Keep Or Release?

[urbanangler1990]

hey guys do u ever get a bad feeling when taking a fish home, and not releasing it? i sometimes feel bad for some reason... how bout u?

Edited December 19, 2006 by urbanangler1990

[Bernie]

Never felt guilty about bringing a fish home to eat. Never waste a fish. Never caught over my limit. Only fish when I need some. Never over limit in the freezer.

[walleyejigger]

nope

[fishindevil]

urban angler,,,,this should be an interesting thread:blink: well i only feel bad if im going catch and release and i deeply hook a fish and it cant be released,thats the only time i would feel bad about keeping a fish....

[ChrisK]

No,can't say I ever felt bad about taking home a fish,deer or anything else I decided to harvest at the time....

 

Tight Lines !!

[FishFinder]

Yeah i kept a trout once from a naturally reproducing lake O trib and felt terrible, i can always buy trout or go to a stocked pond and get them there so why keep a naturallly reproducing fish? But if bass tasted good i wouldnt care about keeping them.

[vance]

my main fishing buddy would say that I don't catch enough fish to worry about it, but I keep very few fish over the year, just enough to keep my filleting skills alive and my taste buds aroused. I don't care if I catch fish I just like going to try.

[Terry]

the only time I feel bad about taking one home, is if I wanted to release it but it dies...

but no one should feel bad about eating fish or moose or rabbit or the list goes on and on ..take pride in keeping the canadian way of life alive....

[Canuck2fan]

I never feel bad about taking fish home that I am going to eat. I have of course caught fish that were deep hooked and going to die obviously that I regretted having to take home and eat. Especially if happens to be a large female. I would consider more of a waste though to just let it rot in the water, but that is just me and way I was brought up.

 

As for C & R I have mixed emotions. This fall I have seen many a person rip into another angler for not practicing C & R only to have these same anglers catch over 8 steelies or more each and this is after the limit as dropped to 2 fish... Some of which they fought for 20+ minutes then keel hauled up on shore to remove their hooks..... On one particular day I watched to guys catch 18 fish and then release them, while they were doing it they were bragging about how before that morning they had each caught 6 a piece at another location. Of the 18 fish they caught as I watched At least 4 of those fish were not going to make it in my opinion. One was bleeding very badly. One had been dragged through the mud for so long it took the guy about 3 minutes to wash the mud of out its gills so it could limp away. The last two were on the line for almost 30 minutes because the guy using what looked a 4wt fly rod didn't want to be out fished by his pal so he wouldn't take a chance on trying to land either of those fish till they were almost belly up. When I pointed that out to these two folks that some of the fish they were "releasing" were probably going to die shortly afterward told me they NEVER, EVER take fish home because it is so "wrong".... I said I see but then I politely asked them how they came by the roe they were using if they never "killed" a fish. I didn't get an answer to that question though. I am not trying to start a war but sometimes the C & R crowd needs to acknowledge that while they don't take fish home they do still sometimes kill fish just as dead as the ones some of us take home to eat on ocassion....

[brifishrgy]

I only feel bad the next day ... a fish fry and lots of beer will do it to me every time

[charlied]

99% of my fish are released for another day.....I also feel bad to keep them.

[bigfish1965]

I'm the same as Terry. Only feel bad if the fish harvested is one I did not wish to harvest. Generally that would be any walleye over 3 pounds.

[lookinforwalleye]

No! I enjoy some deep fried Walleye or Perch fillets every once in a while.

[Rich Clemens]

The only fish I ever keep are a few bass for a fish fry. I'd rather not keep any of them, but the better half loves fresh fish, so I give in just a little. Everything else goes back.

[luv2drift]

I do feel bad sometimes. Last year I caught a 30inch laker and the next jig later I caught a 27inch

whitefish. THe laker could have been 30years old. I vowed I would never keep another laker from Simcoe again. I doubt I will keep a whitefish either. I like to catch and eat fish that are small, young, plentiful, and reproduce rapidly....i.e. perch and I don't keep jumbo anymore either only 10 to 11 incheres.

I did eat both of those fish and have mixed feeling about the taste of both of them.

[setomonkey]

I am okay with keeping a fish now and then, but don't do if often.

 

I would feel worse about deep-hooking or injuring a big fish...

