[Jimmy]

I have fished Colorado my whole life. I am one of those people who has not remove any of the fish that I have caught over the last 10 years. With all of the pressure in Colorado I feel that it just is better to try to preserve what we have left. Nothing upsets me more than watching people over fish an area, take fish that are too small or takin fish then throwing them away ata latter date. When I want fresh fish I will go to a resturant. That is unless I am in Iowa or Canada. Still here I only keep what i can eat that night. In Canada you are not allowed to keep any walleye over 18 inches, there have been many a day when we had hotdogs for dinner cause you could not catch any under 18 inches. Plus you are only allowed 2 a day. How does every one else feel?

 

[Guest]

I think you should be able to keep what you want as long as it's been deemed legal on that body of water.

 

[1eyered]

Your thoughts are respectable.

Although you may not see eye to eye with me which is fine.

I don't keep more than my limit and I don't keep undersized fish. I will release fish if I don't feel like eating fish or if the catch seems like it needs to grow some more. However, if I feel like having a friday night fish fry, I'll keep enough to make the event possible (but still considering the bag limit). I also consider species. Don't worry about largemouths or smallmouths.. They're disgusting.  ;D

Now here's the good part. I eat wipers and crappie. If I go out and catch maybe two decent sized wipers lets say, maybe in the 20 to 25 inch range. I'll be happy to come home with just that. As for crappie, if they aint 10 inch and up, most times I don't even keep them, unless my parents request for a few when they're desperate for a meal of crappie.

Plus I'm one of only few fishermen in the family. A family who ALL like to eat fish caught from the wild. I've got a big family. In fact, I'm the only one who puts this much time into fishing. The other fishermen in the family only go about once or twice a month. And they don't usually come home with anything. I'm the better fisherman of the family  ;D

Oops, my ego slipped. Hehe.. Anyhow, there you have it. Those are my thoughts. Although, I do REALLY respect your ethics.

Once again..... Don't keep largemouths or smallmouths. They're disgusting.

 

[Jimmy]

I agree but how many times do you see people take every thing they catch, mo matter how small. I have watch people fill buckets and buckets with crawfish and blue gill

 

[Jimmy]

I am not saying people should keep what they ctch or eat what they catch, what I am saying is that I hate when people waste what they catch. Just like the trophy hunter that kills just for the rack.

 

[1eyered]

As for trophy hunters who only kill for racks, that just pisses me off. Make use of the kill at least!!

Anyhow, it makes sense. Once again, I respect your opinion Jim...

 

[OURAY]

It is ok to practice selective harvest and keep some fish. Sometimes keeping fish actually helps improve the fishery. One such example is Colorado streams and lakes which are overpopulated with brooktrout. If more people would keep their limit of these tasty fish  it would help thin out these overpopulated waters and increase the health of the brooktrout and the other species which they compete with. 

 

[Jimmy]

I agree selective harvastimg is the only way to go. I am not a hunter any more but I do know that if so many animls are not harvested every year more will stave. Overpopulated areas do need to be thinned out. What i am saying is that certian people will take anything and everything they can get. The lake I go to in Canada allows you only 2 fish a day and only one over 18 inches can be kept for mounting, By managing the fish like this every year that I go our group of ten catch over 900 fish. we usually harvest 14 a day for our evening meal. I have nothing against fishermen taking a fish and eating it, what I am against is people who don't know when to stop and take everything they catch even if it is less tahn 6 inches and it is a lake trout. I have seen people hide fish in coolers and other things when theyleave a lake and could be stoped at a game check station. Last year for instance I wathced a boat with 3 men in it catch 12 Walleye and none of them were over 18 inches and this was in a lake where they need to be over 18 to keep.

 

[epic]

There are always going to be people who keep everything, they feel they are owed it or something who knows. I catch and release probably 98% of all the fish I catch, if for some reason I know the fish isnt going to survive I will keep it, if I am camping I will keep 2 or 3 to eat at night or with breakfast. I personally dont like the taste of fish so if I only eat them on rare occasions then its ok.
I however feel that selective harvasting is OK and good for certain lakes and streams, and alot of lakes in Colorado have slots like ken mentioned just not those ones up in Denver area where I think they feel its more of a community service instead of a fishery.
As for wanted fresh fish you'll go to a resturant, those fish have to be harvested from a farm, then cleaned and packaged then shipped then frozen until ready for use then cooked and served, I dont consider that fresh.
Those people keeping all the bluegill and crawfish they caught they were probably perfectly legal, the state limits on bluegill are 20 and crawdads are unlimted the reason is these fish are good for bait. It would also be pretty hard to over fish bluegill, look at the problems Blue Mesa is having trying to get all the perch out of it this is the 2nd year they have a no bag limit on perch and people are still catching them (they were illegally stocked) and they cant get rid of them.

 

[koni]

Last year i kept quite a few of the fish i caught. But none of them were under 17 inches and they were channel cats. I can't eat beef or pork so for me fish is a good alternative besides chicken. We did keep a couple of wipers, and a couple of trout. The bag limit on cats at most places is 10 if i remember correctly. But i also caught a lot of crawfish out of a local lake, that i took home to use for bait at other lakes. I kept a fish tank set up in my bathroom, with an areator and rocks that i kept crawdads alive in for weeks at a time. If i didn't use them i would release them back into a lake before i left or take them home and put them back in the tank till next time. I don't agree with keeping buckets and buckets of them or buckets full of blue gill, because that is taking away from the natureal food source of the fish in that lake. I dont agree with keeping undersized fish. I do like being able to go find my own bait instead of going to a bait store though, but theres no need to get greedy with it either.
I do have to say that sometimes keeping certain fish bothered me some. I love the thrill of the catch, but to look in their eyes gets me. Especially cats.Those big yellowish eyes. And cats have this cry thing they do, some sort of noise they make that gets me too. Now I'm getting all sentimental... I watch Bill Dance when he does Bass fishing. The man kisses his fish right on the lips and lets them go.

