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Eternal Smallmouth (Guest Article)
by Michael E. Little

Impact
The power of today's fisherman has changed radically from anglers of the past. Television programs, books, magazines and websites are available to increase our knowledge. A cadre of trained professionals at State Game and Fish, who are expert in the science of fish behavior, habitat, forage and seasonal patterns, are on call. A dizzying array of technology is available; fish finders, flashers, GPS receivers, underwater cameras, high-powered boats, computers, weather satellites and quality charts all can improve our fishing success. Graphite rods, long-cast reels, engineered line and lures that do everything but stalk the fish, are common. Our ability to impact finite natural resources is unprecedented.

Fishing Pressure
Down the road from me is a municipal impoundment where I occasionally test the lures and rods I make. One evening this past summer, I caught 31 bass in an hour. Pretty good, huh? Unfortunately, all the fish were 10-12 inches long; there wasn't a decent fish in the bunch. This performance was repeated several more times last fall.

Recently, while listening to the radio, I heard that ocean fish were 30% smaller than they were 50 years ago. While the blurb didn't qualify what type of fish, it got me thinking. I started digging through state smallmouth records and what I found was surprising. The average state record smallie, from all 48 states smallmouth bearing states, was caught in 1970, more than 30 years ago. Of the original states where smallies were naturally occurring, not stocked, the average record smallie was taken in 1956. Alarm bells went off! Where are all the big boys I always assumed were in there?

Armed with my runty bass experience and the discovery of over-aged smallie records, I stopped in at State Game and Fish to talk with one of their biologists. He listened to my tales of runty bass and shrinking ocean catches, then replied, "I don't know about ocean fish, but what you saw with the small bass is the result of fishing pressure; when a guy catches a keeper, he keeps it. Good fish seldom grow to become great fish because they are caught and taken home. They never have the opportunity to grow big." This would seem to solve the historic records puzzle but where are conservation efforts today?

Catch and Release
The benefits of Catch and Release (C&R) have been extolled for years, but how many anglers actually practice it? I was told by Game and Fish, as well as others, that local anglers simply don't practice C&R. "It's alien to them. Some find it impossible to put a legal fish back in the water." Curious, I decided to do some checking.

I contacted the various Game and Fish departments in almost every state and asked them what percentage of freshwater anglers practiced C&R. Most replied that they had no idea and did not track it: "we do not have specific data and are not able to offer a plausible estimate." Now there's some bad news. Just a couple states have a handle on who, how or if C&R is being practiced. These states survey a large percentage of licensed anglers every few years; an approach other states said they would soon be adopting.

Finally, one Southern state said they preferred "selective harvest" over Catch and Release because they don't want to see fish die of predation, disease or age. They feel they can control fishery health through catch limits, size restrictions, slot limits and strict enforcement. Maybe.

The C&R ethic can be taken too far. One of our Western states reported having an over-abundance of brown trout. The population is showing reduced growth, minor infections and higher mortality because the trout have exceeded the carrying capacity of the habitat. Game and Fish has made repeated requests for anglers to harvest legal fish, but so far, the fishermen refuse to stray from strict C&R practices, leaving Game and Fish to rethink how to reduce the trout population without the cooperation of "educated fishermen."

Slot Limits
Controlling agencies use slot limits as a tool to sustain a viable breeding population, whereby only fish longer than x-inches but shorter than y-inches may be legally harvested. Sort of a go-no go gage for angling and relatively simple in theory. In this way, larger breeding stock above the slot limit are protected to spawn and sustain the fishery without need for stocking. This is a great approach for protecting a fishery, but not without its problems. The time the fish is out of the water for measurement can't be good its health, and fish in the wild can be difficult to measure accurately. What's more, kept fish have been known to lose weight and shrink; if a fish is close to the lower limit, it may slip into illegality after a couple hours. In some areas, there are no uniform slot limits.

