So, the solution is, end hatchery fish. Those who are prefer fishing for "stocked" fish for whatever reason are punished. Those who chose only natives get to enjoy the sport.
Yes, everyone can fish for natives, but, many are not able to because of health and other reasons. To hell with them?
Watching our "expert intellectuals" on the site demean and belittle those who disagree is actually pathetic.
Woah, there's a lot to unpack here. I'm glad someone finally constructed a paragraph that makes my gear rants sound sane and coherent. Well done good sir!
This really summarizes the deranged thought processes of what I call "stocked fish enthusiasts", if such a think can exist. Well, we are in PA... I don't get the whole punishment thing. Please explain. The only thing here being punished is the creek/river systems themselves.
I've always felt stocked fish to be a building block, and yes, I still target them due to geographical location, but I much prefer the redbreasts, fallfish, and smallmouth, because they look better and fight harder. Stocked fish are supposed to be outgrown, rather quickly, so that anglers can then move up to harder targets. Although I don't agree with the whole kids rodeos, as the environmental impact is destructive and it doesn't teach kids the fun of seeking out quarry and hiking to get to fish. If it at least gets them interested in fishing than that is good thing but it still doesn't outweigh the negative impact it has. Any angler worth their salt SHOULD BE targeting wild and native fish, wild fish because they are harder to fool, have stupid fast reaction times, and fight harder, native trout because they have the aesthetically equivalent beauty of Gillian Anderson. I'm legitimately scared to hook a 20+ inch bow in the Delaware main stem. I don't understand how people can go fishing stocked fish their whole life. Those kids rodeos often have the "parents" just fishing anyways. What does that say about the individual? That they prioritize their own catch rates over a kid trying to catch his or her first fish? Now THAT'S pathetic.
As for your bit on people being impeded in certain fishing applications due to health problems, you may want to retract that statement as it sounds like you are stating that people with disabilities are incapable of catching wild/native fish, which is a mean thing to say, not that I care personally, but others may. And here's another thing, why do we have to alter nature to create a better (better being subjective here) fishing situation? That sounds pretty selfish to me. And here's ANTHOTHER thing, why do people have to fish to begin with. If fishing in it of itself is too labor-intensive, why not pick a MYRIAD of other hobbies to do? And why is fishing for the species of trout, stocked trout, in general so much better than fishing for other species that inhabit the creek that fight better and have better aesthetic qualities.
What intrigues me most is what you said in combination with your handle in of itself as it refers to the highest echelon of rod one can aspire to own, a style of rod I, your resident gear guru has yet to own, and a rod that has a level of prestige that makes one think or wild/native fish along with truly being in the wilderness. Right now the laughter builds in me at the notion of someone taking a 2k-4k rod to a kids rodeo fully decked out in A River Runs Through it Attire, to shove a kid aside to cast their size 22 pellet imitation to catch a rainbow so devoid of color one would think it were a fallfish (still better than catching one of those god-awful palominos).
