Leaving fish on the Ice

[KissMyBassNH]

i throw all perch and pickeral on the ice , there dogfish as far as im conserend helps baby bass thrive to some lakes are over populated with perch and pickeral witch is why the limit is like 25 or higher they want you to take em

[jf5]

i throw all perch and pickeral on the ice , there dogfish as far as im conserend helps baby bass thrive to some lakes are over populated with perch and pickeral witch is why the limit is like 25 or higher they want you to take em

Culling pickeral helps the bass very little, if at all. I asked a fisheries biologist about this last year. And remember, its the bass that are non-native, the y perch and pickeral belong here in New England.

The whole idea of culling fish is not smart. An professional evaluation of the balance of the fishery must be done first to determine if and any non-balance is occuring to begin with. Most anglers have no idea and think they are helping when they are not.  Perch are forage fish for bass as well as pickeral, you may be hurting both species by culling perch!

I fish a river in VT that has a good population of suckers. Locals kill the suckers, mumbling about saving trout eggs.  I got there in the fall and the browns are stuffed with suckers. Some of them go up to 22"/4.5lbs. This stream is also good on numbers of trout as well. The suckers are part of that eqation of making that stream the great fishery it is because they are an important and native food source for the trout. Yet some will always kill these "trash fish" thinking that they are helping, when they are doing the opposite.

Keep fish to eat. Otherwise, throw them back.

[CJiceaddict]

Well said! Eat them or put them back

CJ

[bassranger]

Culling pickeral helps the bass very little, if at all. I asked a fisheries biologist about this last year. And remember, its the bass that are non-native, the y perch and pickeral belong here in New England.

The whole idea of culling fish is not smart. An professional evaluation of the balance of the fishery must be done first to determine if and any non-balance is occuring to begin with. Most anglers have no idea and think they are helping when they are not.  Perch are forage fish for bass as well as pickeral, you may be hurting both species by culling perch!

I fish a river in VT that has a good population of suckers. Locals kill the suckers, mumbling about saving trout eggs.  I got there in the fall and the browns are stuffed with suckers. Some of them go up to 22"/4.5lbs. This stream is also good on numbers of trout as well. The suckers are part of that eqation of making that stream the great fishery it is because they are an important and native food source for the trout. Yet some will always kill these "trash fish" thinking that they are helping, when they are doing the opposite.

Keep fish to eat. Otherwise, throw them back.

  I agree as much as I love bass fishing and feel there are to many pickeral in certain lake's Its not my job to decide what needs to go and what needs to stay. If I hook one deep and am sure its not going to make it I will feed it to the birds other wise it goes back down the hole

[Capt. Black]

Not to repeat but.....take em or put them down the hole.

[wartfroggy]

i throw all perch and pickeral on the ice , there dogfish as far as im conserend helps baby bass thrive to some lakes are over populated with perch and pickeral witch is why the limit is like 25 or higher they want you to take em

Killing perch to save a bass?  I think bass are a pain, get in the way walleye fishing.  Maybe we should throw the bass on the ice?  Better yet, you guys should quite throwing ANYTHING on the ice.  I am glad here in MI, we have laws against wasting and littering dead fish all over the ice.  Way to waste a resource. 

[Adrock]

Won't get into the biology debate about fishery management, but I do agree that leaving the ice littered with fish looks bad for all icefisherman.  Like it or not we will all get lumped into the category. 

[KissMyBassNH]

culling is actually against the law in nh to i just checked the book

[KissMyBassNH]

thats ok though ill just keep my 50 perch or less and 10 pickerel or less for my limit and throw them away when i get home 

[james]

Here's another thought, instead of leaving the fish on the ice why not bury them in your garden and grow something good with them. they are high in nitrogen.

                                                                           james

[KissMyBassNH]

yup bringing em home for fertilizer now  25 yellows and 10 pickeral per day

[Joe Cuzzie]

Here's another thought, instead of leaving the fish on the ice why not bury them in your garden and grow something good with them. they are high in nitrogen.

                                                                           james

ive been doing that for a few years. my garden was the best ive ever seen in my life this year

[KissMyBassNH]

Killing perch to save a bass?  I think bass are a pain, get in the way walleye fishing.  Maybe we should throw the bass on the ice?  Better yet, you guys should quite throwing ANYTHING on the ice.  I am glad here in MI, we have laws against wasting and littering dead fish all over the ice.  Way to waste a resource. 

bass have a 2 fish limit in the winter, for a reason

[lawsonsfishers]

I may not be in New Hampshire but i saw this on one of the lakes in the Adirondacks once... About 30 3-4 in. perch around a couple holes all dead. Its awful that some people think it helps to knock off the small ones.

[CJiceaddict]

For those of you wanting to remove perch and then doing nothing productive with them- have you ever tried eating them? They might be a little time consuming to fillet but they are awesome when breaded and fried. I'm always happy to see a perch come through the hole- I let the little ones go but as far as eating I consider them one of the tastier fresh water fish. just my .02

CJ

[KissMyBassNH]

they got a law for everything, why are all these laws not in the little blue book they give us? ridiculous, well im bringing them home for my cats to eat then!? is there a law against that? fish and game is unbelivable

[james]

All i can say is good luck trying to prosecute someone for using fish for fertiliser.
I can just hear the Judge laughing now

[NHRenegade]

Remember, Fish and Game doesn't write the laws, they are charged with enforcing them.  The people you vote into office (Senate and House of Reps) are the ones who make the laws.  Often old laws stay on the books for no reason other than they are forgotten about since the original reason they were written no longer applies.  Not sure if this is the case with that particular law or not but it could be.

[Adrock]

I wonder how old that law is?

[rob-s]

I wonder how old that law is?

  wrong thread  lol

[KissMyBassNH]

yeah half on that list are not in the book its pretty confusing

[9huskies]

Extra bait always get dumped down an open hole (alive) if there's no one nearby to use it and I'm not gonna get out soon enough to use it again. Dead bait is dropped down a hole, as I find it throughout the day, unless I plan to use it to tip a jig.

Cleaning fish on the ice, I would think is the same as cleaning on the open water. You're not suppose to discard the guts out there. Bag 'em and dispose accordingly. Make sure all species with length limits still have heads and tails intact as well.

Dumping leftover bait down the hole is illegal stocking unless the bait came from the same water.  Carry your extra bait home with you. 

[lv2huntandfish]

culling is actually against the law in nh to i just checked the book

I beleive the culling that you are refering to has to do with clipping fins of fish.

[marcus]

I am happy it is illegal here in NY to waste When I lived in NH I used to see picks and sometimes small perch on the ice and hated to see it. I am a fisherman I dont care if it a pick or a trout (which I could see throwing on the ice to help the tasty perch) I am happy to catch fish
BTW I would not waste a trout even though I think they are useless just saying some guys throw perch and picks on the ice to save the trout or bass   I say throw the trout  first of all they are almost all non-native and they taste nowhere near as good as perch or pickerel ... When I lived in NH no one ate perch me included...until someone fried some up ... worth a try perch haters

been drinking abit and I talk in circles   but what I am saying is why waste any fish I have young kids who are happy to catch anything why not leave that opportunity available? eagles,foxes, and what not can feed themselves just fine.   It is cool to see an eagle swoop down and feed but they will and have done very well on their own.

[rob-s]

I beleive the culling that you are refering to has to do with clipping fins of fish.

i thought culling was keeping fish until you catch one bigger then throwing the smaller one back