Fishin Fool - 5/11/2012 2:05 AM Not to hijack a thread, but instead of worrying about who is eating what fish, we need to be concentrating on the nets that are springing up like mushrooms all over the chick and the river. I was on the river this week and saw commercial people running nets from the dam all the way down past the bend. They are letting the net hang on unmarked plastic bottles, which is a violation. They should be clearly labeled but aren't. The nets are strung from one side to the other, which is a violation. This one issue, with a couple of others, is having a huge impact on the fishery. Not knocking TWRA but I called the 800 number, only to be told "they'd check it out". They asked for boat numbers, but the boat running had no numbers that I could see, which is another violation. Now politicians with favors to fill want to abolish TWRA entirely. If we don't get on top of the commercial violations, the violations of creel limits by non-licensed, non-caring so called "food" fishermen on the bank, most of which are from other countries where they just don't care, we aren't going to have to worry about debating about eating a fish or not, because there aren't going to be any. Perhaps TWRA can weigh in here and tell us what the solution is to this problem. When you drift down the river and see 6 guys sitting on the bank, putting EVERYTHING they catch into a 5 gallon bucket, of which they have 5 or 6, you know there is a problem. I'm sure they don't bother having these debates or buying a license. Check out the riverpark sometime or just below the dam. Notice how fast these guys leave if they see a TWRA boat. They have no concern about what they are doing, because it's all about them. Sorry for the hijack.
