Does This Make You Mad?

[Western-Mass-Bass]

For some reason now that I believe Ive become a more serious fisherman. As I'm in my boat fishing and Im watching folks on the bank keeping everything they catch. From the mishandling, metal stringer in 3 inches of water etc etc. If your feeding your family without other means than im for it i guess but I often wonder how much of this fish is never eaten or ruined by sitting in a 5 gallon bucket in the middle of the summer.? I don't know maybe I'm just ranting.... Lee

 

 

[Catch and Grease]

As long as they're eating them and not breaking regulations it doesn't bother me much, around here you have to get used to it.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

As long as there eating them and not breaking regulations it doesn't bother me much, around here you have to get used to it.

Ya, I here ya on that. And couldn't agree more, lets just say I fish a very public river. And have for a long time. Seems to be getting real worse. Hell I cant say Ive never done it growing up as a kid with my dad. Maybe me just Ranting

[A-Jay]

C & R is my routine as well.

 

But do you think that there might be an occasion where an angler on the bank who does not, is looking out as a boat angler releases a catch and thinks to themseleves "What's the point?"

 

To each his own.

 

A-Jay

[Western-Mass-Bass]

C & R is my routine as well.

 

But do you think that there might be an occasion where an angler on the bank who does not, is looking out as a boat angler releases a catch and thinks to themseleves "What's the point?"

 

To each him own.

 

A-Jay

Education is key. Well said A-Jay

[Western-Mass-Bass]

I am not trying to cause a hornets nest here. I'm sure there is alot of opinions on this. The local club I fish with have management days where we clean up some shoreline and its just amazing what we find. Folks I'm talking about abandoned fish on stringers that have been left behind and become turtle food. And nice mature fish here. Hell as a kid we ate us some fish at my house. But never left the banks like this!!! I am a catch and release fisherman. Have no problem with people eating there catch. But at least respect it.....

[MickD]

I don't think it is as much about eating the fish as it is in the culture of keep.  I also think a good percentage of the fish don't really get eaten, but it's the culture.  The key is in education, as someone else said.  We just have to keep plugging along, teaching that a really good fish can be caught more than once.  We have two similar lakes here, both private, one a lot more private than the other.  I went five years without catching a legal bass on the less private lake.  My son lives on the more private one, which has a strong catch and release culture, and we go out and catch 20 or more legal bass in a couple hours, usually with a few 4 pounders, two five pounders the same day this summer.  That can only happen with a catch and release culture.

 

It's pretty easy to convince people if you have the time to talk to them that the fun of fishing is not in the cleaning and eating as much as it is in the catching.  So why not catch more and clean less?

 

In some instances where lake management indicates it is better to take the fish out of the lake.  In those cases, I don't even care whether the fish end up as food or fertilizer.

[MFBAB]

Doesn't make me even a tiny bit mad, if they are within the law.

[BooyahMan]

If they are keeping within the daily quota and are actually eating it, I'm okay with that. What I'm NOT okay with is people keeping over their limit and just throwing everything they catch into a bucket. Here Bass are considered invasive and most people have a poor opinion of them and thus chuck in the bucket, in the bush etc. What most of them don't realize is that we DO have a limit of 4 Bass per day, so all the guys dumping the bass thinking they're fixing the "invasion" are  actually just breaking the law.

 

You know what really made me mad this year? A couple of months ago I heard of a couple guys keeping 70+ Pink Salmon in one day. The limit was 2 per person. Stuff like that makes me sick.

[Senko lover]

As long as it's within legal ramifications, keeping fish shouldn't drastically harm a body of water's population. I'd say there's more C + R anglers than ever before, I certainly see far more throwing the fish back than eating them, especially with bass. 

[everythingthatswims]

People who eat fish just need to learn how to crappie fish. It's way easier to get "a mess", they taste better, and they do a good job keeping themselves populated.

[Fisher-O-men]

I would to see them educated to keep the small ones and throw back anything 4+.  In our neck of the woods it costs $8 a day to fish the lakes. That would buy a nice family meal of Tilipia at the store. 

 

I saw a shore fisherman fishing with shiners for Crappie, so I pointed him to a good spot.  I sat in my tube and saw him catch three progressively bigger bass, starting at 4lbs.  As he caught them he threw them in the dirt behind him and rebaited his hook. Wish I could take back that pointer!

 

So, yeah, it bothers me.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

I would to see them educated to keep the small ones and throw back anything 4+.  In our neck of the woods it costs $8 a day to fish the lakes. That would buy a nice family meal of Tilipia at the store. 

 

I saw a shore fisherman fishing with shiners for Crappie, so I pointed him to a good spot.  I sat in my tube and saw him catch three progressively bigger bass, starting at 4lbs.  As he caught them he threw them in the dirt behind him and rebaited his hook. Wish I could take back that pointer!

 

So, yeah, it bothers me.

