I had a few minutes on the computer recently when I was actually sort of bored. So I conjured up an informal little fishing survey to post on the Chattanooga Fishing Forum and the TNDeer.com Fishing Forum. To date I've had a total of 67 responses. Of course it is completely unscientific. But I've always been prone to believe that even statistically invalid surveys often reveal surprisingly valid information.

Here are the Questions and Results.

1) What is your favorite fish to catch (or try to catch)?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that "Bass" won this one overwhelmingly. That's backed up by every "scientific" survey ever done. I lumped all the black basses, but a very high percentage of people who specified which species of bass said "Smallmouth." What might be a surprise to some however is that "Catfish" came in second. This too is backed up by a US Fish & Wildlife Survey which shows the popularity of catfishing growing dramatically, especially in the Southeast. FYI, the "Other" category included many mixed responses, including saltwater species.

2) What is your favorite fish to eat (if any)?

While obviously a huge number of people like to catch bass, apparently no one likes to eat them. While three people responded "Bass," they all specifically said "Spotted Bass," a very prolific species in the Chattanooga area that some say actually need to be "thinned out." Crappie is the "King of the Frying Pan," followed closely by walleye/sauger. But many people specified various saltwater species as their favorite fish to eat.

3) Do you prefer Spinning Rods, Casting Rods or Fly Rods?

Among fishermen, this question is as common as "How about this weather?" With a large percentage of bass anglers, it's not surprising that casting rods won out. But spinning rods held their own, although many people appropriately pointed out that their favorite often depended upon target species and conditions.

4) Do you prefer Artificial Bait or Live Bait (including natural bait such as cut bait)?

Of course I knew artificial baits would win out here. I was just curious how many people would "fess up" that they would rather not fish with plastic imitations. What I mainly learned, or confirmed here is that I am a minority .

5) Do you prefer being in control (i.e. choosing fishing spots, running trolling motor, etc.) or do you prefer going along for the ride and leave the decision-making to others?

This is a little bit different question than I had never seen before. It revealed that the huge majority of anglers like to be "in control" of their own fishing destiny. Again, I am a minority... although my feelings are based on the fact that I'm a fishing guide. When I'm working I MUST make the decisions. The pressure is all on me. So when I go fishing "for fun," I am very content, even eager, to let someone else make the decisions for me.

6) Do you believe overall TWRA is doing a good job managing our fisheries? (Don't fudge on me... I want a "Yes" or a "No")

This is often a hot topic of conversation, and I actually would not have been surprised to see a majority of "No" responses. Lo and behold, a huge majority said they do believe TWRA biologists are doing a good job.

7) Have you, or a partner, ever caught and released what might have been a state record fish (of ANY species) because you didn't realize at the time it was a state record? ("Yes" or a "No")

I hear this story all the time from a variety of anglers about a variety of species. And indeed, based upon my informal survey, nearly 30 percent of all fishermen believe they've caught some sort of state record but didn't realize it until it was too late. Know the records, just go HERE and print them out.

8) Of the following current Tennessee state records, which one do you think is the most likely to be broken first?
-- Largemouth Bass (14-8)
-- Smallmouth Bass (11-15, also current World Record)
-- Spotted Bass (5-14)
-- Bluegill (3-0)
-- Brown Trout (28-12)
-- Rainbow Trout (16-15)
-- Blue Catfish (112)
-- Rockfish (65-6)
-- None of the above will ever be broken

I picked the species listed arbitrarily. Of the species listed, folks clearly thought that "Spotted Bass" will be the next record to fall. That belief is likely influenced by the fact that the existing Tenn. spotted bass record was just broken earlier this year. Of course a TWRA fisheries crew recently shocked up what would have been a new state record largemouth, if caught on a rod & reel. That story may have influenced the fact that "Largemouth" was the #2 response... even though the existing state record has stood for more than 55 years.

9) Do you believe that 20 years from now fishing will be "Better," "Worse" or "The Same?"

No science here whatsoever... simply a measure of whether most folks are optimistic, or pessimistic about our fishing future. The majority of folks think we'll maintain status quo. But I am very happy that there are slightly more true optimists than pessimists.

Have you got an opinion or a comment on any of these? If so, send me an E-mail and I'll add them here.

Footnote: I dropped one question here about "Favorite Water" because answers were so widely diverse. And when numbers don't add up to 67, it's because some folks "fudged" in their responses and weren't included in that question.