Quote Originally Posted by RA View Post
Sometimes, I cannot believe how backwards we are. We still have the same frontier mentality that led to the decimation of most of the game species and the deforestation of the entire state by the turn of the last century. It is long over due for catfish to be declared a game species and appropriate limits placed on their harvest (15 is too many fish and too late, and this only applies to one lake). There still are no appropriate regulations prohibiting the removal of the large breeders from the river systems or limits placed on the harvest of these fish from those waterways. There is good reason why the fishing is so poor in this state; many of us have the mentality of killing and eating practically everything we catch, and this is actually promoted by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Did the host of Kentucky Afield ever catch a fish he didn't eat (pardon the hyperbole, but it is close to being true)? Heck even recently I saw photo after photo of muskie being taken, the the "fishermen" just couldn't resist the urge of putting them on a stringer and even posting it on a national site. Sometimes our reputation is well deserved! We finally get a lake that is producing decent catches of catfish with the potential for developing a trophy fishery, and we can't wait to fill up the tubs. Very sad.

Im with you on this, however no one group of fishermen are going to self-regulate, it is going to take our biologist and lawmakers to put into place laws protecting this species and right now whether we like it or not catfish are "considered" trash fish. Now in recent years with the popularity of catfishing and catfish tournaments that label is becoming obsolete, however the regulations are lagging public opinion. There is also the problem of the public's perception of the catfishermen themselves, there seems to be the notion that catfisherman as a whole are uneducated hillbilly's filling up the pickup bed for a family fishfry that includes the backwards sister, the stuttering uncle and the tobacco chewing granny and while this may be true in most cases, there are a few of us that see catfishing as the pursuit of a worthy gamefish and not just a swimming picnic complete with pork rinds and married cousins.

As a side note I dont consider all catfishermen to be backwards, simple minded buffoons raping a fragile ecosystem with reckless abandon.......just the Juggers.