 

Mike

[Roy]

If keeping a fish is a problem, there's only one sure way to solve the problem.

[camillj]

Nope ... most of what I catch is released for another day ... but I decide before I go how many if any I would like to take home (rarely more than one and often none) ... on the other hand I have on several occasions felt bad after letting them go though ... wondering if it is really right to fish for pure sport ... with no intent of catching to eat and share with my family.

[Pete Maina]

In a nutshell, this issue really has to do with changing times - and is directly related to population. (We simply can't, as individuals, harvest like we used to - or fisheries will suffer.)

 

The good news is - fish are still good

 

It's simply a matter of trying to do it as smart as possible - and not be hawgish. (As others have said, the only time I feel bad is when I have a problem with a fish I intended to release in a healthy state.)

 

A little knowledge of the population densities and size structures of particular species helps us to harvest smarter.

 

Here, for instance, we have many lakes with predominately small pike (due to past mistakes of harvesting only the bigger ones). As many of you know, pike are great eating and easy to fillet the bones out of. When I'm looking for some fish to eat, I don't feel bad at all about targeting 2 to 3 pound pike on these types of fisheries.

 

And they're yummy.

 

Pete

[John]

Never feel bad for those very infrequent times that I harvest for the table. Do however if I have a fish I plan to release not make it.

[jordan]

I don't feel bad but i don't keep that many but i do get a good feeling when i release them.

 

 

jordan

[The Urban Fisherman]

I mostly fish catch and release. In 2006 I took home 6 smallies, 3 small pike, 2 walleye and a handfull of panfish. Considering I fish 4 to 5 times a week I think this is more than fair. In my opinion, if you're within your legal right to keep said fish, nobody has any reason to knock you for it. It burns my bubble when people lecture others for keeping their catch. Half the fun in fishing is having a fish fry with my family! Besides, i spend enough money on my gear, I don't need to buy expensive fish from the store!

 

Good fishin'

UF

[Rizzo]

Yes I do feel bad. Its been a couple of years since I've kept a fish for personal consumption. This summer I caught a real nice pickerel and figured I'd eat it. Kept it in the live well for a couple of hours but my conscience got the best of me and I eventually released it! It swam away strong...but if it hesitated I would have kept it. I have no problem with people who do chose to keep fish, it just isn't my thing.

[tjsa]

I only have a sour taste in my mouth when intending to release a fish and am forced, or my buds are forced, to keep it, or release it, because it was deeply hooked, damaged in some way, that we know or suspect it will not survive, but have to follow the regulations regardless.

 

Happened this summer with a large 20 lb. + laker my bud caught, but somehow despite being jaw hooked, it was bleeding profusely. Something happened in the fight or the net job, who knows, but he had to keep it.

 

Also happened to me with a walleye over 18"(already had kept one over, and our regs. only allow one over 18" per day) deep hooked, was bleeding, but not too badly, but still had to put it back. I had pinched the barb down as I had already kept 3 and the limit was 4, and we were fishing for my and my buds last fish. I landed a few more walleye all jaw hooked and released no problemo, bunch of small fish, was looking for one about 16" to complete my limit, which I ultimately caught.

 

Also a few years back, I hooked a pike in the slot which was also bleeding quite a bit, but it was in the slot, so it had to go back, no choice.

 

Those events are the only times I feel guilty about keeping, or releasing a fish.

 

Fortunately, the above events are the only times in all the years it has not been our explicit choice to keep or release a fish.

 

I have kept deep hooked fish before, quite a few times, but they were always within my limit or slot size, and even though I may have released it given the choice for a more suitable sized fish for my liking if it was lip hooked, I kept it because I believed it would not have survived, so its not a big deal to me in those situations.

[Greencoachdog]

I, like most have said would only feel bad to have to keep a large mortally wounded fish... but that hasn't happened in a very long time. I pride myself on being a swift hook removal surgeon and I don't let fish "swallow" my bait.

 

I like to keep smaller Crappie and Catfish from cold water, nice pan sized fish. Some people say I'm crazy for some of the fish I throw back, I just look at them and smile.

 

Don't feel bad about keeping smaller fish, pollutants are cumulative and the bigger ones are less fit to eat... they also lay more eggs and spread more milt.

 

Enjoy your responsibly harvested fish, it's your right!

 

Glen