You all have an opinion on this?

[ball_coach_1]

I, like probably 99% of us on here, are catch and release.  I do look cross-eyed at those who ask me, "you don't keep your fish???"

BUT...this spring I have been doing something - taking fish.  The reason, I now have a boy nearly three, and he LOVES to play with my tackle, get and my boat, and this spring likes going on the boat with me.  SO, I have been taking a few keeper fish if I catch them late in the day and taking them to my buddy's pond.  I am attempting to get the pond to be a bit better so my son can go out and have a bit more success and get 'hooked' by catching bass and not just casting.

Still, I feel guilty taking those fish from the lakes I am on when I leave.  Any of you guys doing this for the same reason? Any reason I should have a bit of guilt?  Just something irks me about taking fish from their home, but I am justifying it by telling myself it is for a good purpose.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

I don't see I problem with it as long as the water you are taking them from has a sufficient supply of keeper size bass.

[Boo]

My 9yr old son begs me to take some fish home, dont know why exactly. I keep telling him not the bass, only walleyes, crappie, and trout.

[lookin4lunkers]

Coach I don't see a problem with it at all as a matter of fact I have done the same thing with my parents some years ago. I tried to make the pond a good fishery for my kids and neices and nephews. When the kids are interested in hunting and fishing and not running the streets I think it is a great thing.  Plus if we were running in short supply of fish I'm sure the game and fish comm would reduce the amount we could keep. I think what you're doing is a good thing.

[Redtail]

I do the same thing.  I have access to a small farm pond that I bring my nephew to.  My friend owns the pond and we are the only ones that fish it.  I put 6 in last week between 2 and 4 lbs.  I caught my biggest fish ever in there 6.5 lbs.  They seem to get along just fine,  The last thing I would want to do is harm any of those bass.

[roadwarrior]

I don't keep smallmouth, that's just my thing. I don't keep many largemouth and I never keep big ones. That being said, there is NOTHING wrong with keeping fish. As a matter of fact, in most lakes and especially in ponds, you would probably be improving the fishery by eliminating a MAJORITY of the smaller bass. I'm checking with this state's DOW to see if I can LEGALLY kill all the little bass in my Secret Pond, I know it's overpopulated. (I don't mean with nets or poison, just most of the little bass we may catch).

So, keep some fish, it's good for the environment.

[Skeeter6598]

I'm doing what Roadwarrior is talking about. I have a couple of farm ponds that are way over populated. I've been catching all the small bass and either putting them in other ponds or eating them. I talked with a guy that works for Pond Boss Magazine and he told me that was the best place for me to start with my pond. One of the ponds I'm trying to turn it into a trophy fish pond and the other I'm putting a lot of the little fish in and keeping it overstocked. Reason I'm keeping one overstocked is for the kids. Kids don't care how big as long as they are catching and right now you can catch those little fish on almost every cast!

[el_jewapo]

i don't keep many bass, not as a matter of ethics, more a matter of too lazy to clean them. alot of people keep all they catch. i don't understand people with a freezer full of fish that still keep all the fish they catch. i like eating bass. to me, it's just as good as crappie and catfish. the other day i kept 2 bass to eat the next day. they're the only fish of any kind i've kept this year.

[Muddpuppy]

RoadWarrior is right.  You will most likely have to regulate them yourself to keep things in balance.  Bass are a preditor and you can't have a forest of all tigers.  As far as catching those in your pond at a later date and returning them to the lake, you had better check your local laws.  They frown on that heavily around here due to the risk of diesease, weed, and parasite introduction.  And also do not put sickly looking stock into your pond either.  As far as the catch and release only in lakes I guess that is a personal and area issue.  I don't have any problem with keeping smaller fish for home ponds or table fare.  As long as you do it responsibly. :  For I am of the 1%. but still 95% catch and release.  

[Siebert Outdoors]

I dont see anything wrong with it. I do it too.  That is how we stocked a pond  when it was built.  We went out before the spawn and caught some nice males and females and threw them in the pond. Now we have bass in there. I need to clean out the little ones though, they  is getting an over abundence of them.

[Raul]

There 's nothing wrong in keeping keeper size fish, limits are preciselly for that, if you are allowed to keep 5 fish in "X" size you can keep them, fisheries biologists set the limits for what they consider to be the best way to manage the fisheries and keep it healthy, read the rules, in some places culling is illegal, in other places if you have a limit  in your freezer you can 't keep any fish. Besides that, you have already paid for the fish you 're keeping.

