I look forward to participating in the workshop where this discussion will continue. As I said in the past I am not here to partake in a silly battle regarding the sport!
By the way I am impressed it took 7 pages before someone made a threat against bowfishermen/women. I do realize this is not the normal thinking of majority of folks here on this site and I appreciate that. I have always said I am willing to have a conversation with those who oppose me as long as it is civil.
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…as long as it is civil.
Makes you wonder why they call so many wars civil, don’t it?
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…as long as it is civil.
Makes you wonder why they call so many wars civil, don’t it?
Perhaps a better word……..Respectful.
I think that you will find most catfisherman have an open mind about bowfishing, in fact I know several that bowfish regularly.
Fact of the matter is that we are still waiting for an answer as to why Catfish? Nodody seems to want to tackle that one…
That’s pretty simple. They obviously want to give Bow-anglers an additional opportunity to harvest some fish. And while I’m against it for the most part even though IMO it won’t effect the Catfish population at all it makes sense for DNR to open it up to the limited body’s of water that hold Catfish versus other game fish which would entail every body of water in the state. I guess I don’t like the comparison of why not every game fish versus the Chanel Cat.
To me that’s about as apples and oranges as you can get,
I don’t get it. There are limited Musky waters as well, so can we open them up to bowfishing as well?
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I guess I don’t like the comparison of why not every game fish versus the Chanel Cat.
To me that’s about as apples and oranges as you can get,
Well until we get rid of that stigma, then we will never move forward with making Cattin mainstream. And when I say mainstream, I mean funding, stocking, and protecting, inline with other MN gamefish.
You want to harvest more fish via a headlight and bow for the table? Then go ahead and shoot everything you want, don’t single out one specie. Not to mention a specie that has a maximum length restriction on the bag. Nobody wants to tackle that issue either…. If the challenge of bowfishing is to account for the light refraction, how do you plan on measuring these fish before you shoot them?
I’m very curious to hear the official position of the MNCSA on this one. 
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I think that you will find most catfisherman have an open mind about bowfishing, in fact I know several that bowfish regularly.
Fact of the matter is that we are still waiting for an answer as to why Catfish? Nodody seems to want to tackle that one…
dtro currently it is legal to harvest catfish by spearing during the darkhouse season. Also it is acceptable in other states.
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I think that you will find most catfisherman have an open mind about bowfishing, in fact I know several that bowfish regularly.
Fact of the matter is that we are still waiting for an answer as to why Catfish? Nodody seems to want to tackle that one…
dtro currently it is legal to harvest catfish by spearing during the darkhouse season.
as well as pike 
I’m sure theres people who bowfish that take home what they arrow and do what ever that never or rarely pick up a pole and fish with that. Do bowfishermen also have to fish with a pole and hook to qualify for bowfishing under another persons ethics, when its all trying to get something to eat? and if its legal whats the diffrence anyway. Bowfishing is just a diffrent way of fishing, just like a rod and reel is diffrent then a bow and fishing arrow. Theres always unethical people on both sides.
The only thing I can see thats any different between bowfishing and rod and reel is that with a rod and reel they can be released if the fishermen wants to, a good point. But on the other side of the coin a bowfishermen can select his quarry befor he shoots knowing that he already wants what hes shooting at. Theres pluses on both sides. I really can’t see anything wrong with shooting catfish, I see it as the same thing as shooting deer or rabbits with a bow. If they take thier limit and nothing more then to me thats ok and if its not more then thier limit then it not hurting the fishery. When it comes to bass, walleyes and the rest of the gamefish they aren’t as hardy as catfish and could suffer because of certain things, weather and spawning conditions for a couple. Catfish are probably one of the highest spawners year after year giving the best results so thier populations would decline less and be more stable. I can’t see arrowing walleyes and the like but I can catfish with limits.
I think this is where it starts. Its using the Channel Catfish as a gateway into the gamefish category. Next thing you know, they will want to harvest Flathead by bow methods too. Maybe the Lake Sturgeon in MN will get “over-populated” again, then they can go after them as well..
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