Kill All Toothy Critters!

[Montanaro]

That is the consensus of most of the fisherman I've talked to on my little local lake/pond.

Big musky in the lake and everyone complains that they eat the stock trout and bass. Someone supposedly even snagged one and gutted 3 trout out of it (and heaven forbid one was a golden rainbow). Everyone threatens to throw em on the bank or cut their heads off and they "jest don't git" why they were put in....

Like a small lake full of tiny bluegill and trout belly up in summer is a good idea...what should I do...call dnr if I see someone killing one?

[AK-Jax86]

Man I would kill to catch a musky, especially a big one!!! And people just want to kill them off like that, call DNR on them man.

[Oregon Native]

You will never please everyone.  Some people have a very narrow vision of what should be swimming in "their" waters.  Good thing we have a commission that stocks fish or no one would have much.  Throwing a game fish up on the bank.....believe its against the law.  Go to Oregon....if it's not a salmon, trout, or steelhead it doesn't belong in the water for the most part!!!

Tight Lines

[flyfisher]

I never understood that mentality either.  Around here i see people tossing chain pickerel on the bank because they kill everything apparently and God forbid if they catch a bowfin.....those get dispatched too even though they have been around sicne the age of the dinosaurs pretty much.

[RipSomeLips]

To me calling DNR to get educated on why they where stocked and mention the problem would be ok. But I would think the most powerful thing you could do would be to spread an accurate and we'll educated opinion when talking with other fisherman on the subject.

[boostr]

What hell did the Musky do, right. I wouldn't mind getting one as long as my line or rod holds

[boostr]

Tell them to find another lake.

[retiredbosn]

One man's trash fish is another's trophy

[John G]

I never understood that mentality either.  Around here i see people tossing chain pickerel on the bank because they kill everything apparently and God forbid if they catch a bowfin.....those get dispatched too even though they have been around sicne the age of the dinosaurs pretty much.

When i was a kid, I would throw Bowfin AKA Mudfish on the bank. As an adult, I would never do it again.

[flyfisher]

I have only caught a few bowfin and they are a blast to catch. Still trying to get one on a fly rod though and hopefully I can in the near future.

[Pz3]

Have to admit bowfin put up such a fun fight. Its an absolute joy to catch.

[ColdSVT]

Im not anti toothy critter...however the way i see it they owe me sime good money for bitten off lures.

Why cant they eat the cheap ones? Lol

[slonezp]

If someones going to kill them, I say eat them. Never had musky but pike are quite tasty

[porkleaker]

I caught a bowfin on 8lb mono, no leader and I thought I had just won the local tournament..Nope, that wasn't a bass but really fun to catch and I was amazed I didn't lose my lure. Really strange because I was using a top water frog. Ever since I've actually gone out of my way to catch them and there's even a tournament here this Saturday for them and Pike. 

[tomustang]

Why cant they eat the cheap ones? Lol

They will if you throw'em

[geo g]

I would only kill exotics that might tilt the balance of natural bodies of water. The snakehead is a perfect example. The Florida Fish and Game tell you to kill everyone you catch. Don't throw them back. By killing natural predators it might lead to an over population of other fish, and cause major problems in the lake environment.

[Jar11591]

Some of the places I bank fish I sometimes find pike/pickerel heads. It annoys me. Sometimes a pike or pickerel is the difference between a skunk or not. I'm happy to catch toothy fish, even though I don't target them. Different way of thinking I guess. I'll never understand it.

[Nice_Bass]

I have caught a lot of musky. I have also caught a lot without a leader including a few big ones on accident. I could count the time I have been bitten off in all honesty.

[ColdSVT]

They will if you throw'em

Lol not the ones in my local lake. Speakin of which i know a lot of musky baits can get steeeeeeep .

[dwtaylor]

Kill a musky around my neck of the woods and you might get killed yourself.

[Raul]

In my neck of the woods there are no teethy critters, but Tamaulipas is alligator gar country and it's a blast, even a little one puts up a nice fight.

[SirSnookalot]

If God put them there they belong.  I'd rather be catching the biggest, baddest fish around.  Pike yes, but I won't ever fish for muskie again.  A muskie is a magnificent beast, but it lacks stamina and it must be landed quickly or run the risk of it going belly up.  Everyone likes to catch big so I can understand muskie fishing, I did plenty of it when I lived in Michigan, I can be a bit cavalier because I have bigger fish here in Florida.  The same rules apply, if the fish may not make it you have to break it off.  I had good sized tarpon maybe about 70# last week, after about 30 minutes I decided to break it off, I know I could have landed it but it wasn't worth risking the fish for a picture.

[ww2farmer]

They steal my lures, have sent me to the hospital with nasty cuts and bites..............And I still like them. They fight better than bass, sometimes they are ON FIRE when the bass are not and it makes for an action packed day, and they are the top of the food chain. They help keep everything in balance. I have kicked people out of my boat that purposly abused one.....yeah...I fished with a guy once he caught one, smashed it's head on the side of my boat. I calmly put my road down and stowed the TM, he put his down too thinking we were probably moving, straight back to the ramp we went, and I told him get the "f" out of my boat  and never ask to go fishing with me again. He looked at me dumfounded, and I repeated myself, and told him why, he thought I was joking....................until his tackle bag went flying up onto the shore spilling the entire contents. I just have ZERO tolerance for people like this, and if I saw it happening one shore with any fish, bass.pike, bullheads, bluegill.....what ever there would most likely be an altercation. I honestly don't know what you can legally do tho......if they have a fishing license, the fish are in season, and of keeper size, it might be a lost cause. Call the DEC or DNR of your are and find out....I don't advocate being a hot head like me, it could end badly. Someone who treats animals/fish like this might not have second thoughts about making you the next target.

[Master Bait'r]

I love catching chain pickerel.  We get some BEASTS here too...  They are great fighters and although I've never eaten one, I would if I gilled one.  They look like they have great fillets, especially when they get 20"+ 

 

 

The only fish I would intentionally and consistently remove from waters would be a snakehead, but we don't have any up here... yet.  

[gulfcaptain]

If it belongs or was stocked there it was done for a reason.  Bass around my area of the country eat plenty of trout, so toothy critters aren't the only ones.  I don't kill anything that belongs in there, we don't have snakeheads, but I could see the exception there as they aren't supposed to be there.  But pike, pickerel, and musky, well California doesn't have any of these, but have stripers that invade lots of our waters, eat a lot of trout and other fish, yet we don't throw them up on the bank.  Sounds like someone needs to educate those anglers that would do something like that....and calling the DNR could help as well.