Hey Sharps,I hunt far more than I fish. I enjoy everything about the outdoors and would probably love spear fishing. I just feel like it takes such skill to catch a walleye that big, especially one in Wyoming. We don't have an endless supply of Walleye here, or an endless supply of really any fish except rainbow trout. I can't say that if I caught a fish like that I wouldnt also be killing it to get it weighed and see if it was a record, but I also know that I always release the biggest of any species I catch for the next person, and because they're not good table fare anyways. I've been hearing stories for a couple years now of spear fisherman taking many walleye over 10 lbs. A very small percentage of Wyoming's already small walleye population. I assume this is growing in popularity because it's more like a trophy hunt than fishing.Obviously there's no rule against it, and ethics is purely on an indivdual basis, but I would not be killing big walleye because I have a spear in my hand over a fishing pole....that's all. I think it's time game and fish looks at the lack of regulations it has in place for spear "fishing".
The speargun in my hand is my credit card and the fish i harvest is my meal from the supermarket 60 feet deep.
Understood and to be honest, I agree with how you feel about the situation in those perameters so appreciate the response. I actually no longer spearfish for striped bass, would like to see that population much greater than it is before i target them again. However, i can only ask that you do not compare spear fishing to fishing or hunting because its a whole different game especially with scuba gear. The reality is that humans are not designed to breath under water so its like stepping into another universe. For me the high is exploring areas that average humans dont as well as the knowledge on how to survive and keep calm in multiple situations. The speargun in my hand is my credit card and the fish i harvest is my meal from the supermarket 60 feet deep. Spearfishing really is much harder than it looks or sounds.
Makes perfect sense and like I said I would probably love it. However I still feel that the same management objectives should apply even if it's completely different than fishing or hunting.
Agreed but here is 1 issue with spearfishing vs actual fishing. You cannot spear a fish and then measure it and let it go alive and well if under the size limit whereas regular fishing allows you to remove a hook, measure it and let it go and the fish is fine. You can let it go but at that point its fish food to other species or mostly crabs. You have to realize that everything looks larger than it really is underwater due to a larger index of refraction (1.33 for water vs 1.00 in air) so essentially everything looks a few inches bigger. A 24" bass will look like its 30". It takes some patience and learning to be able to harvest a fish of legal size. I have seen MANY rookies just hit the water with a snorkel and fins and shoot tons of fish that are under size because they thought it was well over the minimum length and then let them just float way, its like buck fever and that finger just has to pull that trigger. In my opinion as an avid spear fisher, there should be some sort of tagging system to avoid fish waste. If you shoot a fish it is automatically part of your daily limit, fish needs to be tagged before exiting the water. Now obviously there still needs to be some sort of length limit (or keep it at what it is) but it should give some sort of leeway to avoid the above fish waste. Maybe even reduce the total fish limit for spearfishers if the latter mentioned is allowed. Clearly, the sport of spearfishing is not a C&R sort of game. You shoot it you own it for food. That's my opinion for some sort of controlled management objective. Striped bass, Fluke, Blue fish, Sea bass and black fish are all pretty easy to shoot because the shape off the body gives you a pretty large target. I can only imagine that a 10lb walleye is MUCH easier to shoot than a 3lber. Maybe, just maybe these spear fishermen after the walleye are only targeting the larger fish to avoid only wounding the smaller ones. I think we can all agree that that it is a possibility but clearly cannot be proven.Also note that you do not "aim" at a fish with a speargun as you would with iron sights or a scoped rifle. It is far more of a point and shoot sort of deal as with a shotgun. Oh, and unlike having the ability to use various chokes on a shotgun to adjust the pattern of 500 plus pellets spreading wider and wider over distance, you are only shooting 1 single metal rod with a spear gun. The best way I can explain it to someone that never spearfished is to take a 30-06 bolt action rifle remove the scope and iron sights and try to shoot a deer at 50 yards with that set up with 1 hand. And do all of this with minimum visibility and adjust accordingly to a 40mph wind (ocean current) while either holding your breath or trying to stay put by holding onto anything you can grab with your free hand on the ocean floor. That is what my spearfishing is like.
Sharps, I'm glad you're so passionate about ocean spearfishing. But we're talking about a small lake in Wyoming where spearfisherman are killing the oldest fish in the ecosystem for trophy purposes and not for eating. There's no current, and I can only assume these walleye aren't scurrying to get away very often...I could be wrong. Regardless, these are two totally different concepts. Shooting a small amount of fish in an ocean for food ...shooting a large amount of the mature and older sized fish to say they did.
How do you know they aren't eating them? I have always found it funny how no one complains when someone shoots a huge bucks but someone keeps a trophy fish and everyone freaks out.
We are on the same page POk3s. Thanks for a humane conversation. I understand how you feel and I get it. I would enjoy some elk or mule deer pics from your hunts .sounds like my wife and I may spend our 5 year anniversary in colorado so i may get some hunting and fishing time.
Hey Sharps send me an email. With not much action on this board, I don't want to spam it with hunting pics hahahaha.[email protected]There's also "Trent Williams Outdoors" on Facebook where you could see them all! (Shameless plug)