Fish Thieves

[HoosierHawgs]

Its private waters so if they say you cant keep them then you cant keep them. DNR wouldnt have any jurisdiction, it would be theft so the local PD or sheriff would have to be called.

With that being said, C&R only is not good for most fisheries. I fish ponds and lakes that are c&r only for bass. Guess what happens? People take the panfish and leave the bass... So its full of thousands of skinny 10-12" bass and very few bigger than that.

Most people thing their good lakes are due to bass fisherman releasing their fish, but i say its due to people taking out the eaters and reducing the number of hungry mouthes.

My local Iowa lakes have went to poop since the DNR went to 15" minimum instead of 12". Now people cant keep the 12-14" eaters and have to keep the breeders. Most lakes are to where you can catch all the 12" bass you want and maybe 1/100 are over 15".

Just depends on the lake. If a lake has an abundance of forage, cover, and structure, and the quality of water is good, then it can support a healthy population of good sized (3+) bass. I've seen it before. 

[Bob C]

If they're keeping bass they're pretty much an idiot anyways, so there probably won't be any talking them out of it. 

 

 

 

Ugh, who actually wants to eat LMB anyways- especially big gnarly old ones??  Yuck.  Enjoy the mercury and parasites, bro.

Idiot???? I hope you're joking.

[boostr]

I wouldn't want to eat any of the bass at the reservoir I fish at.... Them Largemouth don't smell to savory, and it's even worse when they yak up a half digested crawfish.

[boostr]

But now at least I know what they like to eat...

[HoosierHawgs]

But now at least I know what they like to eat...

That's good info right there! But I like to eat crawfish too!

[Flippin4Biggins]

I have a friend that i sometimes go fishing with, we live in austin texas but he is not from around here. He always keeps any fish he catches, ive told him plenty times that i catch and release only buthe still keeps the ones he catches. One time he kept a 7lber and I havent gone fishing with him since

I'd go fishing with the ***** just to release them all.

[Dogmatic]

Funny seeing this today, because yesterday I was fishing one of the private ponds that I have permission to fish, and two guys show up. They were fishing fast moving down the bank, I was on the other side, but by the speed they were fishing, they'd pass by me in no time. They caught a few, nothing big. When they got close to me, they took a wide berth, hmmm...considerate anglers? Nope, I engaged them, and they obviously didn't want to talk, so I just came out and asked if they had permission since I hadn't seen them before, the one tried to lie, the other realized they were busted, and said so what if we don't have permission we're C&R. I said that the owner is really nice, if they had just asked, he would have said yes. That they make it tough for the rest of us, and it takes some balls to walk into someone's front yard, less than 20 ft from their front door, and fish their pond without asking permission especially considering it's a fenced and gated property, they're lucky they didn't get the cops called on them,or worse. Just don't understand why some people would think that its appropriate behavior. Just ask, it has always worked for me

[WRB]

So I was doin some fishing yesterday at a small private lake. The lake is surrounded by houses, 1 of them my familys, and only has 1 small public access spot from the bank. My father-in-law told me that 2 days ago 2 guys were fishin from that spot and catching some nice bass. Problem is.. they weren't throwing them back!

He said they were some decent sized fish too. So some of the neighbors went over there to tell these guys it's catch and release only. The 2 guys said "oh okay, yeah we're gonna let em go".. as the fish were Floppin around in their coolers. After that, the neighbors were watching them and again, hooked a bass and threw it in the cooler! So the neighbors ran down there and the 2 guys took off! 1 neighbor got the vehicle info, so hopefully these guys get caught. I can't staND people like this! People pay to stock that pond and treat the water etc. Just makes me mad!

What you have is a trespass problem that local law enforcement can enforce, if the property is clearly posted. State fishery management will only enforce state regulations and may work with local law enforcement to catch poachers.

Most small private lakes need selective harvest to maintain a heathly fishery.

Tom

[MFBAB]

Sorry for being such a noon but... what or who is the "DNR"?

