Time to start eating more bass and less pickerel?

[Moosebunk]

I keep walleye cause I can't catch enough halibut, mahi mahi, grouper, red snapper, salmon, trout, crappie, perch, whitefish, pike, catfish and arctic char to keep me happy.

 

Actually, I do feel it's important that fishing always involves an element of catch and keep. It's the reason angling began and the way its roots have taken hold. It adds reward and validity to hooking and potentially killing fish through the ideals of sustinence (first) yet with sport involved. Probably the truest and most honorable meaning to what "fishing" is, has and always should be.

 

There's value to fish being in the water obviously, but to be a fisherman and keep fishing what it is, there has to be harvest. Afterall, hunting without harvest is just stressing and killing animals... would not take long for that plug to be pulled. Make fishing about sport only... our historic pasttime wouldn't stand a hope in hell come time to argue it's needing to exist.

 

Fish in the waters, that's up to us all. Fish on our plates, that's up to you or me.

[pike slayer]

i totally agree with moosebunk! the soul purpose of fishing is to harvest fish. now im not saying go out and take every fish that is boated, theres limits in place for a reason and its the amount that can be taken to not hurt the population. By the looks of things on this site and i hardly see anybody keeping anything, seems like a good 90% of you guys on here only catch and release or only keep the odd fish now and again. I don't see what eveyone is complaining about , fishing is still great, if your not catching fish then you start to complain, i suggest researching and honing up on your skills instead of crying that theres no fish. i like taking home a few fish everytime i go out which is atleast once a week and my fishing isnt getting worse, i'm actually catching more fish then ever before. If i went out fishing every week back in the bush with a few guys and just never brought anything back ppl would start to wonder thinking im getting a weee bit to close to my buddies!

[duber]

Have to agree with Moosebunk on this one.I practice C&R alot but I also will take enough to feed my family on occasion.Bass , walleye , crappie, pike , trout , perch , bullheads , bluegill , I am a equal opprtunity carnivor.

 

As for the original topic, I have already made the switch to smaller bass here on the bay when both are open.Seems to be way more 1 1/2 pound bass than walleyes on the bay these days.

[bigugli]

I'm with moosebunk. Fishing is as much about the harvest as the sport. Take away the harvest and the 'granolas' will be screaming animal cruelty. I've heard that stupid line a dozen times last year in Niagara while doing the C & R thing in St Catharines for bass.

I come from a family that has always loved outdoor living. I am proud of the fact that we are fisherfolk rather than anglers. Gram always told us to 'never play with your food' We were also taught to only keep what you need.

For those crying about depleted fish stocks, I don't hear too many telling us to stop eating bluewater fish. We've lost the cod. How long before it's tuna and halibut that are gone, if they are not better managed?

 

As for keeping bass, why not? Keep younger, smaller ones, up to a pound or so. Goes great with bacon and eggs in the morning

[siwash]

Can someone explain to me why the MNR doesn't stock walleye on a widespread basis? We stock a lot of other fish...why not walleye? It can't be for genetic reasons b/c they could use the brood stocks of the native waterways where they come from.. i.e. Rice Lake gets stocked with Rice Lake walleye... that would help boost stocks and they could also improve spawning habitat (like the did in the Moon River Basin)... in 7-10 years things would much better... plus, cut back on the possession limits on pressured lakes..

 

my 2 cents

[Fishnwire]

People are obviously free to keep whatever they are legally entitled to. However, I know that for me, killing fish is far from the "soul purpose of fishing." I would argue that anyone who thinks that way is not really all that passionate about the actual sport of fishing. I fish because I love fishing. If I was never allowed to harvest another fish in my life I'd still fish every chance I got.

 

Also, feeling that you have to keep fish everytime you go out just to prove something (as at least one poster indicated) is really quite silly, as far as I'm concerned. Let me get this straight. You feel if you don't harvest fish people will assume you and your fishing partners are gay?

 

As far as "the 'granolas' will be screaming animal cruelty"...they will regardless. You seem to be saying we should harvest fish to keep them happy. That doesn't make much sense...they never will be and since when have you advocated doing anything to keep that group "happy"? Who cares what they think anyway?

 

Like I said, there's not much that can be said to guys who like to frequently take their legal limit of fish. They're legally entitled to do so and have no doubt already heard about the benefits of catch and release more than once. For whatever reason, they're not buying into it and it's unlikely they ever will. There's no use judging others or getting angry with those who practice the sport differently. Life's too short.

