Terry Dodge

They should get the harshest punishment. They should most definitely be made an example of.

There is no paddling back upstream to your put in place.

I put mine in Kilbuck once just to see if I could paddle upstream. Nothin' doin'!

I'll bet I paddled for 20 minutes in the same place. Man was I tired. I did this early in the morning so no-one would see me.

I will say this.....I see a lot of yaks on the Kish but none of them are going upstream.

I love my 'toon.

I'm just letting you know what some people are saying. Whether there's any truth to anything, I don't know.

I'm just the messenger, please don't shoot me. If one person is saying and believe this then you know there's more that feel the same way.

Personally I don't think anybody or any group should be able to get a bass tournament permit in the state of Illinois from 4/1 - 6/15.

It don't make sense to have a closed season but allow this tournament permit thing to continue.

A guy on my Facebook Goup, "Northern Illinois Outdoor Sportsman", asked me about the Hawg Hunters Tourny held on the Rock River a couple weeks ago.

He said that he was at the weigh in and saw many smallmouth bass brought to the scale and was wondering how this could happen if it was closed season

on smallies. This is what he posted a couple days later............

"Terry, I found out the deal with bass tournaments during closed season. Hawg Hunters got 2 permits. One was for the 12" bass limit and the other was to carry bass in a live well during a closed season. From what I heard, the DNR doesnt push the closed small mouth season. Its part of the regs but they rarely violate people for it because it wasn't one of there rules. I guess the ISA and Hawg Hunters were the mains ones pushing for the small mouth closed season and a lot of people dont respect it so the IDNR doesnt enforce it like they should, basically making it easy for anyone to get a closed season small mouth carry permit."

What up wit dat?

Never mind.

Wait a minute!

I'm seeing July 18 for the Apple trip? Was this date changed? Do I need to up-date my Calendar somehow?

I'm not seeing anything for Aug 15. There's a couple outings on Aug. 14.

It would be interesting to see which outing produces the best fishing. A little friendly competition between regions. May the best fishermen win!

Sounds like a little, just for fun, CPR (Catch/Picture/Release) tourney for the Aug. 15 week-end.

Only large and smallmouth bass can be brought to the weigh-in.

http://www.basshawg....pages/form1.pdf (see rule #16, scoring)

April 25, 2010

"Rockford Hawg Hunters' 21st annual Rock River Open team Bass Tournament",

Report has it that many smallies were brought to the scale.

I wouldn't think they (Hawg Hunters) would even be able to get a permit for

this tournament between April 1st and June 15th.

Sorry but I cook breakfast on the last Sunday of each month (Sept. - May) for our Vets at the American Legion.

And they keep getting bigger.............

I still think the cost could be off-set with grant money. If a distributor were to commit to doing this, I'm sure in this "Green" world we live in today there's money out there somewhere to

assist a company in making the change. Also, I would think the distributor that does make the change would see an increase in sales with the proper support from fishing groups/conservation groups

and also with the proper advertising. A distributor out there has to see the benefits (both $$$ wise and conservation wise) from doing this, wouldn't you think?

It shouldn't be a hard sell.

http://articles.mcal...fishing-anglers

 

That's a great find right there, Jude.

Exactly what we needed to see.

 

Cornstarch appears to be one option, from another link there.

I was scratching my head trying to figure out exactly how a container degrades...seeing as how it IS filled with dirt.

Wonder what the shelf life is on such a thing.

 

This page might work as a price comparison tool if we can find the cost of alternative bait containers:

http://www.livebaitv...g.com/cups.html

 

 

Oregon has proposed this rule as well:

http://arcweb.sos.st...cy_04_16_91.txt

 

New Hampshire:

http://www.gencourt....991/HB0216.html

 

Mass.

http://www.mass.gov/...ns/dmfnq497.htm

Mike be sure to let the Senator you've been talking with about these other bills. Maybe he knows some of the others at power.

Shut yo mouth!!

That's what I'm talking about. Why have we let this go on for so long. It should be a very easy fix.

Shouldn't it?

Need a lid................

10 pots for a $1.99.

Would it be agreed that the bulk of the cost for a dozen worms is for the container itself?

Is this pretty much along the same lines as the plastic bottle law in California?

Worms should not be aloud to be sold in styrofoam or plastic containers.

I like the "green" container idea. That is probably where this has to start.

Getting from point "A" to point "B" requires a certain amount of steps.

Wow! This is good. I still like the coupon thing on the container but that's just me. It doesn't have to have the ISA logo on it, actually it should have

the IDNR logo on it if anything. If there's a coupon on it, it'll get picked up but that's on the large scale. On a smaller scale if this were

to be done using a couple of local bait shops as a test, I would think the bait shops name would have to be on the container with the coupon.

"Free advertisement."

Obviously there is a problem with the bait containers and obviously it's not going to be solved over night but in the same breath isn't it pretty

obvious that this discussion needs to be happening? Lots of good ideas out there, just gotta find the right one.

