Why Not

[Driftb]

OK, OK, I admit it!  I was a little harsh on bait fishermen.  They can be ethical.  And I did say that I am for Selective harvest.  Keep small fish, release the big girls.  I fished bait for years, and I used to sell bait too.  You could say I am a hypocrite.  I'd rather think that I learned a better way to do things.  I am not the only one to say that bait fishing kills more fish that lure fishing when catching and releasing. I don't think PETA is for fishing at all. My point is that when anglers become very good at catching big fish, especially in limited environments like freshwater lakes , rivers and ponds, they need to realize that every fishin trip they have the choice to do the right thing.  I think it is a responsibility.  Do you want to take your kids fishing and have to tell them how there used to be big fish in this lake, or do you want to take them fishing for big fish?  When I fish a local 90 acre lake in my area, there have been days when my buddy and I catch  catch 10-15 bass that are 18-22", weighing 3.5-6 lbs.  We could keep ten a day between us.  Would it be ethical to do so?  To keep and eat bass that are probably ten to twelve years old and play a vital role in controlling the fish population in that lake?  It would be legal, but we would clean the lake out pretty quick, and then all you''d  catch would be dinks.  If you disagree, just go across the river to Pennsylvania and tell me how you like the fishing.  Pa has more liberal limits and allows bass fishing through the ice.  I see a lot of Pa guys over here.  Not so many NY guys fishing PA lakes.

[Catch and Grease]

well the size of the lake is a factor too, a 90 acre lake certainly needs to be looked at differently than a 10,000+ acre lake.

[K_Mac]

OK, OK, I admit it!  I was a little harsh on bait fishermen.  They can be ethical.  And I did say that I am for Selective harvest.  Keep small fish, release the big girls.  I fished bait for years, and I used to sell bait too.  You could say I am a hypocrite.  I'd rather think that I learned a better way to do things.  I am not the only one to say that bait fishing kills more fish that lure fishing when catching and releasing. I don't think PETA is for fishing at all. My point is that when anglers become very good at catching big fish, especially in limited environments like freshwater lakes , rivers and ponds, they need to realize that every fishin trip they have the choice to do the right thing.  I think it is a responsibility.  Do you want to take your kids fishing and have to tell them how there used to be big fish in this lake, or do you want to take them fishing for big fish?  When I fish a local 90 acre lake in my area, there have been days when my buddy and I catch  catch 10-15 bass that are 18-22", weighing 3.5-6 lbs.  We could keep ten a day between us.  Would it be ethical to do so?  To keep and eat bass that are probably ten to twelve years old and play a vital role in controlling the fish population in that lake?  It would be legal, but we would clean the lake out pretty quick, and then all you''d  catch would be dinks.  If you disagree, just go across the river to Pennsylvania and tell me how you like the fishing.  Pa has more liberal limits and allows bass fishing through the ice.  I see a lot of Pa guys over here.  Not so many NY guys fishing PA lakes.

 

I think you make a good case Driftb. 

 

C and G lake size is relative to fishing pressure. I agree with Driftb that selective harvest is the right approach whether it's on Kentucky Lake or the your local farm pond.

[Catch and Grease]

I think you make a good case Driftb. 

 

C and G lake size is relative to fishing pressure. I agree with Driftb that selective harvest is the right approach whether it's on Kentucky Lake or the your local farm pond.

 

yes, but not taking into the account of more people fishing, if you take out 10 big bass out of a farm pond obviously that's gonna have more of an impact than taking 10 big bass out of a 10k acre lake.

[Driftb]

You have the idea, but I am not talking about 10 bass out of a farm pond.  I fish that pond maybe 10 times a year.   But it isn't a farm pond, it is public water in a state park.  Are we talking 100 bass per year?  I don't know.  I am not the only guy who catches fish there either.  As far as size, well, I think that lake Champlain is a little bigger than a farm pond.  Can you just pop in and catch big fish there?  I always have, and a lot of guys do. Has the heavy fishing pressure of the past several (10+) years affected the fishing?  Ask anyone who fishes Champlain. 

[Catch and Grease]

This will really turn into an endless argument, I respect your opinion but I'm gonna stand by mine.

[Mainebass1984]

Well our current five fish limit is 31 lbs of smallies during a tournament in the fall. You can do that very easily with leeches on that body of water in the summer! I cant speak for the records in the states but i guarantee in Ontario it would be easly trumped the first year. Id say five smallies in August for a 33-34 lb bag. If not higher. To most that sounds crazy but if you understand or fish some of these lakes you would quickly understand its not that unrealistic. Last week alone off a wreck we boat a 7+ smallie each outing using tubes. A leech will never be beat on my home body of water. You can go shallow and pull your hair out watching giants swim by or swim away when you drop a tube or drop shot. One pass see 100+ fish catch 3 if your lucky on a tube. 1 pass with a leech and you get your arm yanked off with 5-7s. But they are also shallow clear water high pressured fish.

 

34 lb 5 fish bag of smallies ? That would be very impressive. Any pictures of the 7+ smallies your catching on tubes off that wreck ? I hope your using a scale.

