Release vs Keep

[Toni]

I know that mine is not a popular view on this subject, but I will weigh in all the same.

I keep almost all of the fish I catch. I tried to target bass for a while, but found that the gear is more expensive than I can afford and the fish do not taste as good as pan fish or trout. So if I did catch an accidental bass I would release it…not likely though.

when I do catch fish it helps to supplement my food budget.

Lewis

DITTO for me.

[Fisherman_max]

WARMWATERS (and trout): as some others have said when i keep a large bass (only happened once) i feel bad about it later especially when it was pre-spawn and it was full of eggs, and i feel bad carma just engulf me next time i fish. besides to me bass tastes terrible. also whenever i catch a trout in a lake that is heavely stocked and i know there is no holdover fish i C&R, to me fresh stocked trout tastes mushy and gross no matter how you cook it. bluegill, perch, and crappie taste awsome! and i usually fry them up in a batter of some kind. and i have never tried catfish but i plan on it someday.



SALMON/STEELHEAD: to me the best tasting fish especially smoked!! also i love salmon that has been wood planked! nothing is better. i have not had the pleasure of eating this fish after i caught it but i hope to soon.

[Derrick-k]

One storry I heard about keeping steelhead upset me, One of my dad's freinds back in the day got into some good steelheading, long storry short he kept 9 native hens, he wanted eggs for bait, that night he didnt have an ice box so he just put them outside and covered with ice. The next morning he awoke and they where all torn to bits by racoons. All nine fish going to wast.

[michaelunbewust]

i keep all panfish/trout/smallmouths. i save $3000 a year on my grocery bill. alot of people would get on me about the smallies. but they are taking over our state, and currently a number of popular lakes/res. have no-limits on them (potholes), and the state is encouraging people to retain them. i eat fish 2+ times a week. and i cant believe the number of people who dont like the taste of bass, it is $15-$20 per pound in other countries (a delicacy). i do not eat the trout i catch, but i give them to the senoir citizens that live in my complex. they are SO grateful for the time i take to drop off a limit of trout, that they can no longer get out and catch, i get all kinds of cakes/pies during the holidays, just for remembering them when i get back from a fishing trip. i have a freezer for fish and a freezer for game. i list on the outside of said freezer, of what is inside, to be sure i dont go against any retaining regulatuions, because i do so many cast-n-blast trips. now, on the other hand, i volunteer countless hours to statewide projects that improves fishery's all over the state. you see, i give back a little for what i take!

[Anglinarcher]

Tough question, tough answers. I agree that this should be a matter of choice, as long as you are within the law.

The year before I got married (27+ years ago) I set out to catch 1000 fish that year. I released all 1000, but 1001 was kept and eaten.

When my "new" wife found out later that I had not kept any, she .....well.... let's say I bring home fish now. No purchased fish is as good as a fresh fish, period.

But, do I keep all of the fish I catch now? No way. I love to catch Tiger Muskies, but I won't mount one and I could not force myself to eat such a wonderfully fish. I won't keep a wild Steelhead, no matter what the rules are for that body of water.

I do keep hatchery trout when plentiful. But if I kept everything I caught, I'd get a lot less trips in now wouldn't I.

Consider one thing. Catch and Release is great, but the value of the resource is limited if none are kept. When some fish are kept, the resource becomes valuable to the State, and therefore to the money managers that keep the resource protected.

Consider another thing. A lack of people keeping smallmouth bass in Lake Roosevelt is contributing to an overpopulation.

In short, there are times that we should keep fish.