What do you want to say to FWC

[cotton]

I think we should just leave it alone. I am just tired of people trying to change the limits because they are not catching fish.

Assuming people recommending changes can’t catch fish is laughable. Most everyone recommending changes are the folks who do catch fish regularly and fish more often than the regular guy.

My only motivation is to make it better. I’d love to finally break the 30” mark. Catching trout over 26” in this area is rare and it doesn’t have to be. I believe with a few changes like we’ve seen with bass we could increase the harvest and have more trophy fish.

Do your own research and see the number of eggs a trout over 20” produces compared to one smaller. Not to mention the genetics it takes to produce a 30”.

A 1-year-old seatrout at 11 inches is expected to produce 3.2 million eggs annually, while a 2-year-old at 15 inches would produce 9.5 million eggs, and a 3-year-old at 18 inches would produce 17.6 million. I can only imagine what a 25” produces.

[Salty Gator]

I think we should just leave it alone. I am just tired of people trying to change the limits because they are not catching fish.

Assuming people recommending changes can’t catch fish is laughable. Most everyone recommending changes are the folks who do catch fish regularly and fish more often than the regular guy.

My only motivation is to make it better. I’d love to finally break the 30” mark. Catching trout over 26” in this area is rare and it doesn’t have to be. I believe with a few changes like we’ve seen with bass we could increase the harvest and have more trophy fish.

Do your own research and see the number of eggs a trout over 20” produces compared to one smaller. Not to mention the genetics it takes to produce a 30”.

A 1-year-old seatrout at 11 inches is expected to produce 3.2 million eggs annually, while a 2-year-old at 15 inches would produce 9.5 million eggs, and a 3-year-old at 18 inches would produce 17.6 million. I can only imagine what a 25” produces.

Very interesting, thanks for posting

[silverking]

That was a very insightful post, Cotton. Thanks for sharing.

MIACane44, I'm sorry if you took my questions as calling you out or judging your skills as an angler. That was not the intent. Unlike some on here, I don't have a hidden agenda. But like Cotton and other contributors to this thread, I am interested in protecting the resource for long-term sustainability and a quality fishery. Sometimes that requires sacrifices, yet I am not naive to think the decision-makers always get it right. The federal management system is a mess and FWC makes mistakes, too. The lack of action by the former Marine Fisheries Commission on entanglement nets led directly to the successful passage of the Net Ban amendment.

I'm glad you were able to find some quality trout during your trip to Grand Island. I've fished there a couple times but only offshore. GI, the Chandeleurs and Lakes Ponchartrain/Bornge are some of the few Louisiana locations to catch 20-inch-plus trout on a consistent basis. Based on my experience, the bayous and interior bays rarely produce larger fish and IMO and others, much of that is attributable to overly-generous bag limits.

Thanks for the note about my Mom.

[BloodyChamp]

I’m all for protecting the fish and the water even if it means a few less fish in my boat. Besides we have cameras, social media etc now if trophies and bucket counts are that important. With that said I don’t know what exactly I want or need from FWC regarding the current issues that will be discussed the most (flats fishing). I’m not exactly an expert there.

I’m not a fan of the new bass rules. Sure there are bass everywhere now but I still feel guilty keeping native bass out of rivers, especially rivers that aren’t exactly running bass ponds. Maybe there could be tighter rules for the rivers. Meanwhile if people want to keep a hundred bass out of some lake in Leon County and it doesn’t hurt anything let them be.

I also wish they could narrow the rift between themselves and the commercial mullet fishermen but the truth is there are 2 sides to that story and FWC isn’t the villain that the fishermen make them out to be, nor are they the biggest victim they say they are. That’s dancing towards a whole other can of worms though.