What was Mike saying about the D.F.G cracking down on runners?They wouldn't do that to the Citgo boys hauling there fish to the Kelseyville Superdome or the local Walmart for aweigh-in.Steve M.:+

They will be cracking down on those events as well. The everstart tournament really went over the line and got this whole thing all wacked out.

> The everstart tournament really went over the line and got this whole thing all wacked out.

What happened at the Everstart?

Is this going to affect the remaining delta region tourneys?

Its possible this is going to affect kickboat/float tube events from now and until the law is overwritten, could be a long time. but I assure you I am doing everything in my power to get this resolved and will probally be asking all of you for help.

I am not going to get into details but in a nut shell the anglers were told to release there own fish after being weighed in off site and that is a violation of state law.

> I am not going to get into details but in a nut shell the anglers were told to
> release there own fish after being weighed in off site and that is a violation
> of state law.

Wow, you'd think they would have some sort of plan for releases at a national/corporate event like the Everstart...

Its IMO based on the conversations with DFG it was a miscommunication issue and Everstart not being completely aware of what there permit entitled them to.

lawnmowerman does have a point. For the Everstart at the Delta they had to transport the fish from the marina to Wal-Mart. Clearly a violation of DFG rules without a permit to transport live game fish. Whether they had one or not, I do not know. I didn't know anything about having the fisherman just release their own fish afterwards, and I don't know the exact rules on that.

As far as getting rules changes implemented ... The DFG regulations are only changed on a 2 year basis. The next round of changes will not be until 2005. As a normal citizen, you can can submit a proposed regulation change to the DFG Commission in writing and they will consider it after review by biologists etc. How it all goes down is still kind of a mystery to me because it IS possible for the regulations to change during the 2 year periods, but how you go about getting one of these intermediary changes is not clear.

For example, on Diamond Valley, it was proposed in 2003 that a 15" minimum size be implemented for Largemouth Bass and a 0 limit on smallmouth bass. You can see the proposal in this pdf doc:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/2003/sfintentions2.pdf

In 2004, that change was actually implemented after only a few months time! If you look in this doc (current 2004 regs) it's there

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/2004/freshfishregbook04.pdf

In October 2003, I submitted in writing a proposal to change the limit at San Pablo Dam to 2 largemouth bass, none greater than 20" in size. As far as I can tell, my proposal was not considered during any of the commission meetings. You can see the proposals month by month from the Commission at:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/2004/proposedregs04.htm

I do believe that they will consider it at some point, but to get immediate changes to the regulations, it seems like you have to have some kind of clout to get on the commission's agenda and get considered. In other words, if the DFG has a specific biologist who works at Diamond Valley and wants to get the limit changed, he can probably push it through. If you are Joe Blow citizen, odds are that your recommendations will go to the back of the line.

From BnT and Sonoma's point of view, the best way to get a regulation change pushed across that would allow DFG to issue permits to transport live game fish for tournaments over land, would be to write it all up and then find a sympathetic DFG agent or biologist to push the issue for you and get it on the commissions agenda. Otherwise, you can submit it to the commission and cross your fingers for 2005.

My personal opinion is that unless your issue is percieved to be a fisheries threatening issue ( endangered steelhead run, salmon snagging, etc ) the odds of getting a rules change in between the 2 year period is slim to none. It was actually suprising to me that the Diamond Valley and Perris regulations got on for 2004, but those lakes have a good guy in charge of them who is actively trying to manage the fisheries.

more than my .02

-Rob

I had a thought about this while at Clear Lake.
Once a lake or area of the Delta is selected for a tourney, the roads to be used for transporting our fish could be specified in the permit application. Anyone deviating from the permit could be DQ'd and fined/ticketed, etc.

Food for thought when suggesting a rule change to the DFG.

Chris

Chris,
I don't like the idea of specifying the road ways because A) what if a road is left out, B) listing every road on the Delta could be rough and C) what if someone gets lost? At the Luis Park Tourney someone ran to Discovery Bay, Smith Canal, Calaveras River and Middle River, and that's just the ones I know of. That's a lot of road way to list.
Tight lines,
Wade

yah might be to much of a grey area.

How about avoiding the gray areas all together?
What’s the reason for the running in the first place?

Maybe when you have a 2-dayer at a big site like Clear Lake you could have blast-off/weigh-in in a different place each day (one day North, one day South) or something like that, with no running. That way everyone fishes the same water but you get a little more variety if the bite sucks at one end or the other...

that might be a good idea for future stuff

I like that idea, then we are legal, it also puts everyone on a level playing field whether you know the spots to run to or if your fishing the lake for the first time. It also gives us a chance to learn new areas of water and how to adjust to the different parts of the lake. Good thinking.

