Makes me sick.

[T-rig]

George Perry was not a modern fisherman,, George Perry caught that fish during the depression, George Perry was poor, George Perry's family was hungry, George Perry is irrelevant.

I 100% agree! How can you compare a native american to a modern fisherman! Off course fishing was done for food but we live in the 21st. century and people should know better!

[GatorBK]

Well I tell you what the economy now is relevant I was born Poor and worked hard for what I have I wasnt born with a silver spoon in my mouth I was born with a fillet knife in my hand .

I appreciate the bounty the man above provides , I eat bass heck yes I do , I fed my family many meals of fish even an 11 pounder and a 9 pounder I caught one day . There was no fan fare no pics just a great meal the me and family enjoyed

Do I waste bass NO that is disgusting and sickening as long as the guy ate them I see no harm done those bass had plenty of time to pass on their genes in that lake.

How do yall hunt a deer ? with a tranqulizer gun?

I dont keep spawning bass if I can help it but I did catch a couple the other day that should have been spawned out here in FL but they werent . I thoughrouly enjoyed them they were tasty

And you know what I was so thankful for my meal I even fried the bass roe ...

Yep thats right those aint hushpuppies the edge of the plate  I ate 10000 bass in 2 bites!

Bash me I dont care I will continue to eat a bass if I want to and feel good about it since when did they become endangered?

[T-rig]

I bet that 9lber and 11lber were tough! Why would you eat such big fish? Smaller fish are much tastier!

[GatorBK]

why... because I was raising 3 kids and a girlfriend and was living in the Mountains of NC and the economy wasnt that good and  I was starting my own business

, And  they were good eating they werent tough , Filleted and cut into chunks and deepfried they were white flaky meat.  We ate several meals off those 2 bass . Do I keep many big ones NO and dont try to keep spawning bass either . I let several 5 to 8 pounders go this spring and have only kept 12 bass out of 250 plus i have caught this year.

I used to raise a garden , hunt kill 5 or 6 deer a year and fish as well . One of the tastiest fish I ever ate was a 64 pound Flathead catfish.

I really enjoy the food put here for us to eat and am thankful for it

[Fish Chris]

Let me just put it this way, MOST of us would love to catch a big fish. MOST of us understand that when a big fish is removed from our waters, it reduces our chances. We ALL understand that it is a fishermans right to kill a big fish, should he catch it. But MOST of us can see no valid reason for killing a big fish on purpose.

It is also an anglers right to walk across a bunch of broken glass barefooted..... but that still doesn't mean it's a very smart thing to do.

All this said, I still stand by the belief that MOST of the anglers that do kill big fish, would probably not do so, if they knew, what many of us do....... and so I believe that it all comes back to education.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is their nobody here, besides myself, who can stay so calm about this subject ? Why is it that 90% of the posters want to hang the guy that kills big fish ? And then 9% want to hang that 90% for interfering with an anglers rights.....

And 1% (that would be me) wants to have a friendly chat, and help to educate the catch and kill angler, so that he can, and most likely would, make the right decision, on his own ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And BTW, I have strong reason to believe that the particular angler in question, caught these fish from a pond that I have fished, and will fish a bunch more in the future. So, he has "directly hurt my chances"...... and yet I still don't take it personally. I just can't believe that the guy fully understands the consequences of his own actions, for himself, and for others.

EDUCATION !!!

Peace,

Fish

[T-rig]

why... because I was raising 3 kids and a girlfriend and was living in the Mountains of NC and the economy wasnt that good and I was starting my own business

, And they were good eating they werent tough , Filleted and cut into chunks and deepfried they were white flaky meat. We ate several meals off those 2 bass . Do I keep many big ones NO and dont try to keep spawning bass either . I let several 5 to 8 pounders go this spring and have only kept 12 bass out of 250 plus i have caught this year.

I used to raise a garden , hunt kill 5 or 6 deer a year and fish as well . One of the tastiest fish I ever ate was a 64 pound Flathead catfish.

