JeffsLowe
10-05-2016, 10:08 AM
One of my favorite outdoor hobbies, right up there with actually fishing, is going on "scouts". Will drive around to different ramps and stop and talk to the local guys coming in to get the "inside scoop" on where and how to fish. Without exception, the folks I talk to are ALWAYS friendly and happy to share information, and I try to reciprocate as much as I can (albeit my knowledge is generally limited compared to the guys I talk to.)
But one thing that always bothers me, and that I ran into again yesterday, is that in areas where TN musky's live, the locally raised fisherman in that area totally despise them. Comments along the lines of "kill every one I see" are pretty common. It always makes me sad when I hear that, is it takes many years, and a combination of just the right factors, including water quality, to produce a decent sized musky. There seems to be a universal impression that they are an "introduced" species, that eats more desirable species, so should be eradicated..
It's kind of a touchy subject, as good relations with the resident fisherman are something you always want to maintain. but lately i have been tackling it head on. I tell them that they are indeed native to the area, and in fact are part of the ice age remnant communities that hung on after the big warm up...communities that include smallmouth bass, walleye, hemlock trees, etc... and other remnant populations that found a home in the cool spring fed hollows after the glaciers receded back to Canada. There are lots of pictures out there of TN musky caught during the 1st half the 20th century, but then pollution and water quality knocked them back, which is why today's "old farts" never saw them when they where growing up. They also feed on trash fish just as much as sport fish, if not more so, so they are a pretty important part of that bio community... I like to use the argument that both the world record walleye and the world record smallmouth came from the Cumberland river watershed, and musky's are a common companion species where those other 2 are found.
As a yankee born "outsider", not sure anyone believes my argument, since it goes against everything they have been told while growing up, but at least they seem polite about it. (helped maybe by the battle flags on my boats, and SCV logos on my plate and hat....have 5 Confederate ancestors, including a Lt killed at the Cotton Gin at Franklin on his 28th birthday) But anyway, am hoping that by posting this I can get a little help in convincing folks that muskys are indeed part of Tennessee's Southern Heritage and deserving of the protection accorded them under our fish and game laws.
But one thing that always bothers me, and that I ran into again yesterday, is that in areas where TN musky's live, the locally raised fisherman in that area totally despise them. Comments along the lines of "kill every one I see" are pretty common. It always makes me sad when I hear that, is it takes many years, and a combination of just the right factors, including water quality, to produce a decent sized musky. There seems to be a universal impression that they are an "introduced" species, that eats more desirable species, so should be eradicated..
It's kind of a touchy subject, as good relations with the resident fisherman are something you always want to maintain. but lately i have been tackling it head on. I tell them that they are indeed native to the area, and in fact are part of the ice age remnant communities that hung on after the big warm up...communities that include smallmouth bass, walleye, hemlock trees, etc... and other remnant populations that found a home in the cool spring fed hollows after the glaciers receded back to Canada. There are lots of pictures out there of TN musky caught during the 1st half the 20th century, but then pollution and water quality knocked them back, which is why today's "old farts" never saw them when they where growing up. They also feed on trash fish just as much as sport fish, if not more so, so they are a pretty important part of that bio community... I like to use the argument that both the world record walleye and the world record smallmouth came from the Cumberland river watershed, and musky's are a common companion species where those other 2 are found.
As a yankee born "outsider", not sure anyone believes my argument, since it goes against everything they have been told while growing up, but at least they seem polite about it. (helped maybe by the battle flags on my boats, and SCV logos on my plate and hat....have 5 Confederate ancestors, including a Lt killed at the Cotton Gin at Franklin on his 28th birthday) But anyway, am hoping that by posting this I can get a little help in convincing folks that muskys are indeed part of Tennessee's Southern Heritage and deserving of the protection accorded them under our fish and game laws.