Paddlefish
Yeah, I know, half of you just left. It’s not my fault you don’t care about fishing, its just a flaw I put up with, cuz I’m cool that way.
So is this story poorly written, or am I missing something?
First it states “Agency staff said they expect the harvest quota to be reached by the time the closure takes effect.”
And ”The Montana paddlefish harvest quota is 1,000 fish and, at the present rate of catch, the quota will be reached or surpassed soon.”
But down at the bottom of the story it says “Under the new rules, there is no harvest quota”
Now in all fairness, they are talking about two different sections of the River, above and below Peck. However, that plainly states “The Montana paddlefish harvest quota”.
So is there a quota or not? If there isn’t, under the new rules, then why is Fish and Game closing the harvest?
I know the new rules specify what days of the week you can keep a fish, so just in case you wanted to take a few days to go down fishing, (next year) remember, “harvest is limited to 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Catch-and-release snagging is required during those same hours on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.”
And you can only keep one above Peck, so if you snag one, no matter the size, on Tuesday morning, you have to keep it, and stop fishing for them, until Thursday.
And now, you can only fish from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays, below Peck.
But have fun fishing after that drive.
2 Responses to “Paddlefish”
1 freethought 19 May 2007 @ 7:36 pm
At least the FWP is doing something to preserve the fish, and the opportunity to catch them. That said, neither the rules nor the write up of them make it easy to understand.
Especially for those of us dumb enough to take a heavy, oversized rod, reel and line, usually found on ocean going vessels to the river. Then, outfit said rod with two giant treble hooks and a giant sinker that we cast out, with no bait. And then, yank as hard as we can, reel up the slack, yank again, etc, hoping to run a hook into a fish.
On the other hand, bait fishing is wide open down there, and catching big cats is a blast. And where else can you put out a trot line with a dozen hooks, and haul it back in with 12 different species the next morning?
2 gffirefly 25 May 2007 @ 6:18 pm
They were doing something to preserve the fish before this, and I’m not complaining about only keeping one. But now they force catch and release on certain days, so if you want to go down and fish at least two days in a row, and keep a fish, you have to be there on week days. And, on those days, you have to keep it if you catch one, no matter the size, and stop fishing until a catch and release day.
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