Bait ban .... F n w do you care?

[Dragless]

Went to a coal valley pit lake yesterday this is a lake that has a bait ban and slot size for trout , there was powerbait eggs all over the ice. I'm not going to report it to f n w, I'm going to post what happened to me here and see what kind of response it receives. A Few weeks ago I got a call back from local f n w about a complaint I made almost 10 months before, about the exact same thing, people using bait at a " quality stocked fishery". It's not all that great of a choice for that kind of lake in my opinion considering that, among other faults it is right beside a massive dirt bike track. Anyways, everyone I saw fishing there was using bait so I reported it in May and this guy phoned me last week. I said "yeah that was me I thought we had it all settled". He said " Oh alright, so you know baits allowed there, it's a stocked trout lake...." I know the regs so I said " nope, pretty sure it's a quality stocked fishery with a bait ban and slot size and bag limit" he wasn't sure "oh, you sure that's the same place" he said and asked to phone me back. " You learn something new everyday" he said when he did phone me back, " we're not supposed to focus our efforts on the stocked fisheries" he added. Is this my green light to go ahead and use bait on these types of lakes? Seems like waste time and management for the f n w to have these regulations in place if they have no real strategy to enforce them. I think people don't follow the regulations for a number of different reasons I think one the main reasons is they just don't know the definition of " bait" in Alberta. This could be easily solved with a sign that's explains what a bait ban actually entails. People will also neglect the regulations when the have no real fear of being caught and punished. Thx for reading.

[Talking moose]

Signs may help and should be put in place. That being said, with our limited number of enforcement officials, I'm glad they are focussing there precious time on natural native lakes and fish stocks rather than stocked trout ponds.

[RavYak]

The guy who phoned you was probably just a phone jockey and didn't know anything about those lakes. The actual CO's should care and if you see people using bait or poaching you should report them.

They should do a better job putting signs up at lakes that have special regs/bait bans etc. All it takes is a simple cheap little sign telling you the regs yet very few lakes have this.

[ghostguy6]

Originally Posted by RavYak

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They should do a better job putting signs up at lakes that have special regs/bait bans etc. All it takes is a simple cheap little sign telling you the regs yet very few lakes have this.

Unfortunately those signs are not cheap, IRC a simple speed limit sign costs close to $100 each for the 0.080" aluminum and reflective material plus the additional cost of the pole to hang it on. Add the fact that the signs would be a special order your probably looking at least $120 per sign using a bulk discount. Add the fact that many of them are stolen, damaged or used as targets it would cost the tax payers a small fortune to keep them maintained.

Personally I would like to see that money used to hire a few more officers and stiffer fines for poachers.

[Andy44]

Originally Posted by Jet

A few of us should call RAP referencing this thread...

However, maybe they've had more budget cuts than we think:

http://www.reportapoacher.com

reportapoacher.com expired on 01/24/2016 and is pending renewal or deletion.

WOW! I was not expecting to see that. That really leaves a bad taste in my mouth for our provincial conservation efforts. They can't even prioritize keeping the one and only provincial anti-poaching website online?? That's not budget cuts, that's pathetic!

[PlayDoh]

Personally I think the Reg booklet needs to be re-written. Yes it has all the info in it, but it's not all that easy to read.
I have a buddy who's just getting into fishing and I either correct his mistakes or he just calls me and asks me to tell him the regs. He's not an idiot, and I can admit I've made a couple mistakes years ago.
This isn't an excuse for ignorance, but I feel a more "novice friendly" Reg book would help many mistaken violations.
Signs are a great idea, but I don't expect any authority to fund that endeavour.
Truth is there are far too few CO's and I'm guessing they have to spend too much time doing things that are much less important. Sad but true.

I think a fishing licence should cost much more, yet I'm sure 80% or more of the people who get one only go once or twice a year.
I spend quite a bit more to hunt and that's for one animal of a species. It cost me more to hunt a late season Bull moose for one month than it did for me to fish all year. Doesn't seem like a fair comparison. IMO anyways.

