[Don In Denver]

I copuld not attend the public forum on Feb 25th, but I know some members did. Can you all please give the rest of us a brief rundown on the meeting - what was discussed, proposed, decided, etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fishinguitars]

Hey Don,

The meeting was actually great!!! A good turn out(me, Irishman, Mustang, Mattabasser, Sunman, Jamiehughes, James among many others) with a bunch of the gentlemen who have been fishing the arsenal for over 20 years. The presentation they gave before taking comments was scientific and talked about lakes in great detail. After the presentation they took comments and the same things we talked about in here got talked about at the meeting!!!! All the staff at the arsenal seemed reseptive in what all of us were recommending, and I'm sure you'll see changes in the right direction starting in 2007. I'm probably leaving all kinds of information out but its a start I'm sure everyone else will post here too.

Some issues we talked about

Proper fish handling procedures talked about in orientation.
The importance of not only jaw spreaders but pliers
Limiting the number of anglers per day to a reasonable number

The list goes on and on....I just have a horrible memory.

 

[jamiehughes]

compared to how many people fish out there, there sure werent many there at the meeting. those older guys were cool they have been going out there forever. they had some good insight also. i thought that it was kindof funny that those older fellas(that you never see there) could make it to the meeting to try and make it better, but people that go out there almost every weekend couldn't make it. there was some really good info there, i'm glad that me and shanee made it. plus it was good to meet you guys..

 

[fishinguitars]

Good point Jamie!!! And excuses have to be great ones James made it all the way down from Estes Park to attend.

 

[jamiehughes]

thats for sure!! lets hear them excuses..

 

[afishman]

sorta like the dow meetings huh? ;D

 

[jamiehughes]

you got it..every one likes to complain but no one likes to do.

 

[jamiehughes]

they definetely missed some good biology info on these lakes. it was very detailed. they actually have an excellent idea what is going on in the water out there. i was amazed with what lengths they go to get their info..

 

[Don In Denver]

I haven't fished it since it opened back up. I'm one of those guys who used top fish it in "the good ole days". Back in those days it was open during the week, too. Is there any hope of that happeng again? Was it discussed at all?

Thanks.

 

[jamiehughes]

it actually was discussed, don't know if it will ever happen with the current staffing though.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

I don't know if opening it during the week would be a good idea- this is a special area from what I gather. Of course, I know jack about these lakes and have never seen em, but that's just from what I gather. I guess I have a lot of bias on this issue, I just want them to stay open by august of next year...lol. I guess that's selfish. I really send out a great thank you for all you guys trying to keep it open and keep it a great place. I send a big thank you to the staff as well. Am I being selfish? Yeah...I guess. Thank you so much though

 

[jamiehughes]

it would be good if you happened to have a day off during the week.

 

[Don In Denver]

I don't know if opening it during the week would be a good idea- this is a special area from what I gather.

Back in the old days I used to fish it a lot after work in the Summer. There were no crowds, just a few "regulars" during the week. It was open til dark. It served to spread the pressure out through the week. That was also back when they limited the permits to something like 600 annually.

 

[Mustang]

Also, the issue of artificial baits was brought up. I'm not sure if the guy teaching quite understood what we were asking, but here's my take.

With the new regulations, (no scented/salted baits on waters desgnated as artificial fly and lure only water) any fishery in the state that is designated as artificial fly and lure only would have to abide by the law. This is what the guy said, and it's true. However, I am almost cerrtain this will not change anything at RMA. The reason is that in the classes, they say you can't use anything that was once alive, but you cn use doughbaits/stinkbaits for catfish, and whatever else. I don't believe the RMA is officially an artificial fly and lure only body of water according to the state. The RMA has special regulations, but I don't believe they are classified as artificial fly and lure only. If this is true, the rules on baits can stay the same, and senkos, stinkbaits, and all otheer scented baits could still be used.

That is my take, and I'm pretty sure it's right, but the guy was a little confused about the new reulations.