Catch and Keep, or Catch and Release?

[bassman79]

Bassman79,if your going to eat bass the best ones are around 12 inches,the slot for ice fishing would be great,a couple of slot fish under 15 and maybe one trophy over 20 would save a lot of breeders.Some lakes in Pa. take a pounding on bass,there pretty easy to target in the winter.Jigging this winter I pounded as high as 25 a day,most fish where in the 12 -14 range the biggest was 19,all where released.

  finally someone shows how easy it is to think openly with the fish in his mind not his freezer bassman79

[caddy084]

I have a question on this subject. I already have posted that I have no objection to keeping your legal catch, of any freshwater species that being said my question is. Why is it that most tournament bass anglers will preach catch and release on these game fish? I know a few like this. These are the same guys that tell me all the time how good the spring time sight fishing is for these big breeding female game fish while still on their breeding beds. Now I know I'm not the smartest guy in the world but it seems to me that messing with these big breeding females seems that it could hurt the breeding population of a fishery, and now if 5% or 6% of these fish die as a result of being caught and released, I wonder how many fish in total that would equal down the road for future years to come. Now am I just stupid and way off base here or is their some logic to what I have just said. Just wondering if anyone has any input on this subject......

[bassman79]

not all tourney fisherman sight fish and pull fish off beds which is illegal in this state i might add i dont do it but i do knowBASS has done studies in the south and down there tournies are held and catchin fish from beds has not seemed to reduce numbers of fish myself i think up here in the north we dont have prolific populations of bass as there is in the south and i think bed fishing here would not be a good thing for sustaining a good population of bass thats my thought on that bassman79

[caddy084]

not all tourney fisherman sight fish and pull fish off beds which is illegal in this state i might add i dont do it but i do knowBASS has done studies in the south and down there tournies are held and catchin fish from beds has not seemed to reduce numbers of fish myself i think up here in the north we dont have prolific populations of bass as there is in the south and i think bed fishing here would not be a good thing for sustaining a good population of bass thats my thought on that bassman79

I still see a lot of bass anglers targeting these fish in this state illegal or not, and it's hard for a conservation officer to prove that's what their doing. You know as well as I do this is happening in our state a lot as well as down south. You can see by my avatar that I love catching these fish on the ice and during the open water season (and yes the one in the picture was released) and you could count on one hand how many Bass I have kept in my lifetime. But bottom line is if a person decides to keep these fish which are within legal limits and caught during their legal season, that is their preference and they should not feel guilty about enjoy the resources we have available to us all.....

[salmonrebel]

not all tourney fisherman sight fish and pull fish off beds which is illegal in this state i might add i dont do it but i do knowBASS has done studies in the south and down there tournies are held and catchin fish from beds has not seemed to reduce numbers of fish myself i think up here in the north we dont have prolific populations of bass as there is in the south and i think bed fishing here would not be a good thing for sustaining a good population of bass thats my thought on that bassman79

Sight fishing, illegal. How the hell does the fish commission site anybody for this nonsense?!...Unless, your in your boat, POINTING at the fish, yellin' to your buddy, THERE HE IS!!!...I'm not saying the law isn't out there, I don't know. But, it's definitely something that would be hard to prove against you, unless, your a real piece of work!
"Not all tourney fisherman sight fish" That's a bunch of crap! Every bass guy that I've ever known, that was good at catching bass, sight fished them at some point of time, including myself, and you mean to tell me, if these guys see a 5+lb. bass, they're not going to cast at it! What do you think, the rest of the fishing public is stupid?!  I actually find these fish very easy to catch, most of the year. If I would know there is a bass in an area, 90% of the time, I would just keep tossing a lure at them, and eventually they'll hit it. It's their preditory instinct! I've caught tons of bass in my days. Both, on their spawning beds and the rest of the year. But I find it very ridiculous, and unsporting to use line for these fish, that you could use on a crane! 30lb. Fireline, Spiderwire! Come on!! I know they are found in some very heavy cover, but give me a break! I actually went through a time, that I was thinking about doing bass tournaments, then I discovered the salmon fishing 25 yrs. ago and found more of a challenge in that, than bass fishing. I don't even use this heavy of line for the salmon I catch! We use 12lb.test on our downriggers for salmon for crying out loud! Don't get me wrong, I still love catching bass, and do often, but there are a lot of other fish that swim in our waters as well.
I might add that, I along with most others, that are good at the sport of fishing, sight fish, to some extent, no matter what species you are targeting. You might not be looking for the fish themselves all the time. But your looking for hints to what's going on around a certain area that might be holding fish.
Oh, one more thing. If you look more into this thread, you'll see that there is a lot of joking going on back and forth about what we keep. So don't take everything so serious, thinking us icefishermen are taking away your tournament winner!

