Can mother nature overcome today's fishing comforts and technology?

Driving by a small lake the other night and seeing a city of fish house lights got me thinking…Are we going to deplete our fishing resource? Hear me out…..

Honestly the fish don’t have a chance anymore and they are getting hit year round now…

Look back 25 years ago when there were only crappy 2d sonars on 16′ aluminum boats that could carry 3 fisherman with a 15hp motors, contrast that to today’s world where $75k 20′ Ranger/Skeeter boats that can hold 6 fisherman with 250hp motors running high definition Side scan sonars that are able to tell you exact bottom structure and any fish that are around it…if the fish are not biting it takes you mere minutes to get to your next spot vs the put put put of the 15hp motor…

25 years ago, ice fishing mostly consisted of guys sitting on a 5 gallon bucket fishing with a hand line rod (If you could even withstand the elements) Now a majority of fisherman bring family members with and have 3 person insulted shelters & wear insulated fishing suits, flashers so powerful that they tell you instantly what’s in the water column and when the fish bites your jig.

Today we have HD maps with 1′ depth increments, can show exactly where weed lines and hard bottoms exist and are able to save these way points that bring us back to exact spot on a lake vs the past when you would simply “Fish the bays” or “Fish next to the fallen pine tree on the other side of the lake”

Rods/Reels/Fishing line have got to the point to where now it’s almost impossible to lose fish to equipment failure vs the past when your crappy Zebco20 closed face reel would lock up, your flimsy fiberglass rod had no flexibility/backbone or the brittle mono line would just snap on a hook set…

Then there’s the thinking that “I paid a ton of $$ for this boat/ice fishing setup, so i’m gonna take my fish limit to help justify it” vs the past when fishing was mostly for the sport of it, with the occasional shore lunch for fun.

Yes, there will be those that disagree with my thinking and not every fisherman uses a $75k boat or owns an insulated shack…but you can’t argue that we’ve made it darn near impossible for the fish to have a chance anymore…I’m just asking if it’s possible to sustain this in the future?

yes technology advancements have made it easier to find fish but i contend that most people still do the same things their father did, who did the same thing THEIR father did. those shanty towns are in the EXACT same places they were 50 years ago.

i also contend that while guys were sitting there sitting on buckets staring down a hole, there wasn’t behind the scenes a dnr system with the tools they have today analyzing and placing billions of fry in water systems to help maintain.

there are fish all over the lake, not just that 40′ hole in the middle. yet you wouldn’t think so if you looked at shanty town.

when its spring or fall, 90% of the boats on the pool are congrigated in the tailwaters. where a good number of fish are but i’m certain not 90% of the fish.

We will be fine.

Well, 35 years ago when I started fishing more seriously there wasn’t much in the way of catch and release. The Trout guys were doing it. The Musky Inc. guys were talking it up, but there were very few Musky guys in those days. It was common to open a magazine and see a bunch of fish on a stringer or a livewell full of big Walleyes. The TV shows were the same. I can clearly remember my Father’s reaction the first time I told him I had caught a bunch of Bass and Northerns on Lake Elmo…..and let them all go. He looked at me like I had just gone insane. When I first started spending a week at a resort near Aitkin, the owner was concerned that I didn’t have any packages of fish in the resort freezer. When I told her I was releasing everything except a couple of meals of pan fish, she was astonished. She hadn’t ever heard catch and release. Once I explained how a few greedy monkeybutts could destroy her lake…and her business would suffer…the light when on.

These days things are very different. As Anglers we’re many time more dangerous to the fish that we used to be. But at the same time I think a majority of people understand that the resource is finite, it has to be protected, and if we’re not careful we can fish a lake to death. I think a lot more folks understand and believe that now.

SR

I fondly remember my grampa yelling at us kids when we would throw fish back…

100% technology obviously advanced. people can catch fish easier but majority of people fine with catch and release today is the game changer. My brothers in his early 20s when him and his buddys go very rarely do the keep anything its not really a thought on their end.

As you read this you are using and reading from the greatest technological advancement that is the greatest threat to our resources by making fishing “easier”.

If anyone says you can only use 1 electronic device the rest of your life, the correct answer to give is the computer.

Lets not forget that 25-30 years ago people didn’t travel as far to fish. Just think what your local lakes would look like if nobody traveled farther than say 25 miles.

