Catch & Release Vs. Keep and eat

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Make sure to eat some cage bird before your nap! 

The the other night the Chinese restaurant pooched my chicken and broccoli combo and sub'd in shrimp instead. I gobbled it up. I've caught, cleaned, and eaten flounder and fluke, but they aren't scarce here like bass are, and I didn't have a feeling about that. Plus, bass here are more like my pets. Pets that I don't mind terrorizing with sharp objects for my pleasure. I've never claimed to be sane

[CrashVector]

If I want fish to eat, I go catch big bluegills or a few catfish.

 

Bass are okay, and I DO keep some in the 1-3lb range to eat on occasion.

 

The law is the law for a reason.  As long as you stay within the limits, then you are 100% good to go,no matter what anyone else thinks.

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

The the other night the Chinese restaurant pooched my chicken and broccoli combo and sub'd in shrimp instead. I gobbled it up. I've caught, cleaned, and eaten flounder and fluke, but they aren't scarce here like bass are, and I didn't have a feeling about that. Plus, bass here are more like my pets. Pets that I don't mind terrorizing with sharp objects for my pleasure. I've never claimed to be sane

I’m like George Costanza when it comes to shrimp. My buddy does some work in Mississippi sometimes and brings back a giant igloo cooler full, like one you could lay in 

[PhishLI]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m like George Costanza when it comes to shrimp.

I have a hard time being pulled away from the shrimp cocktail platter at weddings, especially after my 3rd Long Island Iced Tea.

[gim]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m like George Costanza when it comes to shrimp.

The ocean called, they're running out of shrimp!

 

[BrianMDTX]

I’m “lucky” in that 99% of my fishing is in waters that are C&R only. Even so, I would not keep a bass to eat anymore. Don’t care if others do so legally. I’d rather let ‘em go. 

[Smells like fish]

Bass are our friends, don’t eat your friends you sicko’s!! 

[Skunkmaster-k]

I’ve eaten quite a few friends. 

[Smells like fish]

You have good taste in friends!! Or is that you have good tasting friends? 

[PhishLI]

10 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

I’ve eaten quite a few friends.

That's my specialty, especially after my 3rd Long Island Iced Tea.

[Smells like fish]

This conversation would be interpreted much differently in New Guinea ?

[padlin]

I've eaten 3 bass, roughly 20 years ago. My 1st 1 lb'er, 1st 2 lb'er, and the 1st 3 lb'er. Decided it wasn't worth the effort and mess to clean them as opposed to buying a pound of salmon at the market.

 

Don't have a problem if others keep them as long as they follow the rules. It does tick me off when I see the guys on TV with a cooler full of anything they can catch.

 

[NoShoes]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

Perhaps.  I'll counter that with "if you eat a 2 pound bass, it won't make it to 5 pounds."

There’s only so much food in the lake. Less competition makes bigger bass. (To an extent of course, you can over harvest small ponds and stuff)

[Skunkmaster-k]

1 hour ago, Smells like fish said:

This conversation would be interpreted much differently in New Guinea ?

I need a bone through my nose and a disk in my bottom lip. 

[Woody B]

2 hours ago, padlin said:

Decided it wasn't worth the effort and mess to clean them as opposed to buying a pound of salmon at the market.

I don't even go to that much effort.  I go to a restaurant.  They'll give me all the fish I want, already cooked with all the trimmings.  All I have to do is give them some money.   

[mrpao]

I tried spotted bass for the first time about two week ago. I will say, not too bad. Slightly better flavor rhan largemouth.

My local like is full or 12" to 15" spotted bass. So i decided to keep a few to try.

I usually catch and release, unless i accidentally gut hook a bass. Then it comes home with me.

I still much prefer catfish, crappie, white perch to the taste of bass though.

[newapti5]

On 8/14/2008 at 9:47 AM, lknbassman said:

God gave man "rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on earth". Genesis 1:26

 

Amen! I was just about to quote that. I personally don't eat much fish, but I would keep some for friends who asked for one.

[Big Hands]

A friend and I fished together one day and caught fish of many different species, so we decided to have a contest to see which one tasted best. Catfish, crappie, bluegill, trout and bass in a side-by-side taste test. Bass finished in last place.

 

I haven't kept a bass in close to thirty years. I don't have a problem with folks that eat fish they catch as it is certainly within the law to do so. I just got to a point that I was fishing so much that if I kept the bass I caught, I would need a large dedicated freezer just for that. So, I just quit keeping them altogether. 

 

I parsed out my feelings about it and decided that I really didn't get any joy from eating them, but I do love to catch them. 

 

I do fear that if C-n-R became the law of the land, that it might open the door for further legislation to consider fishing to be harassing wildlife. 

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

I do fear that if C-n-R became the law of the land, that it might open the door for further legislation to consider fishing to be harassing wildlife. 

PETA believes it's assault - they want to ban even farming fish.

[schplurg]

Quote

Bass are our friends, don’t eat your friends.....

 

This may not be a popular viewpoint, but I doubt the bass consider us their friends. Let's be honest, we basically torture them for fun. They hate us and would eat us if they could.

 

Knowing this, I still fish but I don't kid myself into thinking that it is anything other than that, or that I have some special camaraderie or connection with the bass. That's just us kidding ourselves. By the way, this response isn't directed at the person making this quote so I removed the name from it.

 

I may one day switch to fishing for food. I read a review about the movie "A River Runs Through It" where they explain "Don't worry none of the fish were harmed during the filming. Enlightened fisherman catch and release......"

 

I disagree. The enlightened angler fishes for food. The more I hike and get closer to nature the more I think about this. It's hard for me to say I love nature when I catch and sometimes damage fish just for kicks. And let's not even talk about tournaments.

 

Like I said I still fish for bass and C&R but it is something I think about. Humans have a knack for ignoring things they'd rather ignore, and I'm human.

 

If it ever bothers me enough I will stop. If not I won't. I just like to be honest with myself about what I am doing.

[Munkin]

I tried bass like 25 years ago and did not care for it? The DNR stopped me one day and checked my livewell to see if I had any fish. I told hit no as I like to just catch them. He then asked if I ate fish which I replied Haddock and that I would keep any that I caught in the Upper Potomac River. He laughed and said he gave me permission to keep any and all haddock that I caught.

 

Allen