confused about keeping or releasing fish

[jimnyo]

**WARNING! potential stupid question ahead...**

ok, so like i said, i'm a total newbie and i'm reading thru posts as much as i can to figure out what i'm supposed to be doing. i'm confused about the whole catch and release thing. on the one hand, i'd like to keep the fish i catch to eat it (if i ever catch any...). however, i've seen on several posts people tsk tsking people for not returning certain fish to the water, i guess b/c they're so big? i'm not sure why...but then in other posts it seems people get pissed at others who are doing "catch and release" b/c it seems to kill the fish? so can someone please clarify whether or not it's ok to keep the fish i catch, why/why not, when it's ok, etc.? thank you sooooo much!

[smokehound]

Personally, i have no beef with anyone keeping a fish, so long as you intend to actually eat it.

but there are those that just like to parade the carcass around with no intention of consuming it. Not only is that just terrible, and a waste of a meal someone else could have eaten, but it's also against the law. Often these people will freeze a fish and never use it, throwing it out to make room...

Keeping a bass is often frowned upon in smaller lakes, because they are important for lake health. That and people dont like to see a fish they respect and revere defiled in such a manner.. Now in a larger lake, however, its more accepted. When bluegill populations explode, they consume so much food, that all the fish, except for the larger bass stunt and stay tiny, due to depleted insect/crustacean forage.

You dont want to eat a fish that spent 4-5 years in a park lake, anyway. Blech. thats very dangerous, they put tons of pesticides in that grass, and during winter that all goes into the lake. And duck poop.

Largemouth bass legal size is now 15 inches in many lakes.

Some lakes have even higher size limits, castaic lake has an 18 inch minimum size limit.

It's your right, however, to keep a fish within the legal size limit, and while some people will bash you, most generally accept it.

[Thisfool]

i think the post you read that had people getting mad for releasing a fish was probably a trout report they get mad about that well for one at some of the lakes that is agents the rules lake such as Irvine, sarl and corona this is agents the rule and also trout die extremely easy and unless the utmost care is taken in the whole process of catching it, landing it, removing the hook and making sure it is well enough to be released it has a high chance of dyeing making it a wasted fish.

people don’t seem to care to much about this when it comes to cat fish except for the fact at the lakes i said before it is agents the rules.

when it comes to large mouth bass people get mad if some one keeps it due to the fact that in many local lakes they have been poached to a point where there is barely a sustainable population. Also many people i think due to the recent explosion of bass fishing as a mainstream sport believe that bass are a trophy to be coveted and respected and left to grow huge and make many babies for the future angler to catch. But at lakes like Irvine which is a private lake that has bass turnnys it is agents the rules to keep a bass in the efforts to make the lake a great bass fishery

Stripped bass on the other hand MUST DIE. they are a invasive species to so cal waters even the people who want them to stay agree they should not be released due to the fact that they will destroy a fishery and literally eat them self into starvation they say lake skinner is a perfect example of this the stripped bas have completely taken over and almost eaten everything and growth has stunted dude to there huge numbers and huge competition for food. so the best way to keep stripped bass big and healthy is to thin out there numbers

[dafishahman]

I agree. I had LMB once and that's it. release em. Table fair like Stripers, Trout, Catfish even Crappie to your discretion and whatever parameters DFG has set. I eat my catch. I release whatever I'm not intending to eat. (big or small).

[fisherman from long beach]

its all about what kinda fisherman YOU are!some people that catch big breeder calicos release them to help secure the population,some take is a prize and gut its and bbq time.freshwater your allowed to keep lmb if you want as long as its legal,but dont post it here you'll get bass nazi's all over your arse.but if your in the legal you can do what you want.

[Billy Bass]

I really don't like people keeping LMB. On the other hand what really grinds my gears are people who use treble hooks and power bait to catch a trout, dig the hook out with a pair of pliers, then throw the fish back to die "because it wasn't big enough". What a waste!
I fell the rules should be changed so that any trout caught on a treble hook (I always use single hooks, thank you) must be retained.

I personally feel the only fresh water fish worth keeping and eating are stripers!! Yummie!

[EL_CHIDO]

Definately not a stupid thread, jimnyo.

It is good to ask these important types of questions so that all us anglers are a little more informed.

[Nessie Hunter]

It boils down to Quantity & Quality....

Trout and catfish are stocked on a regular basis..
Most pan fish breed like rabbits and will fill a lake in no time.
Stripers are invasive and are not supposed to be in our lakes, they come in through the aqueduct and seem to be breeding in the lakes. They are veracious predators and eat everything they can catch.
Stripers are an ocean fish that has adapted to fresh water...

The LMB & SMB are not stocked and dont breed as well as many other species. The Eggs and fry are prey for almost every other fish & birds...

We need to protect them as best we can or they will go the way of the DoDo bird...

CPR on all the LMB & SMB..........

They get in our lakes when the DFG catches some at other lakes to be transported to the new lake.
Very limited quantities, and are almost never replenished...
Excellent game fish... Its up to us to keep them in our lakes in any fishable quantity........



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[xjdesertfox]

The way i do it, which i know many others follow.

hatchery trout and catfish: catch and eat.
wild trout: catch and release with single hooks only
All types of bass except striped bass: catch and release, however i plan on eating a legal sized one soon just to experience the taste.
Striped bass: Catch and eat, unless its a small one which i know will have high chance of survival if i release it.
panfish: i dont fish for them but i know most keep them.
Carp: catch and give to someone who wants it.

and i know this is the freshwater section, but if you get into saltwater bay fishing:

CATCH AND RELEASE ALL BAY BASS.

[Hoshnasi]

Can only comment on my local waters but I only keep stocked trout and catfish, everything else is catch and release. Mainly because there isn't all that much of everything else in there :)