 

I set the catch and release policy off of my dock and out of my boat. If you don't agree with my policy, you're welcome to fish elsewhere...where I have no say in your C&R policy. That's just how things work.

[singingdog]

Make fishing about sport only... our historic pasttime wouldn't stand a hope in hell come time to argue it's needing to exist.

 

Good post, but I don't see the evidence for this statement. Bass tournament fishing - arguably the most publicised and most visible aspect of fishing - is all about C&R and it seems to be doing just fine. As well, some of the best salmon and trout stream fishing on the east coast is on strict C&R streams, and they support a thriving guiding and fishing industry with no apparent outcry from nonfisherman.

[danbouck]

You feel if you don't harvest fish people will assume you and your fishing partners are gay?

 

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that

[big guy]

Can someone explain to me why the MNR doesn't stock walleye on a widespread basis? We stock a lot of other fish...why not walleye? It can't be for genetic reasons b/c they could use the brood stocks of the native waterways where they come from.. i.e. Rice Lake gets stocked with Rice Lake walleye... that would help boost stocks and they could also improve spawning habitat (like the did in the Moon River Basin)... in 7-10 years things would much better... plus, cut back on the possession limits on pressured lakes..

 

my 2 cents

 

 

Please choose the link I put on the very first post on this topic. The MNR document goes into detail about walleye stocking, some pros and cons and also talks about an option for developing put and take walleye fisheries.

[Moosebunk]

Good post, but I don't see the evidence for this statement. Bass tournament fishing - arguably the most publicised and most visible aspect of fishing - is all about C&R and it seems to be doing just fine. As well, some of the best salmon and trout stream fishing on the east coast is on strict C&R streams, and they support a thriving guiding and fishing industry with no apparent outcry from nonfisherman.

 

There was a supportive point made along with that statement, which did lend to the thought behind it. Rereading, maybe the message was a little too firm.

 

Ill tell ya I have no evidence though, it's all hypothesized and personal. Same as the "arguable" and "apparent" examples here.

 

 

 

Will say this to anyone, keep your limit if you like, it's YOUR LIMIT. I don't presume Canadians to be stupid people on the whole; but we all know there are idiots out there who totally abuse, and at the end of the day C&R is important, yet not necassarily and always the rule to live and fish by.

 

My heart and head are with the sport and the release, but I can't deny mine and my family's love of the enjoyment there is with the keep.

[kickingfrog]

Walleye are stocked in many lakes in Ontario. One of the challenges is the expense of raising walleye up to a length that is viable to survive when put into a system.

 

 

No issues with eating the odd smallmouth or largie, except that were I live and fish, I can catch and keep walleye through the ice and then again in April or May. Whereas bass season in closed during the winter and doesn't open until late June.

[Garry2Rs]

As Lawyers say..."Without prejudice."

I respect that those of you on the Moosebunk train aren't breaking the law and are completely within your rights. I once rode that train myself. I am not criticizing Moosebunk or any of you personally, and I resepct everyone's rite to continue doing what they want, within the law, until they find a better way.

However, in my opinion, you are like spoiled children, who have so much that you don't respect what you have!

 

I spend six months of the year in the Southwestern desert. In Yuma AZ. where I stay, they have about as much fishing water as there is in Hamilton Harbour, it's about the same colour too...grin...The city has a full-time population of 77,500 but that doubles during the winter. The fish down there are seen as a precious commodity that have to be nurtured and protected. Fishermen take ownership of these fish and work to protect them. If these terms are strange to you, what I mean is they consider these fish to be something that belongs to their community. If these few hundred fish are lost, there will be no more fishing and the whole community suffers. When I say work, I don't mean they attend a few meetings to talk loudly about what the government should be doing for them. They volunteer their time and their boats to attend Bass tournaments, that they are not involved with, to transport the fish from the weigh-in back out to various parts of the lake.

We here in Ontario are blessed with an abundance of fish and water. Unfortunately this also creates a disassociation between us, as fishermen and the basic resource that is essential to fishing...Namely the fish!

 

Those who subscribe to the Moosebunk theory must see these fish as so many wild flowers, that belong to no one, to be picked, or trampled with little or no regard.

Why would you Care? The fish are simply There! They can be taken freely, as long as you don't exceed arbitrary limits, on how many, and when, set by organizations more concerned with the continued flow of tourist dollars than the true health of the resource.

If this seems harsh, or you feel offended, I'm sorry.

I offer in condolence two quotes for you to consider...Shakespeare said "To thine own self be true." And I believe it was Socrates that said 'If your not part of the solution your part of the problem."

