Fishing guides must stop "croaker soaking"

I am here today because I believe that "croaker soaking" must stop. I have a great personal stake in this issue but it affects more than just me, it may very well affect you. I harvest fish in my ecosystem and I am no way innocent but I believe that it is not us fisherman that fish as a hobby that is creating the problem but rather the guides that take "googans" (people who don't know how to fish) fishing. I am all about getting new people into the sport but I think that what is happening currently is not only inhumane but should be illegal.

If you are wondering "well what is croaker soaking" I will explain. Croakers are a small species of fish that emits a croaking noise that is typically used to target Sea trout and red drum. I live in Texas and while I live in Austin and rarely get down to go fishing down there I have friends that live in Corpus Christie and have experience with the water. My good friend has been fishing and keeping records down there for the last 60 years. They have noticed that, like almost all other animals, the numbers of the fish have been plummeting. I don't think that the problem is local fisherman, most of them just get 60,000 boats and Yeti coolers and act like they know how to fish but a good weekend for them, even with croakers is 4 fish a person. There is nothing wrong with this because even though you can keep one fish over the limit size a day it is considered that if you do you are not a sports fisherman and you are doing it for the food, which kills their ego and keeps them from doing it. If you are a googan from Iowa for example, you go down to Texas on vacation and want to go fishing. you want to keep your fish so you can get pictures and food, as well as a sense of manliness. They think that the bigger the fish the better. I imagine that as a guide it would be hard to convince your clients to release a fish they paid 600 dollars to catch and you can't blame them. The thing is fishing with lures takes skill. I went fishing this weekend with the friend of mine I referenced earlier. My lure got torn to pieces but I did not hook a single fish the whole day because I just could not hook them. if I had paid 600 dollars for that I would be pissed, that is why guides use live croakers, it takes no skill. I think that there is another fish that is the solution to the problem: Black drum. Their numbers are higher than ever because of the decrease in competitors for food sources. Black drum are my favorite fish to catch because they taste amazing and they are easier to catch than redfish or trout. Locals don't consider black drum a sport fish because they are too easy to catch but do you think that someone who knows nothing about the fishing culture down there will know that? they will just be thrilled that they are catching so many fish. Black drum rarely eat fish and trout rarely eat anything but fish and live shrimp (not including man-made baits). If we ban croaker then the amount of trout being caught by guided tourists will go down significantly, down to a sustainable amount.

Currently, a group of four fishermen can keep a total of 12 red drum, 20 black drum, and sea trout is a staggering 40. Guides also want to keep as many fish as possible so that they can post full stringers of fish on their facebook of their website so they can get more clients.

Finally, you have to put into account how they are using the croaker as live bait, which is what happens when you hook a fish through it's face, chuck it as far as you can cast it and let it swim around until it gets bit into pieces by a bigger fish.

I love this fishery and by getting rid of croaker I think that we can make sure that future generations can enjoy it too instead of having to look at pictures to know what it's like to catch a red drum. If you disagree feel free to e-mail me at chander.t@actonacademy.org.