I do keep bass most of the time though. So keep throwing them back for me and my buddies!

[Dizzy]

It’s like some kind of accounting nightmare… if only 5% of anglers keep 50% of the bass they catch, that’s not nearly as bad as 95% of bass anglers releasing 100% of their fish, but inadvertently killing 5-6% in the process. 

A couple notes on some earlier comments;

Lee Wulff for president? The man’s been dead for years. 

One reason listed in the study for Selective Harvest versus Catch & Release is that too many “trophy fish” do in fact damage their own population. Occupation of prime areas (such as spawning sites) in a fish’s world is largely determined by one thing… SIZE. The bigger the fish, the more they have a tendency to get their own way. So what’s the problem? Trophy fish (a.k.a. OLD fish) may be well past their spawning prime and may even be sterile (yikes!). Yet they will still go through the motions every spring, occupying prime spawning sites with blanks in their guns and in effect detracting from the overall “young of the year” class production.

[caddy084]

Maybe theirs something to the " Where are all the Bass" thread on this same board. Maybe you guy's ate them all....      

[salmonrebel]

I LOVE BASS!...THEY'RE DELICIOUS!!!!!

LET THE MASSACRE BEGIN!!!!!

BASS!!, IT'S THE OTHER WHITE MEAT!!!!!!

[bassman79]

rebel read your fish book once regular bass season opens a bass on a bed is fair game sight fishing is legal .in the closed spawn catch and release period bed fishing is taboo nothing to argue about there and yes if i am in a tourney and see a 5 lber on a bed i will surely try to get him in the boat and use the same excuse as many on this thread it is legal so im gonna do it!!! bassman79

[Dizzy]

rebel read your fish book once regular bass season opens a bass on a bed is fair game sight fishing is legal .in the closed spawn catch and release period bed fishing is taboo nothing to argue about there and yes if i am in a tourney and see a 5 lber on a bed i will surely try to get him in the boat and use the same excuse as many on this thread it is legal so im gonna do it!!! bassman79

Interesting, so your heart bleeds at the thought of a few bass hitting the cutting board, but you are OK with possibly exposing thousands of bass fry (a.k.a. future bass) to awaiting predators in the name of a "tourney" 

Legal? Yes

Ethical? Hmm... 

[bassman79]

diz you seem to forget---alot of difference between catching a fish and killing a fish  i will also quit this thread as it is a waste of time trying to protect green carp go ahead  and bash me some more bassman 79 is gonna go into lurk mode see ya

[Dizzy]

diz you seem to forget---alot of difference between catching a fish and killing a fish  i will also quit this thread as it is a waste of time trying to protect green carp go ahead  and bash me some more bassman 79 is gonna go into lurk mode see ya

Not when it's CATCHING a fish, KEEPING a fish long enough to slap it around in a livewell, having it gasping for air while you get it weighed, show it to the "crowd", etc. only to have it released god knows where in relation to its spawning bed. Meanwhile, the bluegill are gulping down those unprotected bass fry by the dozen.

Catching, KEEPING, and releasing one bass to win a tourney at the expense of possibly killing a thousand other bass... yeah, I see your logic now. Nice way to "care" about your resource. 

[Snapper]

All of this and I'm just still taken back becasue I did not know Lee Wulf died.

[salmonrebel]

Maybe theirs something to the " Where are all the Bass" thread on this same board. Maybe you guy's ate them all....      

Bassman thinks we did.

[tuff bass 2 catch]

I cant believe how far these threads esculated over those freezer "jokes" I mean c'mon we've got creel limits here in Pa just as well as every where else,we're allowed 4 per day and have to be at least 15 inches to keep

[marshrat]

I don't keep very many fish. That being said I keep a few gills and crappie along with a few trout but 95% of the fish I catch go back. I fish the FLW tour so I guess I should be one of those guys yelling at you to Catch and Release. So here it goes!








Have Fun Take a Kid Fishing

[salmonrebel]

 

Have Fun Take a Kid Fishing

THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

That,...and them filling our freezers to the max.

