Needs some advice on "Catch and Release".....

[FishTank]

A few days ago I had a nasty conversation with a guy fishing a local pond I go to about once a week.  I had seen him almost everytime I have been there but paid him no attention.  I finally asked how he was doing and he said it was slow today and that he was only taking home about 15 fish today.  My blood starting boiling at this point.  I asked him nicely what he had caught and he then showed me his basket which had some fish the size of bait upto some nice keepers.  The problem is, he then tells me he does this about 4 times a week at this pond.  He keeps everything he catches.  

Many of the local fisherman that fish this pond have complained about low numbers this year and I tried to explain to this guy that this pond is not stocked and if he keeps this up, the amount of fish he catches will go down.  He then starts to get upset and tells me he will fish this pond until there is nothing left and he will move onto another and do the same thing.  He said that these fish are part of his food and his income.  I then pointed out that he had about $20 of live bait and that he could have a nice meal for that price.  

We were both mad now.  I finally offered him $10 for the fish he had caught, he accepted, and I then proceeded to dump the fish out of his basket back into the pond with him watching.

Did I go to far?  I was feeling guilty at first for disrupting his fishing but after I had noticed all the trash and just plain junk he had dumped, I was glad I had confronted this guy.  

Was there a better way to handle this?  

Just wanted to rant and here what you guys had to say.

[Pond Hopper]

Chances are(if they were all bass) he was over his limit and I would call a conservation officer and let them take  care of it.  

[fishfordollars]

Be careful how you handle things out on the water. There is a reason that the officers wear vest. If you turn him in do it after you leave. No sense in getting injured or worse .

[tyrius.]

I'm with Pondhopper.  I've got the DNR number programmed into my cell phone and if I see people not following the rules I will call the DNR.  

Personal confrontations can go WAY wrong so letting the proper authorities handle the situation seems to be the easiest thing to do.

[NinjaFishin]

you were not out of line there at all. One fisherman destroying the population of any small pond is un acceptable. I cannot see the rational behind "fishing until there is nothing left".  Kills the fish and the sport all in one go.

I also have a hard time believing this guy eats all that fish.  I mean d**n. Also how does he make income off that?  :-?

[peidy_p]

I would've done the exavt same thing

[FR0G]

Dude, I know EXACTLY how you are feeling right now. My local reservoir I go to has regulars that come twice a day catching a limit of bass, and they never catch and release. Just the past week two 8lbers, a 10lber, and some other nice bass have been caught and not released. It really sucks that some people really just don't care. Someone who has been doing this regularly for awhile, won't stop at all until they stop catching fish. They don't understand that bass are not stocked, and they take awhile to get big. If you know he is doing something illegal, call Fish and Game on him and try to get him caught.  

[Dan:]

I'm glad you brought this up FishTank, I've been wondering what I would do in the same situation. I think I would have just called a game warden, but when I came up with that conclusion, I realized I didn't have their number in my phone, so I just put it in so I would be prepared.

I always thought it was ridiculous to fish for bass to eat when you could easily buy something cheaper and better tasting. If he is not doing anything illegal, though, I don't think you can do much besides telling him the advantages of C&R for maintaining sizes and populations of fish. If that doesn't appeal to him and he doesn't change his ways, I don't really see much else you could do, it is America afterall...

[Lavrax]

I finally offered him $10 for the fish he had caught, he accepted, and I then proceeded to dump the fish out of his basket back into the pond with him watching.

Did I go to far?  I was feeling guilty at first for disrupting his fishing but after I had noticed all the trash and just plain junk he had dumped, I was glad I had confronted this guy.  

you did well dude, congrats to you... Unfortunately in the place i go fishing most of the people there are just like your guy...filling baskets with bass of a few inches, and leaving tonnes of their trash

heres some pics

[rfrazier]

If he's selling the fish he's already doing something illegal.

[RogerWaters]

FishTank, Were the 15 fish all bass, or no bass, or a mixed bag? Also, were the 15 fish all legal to keep (based on size, creel limit, ect.) as stated by your local regs? I think that information would help, before responding, in this situation......

