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3. I've Killed them All..., Page 3

They're vegetarians, wherein lies the problem with both the uncatchability and the destruction of habitat for other fishes - they eat all the weeds! And unlike the common carp, I don't think they eat anything else. I suppose you could put some lettuce on a hook...

Jonathon

Well that clears up a misconception then. I thought they were bad because they gorged on other fish. Aren't those the ones that jump into the boat when people go by? I know very little about them (obviously) I just saw a thing about them on one of the channels like Discovery or History.

On another note, as I've learned more about ecosystems in the past 10 years, one thing I've definitely come to understand, and something you alluded to, is that the things that kill rivers aren't things that directly kill fish. I'm not sure that people who don't really study the ecosystem understand that. For instance, something that really affects rivers in Colorado is mining tailings and runoff, and I think that people are confused as to how that kills fish. The same can be said for Zebra Mussels which are relatively new to Colorado. How can something like a snail kill a fish? But as we learn, the smallest elements of life in our waters are just as important as the fish themselves.

Exactly. It's a tangled web woven long before us -3.5 billion years worth. Many of us would like to keep as much of it around as possible, whether we understand, even recognize, it all or not.

Scary, sad, to realize that most people, each wielding tremendous unprecedented power to influence things, aren't even aware of what they trod on. You can't value what you don't see, unless perhaps you've glimpsed just enough of it. Angling is a direct tap into that ancient system -a glimpse.

Fly fishing for Asian carp has become popular among a segment of the angling population here in Missouri. They are catchable on the fly, though I get the sense they can be pretty difficult. Most think that they just take out of curiosity more than anything else. I've yet to try it, but so long as they're taking those fish out of the system, I'm fully supportive!

This subject came up tonight after hearing about a fellow fly fisherman catching and killing (Banking) several smallmouth bass... I seldom find myself fishing for stocked trout and prefer fishing for wild trout, mainly brook and brown trout. I realize the balance to keep these fisheries thriving is delicate but in no way approve in playing God and killing other species besides trout. What is your thought when killing other fish? You like trout fishing so its okay to kill all other species? Please dont play with Mother Nature...She has a handle on her duties and does not need some wanna be do gooder to help out....Tight Lines!

Ken,

I think we are too late with the, "don't play with Mother Nature" deal. We have planted voracious salmonids from Europe and the west coast of the US in nearly every viable and not-so-viable stream across the globe. Whether or not they ever existed in these streams. Trout eat other fish just as much as smallies.

I too am not fond of the "managing the resource" mantra of our state's DNR's and I'm also not too fond of tossing fish up on the bank as "garbage fish". When I was a kid fishing with the local boys on the "crick" up near my grandmother's place, I witnessed them tossing suckers in the bushes when caught.

I think we have long since screwed up any original balance...The ego of men, yahoo's all, can be a messed up self-serving stinky pile of you know what! :)

Getting them to just leave well enough alone is an impossible task and the vermin just keep reproducing. Good luck with this.

Don't beat yourself up too much over it though...If we can can get away with your anthropomorphising of "nature" by calling it a "Mother"...Just to continue this...She will one day stand us all up, tell us to touch our toes, and whip the hell out of us with something more serious than the belt my mom would use on my rascally ass!

Spence

Happy Mother's Day, by-the-way. :)

Next topic then...It is now the rule in streams in Yellowstone to destroy Browns and Brooks caught there...Lakers in Yellowstone Lake. In Red Rock Creek Preserve they are killing Cutts to preserve the stream as a Grayling creek, while a few miles east in Yellowstone Park they are trying to preserve the Cutts?!? When you figure it all out sir, please drop me a line.

People are bat crap crazy.