Last weekend was my son and I’s first fly experience together. At the end of my folk’s dock is a large set of bluegill beds and they were teaming with life. Just about every fly brought a great deal of interest and on a 4wt a lot of fun.
The down side was that a neighbor was watching my son and I catch and let go some very nice gills.
an hour later he and two other guys pulled up their boat within 20 feet of our dock. Sat there for three hours and took more than a 100 gills. Regardless of size they all went to the basket.
I walked out to the dock after an hour and made mention of how long it took the bed to recover the last time someone sat on it and cleaned it hard. Their comment back was that it sure did recover.
Well I guess I will see you all again in three or four years was all I could say.
I too favor taking a few gills for the table but being selective about it and not staying on a bed until its all but gone.
I guess some folks just see the world differently than I do
Some knotheads will never understand the meaning of conservation, and leaving things better than they found them. I’m glad you and your boy had such fun. Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones that stick with us the longest and eventually shape who we become. Sounds like the boy has a great dad and someone to look up to that will teach him what it’s really all about. Good luck, and thanks for sharing.
thanks for the kinds words, I am still pretty steamed about the gill thing but you are right in that I should focus on the great time Ian and I had rather then what happened outside my control.
I have to admit that I was pretty rusty the first hour or so of casting. The medium action 4 wt Ross that I bought for Ian and I to learn on is a very forgiving rod though.
It took a couple of hours but I was up making a fairly clean cast (by no means great) but ok. Good enough not to spook crusing bass that would come up to check out what the gills were chasing.
I also forgot how patient one has to be to teach something like casting. Ian picked up a spinning rod when he was four and is a pro at that so when we are bass fishing I spend time on lure presentation and just talking.
We both had to take a step back on the fly fishing and remember where each of us is. I only got hit in the head once by the rod and felt the wind of the line by my face only a couple times LOL so all in all a great day
As bad as that day made you feel, think of the long term effect it will have on your son. I am willing to bet that is something that he will never do, and in turn will pass this knowledge on. So maybe the loss of the beds will actually save many more in the future.
Tough lesson, but a good one. I fish a trout stream within 45 minutes of a large urban center. While not many people fish it, there are hikers/bikers nearby all the time. One one nice day about 3 years ago, I hooked an unusually large brown trout in a spot where there happened to be 2 people taking photos on a nearby trail. As badly as I wanted to take a photo of this fish myself, I thought the word about my “secret” stream could spread to some “non-catch&release” types and (considering the proximity of the city) that could be the end of that fishery. I still wonder if I should have, but I think I made the right call.
Cal is spot-on though, those fish probably died for a very righteous cause, and you did have an excellent outing with your son. As an older friend of mine says, “you can’t go back and raise your kids a second time…enjoy them while you can.”
Does not sound like the kind of neighbor I would want living next to me. After an hour of fishin’ and you saying something, and he did not leave? I would of had to take matters in my own hands like throwing rocks around the bed to scare the gills out of bitting or use a boat to
block them from fishing the bed. If you take gills at least let them reproduce before you take them home.
My rule of thumb is eat the 6-8in size and let the others go. They are the gene pool for the future.
Dave,
As many here already know, I fish a small pond we refer to as “The Factory”. It regularly yields 9"+ gills & last year I caught 2 over 11" & a fair number 10". I’m not sure ANYONE other than my guests & I fish this pond, but I can honestly say it didn’t get this good by “raping” the beds. I get frosted even reading posts like this.
Thanks for the post, but thanks even more for your ethics…You can share water with me anytime!
Mike
A good while back I had friend in MS who lived on a good lake. He put “hog wire” around the perimeter of his dock that allowed fish to come and go with ease but kept folks from fishing under his dock so there would always be fish around for his grandchildren, who were young at the time. There may have been some floating fish food involved when the grandchildren came over also.
There are a lot of folks who don’t understand the story of the goose who laid the golden eggs.
Since the place in my folks rather than mine, I am going to obstain from anything overt. I will leave their fate to Karma. Hopefully there is a half sunken log with their prop’s name on it :rolleyes:
This gives me a great chance to show Ian and my five year old as well how mis-management of a resource has long term effects. So, you (all) are right about the situation not being a total loss. Plus our time together on the water is worth everything to me. Time not together is wasted time to me!!!