 

The Game Warden, Mr. Green Jeans, the Rabbit (or Possum) Sherriff  

 

J/K, they are generally pretty good guys as long as you stay in compliance, but the trouble is there aren't many of them around. I think there is 1 guy in my county, and there are about a million people here. 

 

As far as jusrisdiction goes, I don't think they have boundaries (like county or city lines) within the state that employs them. 

 

It's the same thing with hunting leases or for the landowners. As much as your little patch of heaven means to you (and costs), it means very little to the rest of the world, hence the laws are usually pretty weak and hard to enforce. 

Something like 5% of the population loves hunting and fishing, 5% hates it, and around 90% DO NOT CARE!!

 

1 guy with a spotlight can ruin an expensive hunting lease and waste thousands of dollars of other peoples money, but the odds of him getting caught are almost nonexistant with 1 Game Warden per county in most places.  

Poachers are just an unfortunate part of the landscape in this game, lifes too short to worry a lot about it.    

[BucketMouth15]

Don't have a problem with people keeping occasionally . but there are much much better tasting fish than bass!

[Master Bait'r]

I'd go fishing with the ***** just to release them all.

 

 

 

OOOPS!  Sorry man, didn't mean to kick over your white bucket!  

[FishHard247]

Same problem here. We have lots of "south of the borderians" and they will flat ruin a pond. They throw NOTHING back and they fish my local pond in the wee hours of the morning and leave before anyone is awake. I caught one one morning with 3 coolers on the back of his truck at 6am as I was coming to fish. When I asked him what was in the coolers he acted like he didn't speak English. I wanted to mash his mouth.

But it's not my pond and the owner lives 625 miles away. I can't sit out there and watch who comes in but it really makes me angry.

The bad thing is that in the corner of the pond cows come in and cool off. As they are there they urinate and drop tons of feces in the water. Then these guys eat the fish. I just don't understand.

[SirSnookalot]

I don't think the issue in many private lakes and ponds is C & R.  Getting permission from 1 home owner to fish is fine, if it's only behind their home, other home owners may not want you behind theirs. 

I live in a controlled community with 6 ponds, they don't care about the fishery.  What they care about is theft and it happens from time to time.  It's just too easy to "case" a house out where the homeowner is on vacation or a snowbird gone for many months.

We have a lot of workmen here, landscapers, cable company, utility workers, handymen and repair companies, enough to be concerned about.

[HoosierHawgs]

The bad thing is that in the corner of the pond cows come in and cool off. As they are there they urinate and drop tons of feces in the water. Then these guys eat the fish. I just don't understand.

That sounds delicious.......

[the reel ess]

 

[the reel ess]

 

 

 

edit

[snowy]

I catch and keep LM all the time. I only keep the fish that are 14-15" and only after the spawning period. I throw back all of the larger fish to reproduce, but I love LM, It all depends on the type of water your fishing as to how it will taste.

 

And to the guy that says he wont eat them because he saw one spit up a crawfish,,, grow up. They eat snakes, worms, bugs, shad, mice, what ever is in the water. That's fish, they are opportunistic feeders. 

 

Find a good clean lake and the bass will taste as fine as any fish. 

 

Don't be snobbish to people that catch and eat fish, that's how this sport started. As long as people don't over harvest, and abuse the privilege, or break any laws, I'm good with it. 

[the reel ess]

I catch and keep LM all the time. I only keep the fish that are 14-15" and only after the spawning period. I throw back all of the larger fish to reproduce, but I love LM, It all depends on the type of water your fishing as to how it will taste.

 

And to the guy that says he wont eat them because he saw one spit up a crawfish,,, grow up. They eat snakes, worms, bugs, shad, mice, what ever is in the water. That's fish, they are opportunistic feeders. 

 

Find a good clean lake and the bass will taste as fine as any fish. 

 

Don't be snobbish to people that catch and eat fish, that's how this sport started. As long as people don't over harvest, and abuse the privilege, or break any laws, I'm good with it. 

