Would you purposefully keep a spawning fish?

[CrashVector]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

I don't put bass or any animal on a pedestal above humans...period.

 

Y'all ain't got not problem eating beef, pork, chicken, crappie, walleye or any other species. I ain't got no problem eating a bass or an issue with someone who does.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't care if people eat bass.  For ME, it's just about catching them.

 

If I wanna eat fish I catch, I go after bluegill, which are my favorite.

 

It's as simple as "I like bluegill better, so why eat something I like less when I can just catch what I prefer?"

[Mobasser]

Panfish can easily overpopulate and become stunted. The creel limit in Missouri is 30 crappies. I've never felt bad about catching my limit. 

[scaleface]

yes

[Jmilburn76]

I rarely eat fish, having said that I wouldn't keep a spawning fish.I have no issues with anyone who would keep them as long as they do it legally. I release everything I catch as fast as possible.

[cyclops2]

New York has a adjustable closed bass spawning season.  But no enforcement. 

 

Becides local towns want all that money

 

[Scott F]

I fish during pre-spawn, but once the fish are actually spawning and on the beds, I don’t target bass at all. It’s not that I am too concerned about messing up the spawn but spawning bass aren’t feeding. I don’t enjoy harassing fish on their beds or protecting the nest. I don’t eat bass at any time of the year.

[Bankc]

Yes.  Without a doubt.  

 

The only fish I'd keep is crappie.  Crappie are super abundant in my local lakes.  In fact, there's too many of them.  And they don't live long anyway (2-4 years).  For instance, in most of my local lakes the daily limit of black bass is 6 (with just one smallmouth), the daily limit of sauger and walleye is also 6.  Both have size restrictions as well.  Meanwhile, the daily limit of crappie is 37 with no size restriction.  And the daily limit of white bass is... well there is none.  

 

So you're not going to hurt the population or ecosystem by removing some spawning female crappie or white bass.  In fact, you'll probably be helping it.  Now, I might keep a walleye, sauger, or saugeye if I ever caught one.  But I'd probably release them during spawning season, as they're also restricted.  And they're not super abundant.  But I never catch them any time of year, so it's a non-issue for me.  

[J._Bricker]

Would I purposefully keep a spawning fish @gimruis? Absolutely, if I’m fishing a bass tournament or catching a few fish to put some food on the table. Otherwise, I practice catch and release.

 

In the latest issue of BASS magazine there’s an article about Spencer Fullerton Baird, the first Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for the U.S. Fish Commission. He is primarily responsible for stocking “food” fish throughout the United States for its growing population. Amongst the stocked  food fish mentioned in the article were bass, salmon, shad, striped bass, and of course the ever popular carp. 
 

* In 1871 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Baird Commissioner.

[cyclops2]

I thought different catfish were more favored than carp. Carp eat EVERYTHING. Meat or vegetable and fish eggs.

  When 10 to 20 carp arrive there is nothing left living. They are like goats.

[Basser2021]

In public water... No

 

If I was trying to control an overpopulated bass population in my personal pond.... yes

[geo g]

The answer is NO!  I don’t target fish if I see them on a bed.  Just my belief, I don’t fault those that do.  

[TcRoc]

All I do is catch and release.

[Jaderose]

Catch and Release here for all fish.  I don't like to kill animals but that does not mean I have any issue with those that harvest legal fish for food.  Same deal with hunting.  I don't enjoy the past time.  Others do.  not my business.

 

[flatcreek]

Yes, tournament fish get weighed and released.fishing for food in the Spring we keep the smaller bass for our fish fries and release the bigger bass.

[LonnieP]

No. There’s only a couple species of fish that I’ll eat and bass isn’t one of them.

[TnRiver46]

I killed 19 yellow perch today . Some of the males spawned all over me and the ladies were full of eggs

[Sphynx]

Depends very heavily upon location, there is a pond at my buddies place in Alabama that we actively manage for a number of species, and occasionally it requires the culling of certain fish at certain times in accordance with the information we have been provided by the company we employ to do our sampling/management program, I don't particularly enjoy it, but then again spending several thousand dollars a year and deliberately torpedoing the program is even less palatable to me.

 

In a public water body or a private one not being actively managed I would not deliberately keep a pregnant female, because I have absolutely no idea what condition the fishery is in.

[islandbass]

I’ll have to say no because last season, and this is because of my ignorance, I wouldn’t know if I caught a bass in spawning mode. I probably caught my first female bass that could have been in spawn mode just last year.  I released her immediately.

 

Now there is one species I have caught that have been in spawning mode, and that is salmon. I honestly can’t tell it’s sex until I gut them however. People love to eat those eggs. So do salmon and trout. Others convert those eggs to bait or actually prepare them to eat. 

[crypt]

On 2/3/2022 at 10:03 PM, Mike L said:

The only time I would and have kept a bass with eggs is in a tournament setting especially after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get it to bite. 
Those are what are targeted. 

Great care is made to transport and release alive and it’s not given a second thought.  
 

If fun fishing then No, it’s handled and released immediately with care. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

this.......

[CrashVector]

9 hours ago, Jaderose said:

Catch and Release here for all fish.  I don't like to kill animals but that does not mean I have any issue with those that harvest legal fish for food.  Same deal with hunting.  I don't enjoy the past time.  Others do.  not my business.

 

 

I get it.

 

It's kinda how I feel about people eating bass.

 

As long as you have a license, aren't doing anything illegal, and are obeying size and creel limits, then go right ahead.

 

There are limits/season dates for a reason.  As long as all the rules are being followed, I have no problem with it.

[geo g]

On 2/4/2022 at 9:43 PM, geo g said:

The answer is NO!  I don’t target fish if I see them on a bed.  Just my belief, I don’t fault those that do.  

once a fish is pulled off a bed it would not be long until baitfish feast on the eggs.  This just defeats the purpose why we love to fish.  That is the reason I don’t target bedding fish.

[jbsoonerfan]

6 minutes ago, geo g said:

once a fish is pulled off a bed it would be long until baitfish feast on the eggs.  This just defeats the purpose why we love to fish.  That is the reason I don’t target bedding fish.

It would be long? Like how long? What if there aren't eggs on the bed yet? 

[TnRiver46]

Bass eat their own young

[PressuredFishing]

Yeah I kept a few bedding bass.

[Catt]

4 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

It would be long? Like how long? What if there aren't eggs on the bed yet? 

 

What I find hilarious is all y'all opposed to catching a bass off a bed but have no issue catching them prior to getting on the bed (pre-spawn). They are just as pregnant before they get on a bed.