OhioT: while not all the gills there are 9’s we did take a couple in that range and I broke 3 lb tippet on 3 others. But your numbers and sizes wow!! It sounds like you have a great, well managed pond to fish.
talking quite loudly and overtly while describing to your child how these fellows were taking way more fish than they ought to have and were possibly ruining the fishing for some good while, all the while ignoring that they were there might have been the best possible way to get some kind of a point across. Although, truth be told, they would not have gotten it.
Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.
Frank Zappa
In my own experience I find that stupidity and rudeness go hand in hand far too often.
I really don’t think they would have gotten it or cared if they did. After I pointed out how long it took to the bed area to recover the last time someone did that, the guys seemed glad they were the lucky ones this time.
Its too bad that there is not more selective harvest education in state fishery programs.
I really don’t have a good answer on how to reach guys like that. It may be that they can not ever be reached.
I intend to teach by example for my kids and any others that fish with me. (hope that does not sound preachy because I am not that way at all)
I lost a couple fishing pals years ago over perch limits. They intended to take more than the limit and I demanded to go back. We have not spoke since. Those were the days when the limit was around 50 each. Not sure why or what they had planned for that many more but their intent was 100+ each before they were willing to quit for the day.
Hey Briney Dave~think I may be heading down that path shortly myself. I’ve promised a supplier of my company’s (great guy) a trip out to my local perch hotspot with the (agreed to) understanding that some fish will be harvested. Now, I have my idea of “some”, but he recently called to ask “hey…what’s the limit on that lake?” Eek. I have 2 spots that are really loaded with fish, including some that I’d hate to see taken out in the interest of keeping the genes in there. To avoid problems, I’m prospecting some new water on the same lake tomorrow so that there is no risk of wiping out the A-list spots. The lake is prolific perch-wise but still…I can see talking this guy into throwing back the biggest perch he has ever seen…being a tough sell!
that is tough, I think I would keep the A spot back and not even hit it if you are not sure the guy is reasonable about harvesting.
to keep or not keep a really big pan fish is a tough call. I dont cross paths with the really big ones often but they go back. Two 9 inch gills will taste just as good as that very rare 10 +
just talking about keeping a conversation going about the need to keep that rare guy’s genes around is about the only advice I can think of
Many, many years ago when the hair was decidedly longer and the girls clipped daisies in their hair, one of those beautiful counter culture girls and I took a backpacking trip up a trail in the rockies. We pitched a tent in a gorgeous little valley with a meandering high mountain stream and dots of little beaver ponds. One in particular garnered our interest for it had two beautiful trout swimming around in it. Early the next morning I got up and began casting a fly, and within moments had caught both. Which made for a scrumptious breakfast. It wasn’t until later that the lesson had sunk in. There were no more trout in the little pond, and I had caught and killed both. We were both traumatized with the realization, and it was the turning point in my ethics of fishing. Of course I still keep enough now and then for a meal. Even here in the Midwest it doesn’t take long to ruin a fisheries. And while you may have a handle on decent ethics, once you leave a pool, bed or bay you have no idea who will follow behind you, and what ethics they may have. Last week at Nest Lake I caught two of the largest bluegill I’ve ever caught in that lake. Ohio Tuber-like fish. As quickly and secretly as I could I removed the hook and returned them to the water. A fellow in a boat not too far away was stunned. “If you don’t want 'em, we’ll sure take 'em.” “Not those,” I said. “We need those back in the lake.” “I suppose,” he said, although not too convincingly. When I turned to paddle my kayak back to the landing guess who moved his boat over a spot or two. Frankly I wasn’t too worried. The bluegill, and particularly the huge ones, are rather worm weary by now, and I had been out catching this man and his family with my yellow softie. We could have traded places with the same results. I’m so pleased Minnesota has decreased the limit for bluegill (sunnies). I believe it’s now 20 from 35, and it would be even better to decrease it to 10. They’re worried about the tourist dollar. However, without fish there is no tourist dollar. Sorry for the ramble! JGW
Dave–
I’ll vouch for those monster gills Mike’s talking about. It’s an offer you don’t want to turn down if you have the chance. You won’t easily find better fishing or a better guy to fish with.
was all I could say.