Unlike hunting, where without the kill you only have wildlife harassment, with fishing you have the option to release the prey. Now is the time for a gut check. You have a choice. The benefit is obvious! You can catch a fish many times...you can only kill it once.

Here ends the sermon...wink.

Edited May 31, 2009 by garry2rs

[Spiel]

I recall once the the late great Jacques Costeau saying something like this, (I wish I could quote it exactly).

 

The act of fishing for pleasure and sport as opposed to providing sustenance is one of mans greatest perversions.

 

Now I don't suscribe entirely to this thought but I certainly don't believe C&R fishing is the answer either. Fortunately most of the fish that make my aquaintance are released due to my distaste for cleaning them. However I would never support an entirely C&R fishery province (country) wide.

[Moosebunk]

As Lawyers say..."Without prejudice."

I respect that those of you on the Moosebunk train aren't breaking the law and are completely within your rights. I once rode that train myself. I am not criticizing Moosebunk or any of you personally, and I resepct everyone's rite to continue doing what they want, within the law, until they find a better way.

 

However, in my opinion, you are like spoiled children, who have so much that you don't respect what you have!

 

Those who subscribe to the Moosebunk theory must see these fish as so many wild flowers, that belong to no one, to be picked, or trampled with little or no regard.

 

 

If this isn't criticizing Garry you are the child.

 

C&R is a practice, not the law. This past week law would have permitted me 4 walleye, 5 pike and 5 trout... I chose 2 trout. The law allows selective harvest as well as the "picking of wild flowers." Your Holy High horse rambling that takes a pretty broad swing at some people here does nothing but show you have an obvious disregard for other's views and you don't mind being an arse.

 

What your experiences in the south have to do with mine in the north only cancel each others points... they don't permit you to refer to people who keep fish as "spoiled children." I take fishing, fish, the art of, the love for, the keep and everything about fishing quite seriously and with much more passion than maybe you've ever demonstrated to us here.

Edited May 31, 2009 by Moosebunk

[aniceguy]

I think this will sum this entire topic up

 

Selective harvest for consumption within a fishery that the overall harvest is sustainable in both numbers and size is perfectly fine. Anyone who thinks this comment is wrong needs a head shake and sadly will never understand the concept of sustainable fisheries......and simply put while its in his/her right to harvest a limit in reality has no care or consideration for the future......and will never understand......summed up I think pretty good

[laszlo]

I think this will sum this entire topic up

 

Selective harvest for consumption within a fishery that the overall harvest is sustainable in both numbers and size is perfectly fine. Anyone who thinks this comment is wrong needs a head shake and sadly will never understand the concept of sustainable fisheries......and simply put while its in his/her right to harvest a limit in reality has no care or consideration for the future......and will never understand......summed up I think pretty good

 

 

well put once again.

 

the thing everyone seems to be over looking is that this is not so much about the present but

more importantly about the FUTURE. many live thinking "as long as the fishing is good while i'm around then i don't care."

[danbouck]

Why would the limits be set at what they are now if a fishery couldn't handle it. I like to think that most of the people working for the MNR know what they are doing. There are guys that keep their limit, others that only keep a few and strictly C&R fisherman. The ones writing the regs must look at the percentages and fish populations to determine what limits to set. Am I wrong?

[dada2727]

Where are you located, are you in zone 17?

 

Yes I am in Zone 17, fish pigeon, balsam, and few smaller lakes.

[Fishnwire]

Why would the limits be set at what they are now if a fishery couldn't handle it. I like to think that most of the people working for the MNR know what they are doing. There are guys that keep their limit, others that only keep a few and strictly C&R fisherman. The ones writing the regs must look at the percentages and fish populations to determine what limits to set. Am I wrong?

 

 

I'm glad someone out there has a little more faith in the M&R than I do. We all know government makes mistakes in policy, why are you so sure they're not making a huge one here? Part of the reason the regs are set as they are is to facilatate commerce...Tourism, guiding, the amount of money spend on the sport as a whole might decline if stricter limits were imposed. The regulations are not set out to be the ideal to maintain fish stocks but a compromise between what is best for the resourse and what is best for the angling community. You could conceivable follow the rules and regs your whole life, never once contravining the law, and still be a huge burden on the system, negatively impacting others ability to enjoy it.

 

That said, anyone who thinks there's something inherently wrong with keeping a couple of appropriately sized eaters over the course of the season might want to think about giving up the sport...or at the very least give up the OFC.