I catch far less fish with my fancy gadgets and comfortable boat than I did without. Just sayin.

Yea it can handle the advancments, it’s just up to the outdoors folkto help her out, which is the hard part.

It’s a doubled edged sword. Mortality rates are what they are, there’s no changing that. SO even CPR folks will still “harvest” a small percentage of fish they reel in. Personally, I don’t eat much fish but enjoy it once or twice a year. I also fish 2-3 times a week. I know my “harvest” numbers are higher than some folks that go out once or twice a month and keep everything they catch.

Just because someone practices catch and release, doesn’t mean they’re not part of the problem. I know I am part of the problem and I make every effort possible in hopes of letting fish survive after catching, but it doesn’t always work. 80% of the fish I harvest are fish I truly don’t believe will survive if I throw it back. Heck, I kept a 10″ walleye last year because it was bleeding like a stuck pig when I pulled it in.

I guess the point i’m making is C&R isn’t fool-proof, but it surely is slowing down the harvest rates on many lakes. An influx of technology making fishing easier with many fishermen practicing C&R, In my mind, is about equal to less technology and harvesting everything you catch.

I think there is more of catch and release it seams going on.

Just because you have all the fancy things doesn’t mean your going to catch more fish it just going to help you find them.

If you believe in the evolution theory, that means the fish should be learning what is natural and what is not, in theory making them tougher to catch.

catnip wrote:

I catch far less fish with my fancy gadgets and comfortable boat than I did without. Just sayin.

X2

Too much time fiddling around with crap

It’s something I’m increasingly concerned about also. How much pressure can some of these fisheries sustain before they reach the tipping point? Assuming that mother nature can overcome all the technology is very naïve.
Technology is already creating fisheries management problems that the DNR has never dealt with before. Blabbing about how many big fish somebody caught or posting pictures of fish caught on a certain lake on the internet is but one small example of how technology can lead to so much pressure on a lake that it may not be able to sustain its fishery.
The evolving technology associated with depth finders and GPS also makes it considerably easier to catch fish than it once did.
When I started fishing there were not even accurate paper maps available for most lakes, much less GPS with mapping chips. There were depth finders, but they were rare and not the quality of todays products. Most guys didn’t have them. The only way to determine depth was to probe with a weight. Catching fish was way more challenging than it is today. Today it’s as easy as getting the GPS coordinates of a hotspot and catching fish.
Thinking that the younger generation is all about catch and release is not necessarily the truth either. I work with younger guys that fish and listen to their fishing reports and listen to my coworkers talk about how many fish their kids catch and keep.

We’ve had these threads before. For those of us who still have the privilege of fishing non to extremely low pressured lakes, we know the different.

Of course mother nature can’t overcome man’s stupidity and our ever increasing ability to get better at our craft. Internet + cell phone + gps + flasher + schooled crappies under ice = fished out lake

Above posts are correct, the more of us that are out there and the better we get means we have to continue to move towards either catch and release or more responsible harvest. Trout and Musky guys got their thing going, time to keep getting more of us on that path

The question really should be nature vs business.

Big money is now flowing into our sport, and with that comes the need to get consumers on fish, and tell them everything they need to catch those fish is their products.

How has nature held up to other businesses in history

IMHO – I believe the answer is yes. “Most” people fish for recreation not survival.
If someone has a boat load of money into their set-up, they should be smart enough to do the proper thing.

Charles wrote:

I think there is more of catch and release it seams going on.

Just because you have all the fancy things doesn’t mean your going to catch more fish it just going to help you find them.

If you believe in the evolution theory, that means the fish should be learning what is natural and what is not, in theory making them tougher to catch.

Would be interesting if they became savy to sonar pulses.

Evolution, like climate change, does not happen fast.

While I agree that the Internet is one of the biggest factors in adding fishing pressure to lakes that are producing fish. I think the majority of fisherman even armed with new electronics have no clue where to find fish. They go out and look for other boats or houses and wet a line. That being said, good fisherman that have put in the time to learn patterns to get on fish no doubt benefit greatly with technology.

