Confused and baffled angler at Silverwood Controversy

[Riverdog]

First of all I will start by saying I have been part of ABA since I was age 8 back in 1985. I have a lot of love for the sport of Bass fishing, “Catch and Releaseâ€

[Robert F]

Good for you Brian. Sounds like a poor example of Badge syndrome if you ask me (which nobody did ) Watched the same thing happen at Mead during an FLW weigh-in. The "biologist" patrolled the tanks chastising anglers for not having two bubblers in each bag then proceeded to collect all the smallmouth caught, take them to her car and measure them on the hood of her car with no water for an extended period. Also saw more than one hit the pavement while collecting the data on these fish.

I have fished ABA with my kids from their early days as well and to have DFG act in this manner with the kids that will be their customers and stewards of the resource for many years to witness such an event is very sad. Worse yet now they punish these kids for another person standing up for the resource better than them.

BTW how do you mark a fish that is caught AFTER the pelvic fin is removed? Cut off the dorsal? Tail? Where does the maiming of the resource end?

[bigbass111]

They will usually snip one fin and hole punch another giving accurate catch history. Larry down in SD has been doing it for years and he does a great job..


Its to bad the DFG are dumb *** badge freaks (in some case's)..

[blkdog812]

most of the DFG workers doing the studies are not wardens. (warden are a seperate division,) but seasonal workers.
some are college kids with studies in the bio field. most do not receive formal training and were shown by experienced or returning worker, how to clip the fish.
if they did not protect the fish properly, then you need to bring it to their attention nicely.
if they fail to make a correction, then you need to contact their supervisors and work your way up the food chain. state officials and start calling the news people.
yes there are good and bad in every field, but disregarding their requests was wrong. i would hope they are trying to help the field as they should be and not making a study to destroy our fishery

[DBASSKING]

THE DFG SHOULD GO OUT AND CATCH THEIR OWN FISH TO CUT ON! WE GOT YOUR BACK ON THIS ONE,ALL BASSER'S ARE PROUD OF YOU!

[Mattlures]

The fin will grow back. the reason for the clipping is to determaine the population. I went on a shocking boat with the DFG once. They record how many fish were shocked up with a clipped fin and they clipped the new fifh that had not been previously clipped. They do this over a period of time, like a month or so and based on this info they can get an estimation on how many bass are in the lake and how many of each size class. This is valuable info for the Biologist. A tagging system would be a lot more expensive in actual money and time. Were were scooping up fish left and right, it would have taken a lot longer if they would have had to tag each fish. I have also seen pictures of tagged fish where the tag site had got infected. As far as I know the fin clip meathod is the best method for the fish and for the costs.
The actions of the rep sond like they were unprofesional and you should report him to the DFG.
I am sure if you talk to am actual DFG biologist they can answer all your questions. I learned a lot in just that one night.

[Jim V.]

Dog -

Why don't you volunteer to go with DFG biologist when they do the surveys at DVL with the shock boat - find out what they do & why before you go off half cocked about something you know absolutely nothing about.

The DFG employee should not have treated you in any way but a courteous manner - likewise you should have treated them with the same respect & courtesy. Maybe if you had talked to them first about it & not just ignored the procedure that was in place, things might have been different.

[Ringer]

You were wrong to screw up the entire tournament deal because you were raised in schools full of balless sissies. When you slam a 7/0 EWG hook in a fish's gut using a senko it doesn't bother you but you decide to do a march on Selma for a fin clipping? Give me a break and tell your old man to stop fighting your battles for you.

[Robert F]

You were wrong to screw up the entire tournament deal because you were raised in schools full of balless sissies. When you slam a 7/0 EWG hook in a fish's gut using a senko it doesn't bother you but you decide to do a march on Selma for a fin clipping? Give me a break and tell your old man to stop fighting your battles for you.

Would you talk to this guy face to face like that Ringer?
How do you know what school he went to?
If you want to tell his dad something why don't nut up and tell him? Why leave it to somebody else?

There is a difference IMO in CLIPPING a fin and AMPUTATING. I believe that was his point.

As far as the Selma comment, I think that is totally offensive, unnecessary and out of line in a public forum. Everybody knows that I do not have a problem with personal opinions but there is a big difference between personal opinions and personal attacks.

Maybe you know these guys and your post is in jest. It doesn't sound like that is the case. You may want to consider reviewing the Forum rules on many points before posting.

[Ringer]

Robert-yes I would say it to their face and just returned from a turkey hunt in 16 degree weather last night so I should have stayed off the computer. I was just surprised to see the players still beating a dead horse. It was done and obviously there is a huge issue with the way your G&F handles fish so carry on. The Selma parallel was about marching on your state capital like this was a life changing event. As in a joke.

[Robert F]

Understood Ringer. Just not sure anybody that does not personally know somebody would fire off like that face to face but it happens a ton on fishing forums. More on other sites than here IMO. I think there would be a lot of broken noses if that was the case.

As far as the Selma comment, I am not an angel but would never make a public comment painting an individual in that light. I think Brian handled the manner in a non-confrontational manner by quietly walking the other way to release his LEGAL catch. Wonder if DFG ever walks the bank and takes fish from fun fishermen to clip a fin in that manner? This action against the ABA permit is clearly treating the organization's fishermen different than the general public and that is wrong. He just came on here to clarify his side of the issue.

[Steve]

Wonder if DFG ever walks the bank and takes fish from fun fishermen to clip a fin in that manner? This action against the ABA permit is clearly treating the organization's fishermen different than the general public and that is wrong. He just came on here to clarify his side of the issue.

ABA was not being targeted unfairly. DFG targets tournaments for gathering biological data because they can get the most samples in the least amount of time, plus they know exactly where those fish will be brought in (vs. walking the bank). Its an efficiency thing and a money thing. Spend less money and get more data, makes sense to me. Doesnt matter what marking technique is used, each has its pros/cons and each has the potential to cause harm. My understanding at Silverwood is that local anglers complain there arent enough bass in the lake; so, the positive is at least DFG had heard the voice of the public and is trying to do something about it.

[BassManDan]

The actual biology taking place is completely founded. Fin clips are an efficient method of tagging and utilized quite often for mark-recapture studies. There are better tagging methods, but those are in respect, much more expensive. Sure it would be nice to have dye injection, fluorescent tagging or some other benign tagging method to be standard, but there isn't the money or the manpower in DFG for that.

The catch and release tournament "values" if you will, are there for the conservation of the species. I am not too familiar with the rules and regulations behind it, but as I understand it, once you turn the fish over to the tournament officials, the fish no longer belong to you, and if DFG has the agreement with the tournament, they have every right to take your fish for whatever purpose they want. Philosophically, I agree, it should be your choice, but you are fishing under a DFG permitted organization, so you're pretty much S.O.L.

If you were fishing for your own fun and DFG requested the fish, and you were in compliance with all laws, you would and should have no reason to relinquish them, as you are catching fish on a California sport permit for your take.

I do 100% agree with you on the handling. Yes bass are a tough fish, but the improper handling of fish is something that should be regulated in-house, by the department. Unfortunately at times, seasonal workers, temps, etc. often have little or no regard for the actual handling proceedures in their sampling protocol are neglected.

Sucks that you got a mess of people pissed at you, but that's the way things go sometimes