I really enjoy the food put here for us to eat and am thankful for it

Does BK stand for Burger King???? ;D

[GatorBK]

. Does BK stand for Burger King???? ;D

Yep it does " Home Of The Whopper" since you wanna know ;D

And Fish Chris there is always an upside to him keeping those , It will give the larger bass that are in there a chance to get even bigger .

I have found that the largest animals come from areas where they arent over populated .

[Fish Chris]

Hey BK, okay, so you were borderline homeless. That would have been totally acceptable then buddy. If I saw that you were in that bad of shape, I might have given you one of my 10 lb bass ;-) LOL

But on a serious note, to anyone who likes to eat fish of ANY species;

There are very few places in this country where their are no heavy metals, or toxic chemicals present in the water. MOST of these chemicals cannot be shed through a fishes normal metabolic processes. What this means is, the longer a fish lives, the more of these heavy metals and / or toxins will accumulate.

So, smaller fish are ususally healthier / safer for you and your family as well. This is evidenced by many of the health warnings which will often say things such as:

A person should eat no more than 3 meals per month of Largemouth Bass "under 17" in length" and no more than 1 meal per month of Largemouth Bass "over 17" in length"........

Just some food for thought,

Fish

[Cravin]

I agree Fish Chris..It's a knee jerk response for most of us who have been down this road a million times with the the same bad attitude response from both sides!

It just brings back sick feelings if you've ever had a hole that's been fished out, This has happened to countless people here I'm sure.

It just seem flat selfish even though the people that take them don't see it that way, I can see how they would think that if you grew up eating bass. I just wish they would spare the hogs but I don't see that ever happening.

I nicely agree to disagree.

[grimlin]

So, smaller fish are ususally healthier / safer for you and your family as well. This is evidenced by many of the health warnings which will often say things such as:

A person should eat no more than 3 meals per month of Largemouth Bass "under 17" in length" and no more than 1 meal per month of Largemouth Bass "over 17" in length"........

Just some food for thought,

Fish

This is why i rarely eat seafood or fish.I do love a good fish or seafood every once in a great while,but my family hates it.I've seen people become sick off fish big times.Where i fish the main thing people go after is bluegills,yellow perch or walleyes,which in my opionion taste better than bass.

You know i've never caught a bass over 3 pounds yet...I sure hope i'm not the only one here who practices C&R because then i may never get a chance to catch a big one.That would make me sad.

[senile1]

FC stated:

And 1% (that would be me) wants to have a friendly chat, and help to educate the catch and kill angler, so that he can, and most likely would, make the right decision, on his own ?

Be careful. You don't want to strain that shoulder from patting yourself on the back. It'll make that next pig you stick much harder to bring in.

While I agree with you on not bashing one another on this thread, I believe education isn't a panacea for every problem. Sometimes there is no answer. Some people really don't care. Many people still have unprotected sex with strangers after being educated. It takes all kinds to make this world go around and there is one kind that won't change, no matter the education received. I'm not saying this guy is that kind, but if he is sticking pigs like this it would seem that he is a knowledgeable fisherman. C&R has been around for years, so do you really think that he hasn't heard of its benefits? It's a possibility but I would say it is unlikely. I do agree that we should try to educate people but once that is done, what's left except threads like this and public pressure to do the right thing?

(To those who eat fish, I am speaking of C&R of most trophy fish. I believe in selective harvest. See my earlier post.)

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Well I have a question

What would George Perry have done with those bass?

And What did George Perry do with his bass?

Eat them if u eat um i dont see no wrong but this guy is parading um like hey look ,Id never eat bass .If this guy throws um in the bushes after the pics ya he deserves anything negative AND deserves a 1/0 hook up under his thumbnail

[Cephkiller]

:'(

[Fish Chris]

Hey Senile1, I hear what your saying, and I somewhat agree. For those people who won't ever change their minds, I think we should just forget about them and move on, directing our attention in the direction it will do the most good.