The bass I get from clean, spring-fed ponds taste as good or better than crappie from the big hydro lakes. And those places NEED me to keep some fish to avoid overpopulation. Actually, two of them are hopelessly overpopulated and I couldn't hurt the population alone. I just cant fish that much, sadly.

 

If you're going to look down your nose at people who keep fish for food you should have your wife sew elbow patches on your Columbia PFG jersey and take up smoking a pipe.

[Master Bait'r]

 

If you're going to look down your nose at people who keep fish for food you should have your wife sew elbow patches on your Columbia PFG jersey and take up smoking a pipe.

 

 

 

I would never...  But those who have some sort of compulsion where they simply can't put a fish back make my blood boil.  Responsible sportsmen can do whatever they like IMO.  Even within that "keep everything no matter what" sect though, if it's a means for survival, you've gotta do what you've gotta do and I can always respect that struggle. 

[FishTank]

I fish two catch and release ponds that are under the DNR's oversight.  It makes my day to see the conservation officers handing out tickets to guys with buckets.  A few weeks ago, there was a guy with his son fishing from the bank and had a bucket full of fish.  Everything he caught was in the bucket.  When the conservation officer was done with him, he had just over $1000 in tickets.

 

I look at this way.  I spend about $10-$15 minimum every time I fish.  If I go to supermarket, $10-$15 will buy me plenty of salmon, walleye, cod, monk, or catfish.  

[Kevin22]

I wouldn't want to eat any of the bass at the reservoir I fish at.... Them Largemouth don't smell to savory, and it's even worse when they yak up a half digested crawfish.

Dont eat any farm raised fish from the grocery store then... You wouldnt like what is in the commercial fish food.

[boostr]

Dont eat any farm raised fish from the grocery store then... You wouldnt like what is in the commercial fish food.

It's not that, it's the lakes, reservoirs, and rivers up here in New Jersey aren't the cleanest lot. If you get a chance look up the history of The Passaic river, or Pompton Lake, and you'll see what I mean.

[snowy]

I saw a film on Tilapia farming in Asia not long, which is where most of our Tilapia come from. The ponds were so full of Fish they were living on top of the water gulping air. They tested the water and it was a VERY high percentage of feces. I have never ordered Tilapia or any other Asian farm raised fish since.

 

It's been my experience the taste of LM is highly dependent on the type of water they are raised in. I have eaten LM out of the Catawba river in NC that were almost unedible, and I've eaten them out of clean private lakes with no agriculture around them that were great.  

[the reel ess]

Dont eat any farm raised fish from the grocery store then... You wouldnt like what is in the commercial fish food.

Farm raised fish don't have the Omega 3's that wild caught fish have because they aren't fed aquatic food. And they're swimming in their own waste, shoulder to shoulder with as many fish as will fit in a sesspool. Imports are even worse because there is no government oversight there and they've all but put ours out of business. Eat wild-caught seafood whenever you can.

[the reel ess]

It's not that, it's the lakes, reservoirs, and rivers up here in New Jersey aren't the cleanest lot. If you get a chance look up the history of The Passaic river, or Pompton Lake, and you'll see what I mean.

Yeah, we have permanent health advisories due to PCBs or mercury on most fish in most rivers/lakes around here too. Bigger fish are worse than small ones because they've been alive longer. Catfish are worse than stripers because they are bottom feeders. But in one way or the other, they're all bottom feeders. They all eat something that ate something off the bottom.

 

Lakes Norman and Wylie on the Catawba R chain have sewage spill after sewage spill as well as fertilizer runoff from people's lawns. The water treatment plant below Wylie overflows into the river when they get torrential rains. The fecal coliform level goes high enough the city gets fined for river pollution every time it happens. And it's cheaper to pay the fine than raise a tax to fix the issue. The closest lake to me is Wateree, downstream from these on the same river. People still take these 30 lb blue cats out and eat them.

 

So I'll take the pond bass, thank you very much. Also, a good argument for eating the smaller fish you catch.