Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers wrote:
... Tournament fishing in general and culling during tournaments in
particular has become a real hot button item here in Wisconsin. There
are two camps that have become extremely divided on the entier issue.
Part of the problem lies in that the way the "Culling Regulation" is
being proposed, is that you would only be allowed to cull during a
permitted tournament. The general fishing population could still not
cull. ...
That's just flat out wrong. Preferential treatment for tournaments ?
That's outrageous. If anything tournaments should have *more*
restrictive regulations than recreational fishing if only because
tournament fishermen catch more fish per capita than recreational
fishermen.

If I lived in Wisconsin I'd be livid. And vocal in my opposition
to this wrongheaded nonsense.

Why not? There are all kinds of preferential treatment regulations for
"special interest groups" in fishing and hunting. Entire sections of trout
streams here in Wisconsin and all across the country have been earmarked
"Artificial Lures Only", effectively blocking out those recreational anglers
that wish to fish using Garden Hackle! Why should artificial lure anglers
have access to public resources that bait anglers are blocked from?

That seems kind of like "wrongheaded nonsense" to me.

Studies have shown that artificial lures cause less mortality
in catch and release fishing than live bait. If the streams
are strictly catch and kill, then I agree with you, there's
no good reason to give preferential treatment to those who fish
with artificial lures.

I can't think of any difference between tournament fishing and
recreational fishing that would warrant preferential regs.

YMMV.

--
Ken Fortenberry