Catch and release

[scaleface]

2 minutes ago, MichaelCopeland said:

I do keep a limit of 1lb to maybe 3lbs tops

Thats what I like but the Conservation dept likes to keep that size in the water with a 12 to 15 inch slot in most of the lakes nearby . The slots only work if the anglers do their part . 

[MichaelCopeland]

Here in Louisiana most waters don't have a slot or length limit. There are a few that do though. See pic below

[MN Fisher]

Minnesota has no slots in any body of water.

 

[OCdockskipper]

Although Tom is slightly older than I, like him I grew up in the time that B.A.S.S. switched to C & R.  It made an impression on me as a teenager and for bass, I have practiced it ever since.  I have kept stripers, bluegill & catfish for eating and the lake I grew up on wanted to lower the carp population, so we used to catch them, cut them up and use them to catch crawdads & catfish.

 

Although I don't do it, I fully understand and have no problem with keeping 12" bass.  It would be very difficult for me personally to keep any bass over 14" because I am constantly thinking of what that particular fish had to do to survive and get to at least that size.  It sounds kind of tree-huggerish, but I really respect a largemouth that beats the odds to become an apex predator of its environment. 

 

I know that fooling them into biting a hooked lure and yanking them out of the water to look at them may be an odd way to show my respect, but i don't scuba dive so that is the only way for me to check them out  

[RPreeb]

Here in Colorado, the typical statewide limit on LM is 15" minimum length, but only one can be over 21".  That essentially creates a slot limit of 15" to 21".

 

For SM the minimum varies - can be either 12" or 15" depending on the lake you are fishing.

[slonezp]

On 3/31/2018 at 4:50 PM, scaleface said:

.97     wally world , 8 foot nylon .

I see what you did there

[ww2farmer]

On 3/30/2018 at 6:12 PM, Pkfish49 said:

 

 

I'm confident that New York State laws make sense.

You can't possibly be from NY then. LMAO

[JustJames]

20 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

 

Although I don't do it, I fully understand and have no problem with keeping 12" bass.  It would be very difficult for me personally to keep any bass over 14" because I am constantly thinking of what that particular fish had to do to survive and get to at least that size.  It sounds kind of tree-huggerish, but I really respect a largemouth that beats the odds to become an apex predator of its environment. 

 

 

That shows you have not kept any bass for quite awhile. Our state change to over 15" with 2 bag limit a few years back.

I used to have an agreement with my fishing buddy to keep one bass of every tenth we caught. Most of the reason is to shut my wife since she always bug me about keeping bass. "That never happens"

I did keep some last year with all bleeding bass. 

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, JustJames said:

That shows you have not kept any bass for quite awhile. Our state change to over 15" with 2 bag limit a few years back... 

You are right, I am still stuck in the 70's with 12" sizes and 10 fish limits.  

 

The last time I paid attention to bag limits was while house-boating on Lake Mead.  I knew my nephew wanted to keep some stripers to eat, so I asked at the marina what the size & creel limits were.  The guy laughed and said if they are under 20", I could fill the houseboat with them (i.e., unlimited).  Turns out even over 20", it is still 20 fish a day.  Coming from the world of LMB, that is amazing for me to fathom...

[Lasher]

Got me thinking about some of the guys who kill carp, gar, bowfin and other "nuisance" species.  Should fishermen kill species to help population?  I remember a summer I lived in yellowstone and biologist required anyone who caught a lake trout to kill it.

[Scott F]

On 4/1/2018 at 7:23 PM, RPreeb said:

Here in Colorado, the typical statewide limit on LM is 15" minimum length, but only one can be over 21".  That essentially creates a slot limit of 15" to 21".

 

For SM the minimum varies - can be either 12" or 15" depending on the lake you are fishing.

Slot limit rules mean you have to release fish in the slot whatever slot limit is. If the slot reg says 15-21 inches, you are supposed to keep fish under the slot, and release fish that fall within the slot, not the other way around.

[BigBassCatcher]

3 hours ago, Lasher said:

Got me thinking about some of the guys who kill carp, gar, bowfin and other "nuisance" species.  Should fishermen kill species to help population?  I remember a summer I lived in yellowstone and biologist required anyone who caught a lake trout to kill it.

If they are invasive species, then I see why a biologist might say to kill it. And the correct solution is definitely to kill those fish, as unfortunate as that may seem. And by kill I mean kill and take it home to eat, or if you don't eat fish then give it to someone who does. It would be a waste to just kill it and let it decompose. You can feed some hungry people and help out the lakes ecosystem!

 

If the biologists are saying to kill those fish because they are "dirty" fish but don't harm the ecosystem, then that would be wrong in my opinion. But then again, I doubt a biologist would ever say something like that, the only people that hate kill fish are people a little messed up in the noggin. 

