CW
I tried to put together my thoughts & reasoning on it. I'm going to work up a more formal mission statement. Mostly IMHO would be to have flats, channels , blues (if they ever come off endangered status) protected with a creel & size limit. A limit of 10 catfish (flats, channels, blues) total daily. Only one fish over 30" ( or maybe 25" or 28"??) and NO fish over 40" harvested.
My reasoning is posted somewhere reguarding identification problems, and also because channels should be protected too. I guess I'll draft a proposal, and then I will explain the thinking behind the points. Then we can see who's willing to get behind it. With the organization & support of enough people, I think in time, we'll get it done.
Even though the Ohio River commercial fishing doesn't fall under Ohio jurisdiction, the Ohio Anglers do. So that will help alot too. Even if the regulations are different in the Ohio River, I guarantee you that most Ohio licensed anglers will still abide by Ohio restrictions.
Creel & size limits. It's a start, and will prevent someone from cleaning out streams & rivers, and other areas trotlines, etc that can presently be used to harvest unlimited amounts of catfish. It won't restrict their use, but will limit the HARVEST and SIZE. What if someone had a record day like Robbie had & kept those beauties? They are well within the law at this time, by means other than just rods & reels too. Same way when I caught several nice ones, or that monster, it would be nice to know it was protected & anyone who catches it in the future would have to release it. Same way when FHM had a banner day with his friend & caught 17 flatheads. As it stands, someone could put a legal trotline, or 50 limblines there & take all those fish out. At least with a 10 fish limit, that would stop that & also only one over 30" would save the big ones. That's how this will help everyone who like to catch catfish. They would not only gain respect, but protection as well.
Once we get the non-profit status & the web site up, within a few years, there will be some changes. Eventually we can pressure KY & IN maybe into agreeing to having Ohio River restrictions on the cats, and maybe a size limit for the commercial guys. That would be down the road. Along with maybe something limiting paylakes from buying wild fish? I think first we need to concentrate to get cats protected with some restrictions.
