Catch and Release

[Koz]

When I fish it's almost always catch and release. If I go camping I'll fish for food, and I'll cull if DNR has a mandate, but it's almost always catch and release.

 

So I got to thinking about this yesterday and it seems to me that catch and release fishing would be like going deer hunting with a paintball gun or airsoft rifle ?

[Functional]

18 minutes ago, Koz said:

So I got to thinking about this yesterday and it seems to me that catch and release fishing would be like going deer hunting with a paintball gun or airsoft rifle ?

I think you might have just invented a whole new hobby.... SIM rounds for "hunting".  Deer therapy will be a new job market by the PITA folks so I guess it will help the economy also!

[WRB]

2 hours ago, Koz said:

When I fish it's almost always catch and release. If I go camping I'll fish for food, and I'll cull if DNR has a mandate, but it's almost always catch and release.

 

So I got to thinking about this yesterday and it seems to me that catch and release fishing would be like going deer hunting with a paintball gun or airsoft rifle ?

Or a camera.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

26 minutes ago, WRB said:

Or a camera.

Tom

Camera doesn’t poke a hole in the creature 

[the reel ess]

2 hours ago, Koz said:

When I fish it's almost always catch and release. If I go camping I'll fish for food, and I'll cull if DNR has a mandate, but it's almost always catch and release.

 

So I got to thinking about this yesterday and it seems to me that catch and release fishing would be like going deer hunting with a paintball gun or airsoft rifle ?

I always tell people that hunt and don't understand the draw of fishing that I can throw it back and let it live, maybe catch it again. And I can go right away and look for another. When they take that shot and kill that deer the fun is over and the work begins.

[casts_by_fly]

58 minutes ago, WRB said:

Or a camera.

Tom

 

That's where I was going.  I was an avid photographer for a while (strictly underwater photography now) getting close enough to get a good picture is like archery hunting.  All the same rules apply.

 

 

15 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I always tell people that hunt and don't understand the draw of fishing that I can throw it back and let it live, maybe catch it again. And I can go right away and look for another. When they take that shot and kill that deer the fun is over and the work begins.

 

This is absolutely my truth and reality.  My wife doesn't eat deer or most other game.  In the UK when we shot pheasants, everyone would split up the game and take a brace or two home.  Between me and friends we would eat it.  Here in the NJ, stocked pheasants isn't something I want to expose my dogs to (too many people on too small of space) and we don't have any other birds.  We do have a ton of deer though, so I'll archery hunt a bit (starts saturday!) and donate everything I shoot to HHH.  With fishing though, you can throw them back and try again another day.  

 

[TOXIC]

While catch and release is fantastic, don’t you ever get a little disappointed when you reel in an ABC fish (already been caught) or what we call “retreads”? My fishing partner for the last 30 years hates it and when we go to St Clair every year, if we get into a bunch of fish that have been on beds for a while and have been caught multiple times, we’ll move off.  That’s why we time our trips pre spawn so that we are catching them fresh.  While that may be more of a statement against bed fishing, it holds true on released fish around tournament sites as well.  I’ve seen fishermen really concentrating on release areas.  I’ve pulled many a hook out of fish that have broken off or caught fish with torn jaws or holes in their faces and it does diminish the catch for me.  

[Dwight Hottle]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Camera doesn’t poke a hole in the creature 

 Neither does a paint gun or airsoft rifle. ?

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 Neither does a paint gun or airsoft rifle. ?

That reminded me of fishing with my prankster buddy is south Alabama . There was a monster gator laying in the mud about 40 yards away, we were just kind of admiring it. My buddy hollers “everybody back!” and brandishes a CO2 bb pistol and starts unloading it. The bb’s were losing elevation and dropping into the water about halfway to the alligator hahaha

[fin]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Or a camera.

Tom

Wildlife photography is very similar to hunting (without the killing). Depending on the equipment, the photographer may have to get in even closer than the hunter to get their shot. The lengths some photographers go through to get a shot is crazy.

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, fin said:

Wildlife photography is very similar to hunting (without the killing). Depending on the equipment, the photographer may have to get in even closer than the hunter to get their shot. The lengths some photographers go through to get a shot is crazy.