Put everyone in an area to see who can figurer out how to catch fish from the chosen location.
A true Stick will figurer out on how to catch fish Good or Bad or lucky.

Its a fishing tournament
Not a driving/running to location to location fish tournament.

Well said Joey!
I've never liked the idea of running, even though I've done it a few times. It won't bother me at all if we eliminate it altogether.

There seemed to be a lot of dead fish at the Open. It looked like some runners had multiple DOAs. Maybe running had nothing to do with the DOAs but that's just something else to think about.

Don't we have some kind of insurance for tournaments through the BASS Federation? I wonder how it would apply to runners if someone had an accident while driving to or from their spot?

Doug

I like the idea but...
I think it would be a pain to pack up and move camp else where on a Saturday afternoon.
Might not be guaranteed a spot to camp or setup.(?)

and although I would not have much of a problem fishing a single area I believe the strategy and time spent prefishing is something that should be rewarded. I mean, do you really see 100 bass boats fishing one small section of lake? Wouldn't this also be discouraging for new anglers who are going to fish behind the more experiened of us?

I know I want everybody to catch fish during a tournament and running helps that by allowing people to choose their spots. The rule by DFG is great EXCEPT for us tournament guys who are the ones PROMOTING and PROTECTING the sport. We do not want to move the fish to another body of water, that's stupid, inconsiderate and unethical. We want the fish we caught to stay in the same body of water, grow bigger and make more!

I certainly hope and pray we have the resources to change the law and allow transportation of fish ONLY during tournaments. Most of those (DFG & Biologists) guys/gals know we are doing this for sport and know we are interested in our precious resources that we need to protect. If it were not for us fishermen and tournament anglers our resources would not be as good as they are today! It is OUR money that goes back into our resources. Not some shamuck off the street or peta person who does not buy fishing gear.

I'll get off my soapbox now but do know, I LOVE to run and will do everything in my power to change the rules of DFG. I support them 100% but this is something that needs to be changed.

Todd

Well said, Todd. There's certainly no intent to violate the spirit of the law by people running.

I'm also interested to know if the permit allows culling. My understanding is that, once you have a limit, the DFG regs say you're not allowed to keep fishing for the same species. I thought the permit allowed this, but I don't really know for sure.

The permit does allow for culling. It over writes the 5 fish limit but is for culling purpose's only.

Thanks, John. Maybe there's an angle under the permit conditions rather than changing the law, which is going to be tough. I'm sure DFG is paranoid with all the problems at Lake Davis with northern pike. I don't know where the permit language is in the regs or how it's established, but they still have a rule that you have to quit fishing for the same species once you have a limit of them. But, they created an exemption under the permit. Since FLW is so tied in to Walmart, they might lobby to alter the permit conditions, too, so they can keep doing their weigh-ins at Walmarts in California.

Sure the prefisherman should be rewarded in any catch he or she makes in THE designated area.
I would think a smart new angler would and should take advantage in taking part in prefishing.
Yes I really see 100 Kickboaters fishing a section of a lake.
For those who want to spread out. They can kick or oar themselves as far away as needed to accommodate their fishing venues.

Discouraging? To some maybe to others advantage.
Like you or I, if Bobby B, or Gary D was fishing next to you wouldn’t you take a closer look on what and how they are fishing?
You might learn something :)

If anything of trying to give back and promote is fishing from a man powered vessel.
Obeying the laws should go along in being a no brainier.
Are we promoting to our new anglers its ok to break the laws?
We know were only fishing and don’t want to hurt the fish.
My spirit is high in intent to keep these fish alive and a safe return to their habitat.

The question is SO do I keep on breaking the law?
Turn the other way and hope its not me who gets caught transporting fish?
Or do I get motivate and try to over turn the law to fit a large interests in a floatube community? Hmmm

(We do not want to move the fish to another body of water, that's stupid, inconsiderate and unethical.
We want the fish we caught to stay in the same body of water, grow bigger and make more! )
Dude what are you taking about?
(I LOVE to run) (and will do everything in my power to change the rules of DFG.
I support them 100% but this is something that needs to be changed.)

Change is right!
Let me know if there is thing I can do in helping you.

The decision has been made, so lets get this to go away and get bacl to the important stuff, catching fish