Quote Originally Posted by MikeAxsom View Post

The time is now and the people who can fix this are you and me. The entire fishing community needs to quit the shuck and jive about how all this happens and become the solution to the problem. Any, and I mean ANY, stocking of ANY fish into ANY water that is not done under scientific controls by authorized professionals, is wrong. That needs to be on the cover of every bait container, and on the label of every rod and reel, and on the warning tag on every new boat. And every organization should make it a mantra in their meetings and in their publications and in their rules and regulations, until it sticks.

And for the record, although it has been said a million times, a big part of the problem is that too many publications and outdoor writers talk about the big benefits of shad forage in southern waters, without explaining that those are threadfin shad, not the gizzard shad we are plagued with in this region. It’s like the difference between a pimple and skin cancer. We should make sure that everyone understands that.

Preach it brother!.. your exactly right. Not enough emphasis is being put on illegal stocking. WHY not just check our livewells before we enter a place like west boggs. It would only take a second and might defiantly prevent this if illegal stocking is the culprit. If any outdoor writers might be reading this, please write articles on this problem. SIGNS are cheap. put them up by the ramps. And i think there should be more conservation officers out there. So far it hasnt been treated like a real problem and all it takes to fix it is a little awareness.