Catch & Release...its your choice

[Fishbones]

I am hoping this thread doesnt start any fights.. We all know that people are catching and keeping fish out there and they are looked at by some to be wrong. Either because these fish grow slowly or there numbers are limited or scarce.It doesnt matter if its the first fish theyve kept in one year or twenty years.Honestly as long as they are legally paid licensed fisherman or fisherwoman and as long as they are obeying the law and catch limits they have that right to do so, hopefully with common sense to only to catch enuff to feed your family.Some say that big fish dont taste good and its the little or medium sized plumpers that have the flavor, everyone has there opinion, so if its a wall mounter that you will tell stories to the grand kids for years on end,or if its a let it go to catch another day and spawn to make more big fish genetic babys for the future its your choice and up to you if is it really worth killing or worth letting go after a few pics only to catch it another day.
Regardless...its your choice as a angler...........Fishbones

[fisherman from long beach]

i need to get some popcorn and a corona and watch the bass nazis go to work.lol.and you are absolutely correct in everything you just said.me personally i catch and do keep some calicos,sandies,or even hali's.just enough to feed me and the nino's.and that my total 4-5 fish at a time.the rest get tossed back a grow and be caught another day.i.m.h.o.

[Fire Ball]

i need to get some popcorn and a corona and watch the bass nazis go to work.lol.and you are absolutely correct in everything you just said.me personally i catch and do keep some calicos,sandies,or even hali's.just enough to feed me and the nino's.and that my total 4-5 fish at a time.the rest get tossed back a grow and be caught another day.i.m.h.o.

It isn't about calicos or any other bass other than the largemouth bass, lol. People only care about LMB! They are just encouraging C&R by hating! :ROFL: But seriously, when someone keeps a LMB, it makes me sad inside... :Neutral:

[BIG*GAME*HUNTER]

pro life brother...or is it pro choice? what again?:Twisted::Evil:
http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx200/motopuaina/motivator30867e6124b2b26417471bd558.jpg

[City Dad]

I propose re-education camps for anyone who doesn't do what I do.

[sansou]

Ethical fishing: "Selective C&R" depending where you fish.

Just an opinion and personal practice.

[GeordyBass]

C & R is great.
Exceptions for me...
STRIPER(Obviously)
Trout
Bluegill

Sand Bass(Yes MMMMMM they're excellent!)
Tuna, Etc....

I always take under my limit in the salt... well maybe 2-3 bass...

[smokehound]

I also prefer to only take what I need.


I am less than wealthy so I must make fishing count.


Alot of times, I am fishing to provide food for myself, to lessen the burden on everyone.


A few fish Is all I need. I often catch large fish, so I dont require full limits.

[fisherman from long beach]

It isn't about calicos or any other bass other than the largemouth bass, lol. People only care about LMB! They are just encouraging C&R by hating! :ROFL: But seriously, when someone keeps a LMB, it makes me sad inside... :Neutral:
oh i defitnitely know what there talking about.but i dare not mention that(l.m.b).im already on someones shart list.:Secret:

[DarkShadow]

Ethical fishing: "Selective C&R" depending where you fish.


I loved going on salt trips because my favorite part of the day was watching 10" calicos, 24" cudas, and 14" halibut being caught, gaffed, and subsequently released.

So I always try to follow this excellent plan, provided to me by the exceptional deck hands on the various cattle boats I was lucky to be a passenger on.

So remember.

Catch

Gaff

Release

Because if nobody does, then who will?

http://www.sector930.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nbc_the_more_you_know1.jpg

[lurk 182]

you can fish for fun or you can fish for food. cigarettes are legal, but i don't smoke em. i'll keep throwing 99.9% back and hope that there's still some finned creatures out there for me to play with twenty years from now, cause i'm fishing every day once i retire. i might even throw fish back when i have a family cause i want my kids to get to play too. we'll get a cheeseburger on the way home and my trashcans won't stink.

[DarkShadow]

... and my trashcans won't stink.

Yeah, but you won't have the obligatory "shot in front of my garage" picture of the fish for your photo album.