[jhoffman]

I called the fish commission on the Amish here recently. I stopped at a popular pier to do some night fishing. Keep in mind, I release EVERY fish I catch. I dont mind people keeping crappies, thats what I think they are for. But this lake has a restriction and they were literally filling coolers with sub legal fish. I carry both the fish and game commission numbers in my cell. I actually called the game commission this year in rifle season because I saw the same truck go up and down the road ten times in less then an hour. After that, I never saw it again. You gotta police our wildlife, theres just not enough paid people to do it.

[JCrzy4Bass]

My dad and I had this same problem with a small group of people last year at Bull Run Marina here in Va. Some men of a certain descent where keeping over their limit of fish and leaving trash all around the shoreline. My dad called the park authorities and they said they would step up their presence in this area and try to get the trash cleaned up and so forth.

The one time I have been this year the water was really high covering the area where I last saw trash. So either they did clean it up, or it moved downstream, or its under water. It really disturbes me to see all these people having such blatant disregard for our parks, shorelines and waters. If you don't know how to take care of your belongings and trash you don't belong on the water and need to learn some things before heading out next. It just irritates me, especially being in the boat and seeing such trash in the water and under the shallow areas of the shoreline... egh!

Rant over.

Contact your park authorities or fish and wildlife department like the other guys said. You never know how much offense someone is going to take as far as your stance on the issue and you never know whether they are carrying anything on them such as a weapon and or have anger issues, etc and decide to jump on you for making them look bad.

[WRB]

Before anyone can access the harvest issue on a pond, the population density and size distribution needs to be evaluated.

Reacting emotionally will only get into trouble. If the people harvesting the fish are doing it illegally, let the authorites resolve that problem.

Same lakes and ponds usually need some the bass to be harvested to prevent them from over populating the available food source. If you are not catching bass over 3 lbs for example, it may be due to over population and stunted fish, the guy keeping the small bass was actually doing you a favor and helping the ponds balance.

Catch & release taken to extremes isn't any better than over harvesting a fishery for food. Fishery management promotes selective harvset and slot limits to protect specific year classes of fish. Regardless of how well you handle bass and release them, some will die as a result of being caught. It's better to keep bass that are mortally hooked and bleeding, then to toss it back and hope they survive.

My advice; find another pond with better fishing and blow the whistle on anyone who is breaking the law. If the pond is public water and everyone is within the state regulations, they have as much right to catch and eat fish as you do to catch and release them.

WRB

[Jake P]

A few days ago I had a nasty conversation with a guy fishing a local pond I go to about once a week.  I had seen him almost everytime I have been there but paid him no attention.  I finally asked how he was doing and he said it was slow today and that he was only taking home about 15 fish today.  My blood starting boiling at this point.  I asked him nicely what he had caught and he then showed me his basket which had some fish the size of bait upto some nice keepers.  The problem is, he then tells me he does this about 4 times a week at this pond.  He keeps everything he catches.  

Many of the local fisherman that fish this pond have complained about low numbers this year and I tried to explain to this guy that this pond is not stocked and if he keeps this up, the amount of fish he catches will go down.  He then starts to get upset and tells me he will fish this pond until there is nothing left and he will move onto another and do the same thing.  He said that these fish are part of his food and his income.  I then pointed out that he had about $20 of live bait and that he could have a nice meal for that price.  

We were both mad now.  I finally offered him $10 for the fish he had caught, he accepted, and I then proceeded to dump the fish out of his basket back into the pond with him watching.

Did I go to far?  I was feeling guilty at first for disrupting his fishing but after I had noticed all the trash and just plain junk he had dumped, I was glad I had confronted this guy.  

Was there a better way to handle this?  

Just wanted to rant and here what you guys had to say.

Oh man, im so glad you were the one to find that out and not me. I cant even say what would of happened if i were in your position.....He would of been willingly putting the fish back.I think you handle it the best you could given the situation.

[ian515]

If the pond is public water and everyone is within the state regulations, they have as much right to catch and eat fish as you do to catch and release them.

WRB

agreed. call the DNR, or move on. catch and release is up to the person fishing (unless of course DNR says otherwise), and thats the beauty of living in the country right? so take a breath, and enjoy the fact that you are fishin, or move on and fish somewhere else.

that being said, and so no one jumps down my throat, I catch and release ;D

[32251]

If the guy was catching  small bluegills then harvesting these will actually help out. My brother lives on a private 50 acre lake.  The lake management company sent out a letter telling the folks who live on the lake and fish there to just throw the small bream and crappie up on the bank and don't release them.  

