Makes me sick

[Steve Stinson]

This was posted on the Lake Guntersville fishing report:



Today my buddy,my brother,and myself hit the big "G" for the first time in two weeks.BEEN SNOWED IN WORKING UP NORTH ! Well on with the story,what we found after we had fished about an hour was a gill net (NOT BECAUSE WE WERE LOOKING IT TROLLING MOTOR)!right This was the start of a very shocking discovery! As I pulled the net up to get it free from my trolling motor we saw two 5 L.b. bass hung in the net. Without question we started cutting the fish free and putting them in the live well to revive them for release. We did not except what happened next,For an hour we cut 16 HAWGS from their death.(all at least 4 l.b. with a few pushing 7 l.b.) After we got the net up we noticed another fisherman having problems with his trolling motor I asked my brother to pull up and talk to him. After we told him what we had found he was as upset as we were. We put all the fish in his livewell to make room for the next net we were going to clean.ALL WE COULD DO IS HOPE HE TURNED THOSE FISH LOOSE I BELIVE HE DID. We started cleaning out the second net as we were also calling local fish and game to report what we thought was very illigal to our suprise it is legal to set gill nets as long as you follow guide lines.So we left the other net after telling authorites were the nets were so they could check them. If this is legal THROWING TNT should be legal. I LOVE AND RESPECT THE LARGEMOUTH BASS AND ANY OTHER REAL SPORTSMAN DOES THE SAME.(let em'live)



I hope we can organize some kind of effort to make this illegal in Alabama. Have any of you had any experience in changing laws to prevent this tragedy?

 

[Texas Transplant]

Man, that's a bad story. Can't believe that it would be legal anywhere in the US on inland public waters (or private for that matter), to use a gill net.



Tex

 

[Greg. Avery]

Steve you should of kept a lookout & kept cutting NO reason for a gill net. Its bad enough on the Great Lakes but on an inland lake thats B#&^S%@*. At least you saved some.

 

[James D.]

I would have cut the nets and asked questions later. I would have been pissed. there needs to be a law against that. the lake i fish allows no trot lines and no limb lines. when i find them, i cut em unless it is legal on the lake i'm fishing.



jd

 

[Michael Snow]

You northerners may get away with cutting someone else's property, but Bubba might just take a shooting at ya if you pull it down here. Legal or not is the issue, not whether they're right or wrong. Work to CHANGE the law, not take it into your own hands.

 

[bob wateski]

Sorry to hear this is happening on Lake G. I have been there 7 times over the years and I love that lake. I have a 8 1/2 on my wall that swallowed a rattle trap and I had to keep it. I took my son there the spring of 2000 and he really liked it too. They stopped killing the milfoil and now it is taking over the whole lake. I makes for some hard fishing. Way to go with the nets and I would say to keep pushing DNR to keep a closer eye on the guys putting them out and make them pull them at least once if not twice a day to release the game fish.



bob

 

[Steve Rizza]

While I don't agree with the nets,I do have to agree with Mike.If I saw somebody destroying my property I would be none too happy.They may have destroyed some hard working Joe's nets that paid a lot of money for and is barely scraping out a living.Or maybe not.But the bottom line is it was legal.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

It's not legal up north and if it was catching TM's, I would not only cut it up, but throw it on Bubba's lawn. And if he started shooting, I'd shoot back. We'd have us a regular ole OK Corrale! I kept getting my TM caught up in these nylong ropes that a marina dock hand had strung up around the area to keep bassboats out. I went in and as he watched, cut them out with a knife. I think Doug Ward was with me one day when I cut a couple. They don't own the lake OR the fish. I can't stand people that think the lakes are their own personal little playground or property.

 

[Travis Smith]

Your right everybody who thinks its not right to use those god forsaken gill nets. They kill our fish but most of all up in michigan they let the indians use them.Now im sorry if i offend anyone but its not fair to anybody that the indians can use them and kill fish in the grat lakes when the dnr revokes some regular joes fishin liscence for having a bass thats a 1/4 in. undersized. And if my TM hit one i would cut it up because they can ruin a TM and if the nets ruin my TM im gunna ruin their nets.





My .02





T.S.