Catch And Release? What Are Your Thoughts?

[ctf58]

First let me say I do practice Catch and Release. I've only ate Bass 1 time and it was a deeply hooked fish that went belly up.

With that being said what do you guys and girls think about catch and release in a large reservoir like Kentucky Lake. I've read plenty of articles "for" and for lack of a better word "against" the practice. I know there are some big bass in KY lake, but I wonder what would happen if keeping your catch was encouraged for something like 2 years or a slot limit encouraging fishermen to "Keep" 15" to 18" bass for a couple of years. Do you think that by reducing a certain year class of bass for 2 years could or would benefit the fishery? I know that Ky Lake is huge but you always here "95% of the bass live in 10% of the water". The catch rate might fall the following years but would the 18'+ bass have a chance to grow faster and with less competition? Just wondering if that little nudge would help or hurt on a lake that size.

If a small lake (500acres or smaller) can overpopulate why can't a larger lake?

[Flukeman]

You are looking at the wrong end of the equation. You need to be looking at the food end (bait fish) of the lake to even decide if it is overpopulated. If there is plenty of food, there is no issue of too many bass.

[Nitrofreak]

You are looking at the wrong end of the equation. You need to be looking at the food end (bait fish) of the lake to even decide if it is overpopulated. If there is plenty of food, there is no issue of too many bass.

I agree here too, as far as catch and release, I do the same thing, I have no problems with people who eat bass at all, I do it from time to time myself, they are very tasty fish, but what I really really hate is people who kill the fish for no reason other than to have it as a trophy to show off to their friends etc...

[Raul]

You are looking at the wrong end of the equation. You need to be looking at the food end (bait fish) of the lake to even decide if it is overpopulated. If there is plenty of food, there is no issue of too many bass.

Nicely put.

[Colton Neal]

Sometimes catch and release is necessary if a population isn't doing well. Other times catching and harvesting is helpful to a lakes health due to overpopulation. Also, it depends if lake management wants bigger fish or more fish to catch. So then they'll make a creel limit or slot limit accordingly.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

Stick with the rules and regulations of the state and there shouldn't be a problem.

[aclark609]

I agree with you on keeping smaller fish to weed out the competition for bigger fish in some lakes, but Kentucky Lake is known for its massive shad population, from what I've read and heard, so I don't think it would be a problem as much on that lake, but also, for a fish to grow to a massive size, it has to have the genetics as well as a prime food source that is readily available. The share lunker program would do wonders with that if everyone who caught a double digit bass would participate. Is the share lunker program still around?

[grimlin]

My buddy takes home Bass every so often.....I have no problems with it to be quite honest. He follows the rules and regulations.

I'm strictly C&R for the most part.

[Bass-minded]

I fish a small pond in my neighbor's property. Besides him and me, there are very few who know about it. The fish population is great, and every once and a while I will take a bass home to eat. But, if some how everyone in the area found out that there are a lot of nice fish in there, and I saw that the population was hurting; I would practice catch and release and encourage every angler who fished there to do so also.

Hope this helps.

[tomustang]

If its on your neighbors private property, than those poachers that come around to steal his livestock should be met with a gun

[WookieeJedi]

If it is too small, I toss them back; or if I only wind up with a couple. I'm not going to clean just two fish. Since I am in the deep South, I turn the really big ones back too. Any fish over 7 from around here just isn't going to taste right.

[SirSnookalot]

If its on your neighbors private property, than those poachers that come around to steal his livestock should be met with a gun

In a civilized society the police are called.

[tomustang]

In a civilized society the police are called.

No one would poach in a civilized society

[Bass-minded]

Just to clarify things, I live in the country, my neighbor is nice and doesn't run people of with a gun( at least not as long as I've known him).

But I set my own sort of slot limit; I tell myself that I can only keep 1-2 lb bass. It saves the larger fish and the many smaller ones too.

[ctf58]

I was using KY lake as an example. Yes there is plenty of shad, but I also hear how if we have a very cold winter and there is a shad die off that it will hurt the growth rate the following year. I was thinking about this because in deer hunting. I some states with a healthy population they have implemented a system of a slot limit of a certain rack size, be it by width or points, to encourage deer the opportunity to reach trophy size and data has shown that it is working. I think it would be interesting to see what if anything would happen. It would not hurt the fishermen that practice catch and release other asking them to help by taking a few home. Or the Dept of fish and wildlife could use all the tournaments as a way to collect fish in the "slot" for removal/ relocation.