 

My opinion about keeping fish : If you want to keep bass and stay with in your legal limit then who am I to tell you that you shouldn't ? As long as everything your doing is legal then that's fine. I don't keep any bass to eat, ever. I don't think they taste very good personally. I have kept 3 bass to mount in the past 16 years and none of them were the biggest I have caught. Would I be a little bummed out if I saw an angler keep his limit of 5-7 lbers ? Yeah I would but, he isn't doing anything illegal. The angler can do whatever they want with the fish they caught as long as they keep it legal.

 

I don't use live bait. I did when I was a kid but I haven't used live bait in a very very long time. In my opinion it is more difficult to catch fish on artificial lures. I like the challenge.

[Logan S]

I don't think removing a big fish from a lake really harms the fishery all that much.  A big fish is an old fish, which has presumably passed it's genes on to a new generation each spwaning season.  There are many variables involved in susataining a healthy bass fishery and removing single large fish is probably low on the importance list.  

 

Having said that, I release all bass I catch.  I do take them for boat rides during tournaments, but they all get released at the end of the day.  

 

 

 If you disagree, just go across the river to Pennsylvania and tell me how you like the fishing.  Pa has more liberal limits and allows bass fishing through the ice.  I see a lot of Pa guys over here.  Not so many NY guys fishing PA lakes.

I find this statement funny...Since on the Potomac and Upper Bay we get inundated with NY and PA tournament anglers every spring.  According to you, our limits would be way too liberal especially compared to PA....Yet, here they come every year...  

[gettin bent]

34 lb 5 fish bag of smallies ? That would be very impressive. Any pictures of the 7+ smallies your catching on tubes off that wreck ? I hope your using a scale.

 

My opinion about keeping fish : If you want to keep bass and stay with in your legal limit then who am I to tell you that you shouldn't ? As long as everything your doing is legal then that's fine. I don't keep any bass to eat, ever. I don't think they taste very good personally. I have kept 3 bass to mount in the past 16 years and none of them were the biggest I have caught. Would I be a little bummed out if I saw an angler keep his limit of 5-7 lbers ? Yeah I would but, he isn't doing anything illegal. The angler can do whatever they want with the fish they caught as long as they keep it legal.

 

I don't use live bait. I did when I was a kid but I haven't used live bait in a very very long time. In my opinion it is more difficult to catch fish on artificial lures. I like the challenge.

Ya take a look in the other posts, PB smallies, Big smallmouth or Ontario largies on fire. Plently of pics that 7lbers frequent that wreck. As far as keeping fish within your legal limit id agree

If its legal then fill your boots. It boils down to ethics and conservation in the angler and his choices.

[Mainebass1984]

Ya take a look in the other posts, PB smallies, Big smallmouth or Ontario largies on fire. Plently of pics that 7lbers frequent that wreck. As far as keeping fish within your legal limit id agree

If its legal then fill your boots. It boils down to ethics and conservation in the angler and his choices.

 

No doubt man those are ginormous smallmouth. Friggin huge. Getting 5 in the 6 3/4 - 7 lb class in a single 8 hour tournament would be extremely impressive. I would like to see it happen.

[gettin bent]

You will if ya use leeches. When i take clients after true trophy smallies leeches are our go to baits. It always ends with a smile;))

[slonezp]

You will if ya use leeches. When i take clients after true trophy smallies leeches are our go to baits. It always ends with a smile;))

I believe leeches out produce other bait, both live and artificial, for smallies, during the summer months, on northern lakes. Spring and fall I would choose other bait.

[ColdSVT]

I agree that it isn't unethical to keep your limit sometimes. Is it ethical to keep limits of big fish every day? Modern ethics demands that we release the big fish and keep smaller eaters. Do you think that merely adhering to the law makes someone an ethical angler? The word "ethics" means that someone is making a conscious choice to do the right thing, not just blindly adhere to the absolute minimum standard that society will allow. I think that in this day and age, we need to protect the resource. Limits are too liberal and slot limits have been set for legislator's convenience. Laws always lag behind conditions. In other words, the fish will be gone long before the laws change. Ethics demands that an intelligent, effective angler protect the resource, not merely obey the law. I don't see why anyone wouldn't do his best to protect the resource.

You arw confusing ethics and good conservation. Yes you could argue that releasing larger fish is a better moral principle.

The definition of ethics is " a system of moral principles " or " the rules of conduct recognized in a particular class of human actions in repect to a group or culture"

Your ethics are yours alone...case in point, some people think fishing during the spawn is unethical...i dont find it unethical at all. Now do i find keeping five 6lb fish unethical? No, i do however find keeping those fish as poor planning for a future resource

[Driftb]

No doubt that I could be confusing ethics and conservation.  But the OP was about bait fishing.  My opinion is that bait and catch and release do not go together well. It turns out that the tournament community agrees with me, by and large. And I guess my assumptions about "sportsmen" being conservation minded, and that  "sportsmen"  would be more likely to catch and release are just assumptions.  

 

The definition of ethics is " a system of moral principles " or " the rules of conduct recognized in a particular class of human actions in repect to a group or culture"

I didn't invent the idea that bait is detrimental to catch and release.  Have you even fished a "No-Kill" area?  In my experience, they don't allow bait in a "No Kill" area. BASS doesn't allow bait in tournaments either.  It's not because bait is more effective, its because it causes more harm to the fish.  At least to me, this gets back to ethics.

[Jigfishn10]

This thread ran it's course...