Catch and keep

[Captain Cali]

I saw it and it made me sad. But if it's legal there is nothing anyone can do about it. I don't think it would hurt to keep some bass. I took my friend fishing and when he caught his first LMB he wanted to take it home to eat it. I didn't argue because he caught the fish, it was legal, and the lake has a very healthy LMB poplulation. Now if it happened around this time of year I would do everything I can to have him release the fish so he or she could get through the spawn.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I'd say virtually every bass fishery produces a certain net gain biomass of bass, so many pounds per acre per year. There might be a few in the negative due to no regulation/management. Nature is generally generous, but over-generosity by man and the lack of natural controls like upper food chain predators such as eagles or bears can result in too many bass per acre and a general decline in average weights. If too many fish are allowed to grow, the food source chain suffers and all fish suffer, and so will anglers who refuse to harvest some of that growth. It's no different talking gardens, tree farms, deer herds. If you don't harvest, natural mortality catches up sooner or later to deal with imbalances. Nature controls through disease, famine, genetic decline, all sorts of ways to reduce animal populations.

So what does the lake manager wind up doing when there's too many bass due to inadequate harvest, or average sizes decline because of too little forage to go around? Increase the creel limit. Those who do harvest benefit by taking more fish. When that limit gets high enough the harvesting anglers return.

The spawn is the most likely time of year to get at a huge segment of the bass population. Notice very few creel restrictions on lunker females. It's taken into account that some of them will be caught and kept. Doesn't hurt a thing unless regulations prohibit that. Although most of us are not lake managers, we are all part of the management team defacto when we fish within regulations. So do your part. Keep the lake healthy. Take some bass home and enjoy the delicacy of fillets you won't experience from going to Kroger for some frozen cod.

Jim

[Vermonster]

I guess fishin started in the first place b/c there wer no grocery stores and it was too haed messin with the bears for the best sites ;D So if soime one is harvesting fish for the table and they are within size and creel limits AINT NOBODYS BUSINESS BUT THEIR OWN

Not too much more to add to this....... We are way more knowledgeable than 50 years ago in terms of conservation.  If keeping and eating some fish would hurt the species, then we should be confident that our state Fish and Game Dept's would institute restrictions.  As I said in another thread, you don't see many Deer being "Caught and Released", but whitetail levels are at an alltime high and keep going up and up, encroaching into our cities even........

[SA_Mountaineer]

I don't keep any bass I catch.

Now big ol' catfish and trout...that's a different story.  I'll keep and eat catfish and trout, but to me, I don't think bass is good eatin'

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I've put on hundreds of fish frys and sometimes tried slipping catfish in on folks. The bass from clean clear water gets taken first unless there's some crappie fillets in the mix. You can buy catfish in most groceries and fish markets, but not LMBs. Under 4# they are a delicacy not matched by more than a very few fish species. Some folks prefer a stronger fish flavor, and that's found in catfish and stripers, but when bass fillets are fried up in peanut oil coated with some whipped egg and Potato Buds for a coating, will make a rabbit chase a dog. ;D

Jim

[RoLo]

I've put on hundreds of fish frys and sometimes tried slipping catfish in on folks. The bass from clean clear water gets taken first unless there's some crappie fillets in the mix.

You've said a mouthful (excuse the pun).

The flavor of a given species may vary according to the lake source and method of handling.

In any case, I have eaten largemouth bass that tasted better than any crappie or walleye

I have ever eaten (catfish aren't even in the running). Furthermore, in spite of being a warmwater fish,

largemouth bass contain a generous level of beneficial omega-3 oil, normally associated with salmon.

Roger

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I brought a cooler full of bass fillets home from Lake Erling near Springhill, LA a few years ago. The water was covered with slime, scum, pollen, duckweed, and was full of hydrilla. I fried up the first batch and everyone, including me, spit it out. It tasted like hydrilla smells, along with all that other smelly stuff choking the lake. Those became fish pancakes with lots of Tony's Creole seasoning. > So yes, definitely, the same species can have a very different flavor. You might find it odd, but I don't eat trout. No trout from Oregon to Arkansas to Kentucky has tasted good to me. I can eat a striper once all the pink is removed, but my wife can't stand the smell of it frying or baking, so those are done on the grill outside. Even then I'm the only one in my family that'll eat it. That's a problem when you bring home a 40# striper, and I'm still eating on one caught last year. I smoke those and take them to work for lunches.

Jim

[.ghoti.]

I've put on hundreds of fish frys and sometimes tried slipping catfish in on folks. The bass from clean clear water gets taken first unless there's some crappie fillets in the mix.

You've said a mouthful (excuse the pun).

The flavor of a given species may vary according to the lake source and method of handling.

In any case, I have eaten largemouth bass that tasted better than any crappie or walleye

I have ever eaten (catfish aren't even in the running). Furthermore, in spite of being a warmwater fish,

largemouth bass contain a generous level of beneficial omega-3 oil, normally associated with salmon.

Roger

couldn't have said it better. I like the taste of bass much better than catfish. I'll almost never eat a catfish. I will take and eat small bass. I like In-Fisherman's take on it. Selective harvest. Take a few smaller fish for the table, and release the trophy sized fish to reproduce. The only time I take a large bass is when I've hooked it badly enough that it won't survive. It happens occasionally. Those fish end up on the table. The lake I fish most has a 14" limit. I wish it were lower. This body a water has a bazzillion 10"-12" bass in it. It would probably help the lake if some of those smaller fish were taken. I think, that in many cases, we've taken catch and release too far. There are a lot of bodies of water with way too many small fish. But, we all have to follow the rules. We all have to trust that our fisheries management people know what they're doing, and, do our part to help. There are many documented cases where local officials have implemented harvest regulations designed to improve the size structure of a particular body of water, only to have the plan fail, because most fishermen ignored the plan and released every fish anyway. This, in my opinion, is every bit as harmful, maybe even more so, than eating all you catch. Every body of water has a different dynamic. Generic rules make no sense. It would be a great idea to contact your local DNR, and find out what they're trying to accomplish with particular harvest regulations, and go along with the plan. If that means releasing every thing, then, do it. If that means taking a few fish for the table to help the fishing, then take a few for the table. If you don't like them, you probably know somebody who be happy to take them off your hands.

Having said all that, I don't fish for bass on the beds. There are some studies which suggest that catching bass off the beds interferes with the spawning process. So I don't try. Not all the bass in a given lake will be on the beds at the same time anyway. There are always some in both pre-spawn and post-spawn to target. That's just a personal preference. If you're trophy hunting, your best shot at a PB is probably a big female caught off the bed. If that's what floats your boat, then, by all means, go for it. As long as it's legal, it's none of anybody's business how you go about it.

[paparock]

Catch and Keep or

[Guest avid]

I hope the fisheries managers keep the populations both under control and healthy. What I don't want to see is the disaster that is being fostered as management in the oceans fisheries happen in freshwater. We all must take notice and a part in the care of our resources. If fishing to survive and flourish we need to take an active part. I was at the conference held at Bass Pro Headquarters that announced a national program to start a fisheries management initiative (similar to that used to help the ducks) to stabilize and enhance fish habitat, starting with Table Rock Lake, Missouri.

Managing an ocean and managing a lake are two different animals.  Most freswater fisheries reside in one or two states, so the management is based on the goals of the state fisheries dpt.  In the salt water, there are not only many states, but entire nations have to agree.  It's a miracle there is any management at all.