[digger953]

I cant believe how far these threads esculated over those freezer "jokes" I mean c'mon we've got creel limits here in Pa just as well as every where else,we're allowed 4 per day and have to be at least 15 inches to keep

4 per day???
15 in long???
oooooooooooopsssssss
wish i knew that before i filled my frezzer
hey rebel want to have a fish fry???

[salmonrebel]

4 per day???
15 in long???
oooooooooooopsssssss
wish i knew that before i filled my frezzer
hey rebel want to have a fish fry???

Us Rebels are always in for a fish fry!

Rebelfisher went out this evening to see if he could get into some of those 'green slabs of pure fillet ecstasy'!
Hopefully he lets us all know the slaughter report.

[icewagon]

Hey Digger, I think you should change you name to bigbassmanmasterdigger .Whatdoyouthink ?

[ferrari175]

I really enjoy fly fishin for trout and smallies...I'll only eat bows or brookies...if the opportunity presents itself, I will keep the stockies, and relocate them to other streams and lakes that will hold them over, or potentially breed wild fish.  Trial and error over the past 40 years has been met with some success.  There are some streams and lakes in Bedford, Fulton, and Sommerset Counties that are holding the prodgeny of my efforts some 40 years ago.

I only wish I had the same insight about planting scads of black walnut trees on some of the family propertys 40 years ago.  But...it is gratifying to fish some of the projects and catch the great-great-great grandchildren of my efforts.

I dont know about where you live but here, the transportation of any live fish is a crime and any "bucket biology" of any species is HIGHLY frowned upon as that is what we pay fish and game to do after research.  Here if you are caught and prosecuted you lose your privilege to hunt and fish for life. 

[tuff bass 2 catch]

4 per day???
15 in long???
oooooooooooopsssssss
wish i knew that before i filled my frezzer
hey rebel want to have a fish fry???

I wish Id have known this before filling the freezer too,I just found out 15 minutes prior to making that post

[eyecejunky]

I dont know about where you live but here, the transportation of any live fish is a crime and any "bucket biology" of any species is HIGHLY frowned upon as that is what we pay fish and game to do after research.  Here if you are caught and prosecuted you lose your privilege to hunt and fish for life. 

WOW!  A life sentence!!!  I suppose in conservation terms my crime? is bioterrorism.  Well there is no making up for what I did.  All I can do is hope that those nonstocked streams are not forever ruined by my ignorance.  And that the "bucket Biology" did not return to the watershed from which it was removed.  Although I no longer have the opportunity to repeat my actions of some 30 -40 years ago...I have no regrets..only joy..when I see those little brookies darting around in the mountain streams that would not have been there but for my youthful indescressions, which I now consider insight.  No harm no fowl.

[Dizzy]

WOW!  A life sentence!!!  I suppose in conservation terms my crime? is bioterrorism.  Well there is no making up for what I did.  All I can do is hope that those nonstocked streams are not forever ruined by my ignorance.  And that the "bucket Biology" did not return to the watershed from which it was removed.  Although I no longer have the opportunity to repeat my actions of some 30 -40 years ago...I have no regrets..only joy..when I see those little brookies darting around in the mountain streams that would not have been there but for my youthful indescressions, which I now consider insight.  No harm no fowl.

What is that last line, some kind of weird duck-hugger reference? 

So let’s get is straight… you claim to have transplanted hatchery fish into a stream that was incapable of supporting wild trout, but somehow your “insight” magically changed the water chemistry and biomass and now 30-40 years later this stream is a wild/non-native brook trout fishery?

Wait, let me put my waders on for this one. 

[eyecejunky]

OKAY Diz....you busted me on spelling fowl vs foul ...you give me too much credit with regards to the duck hugger reference.  
Also...be careful with those waders and other gear when using them in different fisherys without thoroughly sterilizing them...you could be accused of being a bioterrorist.   Your carbon footprint could be contaminated!

I do understand your skepticism concerning my post.  It's not that I have my doubts about my efforts and what the streams held before my efforts.  As noted, it was more than half a lifetime ago.  I was a young, idealistic teenager.  And idealistically I am hoping that I had a positive effect so long ago.  " The legacy of an old man"...There are now brookies in 4 of more than 20 sites that I populated.  When I consider the statistics of my youthful efforts, the probabilities seem almost improbable....... but this old man still has his hope and some idealisic wishes.  So Diz...go ahead and make me think too hard about the subject and dash my dreams. .  I'll just compartmentalize the issue and live the dream.   Enjoy the soft water season...Da Junky

[Dizzy]

All kidding aside, transporting of even just the WATER from one body of water to another can have disastrous results, let alone transporting fish species.

