Old Man,

They are a great deal of fun to fish for, to me anyway. They put up one heck of a fight.

As far as paying to fish for them... They Pay Lake's fee usually ran about $20. $12 of that goes into a pot. Who ever catches the heaviest fish in a given time period wins the pot. I't a lot of fun with some great professional competition (if the lake is operated correctly).

It's totally a catch and release situation. Nobody keeps them for consumption.

As the season wears on at these lakes the fish get tougher and tougher to catch. My dad and I used to say tha tthe fish are getting "combat wise". After getting hooked X amount of times the fish actually bite "suck" much smarter and timid.

Anyway... thats why I would pay to fish for them. Fun to catch, good competition amongts fisherman, and its fun to fish in tourneys.