Well another water is getting hit hard by the NEW DWR laws and the spear fisherman..
What water??? Jordanelle Sunday I seen them with big smalles and from the people who check for the mussels they have been KILLING the bigger bass for a few weeks now.. There was three boats of them after the bass…
Jordanelle is one of the best waters in Utah for big Small mouth bass but it can NOT hold up under this kind of slaughter…
They are trying to get the state spearfishing record, but most are KILLING the bass and after they see (weigh) the fish and see they don’t have the record go after another one..
This has been going on for weeks thanks to Drew for changing the regs…
Not a spear fisherman myself, but would love to see your proof that people are breaking the law. Also, I assume that you called the DWR while you were witnessing this.
When they go out in the morning and come back with fish, and two to three hours later go back out again and bring more back again, what would you think???
Small mouth are the easiest of all fresh water fish to get close to when swimming, that comes from the TV show HOOK and LOOK.. On that show the bass will swim right up to the divers…
RE"When they go out in the morning and come back with fish, and two to three hours later go back out again and bring more back again, what would you think???"
It would seem that if you see this happening, the local CO should be made aware of it. It doesn’t seem like a harvest issue as much as an **enforcement **issue.
FWIW, I was/am not in favor of the new regs either, but as long as the spear anglers are obeying the law, the problem is not with them.
I don’t know about you Cliff, but I have been pleased by the condition of a lot of the fish I have been getting up there. They have been quite fat, just like they were a few years ago. I have been getting some bigger ones too. I do think the high water has done the fishery some good and hopefully it can regenerate fast if there is an overharvest issue. I think time will tell on that.
I agree with doggone – sounds like a harvest enforcement issue. In that case, law enforcement needs to be notified. Spearfishermen must abide by the daily and possession limits just like hook and line anglers do.
yeah wish they wouldn’t spear nice sized bass to begin with, a lot easier to harvest big bass with a speargun than it is a rod and reel. especially killing big fish chasing records and removing nice fish like that, kinda LAME!!! but I’ll keep an eye out.
I will call and report fishing violations when I see them.
The thing is, you have to be sure and even have proof that a law has been broken.
I’m not a fan of spear fishing but the people that are have the same rights as any other angler.
Just because someone spears a few fish in the morning, that doesn’t mean that they have their limit.
They have the right to go back and fish again later in the day, the same as any other angler.
Please have the facts together before calling someone out.
I agree you have to have proof. something about hearing/seein nice fish speared makes my blood boil. I don’t know why but I think it’s lame. BUT if they’re within the regs they have every right and wouldn’t want anyone harassed or intimidated on the water. but I’ll keep a look out like I would for suspicious rod and reel anglers.
Just because someone spears a few fish in the morning, that doesn’t mean that they have their limit.
They have the right to go back and fish again later in the day, the same as any other angler.
Please have the facts together before calling someone out.
Their limit is one bass over 12 inches. One per day. One in their possession. If they harvest a bass over 12 inches in the morning, they can’t spear another one that day. They cannot legally donate it to someone else at the lake. They cannot eat them for lunch and go back for more. They’ve filled their limit of one bass over 12 inches for that day. It doesn’t sound like they are after a limit of dinks. It sounds like they are after a big 'un.
I seem to remember back when some trout, Lake trout and splake was being speared and many was out raged over it.. And wanted to get it stopped, and wanted help to get it stopped at that time was it not legal for them to spear the trout at that time as well???
How about some help to stop this spearing of the bigger bass now..
Can they donate it at home to someone else and return that evening to get another bass? Just curious, that is all. I plan on hitting the Nelle and I will release mine cuz of the consumption advisory.
No I don’t spearfish either (bad ears) and when my buddy does it bugges me cuz he scares the fish away from me… not because he gets one.
Seems like the rivalry is comparable to that of skiers and snowboarders. Don’t sweat it too much guys there are plenty of SMB’s to go around, I doubt all the SMB’s will be gone anytime soon.
Can they donate it at home to someone else and return that evening to get another bass? Just curious, that is all.
Nope. Daily limit is one over 12 inches. If they shoot one over 12 inches, they can’t legally shoot another one over 12 inches in the same day. A lot harder to prove if they leave the water and donate the fish or leave them at home, but still not legal.
How about some help to stop this spearing of the bigger bass now..
Cliff – I 'm on your side. My only issue was you blaming it on regulation changes, and on Cushing.
This has nothing to do with a regulation change, or on Cushing. This has to do with law enforcement.
At Fish Lake, spear fishermen can still legally go harvest lake trout. If you’d like help in changing the rules so that spear fishermen cannot harvest bass during the spawn, then I’d possibly help you out.
[fishon]
I know little to nothing about spear fishing. But at the end of the day…I see anglers breaking rules and laws all the time and getting away with it. I am betting the spear fishing population is very small in comparison. If they can’t keep normal anglers from breaking the law I doubt anglers under water are ever going to be caught…especially since you can spear something and just slide it off if you don’t want it… But again have no idea about spearing fish. Law breakers in every aspect of life. We just need to be the good ones. Cause we will never weed out the bad ones.
I question the accuracy of this. Bass guys like to protect their fish… I can respect that. But to make a post and blast Drew Cushing (who has nothing to do with people breaking a set and fair regulation) based on pure hearsay (likely BS) info is idiotic.
You are only partially correct, fishrman.
A person spear fishing at Jordanelle is entitled to one full possession limit which is 6 Bass with only 1 being over 12".
So as I stated before, they can continue to return to the water as often as it takes to get a legal 6 fish limit.
As far as the rest of the story goes from the OP, it’s second hand hearsay and we don’t know what really happened.
I do believe that a group of spear fishers may have got together at Jordanelle to try to get a record Bass.
What’s illegal about that?
That is my take on it.