But hey, when you said > but if he is sticking pigs like this it would seem that he is a knowledgeable fisherman. <

Hmmmm. Depends on how you look at it. Honestly, I think I could grab just about any dummy off of the street, put him on the right Cali trout pond, at the right time of year {either with a swimbait, or a small, soft plastic Bluegill pattern} and teach him the bare basics of what he needs to know, to catch a giant bass.

And along those same lines, I do believe that sometimes, "especially nowadays, with the Internet", people sometimes learn too much of the "big stuff", too fast, before they really have any kind of foundation to rest it on.

Just a few more things to ponder....

Peace,

Fish

[senile1]

Good point, Fish Chris.  He's learned how to catch pigs, but maybe he hasn't been exposed to the ideas and methods that will maintain a trophy fishery.  

[5bass]

This horse has been dead for awhile now.....

[Long Mike]

Fourbizzle make a very strong point, but, so does MS bass.  If a person is fishing for food, then he should keep all he can catch within legal limits.  I have a relative who lives barely above the poverty line.  He hunts and fishes every chance he gets, and then consumes it all.  If he saw me catch and release any decent sized fish, he would probably try to choke me to death.

[justfishin]

Fourbizzle, I am a little disappointed in you. Have you no compassion? This guy obviously needs counseling and therapy for his embarrassment over his very small wee-wee size. He is over compensating. Please relay this message to him, that he needs to take the first step in the handling of his problem with his little wee-wee,LOL. Its obviously a Freudian problem. ;D ;D ;D

[ejtaylor822]

I am with some others on here.  If he wants to eat them, or maybe mount one, OK.  His perogative.  However, to catch, kill and throw in the trash?  Now, that's a different story.  I do not consider him (or others that do this) sportsman and/or fisherman.  To kill something because you can or want to, well, to me, they are just not wired straight.

Eddie

[Guest avid]

Guys on another board think I am bad for keeping limits of stocked trout,

I had to laugh when I read this.  I was in a fly fishing shop on Long Island a number of years ago.  there were a few of us BS'n like fisherman do in a tackle store.  

Anyway, there was this one guy who was rabid C&R.  "All trout must be released"  He went on to add that if saw someone with a creel, he wouldn't even say hello to them.

I maintained then as I do now, that C&R is a good thing, but keeping a few fish now and then is not gonna hurt anything.  Especially stocked trout.  

He went mad dog.  I mean it.  He started ranting and I could swear he was foaming at the mouth (ok, so I exaggerate a little)  but his tirade was blistering.

He couldn't seem to understand that these fish got to the river in a truck along with a couple hundred thousand others, and that the state does it specifically so anglers will have trout to catch and keep.

He just didn't want to hear it.  And our "discussion" was on the verge of getting ugly.

So, the moral to the story is IMHO

there are fanatics on both sides of every issue.  

As far as I am concerned this is more often about being macho then any real awareness or consideration for conservation and common sense.

[Tom Bass]

Everyone,

I went back and modified my original post. After rereading this entire thread I realize that I came across like a complete jackass without actually thinking about what I was writing when I made my post. I added this to the original and here also:

I apologize for my first post on this matter. After reading it and other following posts I must agree that I came off brash and in reality I made my point very badly. I'm sorry but this thread touched a nerve with me and I got personal with friends that I haven't met yet. Please accept my apology.

While I still believe a person should be able to keep fish that they catch there ethical issues involved as well. If they are keeping them to show them off and throw them away I am in agreement with all of you that this person needs a talking to. If they are keeping them for food. That is okay in my book but I would encourage them to keep the 1 or 2 pounders and let the big fish thrive.

Avid,

Your comment to me after my first post really got me thinking. Thanks for not verbally kicking me in the shins.

