Ruprecht
New Member
I've been a long time trout fisherman. I've seen just about every type of fishing "jerk" on the rivers or lakes in East Tennessee. I don't think there's anything worse than a trout hoarder, and they are becoming more and more common.
I live in Maryville and during the winter months the local downtown river arr stocked with trout. I really wish TWRA wouldn't release the dates of stocking, and just randomly drop trout, as it causes more problems than it's worth. The day of, and the several days after stocking, is just a mess. I'm guessing the same thing happens up at the Halls duck pond or any of the winter stocking locations. People just hoard and kill off fish, with ZERO care for conservation, other fisherman, or TWRA.
Hoarding, to me, is catching more fish than is permitted. In Maryville it's five fish a day. That doesn't stop these guys from fishing, catching five, leaving for an hour, and coming back and fishing for five more. I've seen this play out with certain guys numerous times throughout the day. I've spent entire days just watching people fish, and I've seen certain guys do this routine 4-5 times. That's up to 25 fish they take a day! I even wonder if they even cared to buy a license? Do you want anyone else to take a trout home for dinner?!
The next jerk is the one who has no intention to take a fish home and cook it, but just loves to catch and throw back. This is actually worse than taking more fish home than allowed. I met a guy last week who just kept bragging how he caught 40-50 trout on this day, and how fun it was. He threw every fish back. He was fishing with bowerbait and a sinker. No tension on the line and almost every fish he brought in had swallowed the hook. He'd just yank out the hook and throw the trout back, sealing the trouts fate. I offered a little advice on proper release to help increase the trouts survival, but I might as well have talked to a rock. Watching bleeding fish thrown back in the river made me sick.
Trout are sensitive fish. They die fairly easy if not handled properly. For instance: if squeezed tightly while removing a hook you will crush their organs. If you use a cloth to hold them you remove all their protective coating. They definitely die if you yank out a swallowed hook in the gut. Just read online about trout (not other fish) survival rates, as there are so many article online about it.
I love trout fishing. I enjoy eating trout. I only fish for species I will eat, as I don't like to kill an animal just to kill it. I've never understood killing to kill. I fish, and if I catch my limit, I then go home. If I see a kid or someone who doesn't know how to fish, I'll offer advice. If I catch a trout and it's hooked properly and I know I can release it, I will do so, but if it's questionable, it goes home with me. I club its head and put it out of it misery asap.
I guess my problem is how people just brag about being terrible fishermen. No care cause no one has ever held them accountable. I buy a license and stamp every year, but in the 40 plus years I've fished I've never been approached by a TWRA officer to check to see if I'm legal to fish. I know it happens, just never seen it. I imagine these guys and girls work hard but I've just never seen one. You would think they would at least monitor areas that they've just stocked trout in over the next few days after to make sure people (like the one I just mentioned) don't steal or kill every fish???
This was not meant to put blame on TWRA, but it would be nice to see an officer or two in Maryville around stocking dates.
I live in Maryville and during the winter months the local downtown river arr stocked with trout. I really wish TWRA wouldn't release the dates of stocking, and just randomly drop trout, as it causes more problems than it's worth. The day of, and the several days after stocking, is just a mess. I'm guessing the same thing happens up at the Halls duck pond or any of the winter stocking locations. People just hoard and kill off fish, with ZERO care for conservation, other fisherman, or TWRA.
Hoarding, to me, is catching more fish than is permitted. In Maryville it's five fish a day. That doesn't stop these guys from fishing, catching five, leaving for an hour, and coming back and fishing for five more. I've seen this play out with certain guys numerous times throughout the day. I've spent entire days just watching people fish, and I've seen certain guys do this routine 4-5 times. That's up to 25 fish they take a day! I even wonder if they even cared to buy a license? Do you want anyone else to take a trout home for dinner?!
The next jerk is the one who has no intention to take a fish home and cook it, but just loves to catch and throw back. This is actually worse than taking more fish home than allowed. I met a guy last week who just kept bragging how he caught 40-50 trout on this day, and how fun it was. He threw every fish back. He was fishing with bowerbait and a sinker. No tension on the line and almost every fish he brought in had swallowed the hook. He'd just yank out the hook and throw the trout back, sealing the trouts fate. I offered a little advice on proper release to help increase the trouts survival, but I might as well have talked to a rock. Watching bleeding fish thrown back in the river made me sick.
Trout are sensitive fish. They die fairly easy if not handled properly. For instance: if squeezed tightly while removing a hook you will crush their organs. If you use a cloth to hold them you remove all their protective coating. They definitely die if you yank out a swallowed hook in the gut. Just read online about trout (not other fish) survival rates, as there are so many article online about it.
I love trout fishing. I enjoy eating trout. I only fish for species I will eat, as I don't like to kill an animal just to kill it. I've never understood killing to kill. I fish, and if I catch my limit, I then go home. If I see a kid or someone who doesn't know how to fish, I'll offer advice. If I catch a trout and it's hooked properly and I know I can release it, I will do so, but if it's questionable, it goes home with me. I club its head and put it out of it misery asap.
I guess my problem is how people just brag about being terrible fishermen. No care cause no one has ever held them accountable. I buy a license and stamp every year, but in the 40 plus years I've fished I've never been approached by a TWRA officer to check to see if I'm legal to fish. I know it happens, just never seen it. I imagine these guys and girls work hard but I've just never seen one. You would think they would at least monitor areas that they've just stocked trout in over the next few days after to make sure people (like the one I just mentioned) don't steal or kill every fish???
This was not meant to put blame on TWRA, but it would be nice to see an officer or two in Maryville around stocking dates.