[FISHNCHIPS]

You've got to try those bass fillets with lemon pepper but always skin the bass. It's the skin that gives them a bad taste.
I study the California Fish and Game regulations before I go fishing and there are a lot of species I can't keep and a lot of methods and tackle I can't use.
Last time I looked I can eat a largemouth black bass. I don't target them much because I don't value them much as a food fish but I do understand that guys who like to brag about a 10 lb bass want me to not eat one so they can catch it. That's ok as long as they are not yelling at me about it.
I was raised and taught to fish by a man that grew up during post depression and kill/slay was an understatement,they did this to survive.
I have come a long way and don't need to eat fish to survive but like them in my diet.
I have long thought of sport bass/tournament fishermen as folks with too much money and time on their hands. You know,the obnoxious ones that that disturb you and fish and spawning beds by screaming across the lake constantly just because they can but it's not always true,I have a couple of good buddies that tourney fish and they are good guys who occassionally eat bass.
It really is a much better conservation measure to avoid sushi and abalone and don't forget to release all grouper and ling cod.
You don't have to worry about me denting the bass population because I'm not good enough at lmb to catch much but now on the John Day river I help you out buy eating many of the overpopulated smallmouth. On my last raft trip there I stood in one spot with the flyrod and caught 18 on a streamer fly in a half hour while the desert bighorns scrambled for food on the cliffs of the opposite shore.
Five bass over 10 inches on a stringer is perfectly acceptable and good tablefare but please remember to always release any catfish because I treasure them on my plate
I'm in the land of steelhead and salmon now so I won't be casting for bass anyway. The steelhead are choking the mouth of the Rogue and Chetco,I better get after them!

[trout worm]

as long as it's legal to keep. it's up to you.

though if everyone thought that keeping one wouldn't hurt, you'd see fish populations start to drop. i think the idea isn't to be fish nazi's. but to be sure we don't obliterate a population.

same with wild trout. if it's the law, then learn to properly c & r. but for stockers... hey, fish to your hearts content as long as you stay within your limits.

[vanillagurilla]

i release 90-95% of my catch. i C&R LOTS of trout in the winter and only take my limit once or twice a month. same thing with cats in the summer. i release bass because IMO they dont taste very good. Also the same guys who cry when someone takes a bass home are the same guys catching them during spawning season. whats more detrimental to the fish? a spawning fish being caught 10+ times a week? or someone keeping a bass once in a while? quit catching bass durning spawn so they can do just that, and they will have 2-300 young. but they do it anyway because its easy. i dont fish in the spawn for that reason... its just too easy lol. but in a few months we'll still see all the bass slay reports because nobody can agree on anything in this world. opinions are like you know what and we all have one, just try not to act like it lol.

[bsp]

I'm with VG. I release most of what I catch, but keep some fish once in a while for food (legal halibut are definitely tasty). If it's legal, you can't criticize somebody for keeping a fish even if you would have let it go. I release all my LMB, but would never yell or get mad at somebody if they keep a legal one for dinner. The time I might mention that the fish is a big breeder and should be let go if it's a 10lb LMB or a 5lb+ calico. Even then, if the person decides to keep it I'll definitely congratulate them on a nice catch. Just don't be a jerk about CPR, remember that everybody is entitled to their own practices, and you should be fine.

Fishing is supposed to be fun!

[BIG*GAME*HUNTER]

http://www.sector930.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nbc_the_more_you_know1.jpg

oh man, time machine...i miss when the cast of "saved by the bell" would do there *psa* public service anouncments about drug abuse....

[Granny Fish]

Wait... are Big Game Hunter and Dark Shadow the same person? :LOL:
Never mind that.

I can't really weigh in, since I mostly fish at places that do not require fishing licence and do not allow CR for anything other than bass. But I think if a person pays for a fishing licence, they are within the limits and there is no reason to be hating on such people. IMHO.

Personally, I practice selective CPR. I love to eat fish. :Wink:

[AngryAgent]

Don't eat the b-***:Envious:

[DarkShadow]

oh man, time machine...i miss when the cast of "saved by the bell" would do there *psa* public service anouncments about drug abuse....

You remember what happened to Jesse Spano when she took those caffeine pills to stay awake.

http://www.tvgasm.com/shows/images/glee/pilot/JesseSpano.jpg

[Ricky-Ray]

I prefer practicing CFR.

Catch, Fillet, Release! :Envious:

[DockRat]

Sometimes C&R is illegal.

Like your buddy told you ' Know when to pull out '



Example; You get into a school of 20" White Sea Bass
and you stay there and C&R 20 + Short WSB and DFG sees you targeting short WSB just for C&R.
You can be cited for targeting illegal fish. WSB have soft mouths and you could have some die while in the process of your C&R.
This was a topic on another board a couple years ago when this guy C&R 30 short WSB.
My buddy freaked after we got in a school of them and I pulled out to move on after about 5 because you could see them around the boat.
Big school of shorts. We could have stuck around and and kept C&R but sometimes you have to do the right thing.

The problem I have is guy on LB boats that put up big numbers of Sheephead.

Read the paper and some days they have 50 60 Goats in season.
Look at the pics and these pink barely legal Goats should be released so they can eat
SEA URCHINS THAT EAT THE KELP ROOT AND DESTROY HABITAT.

Want more fish and habitat then RELEASE SHEEPHEAD.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg294/vicious_rellik/FUNNY%20STUFF/DOUBT-OUT.jpgDR