Catch & Release ... WHO & WHY?

[ice dawg]

And people still want to argue that hotspotting on social media has no effect...

They will probably stop arguing when it happens to them. 

[river_scum]

They will probably stop arguing when it happens to them. 

sites shoiuld have a banner at the top of page about not posting lake names.  dont seem fishing sites want to acknowledge this detrimental side affect though.   

[filetandrelease]

 I know a guy that had a great day went to another spot and took pics leaving just a little info in the background, and he never even said he caught them there , next 2 day  looked like a convention
Canadarago lake had great perch many 14”+ perch , it was posted went from maybe 30 guys on the lake to 200 , it got cleaned out , it’s been years trying to recover
 
 
 

[zcm_82]

I know a guy that had a great day went to another spot and took pics leaving just a little info in the background, and he never even said he caught them there , next 2 day  looked like a convention
Canadarago lake had great perch many 14”+ perch , it was posted went from maybe 30 guys on the lake to 200 , it got cleaned out , it’s been years trying to recover

I fished a very small lake (more of a big pond really... 30ish acres) like that when I was still in northern MN. It was not easy to access, especially before the ice was thick enough to support a 4wd vehicle, so it saw very little pressure.

The thing was just chock full of tank crappies. Most days you'd see maybe 5-10 other people out there... then word got out one winter, and by the end of the season, it looked like a friggin carnival out there. Hundreds of hardsides, and portables everywhere... by the end of the next season, it was the dead sea, totally wiped out. 

I haven't been back up there in years, but according to one of my uncles still living in the area, it still hasn't recovered, and we're talking 2002-03 when it got hammered to death.

[KingPerch]

I know a guy that had a great day went to another spot and took pics leaving just a little info in the background, and he never even said he caught them there , next 2 day  looked like a convention
Canadarago lake had great perch many 14”+ perch , it was posted went from maybe 30 guys on the lake to 200 , it got cleaned out , it’s been years trying to recover

canadarago got annihilated back then. Most pics I take of fishing are taken at my home, in the garage, on a concrete floor. If guys wanna follow me to drill holes there… knock yourselves out. 😁 😂

[missoulafish]

dont seem fishing sites want to acknowledge this detrimental side affect though.   

Nope, they operate under the guise of "I'm just trying to help" or "isn't that what this site is for"?  (We need a site to wipe out a fishery?)I'm all for helping people catch fish but that can be done without burning entire fisheries. Then when you say anything about taking  care of a resource or suggest people put in even the tiniest bit of effort  you're the d***.

[kasilofchrisn]

Nope, they operate under the guise of "I'm just trying to help" or "isn't that what this site is for"?  (We need a site to wipe out a fishery?)I'm all for helping people catch fish but that can be done without burning entire fisheries. Then when you say anything about taking  care of a resource or suggest people put in even the tiniest bit of effort  you're the d***.

Man you sure hit the nail on the head there.
I've been calling it The Google generation for years.
All of these people think that if you want to find something you just Google it.
That works fine for finding a good restaurant or a local bait and tackle shop.
But so many people these days don't realize that's not how it works for finding a fishing spot, hunting spot, berry picking spot, etc.
You have to put in the work and find your own spots.
That and finding my own spots is half the fun for me anyway.
Or people talk about the time they gave up a spot only to find the spot got overrun and was ruined after that.
And people get so mad when you tell them you don't share your spots with strangers.
 Well it's blatantly obvious to me why we don't share those spots!

[skifisher]

Maybe if some folks cooled their ego, stopped taking pics, posting videos, and bragging about their prowess when it comes to fishing, maybe that would help alleviate some of the issues. I’m all about a nice catch, but over-hyping it can only lead to bad things. MYO

[badbrad2186]

Sodus has been the same way last couple years guys hammering it then complain they can't catch keepers no crap 1000+ guys just fished it for the last 3 years every single weekend I'm hoping it goes back the old ways when I didn't have to get up and start my trek out well before daylight

[ice dawg]

Years ago my son and I were fishing a small lake and by mid afternoon it was being pounded so hard by the traveling circus that we moved to a larger lake to spend the night. We pulled into a bay and set our wheel house up for the night. There was still a steady stream of head lights going by us on the way off the ice at 11:30 pm. The parade started again about 4:30 am and by 10:00 am we couldn't see the south shore of the lake because there were so many ice shacks on the ice. We had about a dozen jumbo Perch which we gave to a couple with young children and we left. The first lake we were on still has very few Perch in it and nothing but dink Walleye. The land owner who owns the land under the second lake sued in court and it is now off limits unless you have landowner permission to fish it. His house is about 50 yards from the edge of the lake and he got tired of people running their augers early in the morning and waking his family. He was also tired of trash blowing into his yard so he made a fence out of pvc pipe and gas line tape to keep people out of that small bay. People tore his little barrier down and went close to his home anyway so he took it to court. There is another small Perch lake that is closed because the landowner went to court due to people leaving trash on the ice and in the water.  Now, many small lakes and sloughs have access allowed by landowners and when they think their property is being abused they can petition to close the access to the water above their land. Packing your trash off the ice with you can make a real difference here.

[missoulafish]

Yup, thats another sweet bonus of blowing up spots; no place to park, garbage, theft, irritated neighbors, people running across road ways in the dark getting toasted be vehicles. There's way more reasons to not burn a spot than there ever will be to share a spot in a public forum. The admins of the FB pages need to start set rules about blowing places up but we all know how that will go.... potlicker revolt!

[filetandrelease]

 No FB here I can get in enough trouble on these 2 sites 😉

[Kilsdonk]

No FB here I can get in enough trouble on these 2 sites 😉

right? 

Personally I keep most all my fish during the winter. I fillet them on the ice and take them home smoke'em and can'em. During the summers or on the boat I let everything go.

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's entirely ethical.  I can slam the door on the lady behind me going into the store before she gets to it, which isn't a crime, but it still makes me a d**k.  It's also not required for me to hold the door open for her, but I do that because it seems like the right thing to do.

[Ronnie D]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservation