Wisconsin's Conservation Congress public hearings were held last night. One of the issues discussed was changing the current 5 tier system of trout regulations, tailored stream by stream to account for fish and angler populations to a statewide 3 kill, 7 inch minimum.

It was way too close. 35 counties for and 37 against.

Letting the DNR set the regulations based on science and public input has resulted in improved population and size of trout. Some arguments against the 5 tier system were that it was all too complicated and discouraged young people from fishing.

My feeling is that science should speak first. The numbers don't show a reduction of fish or anglers, either. In fact the trout regs have worked so well that a multi tier system has been implemented for other game fish.

If you ask landownders along one of my favorite rivers, they'd probably say there are too many anglers. I also feel that kids are staying inside for a multitude of reasons and not just in Wisconsin. Certainly not just because of the regs. And you only have to memorize the regs for the body of water you're fishing on, not the whole state. How complicated is that?

A one size fits all regulation would actually decrease the number of fish you could keep in some streams, while allowing kill on current catch and release only sections.

It bugs me that people would pull the kid card, arguing to keep more fish for themselves now and muddying the future of trout for these same kids.