People send me pictures of wildlife everyday and the caption says “please catch this “

 

photographing and catching/killing are way different. I could take pictures of deer everyday but I doubt I could kill one 

 

survival instinct is real and it doesn’t activate when you get your picture taken. A great example in my area is the Cherokee national forest vs the great smoky mountains national park. The forest allows bear hunting, the park doesn’t. You could go for weeks without ever getting a photo of a bear in the forest, a bear will take your camera out of your hands and eat it in the park 

[Tennessee Boy]

The problem with hunting with a camera is it doesn't help control the animal population.   The wolves are gone.  We need hunters that kill!  or we'll be giving all of our money to @TnRiver46

 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

The problem with hunting with a camera is it doesn't help control the animal population.   The wolves are gone.  We need hunters that kill!  or will be giving all of our money to @TnRiver46

 

[the reel ess]

19 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

The problem with hunting with a camera is it doesn't help control the animal population.   The wolves are gone.  We need hunters that kill!  or will be giving all of our money to @TnRiver46

 

But people around here hunt them like they're going out of style and we have coyotes and coyote-dog mixes and they're still plentiful. People plant food for them and throw out corn. I dare say there are more whitetail in the US than there were before white people got here.

https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/huntingtactics_naw_maturebuck_200808/263957

[AlabamaSpothunter]

All I know is catch and release and what Ray Scott helped usher into Bass fishing created an industry, as well as countless amazing Bass fisheries across the country.    The fact we catch so many Bass that have been caught before is proof how important catch and release is for Bass fishing.  

 

It's beyond taboo to kill a Bass in my book.   If it's mandated culling then that's different, but as a general rule I wouldn't dream of killing a Bass.

 

To that point, if I were to kill a fish accidentally during a session that would most certainly ruin the day for me.   Call me soft, but I hate hooking these fish poorly even.  I love these fish, I want them to thrive just as much as myself in life.   Guess I'm kind of a hippie in that regard.   

 

I wouldn't fish without catch and release, just like I don't hunt because I don't enjoy eating Venison, Dove, and Wild Turkey.     I'll keep a couple of Rainbow Trout to eat every time though as they are stocked for the exact purpose of harvesting and eating.   

 

Catch and release is the best thing that ever happened to Bass fishing.   To answer your question though I don't like catching fish that have obviously been caught before.    Everybody likes to be the first to conquer something.   

 

Caught this 5.7 two days ago that must have been hooked in his eye months or years ago....couldn't see any trace of trauma, or a hook scar, just a dead eye that had likely been hooked when she was a young fish.  

[the reel ess]

7 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

All I know is catch and release and what Ray Scott helped usher into Bass fishing created an industry, as well as countless amazing Bass fisheries across the country.    The fact we catch so many Bass that have been caught before is proof how important catch and release is for Bass fishing.  

 

It's beyond taboo to kill a Bass in my book.   If it's mandated culling then that's different, but as a general rule I wouldn't dream of killing a Bass.

 

To that point, if I were to kill a fish accidentally during a session that would most certainly ruin the day for me.   Call me soft, but I hate hooking these fish poorly even.  I love these fish, I want them to thrive just as much as myself in life.   Guess I'm kind of a hippie in that regard.   

 

I wouldn't fish without catch and release, just like I don't hunt because I don't enjoy eating Venison, Dove, and Wild Turkey.     I'll keep a couple of Rainbow Trout to eat every time though as they are stocked for the exact purpose of harvesting and eating.   

 

Catch and release is the best thing that ever happened to Bass fishing.   To answer your question though I don't like catching fish that have obviously been caught before.    Everybody likes to be the first to conquer something.   

 

Caught this 5.7 two days ago that must have been hooked in his eye months or years ago....couldn't see any trace of trauma, or a hook scar, just a dead eye that had likely been hooked when she was a young fish.  

It could well be that a hook didn't cause that damage. But I do feel bad when I hurt an eye. I know it's not a death sentence. I remember I caught a 5 pounder with my dad about 20 years ago. 5 was a big bass on that lake. It had one bad eye and bleeding sores on it. I nonchalantly threw it back and he asked me why I didn't have it mounted. I told him I could never forget how bad it looked. I haven't kept a bass to eat in a couple years. Never had one mounted, just pics. I fish a lot of smaller places that could benefit from someone taking bass out.

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

 

It's beyond taboo to kill a Bass in my book.   

