Willard Report 8/9/04

[wiperhunter2]

I don't have a problem with you or anyone else keeping their limit. What I hate is all those people out there that say, "I paid for my license and so I'm going to keep every fish I catch." If you eat the fish, no problem but a lot of those same people don't eat the fish they just throw them in the freezer and six month or a year later they throw them away because the fish have freezer burn.
That is a lot of fish to eat is all I'm saying no matter how much goes to waste because of bone and head. I know BLM keeps wipers and eats them and if you can eat them quick enough, I say more power to you.
Everyone thought last year was going to be bad for the wipers and shad because of the low water but the wipers came through the winter better than the year before. I think Xman is right we don't know what this low water will do to the fish this year it might be good for the fish. If the water gets so low that the fish are in danger I'm sure the DWR will raise the limit, just like they did at Newton last year. Even though they stocked 250,000 wiper, remember they are only an inch or two long and only a fraction of those fish survive, I think the DWR was hoping for a 1 to 2% survival rate. Enjoy the resource, just eat what you take but don't take more than you can eat. WH2
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