires the assumption that food/forage base is a major limiting factor. I would argue that other than a few rare examples (PCR), forage base is not a significant limiting factor to growth. The rebound at Pigeon is a good example of that. Quit taking all the big fish out because that's all you could keep, and "miraculously" there's more big fish to be caught.

I also don't understand your crusade against fishing with bait. I would STRONGLY oppose any such regulation changes. The stats above show that the difference in mortality between bait and baitless is not significant. The whole idea is for the angler to be able to catch fish. It should be up to the individual angler to make that choice, along with their fishing technique, not someone who feels it makes catching fish "too easy" for the "meatheads". That's the kind of elitism we don't need as outdoorsmen.

A few good high catch rate days in the spring, at obvious hot spots, isn't reason for a knee jerk reaction or criticism of the angler. It's normal, it happens every year. Wait until mid summer when the fish are spread out and all will be back to normal.

Agree, well said