[gim]

Realize that bass here in the frozen north take much, much longer to get to a specific size than they do in the southern portion of the country.  Bass are not a renewable species up here and I've heard directly from a Biologist at Mille Lacs that it takes a smallie about 10 years to get to 20 inches/5 pounds there.  It wouldn't take much to deplete a population of large fish like that.  That's why people keep walleyes and panfish here instead of bass - they taste better and grow quicker than bass do in this part of the country.

[tander]

I fish a local 50 acre lake.The local wildlife biologist told me to keep my limit ever time I fish. If I did not want them, give them them away. There are too many small fish in the lake and it would help the lake to thin them out. I am doing my part.

[RichF]

I rarely keep anything and will only eat a bass if it expires in the livewell or is deep hooked and won't survive.  I think most state regulations do a good job keeping fish populations healthy so as much as I cringe seeing a bass on a stringer, if it's harvested within the law, I won't cast too much judgement (pun intended).  I just hope we all understand that with the advances in technology, fish are getting easier to find and, for many, catch.  Couple that with the simple fact that our population is higher (and way more people are fishing for bass), I imagine some damage could possibly be done at some point if too many are kept. 

[Cheetahsneverprosper]

The northern midwest lake I fish the most is fairly small, but deep, and thankfully has no public access.

In over 15 years of almost constant fishing there, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen anyone else going for bass or northern pike.  Everyone I see is fishing for crappie and bluegill.

 

Because of this, I basically have all the bass and northern to myself, and they're huge.

I'm perfectly content for it to stay this way.

 

Catch and release almost exclusively, unless it's deep hooked and I know it's going to die.  Then it goes into the frying pan.  If you don't like the taste of a larger bass on its own, try chopping up the fillet and mixing it with some wild rice and broccoli.  Delicious.

[scaleface]

22 hours ago, RichF said:

I imagine some damage could possibly be done at some point if too many are kept. 

I agree   but being  most anglers release their catch I get to keep some .. Thank you very much .

[scaleface]

I would like to see an experimental limit where bass under  a certain size are legal , say 15 inches . Tournaments still be able to continue as long as they are C&R . 

[Bluebasser86]

5 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I would like to see an experimental limit where bass under  a certain size are legal , say 15 inches . Tournaments still be able to continue as long as they are C&R . 

That's how slot limits work, lots of our lakes have 13-18 inch slots, so you can keep fish under 13" or over 18". 

[scaleface]

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

That's how slot limits work, lots of our lakes have 13-18 inch slots, so you can keep fish under 13" or over 18". 

I'm familiar with slot limits , I mean once a bass reaches a certain length then they are protected . Maybe allow 1 in case someone catches a trophy they want mounted .

[BassNJake]

On 4/3/2018 at 3:36 PM, Lasher said:

Got me thinking about some of the guys who kill carp, gar, bowfin and other "nuisance" species.  Should fishermen kill species to help population?  I remember a summer I lived in yellowstone and biologist required anyone who caught a lake trout to kill it.

I got a pretty big shock the first time I saw a bowfisher and his bounty of carp.

I swear it seemed like he had 30 of them.

[nosdog2]

I am mostly C&R, however there are certain times I go out and keep a few to throw in the fryer for sure.   Love me some pike and LMB in the fryer. 

[Ben Miller]

On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 12:36 PM, Derek black said:

I'm a huge supporter of catch and release , wishing more ppl would follow , I hate seeing the bass population drop ,. I was always taught to release so someone else could in joy catching as well

Actually catch and release depends where you are fishing and your goals.   Bass definitely have to be culled.  Public, I release figuring thinking plenty of others keep.  Private, I keep the small ones.  Tons of info on the net

[MN Fisher]

Found the video I mentioned earlier. It's right on BR's own YouTube channel. Busts the myth that keeping bass harms the population.

 

 

[Mbirdsley]

I don't personally keep bass to eat (  if it is hooked to deep to survive I would) and haven't eaten a bass in years. But, I have no problem and will not judge anybody keeping fish to eat.  Bag limits are in place for reason.  Like others have said in some lakes it may actually help keep balance in the eco system.  The issue is that some bodies of water can handle people constantly taking fish and some can't.  For example in the great lakes, fishermen will never put a dent in the fish population as long as the bag limit is followed.  Other smaller lakes if too many fish are kept and it could severely hurt the population. A person just has to mindful of what body of water can handle.  If I were to eat a bass it would be a 14-18inch (min in Michigan is 14) small mouth out of deep cold lake pan fried.  MMM that actually sounds pretty good