Now if you'll excuse while I step outside of my box for a bit..........

You know........

Worms cost anywhere from $2.50 to $3.00 a dozen!!! That's crazy! I don't buy worms very often and the cost is the reason why. Plus they seem to rip in half on me back cast.

I mean think about it. If you break it down that comes out to .22 to .25 cents per worm! Is the worm on the endangered species list?

This is why I think some kind of a coupon program would be better than having a deposit on worms. The cost of worms is out of control

so I don't think adding a deposit and driving the cost per dozen even higher is the way to go. There needs to be an incentive for people

not to leave the containers along our rivers or even the incentive to pick up an abandoned container with a coupon on it. Who knows,

maybe they'll even pick-up some other stuff while their at it.

A stamp similar to this....................

I think you're right, Jim. It is worth talking about.

I think it definitely has to be a program set up through the IDNR. Imagine this if you will............

You go to your local bait shop and buy a dozen worms. You fish the worms out and low and behold there at the a bottom of the container is a stamp,

$.05, $.10, $.15, $.20, $.25 off your next purchase of worms upon return of the empty container. Now let's say worms cost $3.00 per dozen and a person shows up

at a bait shop and turns in 30 $.10 containers and receives a free dozen worms. Would that be worth his effort for picking up any empty containers he found

laying along our river banks? I believe so. Would people leave empty containers, with coupons on them, on the side of our rivers? I think not.

I would imagine that there is probably some type of grant money available for the IDNR to start up a program like this.

Now I know in order for this to work some how the worm farmers or who ever the heck we get worms from have to know that in order to sell their worms in the

state of Illinois the worms must be in these containers which can be purchased through the IDNR Worm Container Recycle Program (WCRP).

Seems like a good idea on computer screen paper.

I like this topic and I think this "Bait Container" problem is something that the ISA should lead the way in correcting.

I was upset last year with the abandoned bait containers I was picking up along our rivers.

Here's the way I see it.........

This is a huge problem not only here in our state but all over our Country. In this "day-and-age" that we live in (green), it's sad to

say that this problem even exists. "Awareness" is the key. The right people (Senators/Congressmen) are not fully aware of

this problem.

It's kind of like the starter on my bass van. The starter has a dead-spot in it

and from time to time I have to rock/bounce the bass van around to get it to start. Sometimes I may even need to roll underneath

the bass van and give the starter a good WHACK with a hammer to get it to start. Now I know at some point I'm going to have to fix

this problem and I'll probably realize this at some inconvenient time when I need to be somewhere at a certain time. Is this what we're

doing? Why do we continue to pick these bait containers up without trying to correct the problem. The problem is always going to be there

until it's fixed.

Now I know this is going to take some time and I'm sure that a few of you will say, "Well if you do this, then this is going to happen and

then it's going to result in this happening." and so on and so on.

Can we (the ISA) discuss this problem at regional meetings, toss around ideas and lead the way to the state senate so that maybe someday

Illinois can lead the way in correcting this problem across this great Nation? If not the ISA, then who?

We all want our grandchildren to hopefully fish our rivers and stream and catch trophy smallmouth. Wouldn't it be nice if we could give them

cleaner waterways to do it.

I hope I'm not out of line by throwing the ISA in on this but like I said before, "If not the ISA, then who?"

Someone has to grab the horse by it's reigns and take control.

Has this become a problem that is too much trouble to fix?

I had an idea of returning the empty containers to the place where the bait was purchased and receive a certain amount off (for each container turned in)

the price of the next purchase of bait. This way the bait-fisherman would want to make sure they take their empty containers with them.

There's all kinds of good ideas out there, many of which I've read here.

That's just how I'm seeing things.

Mike,

 

If you've ever fished the apple you would know to bring plenty supply's because it's going to be a long day.

 

Plenty of snacks for ankletwisting walking/climbing,possibly some rope and carribeaners for repelling in or out,excess tackle to feed all the rock monsters that gobble up your jigs,first aid kit for blisters possible broken ankles and sawgrass ointment industrial sized of course!

 

Oh the backpack on the Apple is a Must Have!

Help me out here,

Is there much truth to that statement or is part of it clowning around? I have never hit the Apple but was hoping to hit it on the ISA trip later this year.

The reason I ask is because I have a slight handicap that messes with my depth perception at times. The repelling part caught my attention.

I wouldn't want to go and end up being a problem, not that I think I would be any trouble any. Just trying to figure-out what to expect if I were to go.

I recieved the ISA Email April News letter the other day. Nice.

Just wondering if this is something new or just the first one that I've received?

That was mean.

!

Being that I just tried to call dibs on "your" creek, I think expecting royalty payments dating back 10 years is a little much.

That spin rod you're trying to shame me out of cost like $150.oo. I can't do that. If you look at the times of our post, you'll see

a differance of 9 hours (I'm rounding up to make you happy).

According to the "Friendly Fair Fisherman's Handy Hand Held Calculator, this is what you get

As you can see it does catch fish