It's funny you mention trout fishing and your encounter with that man regarding the trout fishing and keeping stocked trout. One of the reasons I think I got so bent out of shape over this thread was my encounters with Flyfishermen in Califonia a few years ago. They are a very elitist group and prone to doing all kinds of crazy things in regards to protecting the trout, even stocked trout, from being harvested or caught in ways that they do not deem to be approved by their code. They are elitists of the worst kind. I have had run ins with them and I guess I thought this thread was running in an elitist fashion and I reacted inappropiately.

All,

I do have one thing to add though that disturbs me. Last weekend was the Wal-Mart FLW Bass Fishing Championship. The tournament was held on Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and High Rock lake simutaneously. After weigh in, which were conducted miles away from the lakes, the fish were returned to the lakes. This weekend, yesterday and today, there were lots of dead bass all over the shoreline at Blythe Landing on Lake Norman. I counted 13 yesterday in the span of a football field and today there were more that had washed ashore and the black vultures were having a field day. All of these fish were 2-4 pounders when they were alive. Judging from the decomposition I would say that they had all been dead for close to a week. I took a few photos but I don't know how to post them.

Perhaps the people that participate in and oversee these tournamnents need to reevaluate their handling of these fine fish. To me it would be just like the guy that catches them and photographs them only to let them die. Something to think about.

Take Care,

Tom

[fourbizz]

Thanks Tom. You're a good guy in my book.

[WhiteMike1018]

What a shame.

I honestly have no words right now.

feels like punting this guys cat onto the freeway

LOL @ that

[Gatorbassman]

All,

I do have one thing to add though that disturbs me. Last weekend was the Wal-Mart FLW Bass Fishing Championship. The tournament was held on Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and High Rock lake simutaneously. After weigh in, which were conducted miles away from the lakes, the fish were returned to the lakes. This weekend, yesterday and today, there were lots of dead bass all over the shoreline at Blythe Landing on Lake Norman. I counted 13 yesterday in the span of a football field and today there were more that had washed ashore and the black vultures were having a field day. All of these fish were 2-4 pounders when they were alive. Judging from the decomposition I would say that they had all been dead for close to a week. I took a few photos but I don't know how to post them.

Perhaps the people that participate in and oversee these tournamnents need to reevaluate their handling of these fine fish. To me it would be just like the guy that catches them and photographs them only to let them die. Something to think about.

Take Care,

Tom

Tom,

 I will tell you the reason that there were so many dead fish. FLW uses Rejuvenade as a water treatment. Rejuvenade has things in it known to irritate bass and causes stress. I can't believe they are still using this stuff. They have killed a bunch of fish in the past and are under investigation in one state for a unusually high post tournament death rate in a tournament last year. I have seen first hand what Rejuvenade does to a bass. It causes them to jump around in the livewell and injure themselves. It also causes limited blood flow to the gills due to the stress. At the end of a tournament last year I was able to compare the condition of fish that were kept three different ways. (Rejuvenade, Please-Release-Me, and recalculated water) The fish that had the Please-Release-Me did great. They were calm and had no injuries. The ones with recalculated water weren't doing that bad either. They had a few injuries that we treated but they were fine. The ones with Rejuvenade were a whole different story. The first thing I noticed was how hyper they were. Then I saw the injuries. Almost all of them had them. But the most disturbing thing was the line of white at the ends of the gills. This is caused by limited blood flow and it means that they can't get optimum oxygen. I wish that there were some way we could get FLW to stop using that stuff. You should report this to your State Fisheries Biologist.

[Bass-mania]

so,.....what's his email?  I'LL fish with him, no problem.  Doesn't mean he'll be making it home that night,...but sure,...I'll go pop his float tube in 30 ft of water fishin' with this guy.

Sickening. :-/ >

hahaha, nice...but i see this kind of killing all the time where i fish, and its taken its toll on my favorite fishing lake. The people WERE taking 19+ inchers out about 10 years ago, now...to come across a 19+ is rare to never, 19+ would now be quite the site on my lake...which is sad, because some people just don't appreciate big fish, nor fishing and conservation. I personally don't keep fish...occasionally a perch, but if i want fish, ill drive to the fish market. Its pathetic, and it makes me sick.