Out of Season Bass

[Patches]

This is a hypothetical question. What would you do.

 

Lets say you are out fishing for Blue Gills or Perch using minnows. And you hook into something big, a pre-spawn largemouth, a female maybe 4 lbs. You know bass is out of season for another 2 1/2 months. So your going to let her go. But when you get her to the boat you see she had swallowed your minnow and during the fight to bring her in the stomach lining tore and she is bleeding profusely. Your experience tells you this fish isn't going to live. What do you do.

 

1. Do you let her go and figure the seagulls will get a good meal.

 

2. Do you throw her in the cooler, and say it's better to keep an out of season fish, then to let good meat go to waste.

 

3. Something else.....

[Entropy]

I'd let it go....

[barracuda]

Cut the line and despite the unfortunate circumstances, let it go. Then proceed to move to a new spot which was less likely to house spawning bass.

[Guest mistyriver1]

Let it go.

[Terry]

you let it go

that is what the law state you must do

there should be no question in you mind..set it free even if it's dead........

too many people would be ripping them gills out and saying ..oh well I had better eat that one..don't want to see it go to waste.........the MNR will understand..wrong...

[wuchikubo]

OOS Bass, you are obligated to let it go. Trying to explain a dead OOS fish in your cooler will be a difficult sell to the CO. I believe this question (or a very similar one) was asked on the old board before. The best we can do is cut the line and hope the fish will survive.

[Golfisher]

What Terry said... given human imperfections, it will give an excuse to a lot of people to deliberately hurt the fish to keep it.

[tonyb]

mmm Green Pickerel

 

I mean release immediately!

 

Tony

[Joey]

Let her go.

 

Besides the guilt, the ticket and consequences wouldn't be worth it if the MNR decides to look in your cooler.

 

Joey

[Fisherman]

This is a hypothetical question. What would you do.

 

Lets say you are out fishing for Blue Gills or Perch using minnows. And you hook into something big, a pre-spawn largemouth, a female maybe 4 lbs. You know bass is out of season for another 2 1/2 months. So your going to let her go. But when you get her to the boat you see she had swallowed your minnow and during the fight to bring her in the stomach lining tore and she is bleeding profusely. Your experience tells you this fish isn't going to live. What do you do.

 

1. Do you let her go and figure the seagulls will get a good meal.

 

2. Do you throw her in the cooler, and say it's better to keep an out of season fish, then to let good meat go to waste.

 

3. Something else.....

I really don't think a question like that should be posted when in the Regs it indicates to return the fish immediately. Unfortunate for hooking an OOS fish, but there's no point in trying to look for support in keeping it.

[Patches]

I really don't think a question like that should be posted when in the Regs it indicates to return the fish immediately. Unfortunate for hooking an OOS fish, but there's no point in trying to look for support in keeping it.

 

 

I wasn't looking for support in keeping anything. Just a hypothetical question about personal ethics.

[Steelcat]

No matter what, let it go. Let the nature do its job.

[Crazyhook]

turtle food!

[bigfish1965]

Ethics doesn't matter in this case. The law is clear. Fish must be returned to the water. Otherwise every knob on the planet would cause damage to any fish they wanted to keep and claim the fish had to be kept because it was going to die anyway.

[OhioFisherman]

Always let bass go! LOL in season or out, except for a weigh in!

[mattyk]

let her go!

[ch312]

hmmmm....everyone here is saying you must return it to the water, yet in the other thread about somones neighbour keeping an oos fish, everyone says its ok? as long as someone close to me recently died, its ok to keep an oos fish

[Patches]

hmmmm....everyone here is saying you must return it to the water, yet in the other thread about somones neighbour keeping an oos fish, everyone says its ok? as long as someone close to me recently died, its ok to keep an oos fish

 

That's the post that sparked this question. Interesting eh?

[OhioFisherman]

Dude broke the regs, and it appears knowingly. Not much of an excuse for that!

[Terry]

I don't think anyone said it's ok

I think everyone said or meant, not every thing is black and white...and one can make their own minds up on what to report and what not to.....

 

like if you saw you son take something from you home that didn't belong to him would you call the cops...no

if your wife was going over the speed limit would you report her...hey I said wife not exwife.......

even the cops decide whether or not to press charges..............

that doesn't make it ok...but

[FinS]

if she swallows your hook and is bleeding alot just let her go

it makes food for other fish and birds around

[Canuck2fan]

You HAVE to let it go..... it is NOT in season. There is no debate, no question whatsoever. Let it go.

[SHAD]

Perform stomach liner surgery while the fish is recovering in your livewell.

 

If that doesn't work then at least you were able to check out it's stomach to see what it was feeding on

[kennyman]

You really have no choice and although in the back of your mind you know it's a waste, letting it go is the ONLY thing to do.

[Zib]

Cut the hook & let her go. If she lives great! If not that's what the circle of life in the fish world is for.