Can I ask ........?

[pinche]

Im going to be completly honest and brief with this. Im very suprised by the lack of response that a few recent posts get. Im sure most active members have read the posts about the minnow ban and about the VHS virus that caused a large spring die off, yet only a handfull of people have showed any interest in doing anything to help the situation. My question is WHY? Why would a person that loves a sport not want to do anything to help protect it? Is it because its not local to you ? Do you feel it wouldnt make a difference ? Or maybe you just dont care ? Im not looking for an arguement. Im very interested to hear why this topic got so little input and look forward to hearing other members thoughts.
Thanks Pinche

[pikemaster789]

you tell em pinche

we need to protect what we have, and be careful with it, we need to speak up

[flockshot]

with so many new york and ontario members i thought for sure you would get more of a reaction about this. i have heard more about consensus then many of my local lakes and this virus is present in that lake as well..more then likely accidently introduced by leisure boaters from the great lakes. this will effect more then half the sites members. but unlike the anti community we are reactive..so nothing will happen untill a few good old boys go out and get skunked..its pathetic.

[pinche]

with so many new york and ontario members i thought for sure you would get more of a reaction about this. i have heard more about consensus then many of my local lakes and this virus is present in that lake as well..more then likely accidently introduced by leisure boaters from the great lakes. this will effect more then half the sites members. but unlike the anti community we are reactive..so nothing will happen untill a few good old boys go out and get skunked..its pathetic.

I know Flock and I feel your frustration but ..........I was trying to give the other members a chance to voice there thought on why they feel its not an imporntant issue.
Thanks for your passion on the subject.

[coldbum]

You have to remember that traffic around here is slow untill the season starts to pick up...


I am sure only a fraction of users have even peeked at the site since last season...

[pikemaster789]

You have to remember that traffic around here is slow untill the season starts to pick up...


I am sure only a fraction of users have even peeked at the site since last season...

When I still come one here, and there is 2 full pages of new posts for me to read, after a day, there is plenty of action. On a good day on MFF ill have to look through a page and a half of new posts. I know there is plenty of action on here

[Haywood]

The way I read it, it was pretty much posted as a statement, not as an opinion. 

[flockshot]

theres your answer pinche. guess it doesnt matter.

[trapperdirk]

As a matter of fact Ontario does care and it's been an active topic across many local sites but after awhile it gets tiring to post your same thoughts on every board out there especially us one finger typing wonders . This has been mentioned on our boards along time ago and still gets coverage and I know alot from Ontario are tired of posting the same old thoughts over and over again and it's good for others to take the sword and carry on across the www .

                                 TD

[walleyechaser]

As a matter of fact Ontario does care and it's been an active topic across many local sites but after awhile it gets tiring to post your same thoughts on every board out there especially us one finger typing wonders . This has been mentioned on our boards along time ago and still gets coverage and I know alot from Ontario are tired of posting the same old thoughts over and over again and it's good for others to take the sword and carry on across the www .

                                 TD

sounds to me like a lot of people have taken the same attitude I have.  One of hopelessness.  We write letters with no response becasue we don't have the millions in campaign contributions like the industry does.

Hell the DNR won't even respond to my inquiry about the bait fish ban.  I'm glad my tax payer dollar is working so hard.

[pinche]

sounds to me like a lot of people have taken the same attitude I have.  One of hopelessness.  We write letters with no response becasue we don't have the millions in campaign contributions like the industry does.

Hell the DNR won't even respond to my inquiry about the bait fish ban.  I'm glad my tax payer dollar is working so hard.

I would think a more unified , organized plan of attack would work allot better. If we use the power of this site and the mass amounts of people it reaches ..............who knows what may come of it.   Just a thought.

[pinche]

The way I read it, it was pretty much posted as a statement, not as an opinion. 

Again suprised by the lack of concearn, there surely is a time to be funny , hell Im quite a smart azz myself. But to post something related more to english or grammer than the true issue is........well sad IMO
especially from someone so close to the great lakes.