[Dara]

Fish is food. people are going to eat fish. Its good for you.

Whats the difference if I spend a whole bunch of money to go and catch it myself, or if I go to the grocery store and buy what somebody else caught.

 

I used to be able to catch a whole mess of perch here, but last year some so called ........... blocked the channel with nets and ruined the perch fishery.

 

Don't try and tell me that my few perch or walleye is going to ruin fish stocks.

[pike slayer]

i agree with dan bouck, i said earlier in this topic that limits are there for a reason and what the lakes can handle. it seems all the southerners are the c&r guys and the more northern guys keep fish. theres lots of lo pressure here and on 70% of the lakes here you wont even see another boat even all weekend of fishing a lake. Trails are rough to get into and fishing is turning into a rich mans sport. The MNR also stocks lakes so we can catch and keep fish.

[Fishnwire]

i agree with dan bouck, i said earlier in this topic that limits are there for a reason and what the lakes can handle. it seems all the southerners are the c&r guys and the more northern guys keep fish. theres lots of lo pressure here and on 70% of the lakes here you wont even see another boat even all weekend of fishing a lake. Trails are rough to get into and fishing is turning into a rich mans sport. The MNR also stocks lakes so we can catch and keep fish.

 

 

If a smaller lake sees hundreds of anglers fishing dozens of times each year, and each of those fishermen attempted to catch and keep their limit every time they went out, then no...I really don't think the lake could "handle it". You would no doubt see declining fish stocks in that scenario. Would the lake be wiped out? No, but you'd start catching less and less fish.

 

The lake my camp on is so remote that it is basically private. No one other than myself and my guests have wet a line there in ten years. A lot of the time, the fishing is nothing short of spectacular. I could probably keep a lot more fish than I do before I would start to see an adverse affect of the fish populations, but I'm not going to take that chance. If I kept half my limit half the time I fished I'd slaughter somewhere around a hundred fish just in a summer by myself. Who can eat that much fish?

 

I'm from Sudbury but lived in Missasauga for 5 years. I don't think the attitude toward C&R is that much different north or south of Barrie.

[ColdH20guy]

this post is getting ridiculous..those that want to c&r, go ahead..those that want to bring a few home just because we love the taste(like me),thank you for leaving them for us....bass and walleye are both great tasting imo..

[Sinker]

I'm curious to know how many of the posters who replied here actually got off thier arse and went to the FMZ 17 public meeting regarding the new reg changes that are being proposed???

 

You all had your chance. It was posted here and on every other fishing site I know of, advertised in the papers etc........

 

I went, and there was only about 25 people in attendance, and that was including the MNR reps who put on the show. I was a little discusted at the turn out to be quite honest.

 

If your not willing to do something about it, or at the very least, learn a little about what is going on, then don't complain about it now. Your just as much to blame as the guys keeping fish.

 

I'm riding shotgun on the moosebunk train. My family and I like to have a fresh meal of fish once a week. I like to have something different each week as well, be it trout/salmon/eyes/perch/crappies/pike......we like it all. Ask my 7 year old son what he wants for dinner and he'll tell you a fish fry every day!! Do I think my selective harvest of fish to eat harms the fishery?? Absolutly not!!!

 

 

Sinker

[big guy]

I'm curious to know how many of the posters who replied here actually got off thier arse and went to the FMZ 17 public meeting regarding the new reg changes that are being proposed???

 

You all had your chance. It was posted here and on every other fishing site I know of, advertised in the papers etc........

 

I went, and there was only about 25 people in attendance, and that was including the MNR reps who put on the show. I was a little discusted at the turn out to be quite honest.

 

If your not willing to do something about it, or at the very least, learn a little about what is going on, then don't complain about it now. Your just as much to blame as the guys keeping fish.

 

I'm riding shotgun on the moosebunk train. My family and I like to have a fresh meal of fish once a week. I like to have something different each week as well, be it trout/salmon/eyes/perch/crappies/pike......we like it all. Ask my 7 year old son what he wants for dinner and he'll tell you a fish fry every day!! Do I think my selective harvest of fish to eat harms the fishery?? Absolutly not!!!

 

 

Sinker

 

Unfortunately I missed the local meetings, otherwise I would have been there like a dirty shirt. Which one did you attend?

 

I wasn't on this site all winter so was unaware of the possible changes and meetings altogether. I only found out about it by browsing around the MNR site one day. But I've read the literature and responded to the survey to give my 2 cents.