Ladies & Gentlemen, We the catfishermen & Women who LOVE catfishing, practice Catch & Release on Trophy Cats while teaching Conservation to young and old, in KENTUCKY waters !!!! ARE UP AGAINST IT !!!!! Heres where we are at this point in Kentucky. Today we had OUR first official meeting with the Committee @ Kentucky Fish & Wildlife. First Mr Brooks takes his seat @ the table and tellls the committee that after a 1 year study on TROPHY CATS a long with trotline DATA from years past & tournament data from 72 tournaments, hes seeing a DECLINE in the TROPHY CATS. Mostly in the pools above Louisville to West Virginia. Proposed a 1over 35 per species for rod & reel fishermen STATEWIDE. For the commercial fishermen from West Virginia to Cannelton 1 over 35 per species. From Cannelton Dam down a 4 over 40 aggregate or just 4, down to Cairo. Kentucky and Barkley Lakes NO regs FREE FOR ALL. The Commercial guy hits the mic first and to sum him up basically says, Mr Brooks, KFWD Biologist and the catfishermen are WRONG. That the Biologist are some UNDERGRADS that know nothing about catching fish. Telling us CATCH & RELEASE guys, we should be killing some them BIG fish, not releasing them back into the river. Its not good for the SPORTS fish with all them BIG catfish swimming around, hes seen a lot of SPORTS fish in his livewell after pulling his commercial gear. Then the jobs thing and how fishing at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes is great. That the Rivers are full of fish, There is NO problem. He wants 4 over 40 STATEWIDE for the Commercial fishermen. A couple on the Committee start supporting this guy. Saying things like maybe Mr Brooks, his Biologist and us Fishermen are WRONG, or lets TABLE this until we do more studies, that only 8% of catfishermen fish for Trophy Cats. Is this issue even REAL or are we just a squeaky wheel looking for some grease. But want to hear our side. Commissioner Williams and Mr Brooks step up and defend the data and its Biologist and bring up the PAY LAKE issue. Mr Brooks talks of a group looking into the pay lake issue and clears up a DEAL or NO DEAL issue the commercial guys have been trying to say we reached, it was a NO DEAL on our part from the day one. The Commissioners start talking about a NO transport of LIVE fish from Kentucky waters law that IS being looked into. Then several Kentucky Catfishermen hit the mic explaining our case with passion. We talked Conservation, Protection the need for the TROPHY CATS in the river for US fishermen and for generations to come. We spoke on pay lakes, commercial fishing, fishing with our friends and family, fishing tournaments, money brought in to TOURISM in Kentucky from Catfishing Tournaments, educating people on The Sport we LOVE. That we AGREE with Mr Brooks and his people, that we can work with his regs. Next Commissioner Bevins suggest they EXCEPT Mr Brooks regs and send them to the Commission. The vote to move these regs foward went our way. Its progress but not what we were hoping for and its a LONG way from over. We need MORE SUPPORT FROM KENTUCKY SPORTSMEN !!!! Or anyone else that could help !!!!!!!
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 02:33:53 +0000