I have heard some catfishermen discussing that they might pursue a 32" Ark. Blue regulation in 2009 for Lake Tillery. I think this is a good idea, but the campaign to get it done for 2009 starts today or tomorrow. Someone should invite the DNR staff down to meet with the fishermen at Lake Tillery or somewhere close by and discuss the issue. Or, you should contact the Carolinas Catfish Club President, Dieter Melhorn, and let him invite them to a CCC meeting and everyone from the Tillery area or who fishes Tillery come to a group meeting if Dieter can arrange it. This is something that needs to be done now, not in 2009. I will support you anyway I can and I'm sure others would be glad to assist.
Mac i would to see something being done about tillery myself and i could make the meeting. I had hopes of the new jugging law being lower than 70 and that would compensate tillery some. I feel sure the ones against the trophy fish regulations at badin will target tillery at this point. I understand you saying we need to get something together now for the proposal system to get it on the books for next year. We made porposals for tillery at the norwood meeting in jan. Im not sure if they took it as this years proposals or next years. I feel sure we need to do it over in a legal matter such as was the case with badin and norman this year. I learned alot following these new regulations coming up and how, what it takes to get a change in them. The main thing was not to argue on these web sites and form a group and fight for what you think is right and take no for a answer. That dont mean you will win with your thoughts but you gain the right to complain afterwards...lol. If you wait on them to come to you ...you will wait a long time in the catfishing world. So count me in on going to their front door and and expressing our thoughts. They will listen...we already seen that and they willing to make a change for studing purposes for the long haul. I will end this post by saying thanks to the NCWRC for allowing the new changes to make a trophy fishery out of badin and norman. I will do what i can to help them enforce it too. You guys that fish tillery...now is the time to show your interest. The power of 10 is greater than 1...so lets get together on this deal and work it out for 2009.
You can include me on it. I also want to get some regulations done on the flatheads. Which would include Highrock, Tuckertown , Badin and Tillery. Basically the whole Yadkin river chain. If we could get regulations put in, I think we would be sitting pretty good.
The Yadkin and Catawba chain are not the only waters that need to be protected! The Roanoke, Neuse, New, and Cape Fear basins should be protected also along with many more waters that should be included!:wink:
We conquered our first political hurtle in 2007-2008 with the new legislation Lake Norman and Badin Lake that will take effect this year. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved. So far this year we have cooled our guns while the wheels were turning. Our focus so far this year has been on education since this is what our members have expressed they wanted from the club. We have a lot of new folks that are eager to learn and we are trying to accommodate those needs and desires. We have not forgotten though that there are a lot of things that need attention, and now is a good time to start addressing them. My hope is that we can get the biologists from the NCWRC to come back to one of our meetings to give us an update on where the research is heading and what they have learned. Remember, this is a slow process and something where answers will take time. One or two creel samples alone will not yield much information, but over a period of years the picture will begin to become much clearer. A few things to keep in mind based on what we have learned so far in the process. The legislation that was passed was supported by the biologists based on the fact that they are conducting research on the lakes included. Before they will support any new law there needs to be something to back it up, otherwise anyone could basically come up with a law and try to get it passed and it would just bog down the system. It is my understanding that they would probably not support further restrictions on different lakes without supporting evidence or research showing that it is in the best interest of the fisheries. The research that is being done now on Lake Norman and Badin Lake will hopefully give us the grounds for further restrictions down the road. Protection for the flathead will be a tough one. You better come to that fight with some research in support of them, because there is a lot of negative publicity around that fish. It was mentioned in some discussion outside of the meeting that including flatheads in the proposal would not be supported by the NCWRC. The good news is that there are some other ways to address these subjects and concerns, and for now I will save that for discussion in our meetings and with the NCWRC. I would rather keep our powder dry on that topic until we are in a better position to move forward.
