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Is it a Sin to keep a fish!

6K views 60 replies 31 participants last post by  littlemac 
#1 ·
Is it me or are the catch and release crowd starting to get more like those abortion clinic bombers, I mean I am well within my right to keep a fish as long as I am following the rules, but I still see that as a problem with the catch & release crowd. As a personal rule I will not catch & release the following fish (as long as they are legal size & personal frying size restriction)

1) Walleye, Crappie, Wiper, Brook trout, Pike, Catfish & Perch

Fish I will release regardless of size

1) All trouts except Brookies, All Bass Species & Carp,
 
#4 ·
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I prefer to throw back amost all fish I catch.  I don't like to eat much fish - once in a while is good for me.  If we had the extreme environmentalist on here, hooking a fish in the mouth and jerking him out of his home would be first on the list.  Some people want to see our natural resources conserved and not destroyed by illegal meat hunters. 








Gotta love PETA


People
Eating
Tasty
Animals

:D
 
G
#5 ·
Is it me or are the catch and release crowd starting to get more like those abortion clinic bombers, I mean I am well within my right to keep a fish as long as I am following the rules,
No, it's not you and yes you are whithin your rights. I say, if your legal, keep what you want. The "holier than thou" crowd can release all they want. I don't keep fish except for the occasional walleye for me & the growler and the occasional trout for my daughter. I have my own opinions of releasing trophy fish but that's just that, MY OPINION and who am I to say. I have friends who fish in my boat and keep their legal limit to eat and I hope it's the best tasting fish they've ever had, even if it is a TROPHY.
 
#6 ·
Everyone has a right to keep what they catch as long as the fish are of legal size and limit, including what is in the freezer. Personally, I used to keep all the fish I caught which were trout, and panfish, because I could just bring them home for mom to cook and clean for me. Now that I am out on my own, I have really gotten into catch and release. This does not mean I will release everything because I still like to eat fish, just most of the stuff goes back. It actually was really hard for me to start this but now it makes me feel good to put a fish back in the water. It was pointless for me to keep all the fish I caught if they were just going to get freezer burnt. Trophy fish are really what I care about people releasing. If you are going to mount it, go for it, but to keep a trophy fish just for supper makes me cry. I have been guilty of this but I learned from my mistakes. Let the big ones go for someone else to catch, but if not I won't cry about it unless it is a tiger muskie and that is only because I am jealous.
 
#7 ·
My philosophical (big wurd i know) path appears much like gotmuskie's. Used to keep them all and now I release almost everything. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing tastier than a fresh fish (for me a walleye, bluegill, crappie or brook trout). It is hard for a person, let alone a family to eat a limit of walleyes (for example).

As far as trophies, I want to let someone else catch them too (it is hard but you have to assume that the next person will release them too). If you want a trophy mounted, take pictures and measurements...you can still get great mounts and let the fish go – a two-fer.

In many cases the DOW needs people to keep fish so the population can stay in check. With that said, if you are allowed to keep fish, it is your choice and the opinions of others should not influence your decision.
 
#8 ·
IMHO, just because its legal doesn't always make it right. I know its legal to keep a bass over 15" on most waters but if you consider the odds of a bass in CO getting to be 15" and the fact that they don't taste very good anyway I think its a crime to keep one. Again, just my opinion.
 
#13 ·
I have no problem with anyone taking a few legal sized fish home for a meal or two.
I have a rule that I never take a fish home if there are fish in my freezer.  Seems
like the fresh ones get eaten first and the ones in the freezer end up getting old.
Also, as mentioned earlier, Your limit includes the fish in your freezer.
 
#14 ·
I'm with Kirby on bass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually watched the biggest smallie I have ever seen in Colorado carried out in a plastic bag with a couple of slimy stocker rainbows :'( Last year I thought Aurora would cough up the next state record? With all the forage it could produce a 7-8 lb smallie! But way to many are being kept!

Spring is a love hate thing for me! Good fishing, but so much damage is done to some of our fisheries :mad:

I hope they never change the regs at Spinney!
 
#15 ·
GMCO45 said:
Also, as mentioned earlier, Your limit includes the fish in your freezer.
the daily bag limit is not affected by fish in the freezer from a previous day but they do count towards the posession limit and that is usually 2 times the daily bag limit. but check the reg book for a few

also bass taste great if there were more around i wouldnt hesitate to keep a few. trout gets old
 
#18 ·
Jay,

They keep making them and stocking them. The reason the DOW sometimes like hybrids in the bigger preditor fish is because they have control over their numbers. If the forage base drops, they can reduce the number of fish they plant to help stabilize the fishery.

Blonde is not so bad.
 
#19 ·
and remember if the dow stops stocking them they will go away anyway since they dont reproduce they will die off after a few years
 
#22 ·
roadkill said:
and remember if the dow stops stocking them they will go away anyway since they don't reproduce they will die off after a few years
Thats my point too.

As said, If its within the law than so be it. I'm just saying, I, would throw them back for the future. I fished the Q growing up and would see 30-50in muskies daily. But once caught people kept them, now they are no longer stocked and a once great muskie lake(some would say the best) is now just another hole in the group with stockers.


IMO


[me=Jay_In_Parker] [/me]
 
#23 ·
Jay-You have it exactly right. It may be legal but it dimishes the fishery. In my book its kind of a "non-sharing" thing (a favorite phrase on this board) to keep bigger fish-it denies anyone else the fun of catching them.
 
#24 ·
I have no problem with people keeping the eating size walleye and smaller Wipers at all. But I can't stand to see picture of a bunch of big fish lined up on the bank. If I am ever lucky enough to catch a 10 lb Wiper it is going back after a picture! But there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a couple of two lbers to eat ;D

The what if the DOW stops stocking them argument has no merit, because they aren't going to stop, unless you guys have heard something the rest of us haven't?
 
#25 ·
I go along with Ken's posting completely.
The wife and I are not 100% "catch & release" because we do like to eat fish at times. We only go fishing on the weekends, so we don't catch that many fish anyway.
However, last summer we did put some trout back into Chatfield that were just to small.
I remember a small Bow that I last year. This sucker pretty much took my hook/bait deep down inside. I was able to get the hook out and the Bow was still "alive and kickin" when I put it into the water. It disappeared under, but a few minutes later it surfaced about 15 feet from our boat. So, I was going to get it out of the water, but a seagull got to it before I did. Two seagulls ended up having a nice little Bow meal. This Bow didn't go to waste!!
Cody
 
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