Fishing contest destroying lake

Each year about this time, thousands of fish are taken from Flathead Lake and it is called a fishing contest or tournament.  

The truth is these anglers are fishing for dollars ($$$$) with no regard for the fish slaughter or the well being of our beautiful lake.  

The reason for all this madness is the plan to allow the bull trout more space to survive and propagate. Oh, yes, the bull trout is supposedly native to the lake and therefore has priority over the lake trout.  The mack and the bull have survived together in this lake for a long time so why can’t we leave things to Mother Nature and stop interfering?

This annual slaughter of many thousands of lake trout is not a tournament, it is plain and simple LAKE RAPE!  If you don’t think so, take some time and ask any commercial fisherman or long-time angler the difference between fishing this lake 10 years ago and now. The answer is the same - the sport fishing was much better than today. Hell, back in those days the charters were even guaranteeing fish but not any more. 

This is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as we know now there is also gill netting going on. For what it is worth, I must ask when is all this fishing madness going to stop, or is it already too late?

—Bill Bailey, Bigfork