disturbing

went up to mille lacs for the 1st time this year – the fishing is what everyone says – outstanding.

i did notice a lot of fish belly up on the lake sunday – including one pushing 30inches. i witnessed the death sentence being issued to a fish saturday afternoon. a lone fisherman was slip bobbering a reef and hooked into what looked to be a mid 20″ fish. it took him over 2 minutes to get the hook out. not the end of the story. he then laid the fish on the bottom of his boat – dug around for something for a while and finally came out with a video camera. he starting filming the fish, at which point, i figured it must have been bigger than i thougt, and he had a trophy. about 3 minutes later, he picks up the fish and just flops it overboard. that fish did not stand a prayer of surviving.

any suggestions on how to handle a situation like this, aside from a confrontation that would not be friendly?

Todd, been thinking about your question. We have all seen it, will see it again. I would not recommend saying anything. Unfortunately, there is nothing illegal being done here.

I have to admit that I was that person you watched many, many years ago. I did the picture on every fish thing, dropped fish on a dirty floor, released injured fish. That person will hopefully grow into someone who sees the errors of his ways. Saying something may just urine the guy off. The best thing to do is set a good example.

For now – just don’t watch!

J.

I have witnessed the same thing all too often. I even watched what looked like a veteran fisherman pitch back fish with a high toss last Friday. It made us sick to see , but my buddy agreed it may be best not to stir anything up. I agree with Jon , hopefully these people will learn to be better CPR fishermen in the future.
Dino

Funny how a fish can even get away from me! And I handle a my fair share!

For instance…. I just get the fish unhooked and am lifting the fish out of the net and half way to the gunnel that baby starts to get scrappy! I’ll do everything I can to get that fish overboard. So from a distance it may well look like me hiking a football. But hey, I know that fish did not hit the floor….but no points for style.

J.