JoeMX, yes there is better technology and some comforts now. It’s important to look at more then just over-harvest. Which of these has the most influence: habitat, spawning success, stocking, fishing pressure, access (just to name a few). It’s my understanding that harvest/fishing pressure isn’t one of the top influences. An eco-system has 100’s of moving parts. I lean toward fish habitat as a major cause of population changes. We know that lakeshore development causes habitat loss. While it is much harder for anglers to come together to protect habitat, in the long run it is the most beneficial. Where harvest comes in, is when we get focused on “the bigger the better”. Our Central MN lakes are infested with small pike, they in-tern have decimated the perch population. One part of solving this problem is to keep larger Pike in lakes, these are the “eaters” eaters of small pike. This is why MN has moved to new regulations in 2017 for Pike. Another thing is what happens when Pike wipe out the Perch? Perch are desperately needed to control panfish spawning. Without the Perch we often see stunting of panfish-there are just to many off them all eating the same forage. When I was just learning about angling, I asked what was the most important thing I could improve? And the op three things were habitat, habitat and habitat. LOL

Buzz if big pike are needed then why allow spearing? Spearing targets larger fish in most (but not all) instances. Also doesn’t the DNR have the teeth to enforce these shore owners from destroying spawning habitat by eliminating the weed beds? Then there is also the manicured lawns right down to the shoreline. They either are lacking the teeth or balls to handle this.

Dutch, your asking about opening a can of worms that goes back at least 30-40 years. The Minnesota Sportfishing Congress which was one of the best attempts to address fisheries issues was harpooned with this issue. Every Outdoor/Conservation writer has called for restraint in harvesting big pike. It falls on deaf ears. Look at what happened on Mille Lac’s two years ago. In my opinion one season of nailing giant Pike set the lake back 50 years. As far as lakeshore rules, you’re right on with your questions.Yes it is a lack of teeth and backbone by both the Legislature and the Governor. As a matter of fact, our boat registration fees are being spent to subsidize permits to destroy aquatic habitat. Don’t get me started.

There’s a big part of me that says the technology isn’t all that helpful. But ultimately I recognize that it is, especially in how it allows us to apply knowledge that is more readily available. And there are patterns that unquestionably would be like looking for a needle in a haystack but for technology. I land on catch and release as the mitigating factor. It’s a big deal that people don’t keep as many fish as they used to. Fish species aren’t the same. But muskies epitomize the importance of catch and release. Muskie fishing is nothing like it used to be, even on Lake of the Woods and other lakes where they aren’t stocked.

I like to eat fish that I catch now and again, but I release the vast majority of them. To the point that if I want to keep fish I usually have to look up the regs so I don’t make a mistake. I’d rather catch a fish twice than eat it once.

I think catch and release/selective harvest makes a positive difference.

Here is one additional thought. Does C & R breed smarter fish? There are studies out there from the mid 1990’s from Texas that indicate in two generations of Bass, that is true.

Here is a like discussing Muskies that that may be true.

http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=99069&start=1

Technology may make it easier to catch dumb fish, but the ones that get smarter will be the ones that survive.

I think the anglers with top of the line boats and gear are more cognizant of the resource than ever.
I haven’t kept a bass in over 25 years. Haven’t filleted a walleye over 18 inches as long as I can remember. It’s rare that I keep more the 8-10 perch, crappies or gills.
I believe sites like IDO and todays fishing shows and magazines have done a good job stressing the need to catch and release and selective harvest.

I wonder how much anglers attitudes have helped the fishery. CPR and selective harvest IMHO have helped the fishery immensely, or at least kept it from spiraling out of control downward.

That being said, even without that culture I would still be a CPR guy. For me personally, fishing, and on rare occasions, catching is what fishing is all about. If you catch and eat, I applaud you. For me, having to clean fish after a trip is a little bit of a pain, but I do enjoy it once in awhile as others have said.

I guess none of this has to do with technology. Maybe I should start a “culture” topic.

We have a friends fishing tourney every year. A few of us have New boats with full electronics. My friend last year won the entire thing in a 25 year old 15 foot Lund, with just a 15 hp outboard. Zero electronics.

BCNeal wrote:

I think the anglers with top of the line boats and gear are more cognizant of the resource than ever.
I haven’t kept a <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass in over 25 years. Haven’t filleted a <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye over 18 inches as long as I can remember. It’s rare that I keep more the 8-10 perch, <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappies or gills.
I believe sites like IDO and todays fishing shows and magazines have done a good job stressing the need to catch and release and selective harvest.

Good point, i’m the same way…1 campfire fish fry on opener is all we ever eat…