And you now know how I feel. Nail on the head Fisher-O-Men!! Thanks, Lee

[d-camarena]

Im mexican, i was always taught to keep everything and at the end of the day we used to celebrate by cooking the fish and having a nice meal. Exept bass, i was alwqys told that bass wqs no good for eating. To many bones lol. I guess my uncle taught me good. And all the fish we kept were legal size. We didnt want to risk our fishing priveledges

[Fried Lemons]

My dad got into fishing when I was around 5 years old and would keep absolutely anything we caught. We didn't specifically target bass, we would just bait with some nightcrawlers and take whatever happened to come by. As I grew older and I started learning to target bass, I noticed that some of the productive areas I had been fishing since the beginning were no longer producing fish of any size.

 

We were by no means the only fishermen in those areas with the harvest all mentality. I've seen firsthand the impact that over harvest even within legal limits can have on a local fishery. I now release almost all of the bass I catch. I feel it also sets a good example for people who are interested in getting into the sport.

[EvanT123]

What makes me mad is riding around in my boat and seeing all those fish on the fisher finder, that I can't or don't catch. Littering makes me mad too.

[RoLo]

Does This Make You Mad?

 

Nah

[DogBone_384]

I sometimes think about it, but in the world we live in today where 'everyone's right and nobody can be offended', I pretty well mind my own business.  You know the old saying about opinions....

[the reel ess]

Not mad, but it does resolve me to be responsible. But I'll keep some fish from private places if I'm in my buddy's boat. I can clearly see it's not harming the fishery and I always let anything over a three pounds go. Plus it's very healthy meat.

 

I'm keeping a small slot from 1-2 lbs. only when I'm not in the kayak. It makes me madder to see people abuse one dragging it on the bank, carrying it around for 10 min. and let it go. And don't keep it in the livewell for hours for the video and then release it. Take the pic, weigh and release it. Act like you've caught a good fish before.

[the reel ess]

People who eat fish just need to learn how to crappie fish. It's way easier to get "a mess", they taste better, and they do a good job keeping themselves populated.

I always wonder about this. Why makes a bass's life more valuable than the crappie's? Just because we think it is and we want to catch more. I like the taste of bass from clean ponds and they do need to be managed by thinning the herd of dinks to improve size. The C/R at all cost mentality doesn't apply to ponds.

 

This isn't an opinion, it's documented by fisheries biologists. They say to remove 20 lbs/acre/year of bass min. even if you just turn them into fertilizer. If you don't, you run the risk of overpopulating the bass and stunting their growth. Most owners need help to accomplish that. I know my buddy does and I help him whenever I can. I take half of my catch and leave him half in a wire basket.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/slot.html

[Scarborough817]

it kind of bugs me but it's more so the attitude about it. in my area a lot of people seem to think it's fun to kill bass or any fish just because. if you're eating them it's a different story but if it's just for entertainment then why do it? you can only kill them once but with catch and release you can catch them multiple times.

[ColdSVT]

Doesn't make me even a tiny bit mad, if they are within the law.

This right here

[Fishing Rhino]

Look at it this way.  No matter what you do for fun, there will always be someone around to muck it up.  For fishermen, it's jet skiers, water skiers, party barges that pass close by, litterbugs, you name it.  Golf?  You have to put up with the same type of people who are not courteous to others, or the course.  They don't replace divots, or fill them depending on the course's policy.  They don't repair their ball marks on the putting green.  They toss their cigarette butts on the ground.  The list is endless.

 

In most cases, there is nothing you can do about it, so you need to learn to ignore it, or accept it.  If you can't, you'll end up being miserable doing something intended to be fun.

 

Hunting?  I don't, but I'm sure there are basic rules of etiquette.  Some of the ponds I fish also have hunters who set up blinds, and I see fishermen who will fish, or pass close to their blinds when there are plenty of other areas they could fish and allow the hunters to share the same resource for a season.

 

Relax, lighten up, and you'll get more enjoyment out of your fishing.

[Sam]

Ticks me off all the time.

If you want some fish to eat then go to the grocery or a seafood store.

[the reel ess]

Ticks me off all the time.

If you want some fish to eat then go to the grocery or a seafood store.

That's like telling hunters to stop shooting wildlife and go buy some steaks. Harvesting some of earth's bounty is how nature intended it. It's usually healthier, cheaper and environmentally friendlier. A lot of that fish in the grocery store was caught with a net by people who were "keeping everything" on a huge scale. If it wasn't wild caught, it's farm raised and probably lacking in nutritional value.

 

Some lakes that are designed and managed for trophies, the owner will pay someone to shock up fish and kill a portion of the smaller ones to maintain trophy size. If you're a bass fisherman, you need to see this video. It's the besat video I've ever seen about fact/myth regarding the largemouth.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=facts+and+myths+about+bass&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=648612463D2D8FA8DECA648612463D2D8FA8DECA