Well then consider me Howard stern 

[gim]

22 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's beyond taboo to kill a Bass in my book.   If it's mandated culling then that's different, but as a general rule I wouldn't dream of killing a Bass.

I wouldn't say that's true.  Although I do agree that the majority of bass-specific anglers are catch and release which has helped immensely, there is nothing wrong with selective harvest.  Some lakes actually have too many smaller sized bass and there isn't enough forage to grow big ones.  Every system has a cap of organisms it can support which is called a carrying capacity.  Selective harvest of small (12-14 inch) bass is beneficial in some cases.  I would not advocate for filling your live well full of 18 inchers, just as I would not advocate for filling your live well with 20 inchers you intend to release later, only to take a glory photo later for all to see.

 

22 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I wouldn't fish without catch and release, just like I don't hunt because I don't enjoy eating Venison, Dove, and Wild Turkey. 

I hunt deer, wild turkey, and pheasants regularly every season and eating them is definitely not why I'm hunting them.  I generally do eat (or donate) what I hunt, but as far as eating them as a reason to hunt them, absolutely not.

[newapti5]

Can paintball guns and airsoft guns knock out a wild deer so you could control it? I am genuinely asking since I don't hunt. If they do, then I would say it's similar. To me, catch and release is helping the fish population most of the time, but it doesn't count as "catch," nor will it give me much joy, if I didn't put the fish in the boat and have a feeling of  mastering and conquering.  It would be "see and escape" otherwise. 

[TnRiver46]

13 minutes ago, newapti5 said:

Can paintball guns and airsoft guns knock out a wild deer so you could control it? I am genuinely asking since I don't hunt. If they do, then I would say it's similar. To me, catch and release is helping the fish population most of the time, but it doesn't count as "catch," nor will it give me much joy, if I didn't put the fish in the boat and have a feeling of  mastering and conquering.  It would be "see and escape" otherwise. 

Good point. I have seen a 10 pound bass but never caught one

[Darth-Baiter]

5 hours ago, Koz said:

When I fish it's almost always catch and release. If I go camping I'll fish for food, and I'll cull if DNR has a mandate, but it's almost always catch and release.

 

So I got to thinking about this yesterday and it seems to me that catch and release fishing would be like going deer hunting with a paintball gun or airsoft rifle ?

bad comparision.  better would be to compare it to trapping.  trap a fur bearing animal, weigh it and let it go. .  hahah..

[hunterPRO1]

11 minutes ago, newapti5 said:

Can paintball guns and airsoft guns knock out a wild deer so you could control it? I am genuinely asking since I don't hunt. If they do, then I would say it's similar. To me, catch and release is helping the fish population most of the time, but it doesn't count as "catch," nor will it give me much joy, if I didn't put the fish in the boat and have a feeling of  mastering and conquering.  It would be "see and escape" otherwise. 

Considering that both are used by people to shoot each other I would hope not.

 

On rare occasion really high-power airsoft or paintball can break skin at close range, but i seriously doubt it would have the power to knock out a person, much less a deer. (Btw deer are not fragile creatures, they are very durable. I have seen one run over 200 yards with its heart in 3 different pieces.)

 

Tranquilizer gun would be a much more likely method to achieve what you are describing; Not sure what legality issues could arise.

 

Personally, there is no way shooting a deer with a paintball gun would give me the same feeling as archery hunting. Catch and release fishing gives me the same feeling as catch to keep; if not better.

They aren't comparable in my opinion.

[Darth-Baiter]

Some people enjoy eating a largemouth bass sometimes.  i get it.  enjoy!!

 

i wont crap on a person if they are looking for a meal.  way to hypocritical with me eating the occasional steak, or Halibut.  again..enjoy.  

 

there is a perfectly good reason why there is a limit on bass.  which i dont even know, since i think a largemouth bass is NOT delicious, and the ones i fish in are in bodies of water i wont eat from anyways. 

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

bad comparision.  better would be to compare it to trapping.  trap a fur bearing animal, weigh it and let it go. .  hahah..

I did that yesterday but didn’t weigh them. 

[gim]

14 minutes ago, hunterPRO1 said:

On rare occasion really high-power airsoft or paintball can break skin at close range,

 

Have you ever played paintball?  It hurts.  Its worse when the paintball doesn't actually explode either.  Then it feels more like a marble hitting you at high speed.  Best place to get hit in paintball is right in the face mask.