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I think the state of VT needs a trophy management plan for Pike. Maybe a slot? I think the first thing they can stop is, shooting pike in the spring.
i have been fishing northans for a couple of years now. i have noticed a decline in amount and weight. i am not the guy saying don't kill them but if we keep on killing them there will be no more to catch. i asked a local, in northan Vermont where the northans were, and he said "you cant catch them after you have skinned them". now once again i am not saying to stop feeding your family, but we all know that alot of the fish taken off the lake are just thrown out or get freezer burn. lets all think ahead 10 years. do you still want to have as much fun catching northans as we do today? i hope this post does not **censored** anyone off by lets think of the future of northansthanksbud-fish-er
i believe that tradition is something you cant give up. whether it be shooting pike or farming. i think only another farmer would understand the true meaning of tradition. and to the point of pike fishing. there shood be a slot for pike and you probably would see alot bigger ones coming through the ice after a few years. amen to the dyingbreed!
as a trophy pike fisher i think that some sort of slot or update of the legal limits is absolutely necessary. I also believe that there needs to be some sort of personal ethics that each person should set for themselves. if you are out for a meal, be smart and keep what you will eat. if you are out to set records, be smart. mount your first fish over 20 and then get very selective. i also believe that with our fish transportation laws, many derbies provide with the choice of killing a fish, or not having a chance at money. i think that if the intention is to release a fish back into the same body of water after weighing it, then transporting them alive should be okay. but i expect neither myself, or any othe level-headed person to release a fish that could win them a grand or so. some laws need to change, and some ethics need to come to fruition, but i cannot hold any actions against someone who is within the law.
I personaly think this topic is getting old. Everyone is diffrent and will do diffrent stuff. Keep them if you want or let them go for another day. Now look what happened when everyone was b***hing about the perch problem. The state put a limit on them and then people b***hed about the perch being to small. Now there are to many and they are not as big as the one we used to get as kids fishing with dad on the shores of Champlain. So do we really want stonger rules on pike. Lets see harvest less pike that will leave more pike in Champlian that can eat more perch so we can start all over and b***h that there are no perch in the lake. Thats my 2 cents. If your going by the laws what is there to crab about. See how much crap i get for this......jim s
actually pike help weed out the small perch and establish a better population of larger fish. If your complaining about small perch, you should welcome pike regulations, because its the big ones who will eat a 6 to 8 inch perch.