Different governing bodies on a river can have different slot sizes along adjacent stretches of water; that beautiful smallie you just caught could be outside the slot just a short distance up or downstream. Anglers must carry the burden of knowing if a fish is legal and keeping it legal.

Stocking Programs
Nearly all states have active stocking programs. Why? What is the purpose of stocking fish? Is the stocking being done to "seed" a fishery so it will become self-sustaining? Or, is it fisherman's welfare? Stocking fish on one end of a lake so they can be caught and eaten at the other end is a corruption of good conservation practices and amounts to little more than welfare. The role of Game and Fish should be in managing existing fisheries and developing new ones, not handing out free lunches to anyone with a fishing pole and license. Anglers have a right to fish and to take fish, but a balance must be struck between angler's rights and the preservation of a healthy fishery.

Educated Anglers
Many states reported that C&R mentality was stronger among bass fishermen than any other group, and this makes sense. We've watched Jimmy, Babe, Roland and Bill catch lots of fish over the years, and release most of them after a couple kisses and a hug, but how often do they educate the viewer on good conservation practices? What better forum than a fishing show?

Sport fishing is a huge industry in this country. The American Sportfishing Association reports that in 1996, 35 million licensed freshwater anglers spent $37 billion on rods, reels, line, lures, boats, motors, electronics and related fishing gear. So why aren't manufacturers, distributors and retailers doing more to protect the long term health of the source of their wealth and educate the public? Hey man, I'm too busy makin' money to edgamacate anyone!

This is not to say that the industry contributes nothing to the sport; they do. For nearly 60 years, first through the Pittman-Robertson Act and then the Wallop-Breaux Trust Fund, a stiff excise tax is charged on fishing gear, hunting equipment and motorboat fuel. This tax is hidden and most of us never know we've paid it or that it exists. Funds raised by the program are then disbursed, at the discretion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to individual states in proportion to hunting and fishing license sales and their land to water ratio. State Game and Fish agencies use these funds, and others, for habitat improvement, stocking programs, land purchases, education and improving water access. Over the years, this tax has paid more than $7 billion to wildlife agencies in all 50 states, yet conservation education programs seem meager by any standard; improving boat ramps and new land acquisition will be of little benefit if a healthy and thriving fishery no longer exists.

Eternal Smallies
Mindless obedience to the Catch and Release dogma is just a wrong-headed as fishing a river or lake out and carrying them all home for supper. Our goal should be healthy self-sustaining fisheries today and tomorrow; eternal smallies. Our only tool in this struggle is education. Our only ally toward enlightened stewardship is Game and Fish. As the over-abundance of brown trout shows, Game and Fish cannot achieve their goals without the cooperation of educated fishermen, and the public will not cooperate unless educated in good management practices.

The dark forces of greed are marshalling against us, bent on turning our shared resources to their own ends. Meat fishermen are determined exercise their "rights" to fish our rivers and lakes bankrupt; the future be damned. Politicians make repeated attempts to raid the Wallop-Breaux funds, like pigs at the trough, full but never sated, always wanting more. PETA claims to speak for all living animals, spouting mush-headed slogans to prop up their sense of self-worth, determined to impose their culturally barren and ethically dishonest ideals on us all.

We owe it to ourselves, our children and grandchildren to become stewards of the fishing resource. It will involve educating ourselves to the issues, following how Wallop-Breaux and other funds are spent, keeping a close eye on the politicians and becoming active - whether it's countering PETA letters to the editor, worrying state representatives silly or monitoring Game and Fish efforts. Ultimately, all State Game and Fish Management policy is politically driven and we must apply pressure to Politicians and Game and Fish if we are to win. This battle will be fought state by state; every state a test of the political process and our determination to preserve our heritage. If the best fishing years are ahead of us, we can create the future we want.

We have 40 million licensed freshwater anglers in this country; that's 40 million votes. Votes equal Power. Get educated. Get involved. Get the word out.

Eternal smallies.