 

[slayerfish]

I've killed an awful lot of fish in my 33 yrs of colo. fishing,but I've returned an awful lot also.We love eating fish,I'm a master of the fillet knife.As long as they're not wasted,I have no problem keeping legal limits!

 

[epic]

#107 - STATEWIDE DAILY BAG AND POSSESSION LIMITS AND SPECIAL SEASONS
A. Daily Bag, Possession Limits and size limits:
1.Daily bag and possession limits ? except as otherwise provided in these regulations for certain waters, the daily bag and possession limits will be as follows:
Species Daily Bag and Possession Limit
(except as otherwise noted) Special Conditions
a. Trout (Rainbow, Brown, Cutthroat [except Greenback Cutthroat], Golden, Lake, Splake, and Brook; Arctic Char, Salmon (except kokanee), and Grayling: Daily Bag: 4 fish in the aggregate Possession Limit: 8 fish in the aggregate
Brook Trout: additional possession limit: 10 fish, 8 inches or less in length
b. Kokanee salmon: 10 fish
c. Walleye and/or Saugeye: 5 fish in the aggregate 10 fish in the aggregate, in the Arkansas and South Fork of the Republican river drainages
d. Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, and Smallmouth Bass: 5 fish of each species 10 fish in the aggregate, in the Arkansas and South Fork of the Republican river drainages
e. White Bass and/or Wiper : 10 fish in the aggregate 20 fish in the Arkansas and
South Fork of the Republican river drainages
f. Crappie, Channel Catfish, Blue Catfish, Bullhead: 10 fish of each species 20 fish in the Arkansas and South Fork of the Republican river drainages
g. Yellow Perch, Bluegill, Hybrid Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Sacramento Perch: 20 fish in the aggregate
h. Tiger Muskie: 1 fish, at least 36 inches in length
i. Speckled Dace, and Sculpin: Unlimited 20 fish in the aggregate in the Colorado River drainage
j. Bullfrogs Unlimited
k. Crayfish (crawdads) Unlimited
l. Aquatic Tiger Salamander larvae (gilled form) 50, less than 5 inches in length

However these vary by Lake and River so read posted signs when headed to fish.

 

[Jimmy]

Maybe after 52 years of living in Colorado and eating trout every week when I was growing up, I have grown tired of it. I love to eat catfish, walleye and Crappie even an occassional bass now and then. This is the main reason that I don't keep any other fish I catch, unless I know they are not going to make it. I did not mean to get such a subject started.

 

[OURAY]

Jimmy, I hear ya. I grew up in Colorado and ate more than my share of trout. The only time I really like it now is when I backpack. It sure taste good cooked over the coals with a little bit of rice on the side after a long trek! But then what does'nt taste better when you have spent time in the great outdoors!  ;D

 

[Neal/CO]

It just depends where you are fishing? I cannot stand catch and release zealots Thats why each lake has different slots and limits. That said, I release the majority of what I catch anyway. I don't really enjoy eating trout and I always release bass. I fish Spinney and 11-MIle alot so I always try to catch a small Pike or two to eat ;D

I have never really agreed with the 18" or over slot on walleye lakes because it seems they are encouraging you to creel the bigger fish ??? But it seems to be working at Chatfield and Pueblo so I will play along! I sure wish we could eat the 17 inchers though and throw back the bigger fish? Also when Shad number enevitabally drop, all those hords of smaller fish become stunted? I also like trimmed Wiper and Catfish

 

[T-Fin]

Jimmy, Ouray, I know what you are saying. I grew up in Oak Creek, a small town by Steamboat and have eaten my fair share of Trout. The only Trout I now enjoy is a plate full of small brookies, fried crisp in bacon grease. I don't even target Trout unless ice fishing. Not a Trout snob, just enjoy the challenge and taste of Walleye, Wiper and Crappie. So as far as catch and release goes, I say keep what YOU will eat or put it back for someone who will. I used to keep and give Trout away until I found out most people put them in their freezer, let them get freezer burnt, then throw them out to become landfill. T-Fin

 

[koni]

I was reading last night in this book i have about catfish and it has a section in it on conservation and catch and release. This was something that i didn't know. Most people tend to keep the "monster" size cats but it can take a monster size fish about 10 years to get to 30 lbs, and it will take at least 10 years for another fish to get the same size. It takes about 30 years for a big cat to reach 60 lbs. It is better to keep the smaller fish that to keep the huge ones if your going to eat them. If this is true for catfish, wouldn't it be true for other spieces too?

 

[OURAY]

Koni, it is true for other species. Lake trout is one example. I dont know why people keep the large cats. Small ones are much better to eat and actually are safer to eat because they have had less time to accumulate toxins in their tissue.

 

[koni]

What amazed me in this book is that people actually eat those big monster flatt heads, that are like 50 to 60 pounds. Can you imagine cleaning one of those puppies? Thanks but no thanks.

 

[bigbrown46]

if i am not going to eat the fish that night i am not going to keep it if it is a big fish i always have my camera scale and tape mesure pretty much 95%of my fish are returned to the water iced or open water