Which came first?

[Guest]

In Reply to Fidelis,

First off my opinions were not stated out of anger, this is an topic of interest to me, and this is a discussion board. I have apologized for returning fire when fired upon. If anyone else has any unresolved issues with my language or behavior on this board, please call it to my attention.

First point: In true lawyerly fashion, you have fragmented my commentary, and took my statements and applied your own context. Considering turnabout as fair play, I hope you appreciate my responses to your statements. I am not calling for the elimination of C&R, I clearly left this as a choice for anyone who wishes to do so. What I am against(again) is the proposal that Mille lacs be restricted to C&R only regulations, as of yet, I have not heard a logical arguement for that proposal.

Sidenote: I quote you "Sidenote: In a perfect world, regulations wouldn’t be needed. As a lawyer I can tell you property rights were created over two hundred years ago by the white man, and for good reason. Prior the creation of property laws, communities were formed to work together for the benefit of all. However, some individuals learned they didn’t have to work as hard as others but could still reap the benefits. At this point lines were drawn, laws were made, and everyone had to fend for themselves whether it dealt with real or personal property."

Your statement "In a perfect world, regulations would not be needed". Well it's not a "perfect world", so what exactly is your point in mentioning that? You go on to say "As a lawyer I can tell you property rights were created over two hundred years ago by the white man, and for good reason." Well I am no lawyer, but I do know some history, and I will tell you that property laws have existed for thousands of years before the settlement of North America and the establishment of the United States of America, and are quite well documented. I am uncertain as to wether it was the "white man" that was the first to create them, yet I digress. Yet I guess you do as well as your next statement "Prior the creation of property laws, communities were formed to work together for the benefit of all." What? was this a universally applied community structure? What specifically are you refering to and what is the point of it? and how does it apply to this topic. And the rest of this paragraph recedes into even deeper recesses of unclarity.

Second topic, While yes, this is my opinion, it would be no more difficult to enforce than todays regs, based on the recent ruling regarding game wardens and privacy expectations in boats and ice houses. Also my proposal has just as much merit as those proposing C&R regulations, they are just differing opinions presented by members of a discussion board, we are hardly putting pen to paper here. You stated "C&R fisherman releases 4, maybe one dies. You keep 4, all die. Under your regulation we will back to involuntary C&R, accept there won’t be any “C”." I am not following your logic here, why won't there be anymore "C"? Based on the scenario In my previous post, both fisherman in your example are still killing less fish than they would be today.

Third topic: Yes, fishing has been spectacular this past season, In fact, I can not remember the fishing ever being this spectacular, That is why the resorts are doing well, This has nothing to do with C&R, and there is good evidence to support that C&R may actually be slowing the bite,(see the story on FM homepage). Put some C&R only regs on the lake, and I am sure the resort owners would not be happy with the results. If your expectations are that the "state of the bite" is a permanent situation, I would urge you to reconsider. The population has not been accurately assessed, the hooking mortality figures are finally moving into a reasonable range, and not even the DNR will state that the population has stablized.

Fourth point: No I am not a professional fisherman, I wouldn't care to be one either. Simple fact is I have been fishing my whole life, My parents and grandparents taught me, and my interest grew from there. I am also a trained biologist, and have studied freshwater biology and ecology extensively. If there is one fish that is easy to pattern, it is a walleye. That is neither silly or callous, if that offends you or anyone, that is unfortunate, but the only reason could be that you have not put enough time into understanding walleye. If you believe the walleye to be a hard fighting fish, you really owe it to yourself to expand your horizons and try out a king salmon, lake sturgeon, muskie, pound for pound even the smallmouth bass gives up a better fight.

Fifth topic: If you cannot tell the difference in taste, that is your problem not mine. I can tell the difference; the fact is walleye is a fish with delicate flesh. It must be handled properly in order to really shine on the table. If people knew where the frozen walleye comes from and how it is handled and by whom, I am sure the demand would drop. Go ahead and have a taste test if you would like, I won't be there, as you do not appear from your post to be anyone I would like to meet.

Final point: You must be reading between the lines to come to those conclusions, Just as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I am merely stating what is my opinion, I do not see how the discussion of mine and others opinions is disrespectful. We do not all have to agree, but we do have to get along. If anyone feels there is a post I have made that contains slanderous, profane or vulgar language, I would be more than willing to edit that post.

[Guest]

Great Response/Analysis LabRat -

I could mimic your lack of etiquette by responding (see coldone's retort to Pannyraid, supra), but this is about fishing on Mille Lacs, not who can come up with the best one liners. Although I find your banter humorous and entertaining, I also find it uninspiring and childish.

I will resubmit my original inquiry solely for you to elucidate:

Fish survived and reproduced in the big pond long before man arrived. So why does man have to remove fish for the fish to survive??? (i.e., why is the DNR wrong?)

[huskminn]

coldone,

Air cleared.

Rick,

Did you just make fun of us? I hope so, because we need it!

Thanks to all for the opportunity and the experience.

Anyone know where I can find a good, used soap box? Mine's shot.

[Guest]

Jeez, this is depressing. I'm going back to the Otter Tail board.