Catch and release ALL THE TIME can actually be detrimental in certain bodies of water.

[FD.]

call the dnr.

[rondef]

Call and report them, I did and they took care of the problem for me.  No need to confront the individuals because you don't know what they are capable of doing to you.

[Tokyo Tony]

If you do decide to confront someone, just make sure you have a weapon on you also. My weapon of choice is incredible ninja skills, but if you're not blessed with them, a gun works almost as well ;D

Seriously though, I was fishing on of my favorite spots on my favorite trout/smallie river the other day and there was a guy walking along with a bucket (dead giveaway that he's keeping anything he catches). I happened to catch a fish right as he was walking up, and I didn't even know what it was. It looked like some kind of chub - definitely not something I'd consider eating. He saw me about to release it and yelled, "Hey mon you don't want that!!??" I said no, and that it didn't look like it was something he'd want to eat, at all. He said toss it in the bucket and he'd grill it up, so I obliged. He had a nice crappie and a perch in the bucket already. I didn't mind the encounter at all.

However, a few minutes later I caught a little smallie, and there was no freakin' chance I was gonna sacrifice one of those beautiful little critters so he could grill it up. I unhooked it with my back to him and quickly threw her back  8-)

The river has a tremendous population of fish and I didn't mind the guy keeping fish, even if they were a little undersized. Plus, he was not the most successful fisherman I've come across. However, if I saw any smallies in that bucket, my ninja instincts may have manifested themselves in a very dangerous way  

[wgilfus81]

I dont mind a guy keeping fish as long as he is following the law when doing it. However when someone is breaking the law, thats when I lose it. I fish heavily at a local pond that is catch and release only, and it makes my blood pressure go up about ten points when I see someone taking fish with them. I like your idea of talking and trying to rationally explain things to the guy, but as it has already been said on here, just be careful, we all know there are some less than stable folks out there

[Hookemdown.]

Once again, it boils down to this.

People fish for different reasons.  If he was abiding the fishing regulations and not keeping too many fish or shorts, then he can do whatever he wants.  He has the right to keep those fish no matter how unethical it may seem to you.

However, it he was breaking the regulations (which I can't stand, especially hunting regulations) call the DNR.  It's your responsibility to report guys like this.

[little_stephen]

Ive got a mixed oppinion here.... first of all, I proudly wear my B.A.S.S. patch on my tackle bag, so keep in mind that you represent any club, or goupr that you may be in, and not only that, but you represent the general fishing populus...... So ive found it best whenever you handle things really calmly and respectfully. If it gets to yelling, youve gone WAY to far, back of and call a ranger. Second of all, that guys breaking all kinds of laws doing what you said, turn him in. I wouldnt hang around if i saw that, Id walk to my car, call the authorities then leave once youve identified him to them.

I will say that Ive confronted one guy on the simple grounds of common curtesy. He was smoking and swearing and getting in the way of a group of younger anglers at my local lakes public pier. Turns out he calmed down, but the ranger asked him to see his lisc. later and he got tossed.      It's our responsibility to help the authorities identify trouble, not to start it.

But I think you handled it well, I wont lie.... I woulda made sure he saw me toss the fish back.

Bottom line, it pays off to be educated, I carry the Ohio Fishing Regulations packet with me in my tackle bag for a reason..... Its come in handy more than once.      Just use common sense and let cool heads prevail. Then go back and fish the spots he missed once hes gone....

[little_stephen]

oh.... one thing nice this guy did do...... he got so mad he chucked his ultralight rod into the lake after he lost a crappie he had hooked.... then stormed off the pier (seperate day)     and i looked over, saw that the line had hooked on the railing.... and pulled out a NICE ultra light setup...... this 10 year old was eyeballing me with that pole. I asked him if he wanted it.....  ;D  that kid went home with a new fishing pole! lol   the next day was when that guy got banned from the county park system for life for drinking on the same pier.......      ;Dmade that little kids day!

[Brian_Reeves]

You handled it way better than I would have.  I'm not against people catching fish...but as soon as someone gets testy with me, I boil over quickly.  I don't know if I was genetically pre-programed to lose my temper or what, but I probably would have thrown that dude in the lake as soon as he started yelling.