[tugsandpulls]

the waters i fish have a lot of lead and mercury so i do all catch and release

[ww2farmer]

I like to eat fish, so I keep fish to eat. Not bass tho, mainly panfish. I am 100% C&R on public bass water. There are enough people that do keep, not to mention natural mortality, the unavoidable few that die from being caught, etc....that I don't feel the need to harvest. If I start seeing signs of stunting in my home lake, then yes, I will start to keep. So far thats not a problem.

On small private ponds however, it can be a problem. When we were building new ponds seemingly every other year on the farm a while ago, I was able to just stock one pond with the culls from another, and keep things in balance. Well we stopped building ponds, so I had the neighbors who built ponds take all the the bass they wanted, it still didn't put a dent in them. Now I have the latin american guys that work on the farm keeping every thing they catch for table fare, and they still pump out fish. In those cases C&R is a harmfull practice.

[dcorp]

I fish for fun not for food. I would never keep a bass even if I gut hook it. If I can't bring the hook through I cut the line and let it go. I have a really nice set of pliers and wire cuters in the boat so I almost never have to cut the line.

[jiggerpole]

_{Biologist will look at many factors in making a decision on any lake.}

_{In a huge lake it would be impossible to take into account everything. So sampling a section at a time over several years with the info they gather from various bass clubs, guides, ect. will determine catch creel limits, slot limits, and strategies for the future. One section of a lake may be doing great while another may not. One end may be more fertile than another area. This is common. It is my opinion that fisherman could help the biologist achieve their goals on a lake in question much faster if they better understood their goals. A slot limit for example is to protect a certain size bass or age class. This means that a bass not in that slot should be kept. Too many times fisherman will release a bass under the slot size when they would be better off keeping that smaller fish. And when a person catches a huge bass. Say double digits? It is a personal decision that emotion takes into account. The truth is, that bass has most likely lived out their life and may not live much longer and will likely not get much bigger. Of course releasing a bass of this size out of reverence to the bass or on the chance that you may catch it again is your personal choice. Weather you release that bass, hang it on a wall or eat it. It won't break the lake!}

[acajun2]

I fish a neighborhood pond of about 6 acres. Stocked with bass. My largest catch has been 6 lbs. As far as I know, I'm the only one that fishes the pond as the neighborhood is all retired folks that evidently don't fish. Here lately I've been taking out 1 1/2-2 lb-ers to eat because I was told that if the pond gets too many bass it is not good for the pond. Am I wrong? What would you do if you were me?

[Fish Chris]

I really don't care to eat Bass... maybe some small Spotted Bass (which overpopulate around here so easily anyway) but those giant Red Ear Sunfish I was catching last year were absolutely screamin' good ! 2 of them in the 1 1/2 to 2 lb range, made four fillets that filled me pretty well... and I eat a LOT, especially the protein portion of my meal.

Oh, and I kept a couple 10 to 14 lb Stripers, but released a whole bunch of bigger ones, up to 29.8 lbs

Oh.... and right at the end of the Sunfish bite, I finally bought an electric knife to fillet them (the ribs on those big sunfish were brutal !) and then Bam. The Sunfish are gone. So the knife is just waiting anxiously

Urg....

Getting kind of sick of farm raised Tilapia.... I need to start fishing for Orange Roughy, or Yellowfin tuna... or heck, Salmon, if we had any left ?

Peace,

Fish

PS, About those giant Sunfish, I had heard their was a 20 fish limit. Never saw anybody there to enforce it anyway. However, I believe I caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 Sunnies {for about 220 lbs } in about 6 trips, and yet, even as tasty as they were, I released probably 115 of them.... especially the 2 lb plus ones. I couldn't sleep good, knowing that I just annihilated an entire spawning bed.

Besides, I wanted to be able do it again this year, and the next.....

[200racing]

i seem to remember reading 10lbs per acre per year for ponds.

i keep bass quite often,nothing over 3lbs im not going to take someones pb home and fry it.