[PlayDoh]

I also think a fishing licence should be awarded after one passes a course, like hunting.
I have prove I know the hunting and safety regulations to harvest game, but you don't even need to speak English to harvest fish?
Could be a new source of income for more CO's and weed out those who can't understand the rules.
If you see 2 identical guys fishing some where, one has lots of gear and has invested time and money to peruse the sport, and the other has just a rod, who's more likely to be a poacher?
To be fair to those with lower income make it cheaper for them, so to not eliminate them. I'm not suggesting making it a rich mans sport. Just weed out the riff raff.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by PlayDoh

If you see 2 identical guys fishing some where, one has lots of gear and has invested time and money to peruse the sport, and the other has just a rod, who's more likely to be a poacher?
.

So the guy in the2012 duramax diesel, 6 man Eskimo tent, and the marcum sonars, 10" ion auger is less likely to be a poacher vs. the guy in a 3 man Costco tent, hummingbird sonar, and strikemaster 8" hand auger driving a 2002 f150 should most likely be a poacher before the duramax guy........ X10!!! I hate Fords!!!
How bout skin colour? What shades are more likely than others to be poachers??? (Don't answer that)
I know what your saying and only razzing you playdoh.😉

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

So the guy in the2012 duramax diesel, 6 man Eskimo tent, and the marcum sonars, 10" ion auger is less likely to be a poacher vs. the guy in a 3 man Costco tent, hummingbird sonar, and strikemaster 8" hand auger driving a 2002 f150 should most likely be a poacher before the duramax guy........ X10!!! I hate Fords!!!
How bout skin colour? What shades are more likely than others to be poachers??? (Don't answer that)
I know what your saying and only razzing you playdoh.😉

I think we all know what he is saying, it is just hard to believe it is actually said. Fords...who needs em

[PlayDoh]

Ya, I know I was walking the line of being a bigot, or discriminatory there, but I think anyone whose been around will agree its the truth. If you knew me, you'd know I'm not the type to look down at anyone because of their gear, or lack of.
Maybe I used the wrong terms. Its not the amount of money you've spent, or have, I'm prime example of the latter.
Yet its the person who feels like the $20-$30 for a license is too much, and doesn't put any time or money towards learning the rules and regulations. Same is true for most things in life I suppose.

[muzzy]

Originally Posted by PlayDoh

Ya, I know I was walking the line of being a bigot, or discriminatory there, but I think anyone whose been around will agree its the truth. If you knew me, you'd know I'm not the type to look down at anyone because of their gear, or lack of.
Maybe I used the wrong terms. Its not the amount of money you've spent, or have, I'm prime example of the latter.
Yet its the person who feels like the $20-$30 for a license is too much, and doesn't put any time or money towards learning the rules and regulations. Same is true for most things in life I suppose.

Sorry guy your post #9 was over the line and now trying to backpeddle a bit, but your true thoughts do shine thru.
Its all about your ethic's and your sense of right or wrong. You either follow the rules or you don't and to paint someone "who can't speak english" ( I wonder how they work and get about in Alberta) is wrong and to say those with all the toys on the ice must be more ethical because they spend more money is wrong too. FYI I spend more than half my icefishing forays using only a twig and a spool of line placed in a heel print behind it. My "tipup" is a piece of red flagging tape tied to a loop on that spool line and hung over that twig and I catch lots of fish but never over my limit. I have a Costco tent, barely ever use it, have no sonar or TV but like I said catch lots. I learned my fishing prowess back in the 60's and 70's. By the way Im also university educated, retired as an acting AVP at a major bank and can speak english. Its dangerous to pigeonhole people just because they arent like you.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by muzzy

Sorry guy your post #9 was over the line and now trying to backpeddle a bit, but your true thoughts do shine thru.
Its all about your ethic's and your sense of right or wrong. You either follow the rules or you don't and to paint someone "who can't speak english" ( I wonder how they work and get about in Alberta) is wrong and to say those with all the toys on the ice must be more ethical because they spend more money is wrong too. FYI I spend more than half my icefishing forays using only a twig and a spool of line placed in a heel print behind it. My "tipup" is a piece of red flagging tape tied to a loop on that spool line and hung over that twig and I catch lots of fish but never over my limit. I have a Costco tent, barely ever use it, have no sonar or TV but like I said catch lots. I learned my fishing prowess back in the 60's and 70's. By the way Im also university educated, retired as an acting AVP at a major bank and can speak english. Its dangerous to pigeonhole people just because they arent like you.

