Well we got it, its a done deal! (I think) they just voted to approve the hunting and fishing regs minus the phesnet and bowfishing catfish think those got nixed...unless I heard wrong? woohoo "I think"

Thanks to everyone that went to the meetings, sent e-mails and worked with TPWD to help promote carp angling.

everyone did a great job at the meeting today! Scott (Brewboy) did a amazing job! well done guys!

Way to go!!!

Congrats to everyone for your efforts!

It is now time to celebrate!

CONFIRMED!!

I was shaking the whole time I was talking, and if you were listening in, that was me coughing the whole time...lol

Proud moment for us all.

Chad

yeah everyone did a great job!

It is going to be a long wait for September.

Still, this is awesome.

Sincere congratulations to everyone involved! There was a lot of time and effort put into this by a large number of LSCB'ers and CAG people. You should all be very proud of yourselves. Great job, savor the victory! Well done.

sweet!!

We owe all the people who took the time out of their schedules to attend these meetings and do all of the research and preparation a HUGE amount of gratitude. Not just for getting a proposal passed, but for helping to show what we all love to do so much in a positive manner.

Thanks everyone. Your love of and dedication to the sport of angling is an inspiration to a lot of us.

Quality Job Guy's

I personally can't thank you guys enough for what you have done for our fish!!
I feel very grateful to say the least.... well done!

Great job!!

Fantastic!

Major thanks to Neil for helping forge ties with the TPWD. In addition to CAG, big props to ACS. The TCC payouts really brought a ton of positive media attention to this resource. The efforts of the LoneStarCarpBrigade cannot be underestimated. The TPWD definitely noticed all of the pro carp and roughfish activity on the Texas Fishing Forum. And thanks to each and every one who has ever participated in an ATC or other carp event on Lady Bird (Town) Lake. The Dept certianly took note of a water capable of drawing people from around the USA and around the world to Austin. Thanks to Mukhtar Farooqi of the TPWD for approaching our beloved sport with and open mind and then helping us better communicate with the TPWD. Thanks also to Phil Durocher, Head of Inland Fisheries for working to see this proposal put forward.

P.S. Thanks to all the people that attended and spoke up at the TPWD public hearings to voice their support for this proposal.

P.P.S. Thanks to any and all who have been left off and who contributed to seeing this day become a reality.

good deal



Does that mean they didn't extend the bowfishing for catfish?

correct

Damn Brain, that sounded like an acceptance speech at the "Carpies" I'd like to thank my sponsor, and my mom for always believing in me, and eating all my catches. And of course to you all! My fans.. you know, that family of carp groupies from OK that wears our Tshirts lol!

We've come a long ways. I'd say this calls for a group Pint Night! Let's get together and drink some beers, hehe.

In fact, I think i may pop a cork now!

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA is my choice tonight.

Bottoms up!

Good call Mark!

And a fantastic beer it is, El Guahpo!

Great news.
We owe a debt of gratitude to all of those who took time to attend the meetings and speak out in our behalf.
Thanks

One of the things I'm most pleased about it the way this was accomplished. A few years back, the bow guys complained that we had been talking with the Austin City Council. They complained, "Only TPWD should be making fish and game related regulations..."
The also played the ANTI card saying it was wrong for one sporting group to "attack" another. That was never the case. Seeking protection for trophy fish is a far cry from "attacking" another's sport. Clearly, we have differences of opinion regarding selective harvest, waste, etc. But voicing such disagreements falls far short of saying any group is trying to ban another's sport.

Well, 2008 is here. We have been fortunate to work with the TPWD to see this trophy carp protection measure enacted. It says absolutely nothing about any particular harvest method and it focuses, as it should, on the value of carp as a resource.

Nonetheless, some are viewing this as an "attack." I suppose I can see why. Despite the fact that every situation is different and every water is unique, there are some who have a vested interest in perpetuating the perception of carp as trash or vermin. In some small way, this trophy fish protection measure calls attention to the value of carp as a sportfish. It is this "attack" on the idea of carp as trash which is driving rhetoric against the proposal.

I would encourage everyone to avoid getting back into the "us vs them" pit. Keep right on promoting the fun of carp fishing and the value of this ubiquitous species. As the sport continues to grow, the only thing under attack is the flawed perception that carp are something less than an enjoyable fish to catch.

You guys say this does not affect bowfishing, right?

You also admit Lady Bird Lake is already one of the best lakes ever for trophy carp, right?

So why the big celebration?

Is it because you beat the bowfishermen at something or because you see this as a "first step"?

Can't speak for everybody, but I'm celebrating because the largest carp in the lake have at least some slight protection from being removed on a large scale basis. I'm also celebrating because in this particular lake the carp are being recognized for what they are - a valuable fishery resource.

