GRAND RAPIDS — Though the world has changed over the last 40 years, some things stay the same.
“The fish still somehow or another figure out a way to avoid enough of us,” KAXE Early Bird Fishing Guide Jeff Sundin said recently on the KAXE Morning Show.
This year, he celebrates 40 years as a fishing guide in Northern Minnesota, and he is as engaged as ever in the culture and world of fishing. Sundin regularly reports on his experiences and participates in many working groups in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, including the use of technology.
"We're going to have to figure out a way to just teach each other to be decent about how we use things."Jeff Sundin on the effects of barotrauma on fish
“Back in my formative years, we basically just had a little flasher on the back of the boat. You knew how deep it was and you could see if there was fish below you at the moment,” Sundin said, explaining how anglers had no clue what kind of fish they were seeing or how they were related to the structure of the lake.
Technology has changed fishing in many ways, but the biggest shift Sundin has seen is the transition from paper maps to GPS with real-time mapping. “That’s the one thing that was the great equalizer for everybody in fishing.”
In his early days as a fishing guide, Sundin recalled figuring out a lake could take several days. Back then, other anglers would often pull up alongside his boat to ask where the fish were biting and what techniques he was using.
“Now everybody knows everything about everything,” Sundin said, and people rarely stop to ask advice on the lake anymore.
Even with the changes, his optimism for fishing hasn’t waned.
“No matter what does come along, there’s always a way to figure out how to deal with it,” Sundin said, as he explained how some fish have gone away, but new populations of fish have continued to pop up as well.
Sundin's time on DNR fisheries work groups include a panfish group, meeting for over 10 years. Out of the meetings, an initiative was created to preserve known places where sunfish exist, as well as fix places where sunfish no longer are. The project is about midway through and evaluations are just beginning to judge success.
Sundin also sits on a technology working group where recent discussions have been on the potential effects of forward-facing sonar on certain species. "The big mystery that everybody is trying to figure out: Is there something that needs to be done about it? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing?"
Sundin has played a key role in the conversation about barotrauma on fish from deeper lakes. The DNR defines barotrauma as physical damage to body tissues caused by rapid decompression, which is brought about by deep water fishing. Fish like muskies and walleye pulled up suddenly from deep waters can be stranded at the surface of the water.
"We have no real information. I can't tell you how many of those fish survive and how many don't," Sundin said.
Unlike limit regulations, the answers aren't easy when it comes to catch and release. It may, according to Sundin, come down to a change in fishing culture.
"We're going to have to figure out a way to just teach each other to be decent about how we use things."
Hear the full conversation with Sundin above.
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