From top to bottom, nicely put and said. Cheers!

[fitzy]

Originally Posted by muzzy

Sorry guy your post #9 was over the line and now trying to backpeddle a bit, but your true thoughts do shine thru.
Its all about your ethic's and your sense of right or wrong. You either follow the rules or you don't and to paint someone "who can't speak english" ( I wonder how they work and get about in Alberta) is wrong and to say those with all the toys on the ice must be more ethical because they spend more money is wrong too. FYI I spend more than half my icefishing forays using only a twig and a spool of line placed in a heel print behind it. My "tipup" is a piece of red flagging tape tied to a loop on that spool line and hung over that twig and I catch lots of fish but never over my limit. I have a Costco tent, barely ever use it, have no sonar or TV but like I said catch lots. I learned my fishing prowess back in the 60's and 70's. By the way Im also university educated, retired as an acting AVP at a major bank and can speak english. Its dangerous to pigeonhole people just because they arent like you.

Well said.

[PlayDoh]

Originally Posted by muzzy

Sorry guy your post #9 was over the line and now trying to backpeddle a bit, but your true thoughts do shine thru.

Its all about your ethic's and your sense of right or wrong. You either follow the rules or you don't and to paint someone "who can't speak english" ( I wonder how they work and get about in Alberta) is wrong and to say those with all the toys on the ice must be more ethical because they spend more money is wrong too. FYI I spend more than half my icefishing forays using only a twig and a spool of line placed in a heel print behind it. My "tipup" is a piece of red flagging tape tied to a loop on that spool line and hung over that twig and I catch lots of fish but never over my limit. I have a Costco tent, barely ever use it, have no sonar or TV but like I said catch lots. I learned my fishing prowess back in the 60's and 70's. By the way Im also university educated, retired as an acting AVP at a major bank and can speak english. Its dangerous to pigeonhole people just because they arent like you.

I'd like to live in your perfect world. If your "university educated" you would know I was talking about probability not certainty or "pigeon holing".

Spend some time in the real world, and in more places in it. Asians for example are bad for "fishing" with complete ignorance of the rules. Talk with a CO from Vancouver or Ontario, candidly and they will paint you a picture of reality.

People are to quick to jump on someone for being racist, and use circle logic to make them look bad. I'm not in the slightest way racist. I have friends of all cultures and I treat everyone with respect. Yet that doesn't mean I have to ignore the facts or pretend people who don't speak English can't read the regulations.
Your older than I am so all this should be no surprise, despite how you might choose to ignore it to be politically correct.
Sorry if I offended you regarding the gear statement. I realized it wasn't a true or fair means of example. However true it may be, I felt my clarifying and correction (backpedal) was warranted.
I'm a straight shooter and I tell it like it is despite how it might offend the sensitive type.
Spend some more time out there around others and you'll see for yourself. Ask the guy with the rod from a yard sale what the slot size or limit is because you forgot, and chances are they won't know. Again this isn't black and white, we're adults here and should understand things like this.
Ask a cop who's more likely to be braking the law or not have car insurance, a guy in a 20 year old beater, or a band new minivan. Key words "more likely".
If it's not obvious poaching is a topic that gets me riled up. With that said, what I wrote was pointless and I can understand how it might offend someone. Not my intention. Expensive and abundant gear doesn't make you a better angler or guarantee your compliance with the regulation. Obviously, right? Your ability to kick my butt at angling with a stick wouldn't surprise me one bit. In fact I would assume it, since using that gear shows experience and that you've been doing it for a long time. It's a lot easier to spend money than engineer.