New Zealand Mud Snails, Zebra Mussels, and Rusty Crayfish just to name a few can destroy a fishery from the bottom of the food pyramid on up.

I have no idea what the legal penalty is… but there are thousands of stream miles, and lake acreage that stand as dieing examples of invasive species transfer… and often times it’s an accidental introduction (i.e. bait bucket, live well contents, trout stocking, even the felt soles of wading shoes).

[eyecejunky]

Understood Diz and excellent points.  My understanding of those possibilities is now 2 decades old.  Ergo the previously stated sterilization comment.  I have read some articles and discertations that address the scope of such biohabitat contaminations and cross contaminations and the defininitions thereof.  I suppose that historically, there is arguement of the definition.  I think even the purists of the environment take issue with what is and isn't contamination.  Intentional vs accidental vs natural vs etc etc.  I wonder who and how long ago was the first contaminator of an ecosystem, and the geometric effect he/she/it had on the balance of the system.  Wrap your head around that!

[salmonrebel]

Maybe, I shouldn't get in the middle of this. But, I really don't think Eyecejunky should be persecuted for something he did 30-40 yrs. ago.
From what I know, back then, the impact of something like this introduced wasn't quite known, or enforced like it is these days.
Trout in a stream?...It doesn't seem like it isn't anything the fish commission isn't doing these days. Does it?

So, I don't see a big deal in this.

If some of those streams trout are from what Junky put in. So what. At least, he might have started a wild population. Instead of the fish commission's ongoing finless 10-12 inchers in every mud hole every year.

Not trying to start anything here. I just think it was unnecessary to jump down his back for this.

[caddy084]

I too have done this back in the early 80's when I was a teenager without even knowing about the laws out their, it was with crappie's caught from the Paupack. We own one of only three cottage's on a small 30 acre lake near the Paupack. We originally put about 70-80 crappies in the lake. It was 4-5 years before we ever caught one out of the lake but now it's not uncommon to fill a bucket of 12" to 15" crappie's in the spring. It seemed to do wonders for this small lake, as the large gamefish have seemed to thrived , I think it was just another form of forrage for them........
 
                    Probably setting myself up by posting that, but as salmonrebel has stated 20-30 years ago this was a lot less published and their has been much more research on this subject in more recent years. Also at a younger age back than I probably didn't understand the ramifications of my actions. Luckally for me it all worked out..........

[eyecejunky]

Thankx for the support guys! Maybe we'll be cell mates in the Big House.   I will have to confess to another biocrime with possible greater implications.  I stocked a public reservoir with BASS :sick:Bluegills and sunfish and rockbass.  Previously the reservoir was drawn down to a puddle and only had a few remaining bullheads and salamanders.  That was 1962!  The fish were all taken half a mile down water from a 3acre, pond where they were stocked who knows when.  After I returned from Nam in 1973...I checked out the reservoir.  I didn't fish it, but noted a prolific population of the Gills, Suns and Cats.  I saw no Bass!?  The water is crystal clear always fed by small 30 cfm average limestone stream.  Sidebar...It might hold brookies, but I didn't pursue that possibility.  The reservoir is sandstone bolder lined, a bowl shaped 10 acre coverage and at the overflow mark is 70' deep dead on center.  It is no longer a water supply and is posted and owned by the township. 

In 2004 on a balmy late June evening I slinked my way into the coverside of the Lake with a casting rod and a small assortment or Bass lures.  I threw a tex rigged purple worm as far as I could toward the center and let it drop...into probably 40fow...it stopped after 2 seconds...hummmm...dre w up the slack....mild set motion..and the drag started singing.......A 24" fatter than a cow post spawn Large Mouth exploded to and above the surface!!  Once I got it in...It was beautiful, clean silvery and stout.  Now I'm wondering...but not for long...cast after cast , nice bass after nice bass.......It was as though I was on a hatchery lake!  What a treat!  I don't know if I can have any claim to fame or flame on this other youthful atrocity or not.  I lost track of that fishery for very extended peroids of time, and was informed that over the years that others made stock contributions to the fishery.  I think alot more of this goes on and went on than what I realize.  If given the opportunity to do it again, knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't have the time, energy, funds or location to accomplish the project adequately.

Again......Thankx Guys