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POLL - Keep or Release?


Jonny

Keep or Release?  

94 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you keep a 6 lb pickerel?

    • YES - fresh fillets for supper
      35
    • NO - back in the water it goes
      60


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Let's make this very specific...

 

  • You catch a 6 lb pickerel from a "clean" lake.
  • The fish is legal for you to keep.
  • You have no other pickerel in the boat or at home.
  • You may already have caught and released several 2 to 4 lb. "in the slot" fish.

 

What do you do?

 

Your vote is anonymous if you only place a vote and you don't reply with a message.

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I agree with Terry , this is going NOWHERE

 

I'm not sure why you would say that... it's a poll with a plain and simple choice. It's your call to think of it however you like, but it might be interesting to see how the results stack up on a discussion board where there is a large number of pretty dedicated - and informed - fishermen.

 

This is part of the background (in case you missed it in another thread)...

 

Keep in mind all the things we have in place to protect the breeding population and the population as a whole - closed seasons, fish sanctuaries, minimum sizes, slot limits, etc.

 

I focus on pickerel, and Nipissing pickerel to be even more specific. They provide a good example - as the premier sport fish, the most heavily pressured by both sport and non-sport fisheries, on a lake which is very popular for fishermen in both summer and winter.

 

The slot limit for anglers is meant to protect the prime breeders - vigorous fish, fully mature, which have years of protected growth and spawning within the slot. That makes perfect sense. To be able to keep small, under-slot fish, and an occasional fish over the slot, also makes sense.

 

The thing that complicates the whole picture is that there is a non-sport fishery on the lake that takes pickerel of any size, and accounts for 2/3 of the total yearly catch (40,000 kg of an estimated 60,000 kg yearly). Many of the fish which are caught and released by anglers end up in nets, to be processed and sold.

 

If you go to the Chief Commanda I, dry-docked at the North Bay wharf, you will see mounds of pickerel fillets for sale in glass-fronted butcher's coolers. The fillets are large, and it's easy to see that most of them would come from fish that are in the slot.

 

Yet the pickerel population, with the protections it has, is deemed by the MNR to be healthy, though under pressure, and on the rise.

 

If a sport fisherman is lucky enough to occasionally tag a 6 lb pickerel, and he decides to make it table fare, then I say no harm/no foul; he's doing what he's allowed to do, and what the science (upon which the slot limit is based) says is OK.

 

I don't get this idea of trying to make a fisherman, who faithfully follows all the regs, feel guilty for occasionally keeping a larg(er) fish. Chances are he's already released a lot of protected prime breeders within the slot.

 

If I catch a 6 lb pickerel, and I have no other pickerel on the chain or at home, chances are I will keep it. If I already have other pickerel for a nice dinner, I will let it go. My judgement call.

 

That fish has already spawned and passed on its genes many times. And yes, a 6 lb pickerel from Nipissing tastes damned good. :):devil:

 

Judging from other anglers I have met and have known over the years, my attitude is pretty standard. However on this board (silent majority notwithstanding) I sense a different culture, and to be frank I think a significant portion of it comes from people being reluctant to say that they will occasionally catch and keep larger fish. Well I'm not reluctant to say so.

 

I should start a poll (I might :) ) just to see what the results are. But I think I already know what they would be. ;)

 

I've been straightforward in what I think. And I'm not looking for approval (I don't need it), I'm just looking for a sense of what is prevalent, and I thought others might find it of interest too.

 

So far - 23 release, 16 keep - shows a more even split than I would have thought.

Edited by Jocko
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I vote release just because that's me. On my last trip to the west arm I released 3 fish of around 5 lbs (25") and one beautifully built heavy 28+" fish around 8 lbs. I know they may be past their breeding prime, but my hope is some kid gets a chance to catch one of those and it makes his or her vacation. Purely personal choice and I certainly wouldn't criticize another person's decision to keep their catch.

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call me slow, but i have NO IDEA what you're talking about.

 

I couldn't figure out what you were saying either. ;)

 

I was fishing for a definition of GROSS. :P 12x12 = 144 = a gross.

 

Boy, I hope I got that right. This is a place where 4x4 seems to = 8. :lol:

Edited by Jocko
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