[stumper]

When I still come one here, and there is 2 full pages of new posts for me to read, after a day, there is plenty of action. On a good day on MFF ill have to look through a page and a half of new posts. I know there is plenty of action on here

LOL, 2 pages is a dead day in here compared to during the season.

[Haywood]

You should have stuck with the rip on my signature.  

[pinche]

You should have stuck with the rip on my signature.  

you should stick to rating avatars

[trapperdirk]

Ok lads lets not sabre rattle and just answer the question with respect and on subject if we can . I can well understand the frustration of not getting a response to a subject matter that should be all of our concerns but as I said this is my take on it as I see it and there likely are other reasons .  Just stick to the question and topic or don't answer it period if you can't .

                         TD

[Haywood]

Just so I have this right, you ask us why we didn't respond to the VHS thread, I tell you why I didn't, you personally attack me, just after posting that we all need to stick together?  

[flockshot]

this has turned into something it wasnt supposed to..MN nobodies personally attacking you...just trying to understand somthing...if you dont like what you read..then dont post. simple as that..its called flaming.

[mistertwister]

I'm just as concerned as anybody but, at this point there is only so much information available. It is only temporary until they make a final decision on what to do. I don't see what the argument is about, the reason this is in place is because of a virus, theres really not a whole lot to say, or that can be done about it at this point. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[pikemaster789]

LOL, 2 pages is a dead day in here compared to during the season.

I know exactly my point, a slow day on here is comparable to a good day on MFF. THERE IS PLENTY OF PEOPLE HERE

[molsonport]

pinche, imo there is genuine concern by most of the members about this matter, it has been covered also on the ny general . this problem could be compared to the zebra mussels of a few years back. people just do not know what the right steps are to fight this ie who to contact/what was the cause of the problem and the big one who is to blame? commercial shipping/fisherman/who or is this some sort of natural occurrence. the best one is what can be done to stop this if anything/and who will foot the bill.  but do not attack the members if they do not answer your post, that will not help in any way. if you come up with any answers post them. Iwill be looking for them thanks in advance for your concern.

[Bob_D]

I guess I don't see where the problem is. Vt has a law that you can not import baitfish unless you are a licensed dealer. And even then, I believe the out of state source needs to be a fish farm and not wild caught.

Unless I read the information wrong, the ban is on INTERSTATE transport not INTRASTATE. NY fisherman can still use livebait to fish, trap bait, and transport it within state lines. 

Please correct me if missed something......

[flockshot]

it comes down to commercial shipping..not so much the minnow ban..the minnow ban isnt the cause but an effect from this virus. in the other thread posted that got no response pinche asked members to do whatever..contact there legislators congress people or in canada to contact there repersentives in the parliment. the shipping industry has the technology to stop these threats to the great lakes but isnt required to do it because of the costs. the cost, as was pinches original point, is alot more to us by our inaction. i dont know why people got so darn offensive about it. the point is something can be done about it and nobody, besides talking, seems to be. just to some things up now that ive cooled off a little bit, pinche is just upset that entire forum of his fellow sportsmen SEEM(not saying they are) to be blowing this off. instead of saying you were tired of talking about it, or this is old news, why not say instead that you have done something to hopefully resolve this. and to those not bordering the great lakes..dont brush this off thinking that the steps are in place to protect your waters, they same percautions you have are the ones we had also. hopefully your waters will benifit from the ban by not allowing diseased minnows into your waters, but the overall point is another big business intrest overpowering the better judgement of government. nuff said.