[Nick_Barr]

what i am going to do is catch some baby bass and put them in an aquarium and grow them then realese them back into the lake when they are 3-4 pounds. i just need to buy an aquarium.

[mcorr]

My family hosts a big fish-fry at the end of Sept. for family and friends So nearly once a month out fun-fishing

I keep my limit of bass. I keep all keeper crappie, walleye, and striper. I've been criticized for this by some people, but the way I look at it is I'm making good use of the fish by feeding the family and having great fellowship. Besides most of the guys I fish with come and eat too.

[razyrsharpe]

as long as they are not wasted.  i am trying to teach my son this...he does not eat fish but wants to keep everything we catch.  i told him that we would not keep what we would not eat.  i have a friend who tells me to keep everything out of his pond that he lets me fish.  he says that if i don't want it, just to leave it on the bank to die.  i have a problem with that!  it is a waste.  (don't worry, i do NOT leave them that way!)

[GobbleDog]

I always throw em back. Not because I'm a tree-hugger or some great conservationist or anything like that.... I just don't like eating fish. Especially not bass which live in nasty lakes and get all the surrounding run-off.  Also, when I get home from fishing the LAST thing I want to do is carve up a dead stinkin fish.  

When my nephew goes fishing with me, I just throw the first few bass we catch into the livewell. He spends the next few hours opening up the livewell and checking on them and naming them and whatnot.  And at the end of the trip, we throw em back.

[5bass]

what i am going to do is catch some baby bass and put them in an aquarium and grow them then realese them back into the lake when they are 3-4 pounds. i just need to buy an aquarium.

Hey Nick,be sure to get a big tank and the most important part,get the best filtration kit you can afford.Bass have a slime coat and they will dirty up your tank to where you cant see in within a few days.I learned this the hard way.I put a few suckers and catfish in to help rid the scum from the glass but the bass being bass.....they ate all the suckers and cats in about 5 minutes!

Good filtration is a must!I had a 55 gallon tank and 3 largemouth and 1 smallie in there between 8 and 12" long.I fed them silver sided minnows,dumped a dozen in at a time and within seconds,all the minnows were gone!It was pretty cool while it lasted.

[Big_Bass_Rich]

I don't know about down there.. but up here you need to go through a huge, grueling process to LEGALLY transport bass from one waterbody to another.. even if it is private. Now, I don't know anybody who has actually gone through the process of getting a permit. I don't often see the Conservation Officers standing outside my house waiting to see what I put in my pond  

But if there's a risk, you might want to look into it. Just a word of advice!

[Rattlinrogue]

I'm catch and release nowdays,but I have no problem with guys that want to keep and eat those pan sized bass.I kept 'em for years and thet do taste good filleted and fried.

[BD]

I am CPR too.

I don't see a problem with it at all, if the lake you're taking them from, has alot of bass.

[fishingredneck42]

i leave them in. why damage the supply of fish in a lake. I rarely keep em'

[GobbleDog]

you need to go through a huge, grueling process to LEGALLY transport bass from one waterbody to another.. even if it is private.

It would be pretty tough to actually get caught transporting bass, since it's legal to keep bass if they meet the size requirements. The only time you'd be at risk is at that very moment you let go of the fish in different water. And even then, how in the world would anyone know you didn't catch the fish in that lake?

They probably issue about 0 to 1 fish transporting permits per year.  

[Guest the_mud_man]

I would try to do it the legal way because you risk the chance of tranporting sick fish that could wipe the pond out not to mention them carrying dangerous parasites or algae spores that could cause weed problems for your pond or any water that streams out of it to a connected stream or body of water.

[Hot n Tot]

I don't have a problem with people keeping fish from the lake to help stock their pond.  I've never done it myself, but I know a couple of people who have.  

I never keep any bass that I catch from the lake.  I have a friend whose pond is severally overstocked.  It kills me to say that he doesn't fish.  He says he's too busy working.  I don't see how anybody can have there priorities so out of whack.  Anyway, he has had me keep about 150 bass out of his pond each spring for the past couple of years.  Most are 10" to 15".  I keep what I want to eat and give the rest of them away to mostly older people in the community.  If you have a pond that you want to thin out, don't just kill the fish.  Give them to someone in your community who will eat them.  People, especially older people, are very grateful when you bring them a mess of fillets.

[HoosierAngler]

I don't see anything wrong with it. I've done this myself and had real good success too

[DePoy79]

you better make sure it is legal in your state because in michigan it is illegal to stock fish with out a permit, and the DNR will give you a HEFTY fine if they catch you