Ditto

Were bowfishermen taking out large numbers of big carp every day?

I seldom even see that lake but when I do I have never seen anyone bowfishing there. Just curious if you guys have seen them while fishing there.

That's the point. It wasn't about bowfishing. More people take out the large carp in that lake from rod and reel than the bowfishers do. The proposal was about ALL methods of harvest.

And, yes...I have seen bowfishers there. The experience of watching what they did to those fish will haunt me for the rest of my life (it was after they got the fish on to the boat and had nothing to do with them actually shooting the fish).

Exacty, Krista.

It is an "across the board" harvest restriction. Nowhere in the regulation does it even mention Bowfishing. It is the bowfishers who took it as an attack on their sport, which it is not.

It limits ALL forms of harvest. This means folks who are taking home carp to eat can only take one fish over 33" per day now.

Lady Bird is indeed an excellent carp fishery, but the last few years have seen a slow but noticable decline in the numbers of the largest fish landed.

Protecting some of the largest fish from all forms of harvest is simply a measure to help slow that decline before it really gets started, and keep the fishery a world class venue.

Bowfishermen should appreciate that idea as well, as it may help insure that their children get to take a shot at a big fish there some day as well. There are not extremely large numbers of big carp in the lake as it stands, but protecting a few of them may help keep them around, and perhaps help that population increase.

Considering the city has already placed fairly severe restrictions on the times and means available to bowfish ( Electric motors only ), I don't see why the bowfishermen are so upset.

Especially considering it is not a "sanctuary" as they dubbed it, considering they can still legally shoot all the fish under 33" they want. That hardly sounds like a sanctuary.

What were they doing to the fish on the boat?

I would really rather not talk about it. I will just say that I have NEVER seen anybody do such cruel things to a fish that was still alive.

Have you ever seen a fish cleaned?

Sure have but I try to put them on ice for a while. I consider this "one fish over 33 inches" a day a so what type of deal, it hurts no one so why not? When I catfish I like to keep the fish that are 14 inches to 22 inches as candidate for cleaning and generally all others go back. What I would like to see is the carp people take be used as something even if just fertilizer or cut bait. As question just how often do any carp fisherman keep fish over 20 pounds? They almost all go back in the water right? A bow fisherman has to keep what he catches/kills so he can't really be expected to throw any back meaning the regulation is aimed at the bowfishers. Also isn't a large carp considered sort of a trophy to the bowfisherman? Are the bowfisherman harvest of carp benefiting the fishery? Actually I would say why not dedicate this lake to the hook and line carp fisherman and kick the bowfishers out. Even if just an experiment to see if this would harm the fishery.

I've seen several people mention carp harming a fishery. How do carp harm a fishery. I've been around Texas lakes, rivers and streams all of my life that contain all types of fish, including carp, and I've never heard of or seen a problem until I have seen it mentioned here.

The new regulation is meant to provide a trophy fishery for all sportsman. Not one particular group, while we rallied behind it and let TPWD know that we supported this proposal it is a managed resource everyone that is interested in putting the largest fish of this species on the bank or boat. At the same time it also limits the numbers of the largest and rarest fish that can be harvested each day.

That's basically our point, Harold! That in most Lakes, here in Texas, carp developed in a healthy niche in the NEW ecosystem along with all other fish, since ALL our lakes are manmade, unlike other parts of the country. Lakes like Austin ( Crystal clear and full of vegetation ) and Fork ( Best bass lake in the state ) also have GREAT populations of large carp.

Jt, I am not an idiot. I know what fish cleaning looks like. They were not cleaning that fish. Tell me, how is taking a hammer to the BODY of a flopping fish (among other things) part of cleaning it? They were laughing and joking the whole time about torturing it. I find that repulsive.

That's far more then repulsive in my opinion; I find that completely idiotic.

Hehe...repulsive was my nice word.

perhaps they have some sort of mental illness & they enjoy torturing fish?
i wonder if they were abused as a child........

Just a reminder...
All those early votes by email, fax and the TPWD website opinions you all sent in, really made a BIG difference. During the meeting they displayed the numbers for, and against, this proposal. The numbers were something like over 300 for, and a little over 100 against. The nine commisioners were really impressed with the public input on this.
So, good job! Your vote and write-in campaign really made a difference.

258 for to 193 against

You may have had the numbers mixed with the catfish proposal- 328 for to 331 against.

Chad

Gee, that's close!!! The only way to win these battles is to mobilize just as in other forms of politics. In any future votes, mobilizing quickly and widely is going to be very important.

That was Catfish proposal, which I never voted for or against lol.