.i enjoy eating them and people really like being given fresh fish. i also like to keep tabs on what they are living off of.

another thing to remember is the powers at be dont alway really have the sportsmen best intrest in mind. they look at everything from a $$$$$ standpoint.

aside from places that carry a trophy lake rep and generate money that way. im sure many dnr's would rather have it where anybody could catch a good number of dinks from the bank at their public areas vs. a skilled angler in a boat catch a handful of quality fish. easy fishing =more people in the sport= more tackle and liscence bought.

just look at the red snapper. s it has a slot,1 fish limit and a short 45 day season. must be be a struggling species right?. when fishing with my cousin who lives on the gulf we have left spots because all we were getting were snapper and quickly going through our live bait we were trying to get grouper with.they were all very nice size,would have been great tablefare but they were off limits. many of his fishing buddies have similar stories. its hard to deny that the laws are setup for the tourist industry and their money, not the locals.

[cajun_flipper]

My thoughts are that it depends on where I am fishing. On smaller fisheries that could easily be damaged by taking fish out, I definitely practice CPR... Catch Photo Release. On larger rivers and lakes, I CFF... Catch, Filet, Fry. I never keep fish over 5lbs regardless of where I'm at in order to give them another shot at spreading their genes around and I NEVER fish the spawn.

I look at it similar to deer hunting. I don't catch and release them. With proper management, the herd is healthier with selective harvesting. It reduces competition for food, reduces disease spreading from over population, and is better for breeding (bass are cannibals after all). But I never, ever keep more than I can eat.

[Louisiangler]

Some fisherman erroneously assume that 'taking' or 'eating' a Bass is like the gravest sin a person could commit. I do not agree at all. I am from Louisiana, and fish are plentiful in nearly every natural body of water, so the majority of fisherman keep at least SOME fish, including Bass. Recent articles and studies tend to imply that this is actually a better practice than just the pure catch and release, because keeping some fish and releasing others is healthy for a Lake, since not every fish will become a trophy fish due to natural conditions and limitations.

People tend to look at Bass as if they are the apex predator in every body of water they inhabit when they are not....or at least they would not be. In areas where there is a healthy and wide variety of species you will find Otters, Alligators, Large Snapping Turtles, and even some Birds that ALL feed on fish...including Bass, be them fry or adults. The idea is that in a 'perfect world' some Bass would be culled from the population ANYWAY, in some shape, form or fashion. So a Lake that ONLY does catch and release that does not have a wide variety of species will actually be more detrimental in the long run.

Logically, a large female ready to spawn should be released, small, young bass should be released, and really big and healthy fish should be released to increase and encourage the breeding population, etc. But in my opinion and experience, pure catch and release can be problematic.

Taking some Bass from the population using GOOD JUDGEMENT is a good practice. It is no coincidence that many State Fishing Laws allow each fisherman to catch a certain amount of fish every day. In most Southern States its like 8 - 12 Bass/day per fisherman. If pure catch and release guaranteed the success of the breed than it would be a Law, but it isn't. Bass are NOT an endangered species, they are plentiful all over the US. They may seem to not be plentiful, but that might even be blamed on the countless ones that are released and become wary of certain sounds, colors and techniques associated with fisherman, some Bass may actually be getting smarter and learner what to avoid.

Bass are part of the same family as Bream, and everybody knows that Bream are an excellent fish to eat (if you don't mind a few bones), no needless to say they are a delicious fish to eat, and larger ones produce nice filets. Not as sweet as Tilapia, not as 'fishy' or 'gamey' as Catfish, and not as delicate as Bluegill.

Bass fisherman are a dedicated bunch, and it is excellent that so many have such respect for the fish, that ensures that Bass will be here a long time. However, we also dont want to be misled by our own self-conceived notions of honor, 'etiquette' and culture that we become extremist and zealots who treat Bass like they are some type of God-fish that must be returned and worshiped. The Native American Indian tribes caught fish too, mainly for consumption, but they were BALANCED with their practices. That is all we need to do today, educate ourselves, keep the waters clean, appreciate the fish, but maintain a good balance.

[Crestliner2008]

For me it's quite simple. I don't like to eat freshwater fish - period. I've eaten just about every species (except carp & eels), and none of 'em can hold a candle to saltwater species. So, for me, it's CPR only!