Several folks have posted about preserving the baitfish and not throwing a cast net. It seems to me Kerr is loaded with shad. But the question is..... North Carolina permits you to buy shad but in Virginia it's illegal???? I have asked numerous people this question and no one has any idea.

It is illegal to sell shad in VA. Don't look for it to change either.

I wish Virginia would make cast nets illegal.

I know it's illegal to sell shad in VA, but that is the question.....why is it illegal??? What is the reasoning, especially with it being legal in NC to sell shad? I have not been able to find anyone that can answer that question.

just my 2 cents on it, but good luck finding the answer to that one...we've been making laws for a couple of hundred years, bad thing is they keep piling up and nobody goes back to amend the outdated stuff. I think there's still a law in NC regarding sidewalk etiquette that the married lady has to walk single-file 4 paces behind her man and he's supposed to keep his rifle resting on his right shoulder/ right hand. You might make it 30 yards before you're surrounded by a SWAT team for violating a newer law about going armed to the terror of the public and they'd probably pick her up for stalking you. Nobody wants to clean it up because it costs money instead of making money.

I wish VA. would make BUGGSman illegal. this is one irritating indevidual why buggsman do you never have a good word for anyone?

Have no idea about why the selling shad regs are what they are. Whay isn't your VA fishing license good for a year from the day you bought it, and only until December 31st?

The sound of one hand clapping...silence.

More poor innocent shad are shamelessly murdered in one day by top predators in the lake than are taken by cast net in an entire month. If someone is so concerned with the shad population here is a site I think they should check out: www.peta.org. I hope you feel inner peace in yourself to deal with the relentless slaughter of these precious organisms by evil cast netters. Nevermind, I'm sure you probably already feel an inner piece.

LMAO fshnfool! I almost posted that very statement verbatum this morning, but I still think if morons are ignored, they will just go away. They are just looking for a knee-jerk response to feel noticed. He should join PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals)if he feels that strongly about our evil, marauding harvesting of baitfish. If he joins, then he will definately get noticed! LOL

Laugh if you must.I'll give you a prime example of what i am talking about.If you go fishing on the James,talk to someone that is trying to catch bream for bait.It is almost unheard of.Between people catching the bait on the James and those bigguns,bream has almost become exstinct and that holds true for bass also.The same will hold true for Buggs.When i was young,a fisherman couldn't go to the James without a bream getting on the line when fishing for some other kind of fish.I just can't believe how ignorant you are no to see the same thing happening to Buggs.You think you are doing a good deed,but in turn you are destroying the fishing waters that you fish.Now,that is funny.

Next?????????????

"bream has almost become exstinct and that holds true for bass also"

A most ridiculous statement, backed up by nothing but what comes from a BM. Now THAT is funny!

Guess they only hold those Bass tourneys on the James for show, then, huh? Last I heard the Smallmouth population was doing great on the James, but that was only from someone who fishes the river about 200 times per year.

If you can't catch bream for bait then you really do need help! Even my 3 year old Niece can do that...at the James. Maybe you should try a Tweetie rod too?

Eco System 101 - By Buggsman

Go write a book

That you Bob?

Willy

Contrary
arbitrary
argumentative
detestable
offensive
repulsive
@ss-hole
jack@ss

Does that describe anyone we don't care to know??

LMAO,i sense that you know that i am onto something.You are full of crap if you think there are as many bream in the James as there was 25 years ago.When the flatheads and blues were introduced in the James in the mid 80's there were more bass and bream than you could shake a stick at.Sure you can find a spot every now and then with bream.Any fool knows that,including yourself.The biggest reason for the bass population on the rise is that shad,yes shad was stocked in the river.The bigguns that are caught in the James are mostly consumed(eaten by the fisherman).The way it should be done.Know your facts before you yap.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

No,it is not here we go again.I have said what i have to say and i know the way i fish helps fish and fishing as a whole.END OF STORY.Thanks and goodbye.

BM you are just a total ass.

Thats right Buggsmeman say something and leave,bream theres bream in the danm James River and if anything ever makes them scarce it will be the flatheads that were introduced whenever!bass are there too theres too many tournaments there not to be any!you know a lot about everything and little about nothing!You need a ajustment seriously!

I remember the first post I ever say from BuggsMan, he was calling everyone talking about catching fish liars,because he wasn't catching any, so I guess the way he fishes is not hurting them any at all.

lmao kid yeah i know alot that think they know it all---- in truth i bet he couldnt find his way from the rivers to the damm. like my dad told me its best to not speak and seem smart than to speak and show just how damm retarded you are

Yall all sound like young punks watching basketball. Just shut-up and fish!

Back to the shad thing, there are bait shops around Richmond selling dead frozen shad, just not live shad. What about goldfish, I heard they were illegal in NC?

buggsman you need to stop being a smart butt your just showing your ignorance, dont get mad because you cant catch a bream, you probaly cant even cast, what does your line get tangled everytime you cast.
cant catch anything if you cant even get your line in the water go ahead and talk junk, get mad,
i dont care,
cause you aint nothin to get mad over

and catching shad in a cast net, aint hurtin the shad one bit. ok you say about the blue cats, that if there was a problem with them and if we didnt have enough of them that the state would make regulations on them. and that you should eat everyone you catch, which i totally disagree with. but at the same time you say you wish they would make throwing the cast net illegal !!!
shad are bait fish man, there meant to be ate by fish, and, theres plenty of them to be caught in a cast net, i dont think that any serious fisherman would say that making the cast nets illegal is a good idea. im sorry but thats just stupid man
i hope you are gone and dont read this but if you do good for you

good luck everyone

I imagine nature kills more baitfish than the fishermen with really hard cold spells?

This will probably confuse more people than enlighten,But it is a biological fact that LARGE populations of shad and/or herring can seriously deplete bream populations.They share the same food source when the bream are young.XXL shad will actually eat fry.Why do you think they FISH for shad on the James with small jigs?????

In response to my own mailing I guess the jigs could be imitating giant mutant algae or plankton on the run from these vicious shad.ROTFLMAO

I've fished lake cumberland in Ky. The waters REAL clear. If the water here was that clear, you could SEE that there are THOUSANDS of shad in a big school. All you catch in your throw net is the ones that couldn't move out of the way. There are hundreds of these schools on the lake. I don't think a few cast nets are going to put a dent in the shad population. It would be nice if bordering states would share rules and regulations. Just an opinion

"I don't think a few cast nets are going to put a dent in the shad population. It would be nice if bordering states would share rules and regulations. Just an opinion ".............Good idea in theory.. ...but then all 48 contigous states would have same laws.......because all atates border another state..

HEY Patman:...just being a wise azz.. analytical by nature.. .....On Lake Wylie if you get caught on wrong side of lake you're in trouble...license aren't reciprocal...SC and NC can't play nice

No offence taken I just wish some of these LAW makers would pull the ol head out of you know what and go fishing.

Where do I start? Maybe with the 3 4pound plus smallies we c&rlsd this spring or the 3pounder we just caught 2 days ago. No,let me go back to last year and the 11 largemouth we caught in the elusive james river. This BS about no perch in the James is nothing but. I agree there may be fewer than 10 years ago but there are plenty of perch and a rapidly growing number of shad. Bent creek.