The carp numbers were nowhere near as close, and had a good portion more people in favor of the bill then against it.

Pretty cool.

I'm not sure what has the bow fishers' shorts in a knot here. I'm not a bow fisher, but I believe it's a valid sport and should be open to all fish species. This has nothing to do with regulating bow fishing, it is limiting the amount of trophy fish that can be taken. If a bow fisher sees a giant he wants to take, he can take one. If he already has a 33" carp in the bag, he just doesn't shoot at any that look like they might be close. Where's the problem?

The bowfishermans problem, from my standpoint, is that we feel if you get one lake, then tomorrow you'll want another lake. I know they guys on here I've talked to say that that this is not the case. For the most part I believe you, but just as I cannot speak for all bowfisher man, you cannot speak for all carp anglers. In this thread alone it was mentioned that they would just as soon shut down the whole lake to bowfisherman.
Also after much discussion this weekend I see where catfisherman think the same thing about me and my sport. They think that if we get catfish added to the list of legal fish, then next we would want bass or crappie or another game fish. This is not the case for most bowfisherman I know mostly because bass are not sporting, they mostly sit there and make you dodge them so as not to hit them with the trolling motor. Secondly most people I know don't like to eat bass anyway. Catfish is better, but not much in my book.
What I would like would be for all the different fishing groups to come up with a mission statement so to speak, something that we could all be held accountable for in the future. From CAG I would like a statement that you won't go after bowfishing, from us a statement that we won't go after bass. Maybe this way we could get along as sportsman and pass laws based on science and not emotion. I guess the catfisherman would still feel cheated, but I promise them that the percentage of catfish taken by bow is so tiny compared to trotliners, jugliners, etc, that it's not even worth mentioning. True there are times when we can take fish for a fish fry or when we see a true trophy, but most guys really don't want to mess with cleaning fish at the end of the night.

Are bowfishermen going to release a statement going to commit to not go after trophy carp? Your statement, sort of, leaves us out. What do WE get from this deal???

I guess we're supposed to ignore the bowfishermen who want a 200 lb carp hugger to shoot and mount on his wall.

All I can say is which leg do you want to mount. LMFAO

Let's face it, as long as bowfishermen refuse to understand that carp are not harmful in lakes that have deep water, mixed rock/sand/clay bottoms and flow through them; we have no common ground.

Shallow, silty bottomed head waters, yes; they can cause problems in those types of waters. We just don't have any that I know of here except some ponds and stock tanks.

By all means wage your unholy war on those waters where they are a legitimate problem but please educate yourselves enough to understand that not all waters or ecosystems are the same.

Until you stop blinding yourselves with the rethoric, we have no grounds to agree on.



You kill the fish but don't want to clean them. So please tell me what you do with the fish you don't want to clean.

If you'll remember when I spoke out against the bowfishing for catfish at the Athens meeting. It wasn't about the excessive take of resource but rather that the method wasn't suitable for a game fish. Mistakes can't be fixed legally. A shot fish can't be released legally though I know it's done.

How do carp damage any fishing water?

I've asked this several times and have never gotten an answer. I have fished in Texas for decades on all types of water, and I've never seen or known of carp causing any type of problem.

I have just begun learning of carp; my friends and I fished for cats, bass and others and generally didn't even realize carp were around because we didn't target them. I have never even heard this (carp damaging fishing environment) mentioned anytime, anywhere but here. Since I problably have more years and more time on and around water than most here because of my age, I don't believe carp cause problems. If so, What do they do?

Ray

In the past couple of weeks I have changed my tune when it comes to bowfishing. I used to support lawful bowfishing. Now I don't support bowfishing at all.

It is the ONLY group of fishers that DOES NOT police itself.
Black bass fishers will report someone harvesting bass illegally. The white bass fishers darn sure will. Even catfishers and crappie fishers.

Bowfishers are THE ONLY group that is collectively bad.
The bowfishing community is the only community where the good guy is the exception and not the rule. They have settled it in their minds that they are doing the world a service. They are no different than the folks that shot buffalo from trains for no reason other than just the fun of watching them drop.

I used to have a lot of respect for the fellow in the following post. I spent a lot of time hanging out with him and shared meals with him. I would have considered him a friend until I saw this post. Take a look at what Ryno had to say; http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...801#Post1973801

This combined with a friend who linked me over to a bf website has made me realize that bfers just want a reason to kill. You don't care if its native or naturalized. You just want to "Get your boat bloodied."

It's not carpers that bfers have to worry about. It the general public's disdain.

I for one do not think that carpers should openly say that we are for lawful bowfishing because we know damn good and well that they aren't going to clean up their own back yard so to speak.

There! I said it.