monster pike

[dkruks]

something to think about...we hear people saying that we should release trophy walleye and pike, but when you see a bucket full of jumbo perch people have nothing but praise for the fisherman. Why don't these people get the same ragging on as the ones who keep large pike and walleye?

[fishinwilly4g63]

This is not just about keeping the fish of a lifetime, I have no issue with that. This entire thread is full of people who think it is their god given right to eat every single fish they encounter and thats whats scary.

And who are all these people on this thread?

I think that once you buy a license that allows you to keep fish for the table, if you want to release then fine, but some people like to eat their catch and not every person on this thread that condones eating what you catch keeps every single fish they encounter.

[BigJay]

Alot of holier-than-thou soapboxers love to spoil a trophy fish moment.  By all means, throw your big ones back... and shut the hell up about the people who don't.  C&R guys kill a many fish as the people that eat them given release mortality and the fact that people fishing for table fare are likely to spend less time C&Ring after they've gotten their supper.  One group is doing it for food.. the other is killing those fish for recreation... hmmmmmmm...

[ran7ger]

 great fish man, most definitely congrats!

 but, as per the topic at hand...

 i'd say it all pretty much boils down to greed and selfishness, maybe having something to pad the ego.

 people keep referring to the fact that buying a license gives them the right to kill and keep anything they catch, but have some self control - think about the future and not just filling your freezer for a week or two.  i understand one for the wall as i've got my big pike mounted.  the summer after, i got one about the same size (lucky 9yr old) on very light line and after landing couldn't resuscitate, even in the live well.  dad and i spent close to an hour trying to get that fish to go and after realizing it wasn't gonna happen i felt like crap for days.  keep in mind i was 9 YEARS OLD and entirely uneducated in proper management and harvest practices, yet somehow was still able to grasp the value that fish had live as opposed to butchered up in the freezer.  there's always steelhead at sobey's or walleye at bev's...

 anyhow, as lots have said it ain't worth arguing, but just because you have the right to do something doesn't mean you have to do it.  take jumping off a bridge for instance 

[gbrebory]

all im saying is i love to fish and i keep a majority but you know what the pike in the pic below this that im holding....released it..... not a terrible guy am i i dont kill everything i come across and some poeple are trying to make it out like i do i release plenty of fish but i keep plenty of fish as well

[adipose]

I will take a freshly caught fish over a sobeys 4 day old fish any day of the week. Cannot have enough vit
D...specially in the winter when the sun is sooooo low or non existent. Ranger...jumping off a bridge is in fact against the law.
If we look at the hunting laws..we see that almost every person, because the law says we can, has put out bait for deer. Not only that but they use every law to their advantage to try to get a deer. I dont know too many hunters that go hunting to try NOT to get a deer. Maybe catch and release deer hunting will be the future. Load those tranquilizers and go hunting...take the field picks...then let him go.

Did anyone ever give thought to commercial fishing and how much impact they have on the stocks of lakes never mind use few that take our limit or less. Lets try to keep this in some sort of perspective here.

[gbrebory]

ctually there is a baiting ban for deer in michigan becaseu of bovine tuberculosis although i know about 100 people that have hunted the tb zone (dmu 452) and have never shot one that was infected i talked to a CO and he said in 3 years he hasnt seen one come through the deer check station..... 452 ws established to create less pressure in the area becasue of the elk herd they are forming which they deny but elk have mysteriously been sighted in that area..... hmmm

[rickie72]

   ;DWOW what a great thread better than a day time soap ( don,t stop now  )

[The Beachcomber]

I am suprised that commercial netting or Native fishing just came into this, that is a great point to mention.  I have seen netting in the province done by natives and they just leave pike on the ice to rot because its not good enough to eat.  They only want walleye (nice subsistance fishing) Why doesn't this get mentioned!  Time to end the topic, nice fish, hope you catch some more and take some pics.