Ethics question??

[A- bomb]

Fishing a local lake for pike with and 18" bass limit you catch a nice bass of 17 inches.
He has taken your jigg'in rap sideways and raked BOTH gills. on the ice as you look at him to judge the situation he is bleeding out.....BAD. After being careful as you can to pick out the hooks you send him down the hole and he floats up.


Do you take him home and risk the high fines and chance getting caught, or just sink him for the turtles in the spring.

curious as sorta the same thing happened to us at first ice.

[Badgermilk27]

I am not one for wasting a fish...and I think I personally would probably take the fish home, but I know there are some that say let nature take its course.  A dead fish is life for something else in the whole food chain cliche'.  Good question.

[Pail Rider]

I'd sink him...sucks but it is the law.  

[empty hook]

Fishing a local lake for pike with and 18" bass limit you catch a nice bass of 17 inches.
He has taken your jigg'in rap sideways and raked BOTH gills. on the ice as you look at him to judge the situation he is bleeding out.....BAD. After being careful as you can to pick out the hooks you send him down the hole and he floats up.


Do you take him home and risk the high fines and chance getting caught, or just sink him for the turtles in the spring.

curious as sorta the same thing happened to us at first ice.

Even though the bass is going to die anyway I would put  him back dw the hole.  The fine isn't worth it.

[Pail Rider]

I see a lot of this on the coast in the summer time...people tiring out schoolie stripers that are under the legal length.  They have to toss em back and they die, not uncommon to see 20 or more dead stripers floating on the river...big time waste, but not worth the fine of keeping an illegal striper.

[Hollywood703]

its not the fine that hurts, its the thought that you are one step closer to losing all priveliges of fishing/hunting.  I know here in Michigan you only get so many violations before they just take your ability to get a license.....

[A- bomb]

All in all i don't keep many fish at all so i wasn't trying to "leigitimize" keeping an underside fish. just really sucks to waste a breeder!
The tough call is that my 8 yr old was with us and he understands the size thing. He also understands that we keep an occasional pike  thats deep hooked.

Just makes ya stop and think....Most would agree the right thing is take it home and make use of it. However the legal thing kinda gets in the way

[walleyechaser]

I'd follow the law.  You don't want to risk losing your fishing priveledges.

Besides bass are nasty. 

[Webguy]

Down the hole.
You don't know for sure it will die - take it home, you know its dead!

[fish_finder]

 Sink it...even tho you're not going to eat it, it wont go to waste, something will make a meal of it, plus fine definetly not worth it.

[Whitefish Slayer]

I would shove him as hard as i could down the hole and then i'd pretend that he made it and swam away..... i guess let nature takes it tole on the poor falla

[Scientist]

Down the hole the bass goes. That is the number one response to fish and game warden “Officer I released it but it was dead anyway”  In my area they do not bend the rules for anyone because someone will always try to take advantage of any leniency and kill shorts on purpose just to keep the catch. 

[RLWagner]

This is not much a question of ethics. There is no decision to make. The law states 18 inches, not 17 if the gills are damaged, or the fish will die.
You should figure this one out in light speed!

Fire in the Hole! BYe Bye Bass! Even if she becomes Mud Puppy food!

Don't risk loosing your license!

[rob-s]

jiggin rap  hooks on both ends and a hanger? not sure as i dont use them. cut the end hooks and replace the treble with a single.
 or dont bother to use them, they work too good.
 rules say you can not keep the fish

[RLWagner]

All in all i don't keep many fish at all so i wasn't trying to "leigitimize" keeping an underside fish. just really sucks to waste a breeder!
The tough call is that my 8 yr old was with us and he understands the size thing. He also understands that we keep an occasional pike  thats deep hooked.

Just makes ya stop and think....Most would agree the right thing is take it home and make use of it. However the legal thing kinda gets in the way

If the Pike you keep are undersized, and your son realizes that, he then may one day loose his priveledges or transportation (Confiscation) as a direct result in the ethics you do or don't instill in him. It's never too late to teach him the right thing to do, that will keep him out of trouble, and eventually your Grand Kids!

[killitandgrillit]

As others have said, no question. If it calms your mind, you can tell yourself that the DNR threw the fish away, not you. It wasnt your choice to either kill it or throw it back when it was dead.

[blue mule]

i must agree with killitandgrillit.

[A- bomb]

WHOA!! the pike we keep are gut hooked but over the limit! Just wanted to clear that up!  Legal is 20 in IN.  Not many gut hooked 19 inchers on an 8 inch shiner.

While the legal bass outside "This Lake" for the state is 14".
The outcome.....
The bass was let go and finally "dove" out of site. Only to resurface under the clear as glass ice 10 ft away! guess who found it! poped a few holes.... anyways we relocated it to "warmer" water about 75 yds away, that had snow cover. So no laws were broken, I think.

Isn't wanton waste the killing of a game or fish and not retaining in your posession? All in all it was a great day on the ice...  

[shawno]

I'd sink him...sucks but it is the law. 

I agree...you do not want to get caught.  A Conservation Officer will not care if it bled out.  They will see the size and fine you accordingly.  It sucks but we are all faced with this issue at some point in our lives. Just remember, animals need to eat too !! 

shawno  8)

[mempfree]

If the Pike you keep are undersized, and your son realizes that, he then may one day loose his priveledges or transportation (Confiscation) as a direct result in the ethics you do or don't instill in him. It's never too late to teach him the right thing to do, that will keep him out of trouble, and eventually your Grand Kids!

I just want to say, that rob-s, said it all.  Why are you ice fishing with that lure?  Just doesn't make sense?  Where i am from, we use, one, or treble small hooks.  This is during the trout season.   

[empty hook]

If the Pike you keep are undersized, and your son realizes that, he then may one day loose his priveledges or transportation (Confiscation) as a direct result in the ethics you do or don't instill in him. It's never too late to teach him the right thing to do, that will keep him out of trouble, and eventually your Grand Kids!

This is a very strong point.

[A- bomb]

  HEY, Look up two posts and re-read correctly.

thats "OVER THE LIMIT"

WHOA!! the pike we keep are gut hooked but over the limit! Just wanted to clear that up!  Legal is 20 in IN.  /.

And raps however good, really are not THAT good

[river_scum]

its a shame but like said its the law. 

[putback]

Sometimes unfortunate, but law is a straight flush, common sense is just a full house. If your called, you lose.