[spoonfed]

i think everyone is missing pinche's point.  his point is not about the bait ban but rather why we are gonna have a bait ban.  he is trying to get support against what caused this virus.  cargo ship ballasts.  if you read the articles that he provided you will see that it is a worthy cause to fight.  these ships need to do something about bringing in waters from other parts and with it bringing in things such as vhs virus and zebras.  he's asking his fellow outdoorsmen to write to your local congressman to show support.  he and many of us feel if we get involved (like PETA does) just maybe someone will listen and maybe something will be done about it.his frustration lies with that we all respond to posts here that are quite vague and can come up with something to say.  for those of us from MFF can remember a post in the ny thread about bussmans boat and that ended up 20 pages plus about us commenting and complaining about something that had nothing to do with any of us but bussman but we showed support for his cause. and it worked.  we received the attention from the place he bought the boat from.

i'm not at all trying to cause a problem here but instead trying to help out a fellow member with his fight(which is all of ours).thats all he is asking to.

maybe us guys from michigan here more about this than others. we are surrounded by 4 of the great lakes.it means something to us to lose our greatest resource.    just my 2 cents.

[pinche]

I guess I wasnt very clear. The bait ban is not my major concearn ,its a result of the VHS virus that was introduced by commercial shipping vessels. I fully understand the bait transport ban and why its in place. The real problem is that commercial shipping keeps bringing in exotic species and new viruses into our waters. In one of my prior posts I posted a link to an article about that and followed it with a link to all local congress people. I guess thats where I started, although I didnt get a response. Again I guess I feel that if enough people make enough noise, something will have to be done.


I didnt mean to "personally attack" anyone . Im thought you were commenting on the way the post was wrote, not answering it.



LOL you guys beat me to it. "while you were typing 2 new.........."

[mistertwister]

what exactly are we trying to accomplish? I'm more than willing to support the cause, but what are we looking for?

[grumpymoe]

here's some FACTS.....the Great Lakes will never be closed to commercial ships....while there are laws in place to control dumping of ballast, there's always going to be people that ignore them for their own gain....foreign species are and will continue to be a threat to not only our great lakes, but also our state/provincial and federal/national waterways. you cannot educate the willing ignorant, but you can certainly get your point across on the sites such as this....if you make ONE person aware of the plight of our fisheries and waters, then you have made the world better......not everyone is going to reply to a topic that they are up to date on and you cant blame them....and remember that 95% of people are followers...not leaders.....Grump

[Gary_602z]

One thing to keep in mind is that we do NOT know how the VHS virus got into the Great Lakes for sure. It is speculated from ballast water. The things we do know are that we can not stop the spread of it, mother nature will see to that! We maybe able to stop the rate of spread but within 5 years if the conditions are right it could be all the way down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Will it kill all the fish? Doubtfull. Will it kill fish? More then likely. The biggest threat right now is from uninformed people and people jumping to conclusions. Will APHIS require testing on every load of fish coming into Michigan? Doubtfull as the test takes 6 weeks to get the results back. Will the fish have to be certified as to their origin? Possible but not enforceable. Are the Bait Wholesalers and Trout Farmers concerned? Of course it is our livelyhood! We can probably have more enforcement from within our ranks then from the outside. Do we need help? OF COURSE! Write your congressman and Senators! The APHIS board is an appointed board they listen to who appoints them.

Gary Studt
Wendell's Wholesale Bait & Tackle
Woodland, MI.

[Gary_602z]

I guess I don't see where the problem is. Vt has a law that you can not import baitfish unless you are a licensed dealer. And even then, I believe the out of state source needs to be a fish farm and not wild caught.

Unless I read the information wrong, the ban is on INTERSTATE transport not INTRASTATE. NY fisherman can still use livebait to fish, trap bait, and transport it within state lines. 

Please correct me if missed something......

I believe the State of NY has since prohibited the Intrastate transport of the 37 species since the Federal ban.
Gary

[pinche]

In all honesty I think that my whole approach was wrong. I expected that more people would see it as I did and want to do something. I got angry  and frustrated and lost a little focus.
 I remember over on MFF there was a post I believe it was to ban deer dart hunting, It got a great response. Was it because more people felt passionate about that ? I don't think so , I think it was because it was easier. What I mean is that post had a direct link to a site where one could simply sign their name and be done.
I plan on trying to come up with different approach.  Again I'm not sure if anything will change but, with the right approach and the mass attention this site gets ..............Well ya never know.

Thanks to all that have already shown support , Pinche