stel 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 Ok, I know this subject is a touchy subject but please, let's keep this clean and respect other opinions. I am writing an essay for catch and release opinions and some other stuff. I would like to see everyone opinions and what you think of it. I have done some searches and have come up with a lot of different opinion but there are alot more members here and would like to here there. I want to here everything you think of catch and release fishing. If it's like a religion to you, let me know stuff like that. How many days a year do you fsih? Do you keep every fish you catch? What do you fish for? Whats your favorite fish to eat? What is the best way to release any fish? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flymaster 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 oh you are brave and asking for abuse with a post like this. but here it goes for me i will be nice. i release 99% of my trout i catch and all of the smallmouth i catch. but that isn't to say when i catch one with that magic size i won't keep him for a mount. but i don't see anything wrong with keeping a few trout to eat. i won't keep any in spec. regs. stream like 12" min. or things like that. but in put and take i will keep a few. i mean very few a year. my wife won't eat it but i like trout. i won't freeze them i like them fresh. but some people even frown on that. I disagree though. i passed a well known guide on Holston river the last time i kept fish and he looks at me and said "well i see you done well today" kinda snotty like. i killed 3 rainbows and no browns they have a special place in my heart. so i spare them. but he acted like i dry cleaned the river. i released probably 10 or better that day and picked out 3 skillet sized 8-12 inch bows. but i guess i wasn't fitting into the fly fishing purist attitude. i have a catch and release sticker on the ride and support c&r all i can but in a river with a great trout population what did i hurt? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 Best guesses 1. 50 days 2. no 3. trout, salmon, steelhead, perch, crappie, bluegills, walleye 4. panfish (gills, perch, crappie) through the ice. 5. best way: tighten the drag and break them off cleanly but any way is safer than keeping them. No fish has ever survived the stringer that I know of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dabalone 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I release most of what I catch, between my son and I we catch a lot of fish every year. We will keep a few salmon for the smoker, a few striper and a few largemouth. I really do not like trout and have always released almost all of them keeping a couple now and then to give to family members or friends that do not get out so its the only way they will get fresh caught fish. I release all steelhead and smallmouth. I love seafood and most of my life I have taken my fish and seafood from the ocean. I have been spearing fish, collecting abalone, lobster, rock scallops since I was 16 and never really cared for freshwater fish that much. Slowing down with the diving these days, the cold water and rugged conditions on our North Coast takes a toll on this old man these days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bear Coat 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I really don't think you opened any can of worms here, at least not with me. I mostly Practice Catch and Release but I have on occasions Practice Selective Harvest. So I will make this as simple as possible. How many days a year do you fish? - I try to get out about 50 times a year. Planning on more days this year. Shooting for 100 Do you keep every fish you catch? - No, unless I only catch one and had plans for eating fish that day or if the fish is badly injuried. What do you fish for? - Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Rockbass, Bluegills, Crappies, Channel Catfish, Largermouth Bass, Walleye, Perch. Whats your favorite fish to eat? - Bluegills or Walleye, tough choice but put me down for Bluegills What is the best way to release any fish? - If at all possible, avoid touching the fish providing that the fish is not all played out. If not, using wet hands, after the hook is removed, work the fish back and forth until the fish is capable of swimming off on its own power. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 How many days a year do you fsih? Depends. Right now, NOT ENOUGH! When I was working and healthy, about 150+ days a year. Have prime SRC locations on my route at work. So would fish that and resident silvers alot. Do you keep every fish you catch? Nope. Only a small percentage. Have alot of moratoriums on species nowadays out here. But only keep a fraction. Maybe 5%. Which is more then enough. Release all smaller species (ie. trout, cutts, and dollies) What do you fish for? Steelhead, Kings, Silvers, Chums, Sturgeon, and then whatever incidentally may be in river at same time (cutts, dollies, etc). Whats your favorite fish to eat? Hands down sturgeon. Just love the taste of them. What is the best way to release any fish? IN MY BELLY!!!! Actually, keep fish in water as much as possible. Try not to net fish, unless you have the soft mesh nets (and then still try not to net). Make sure hand is wet, or you have a wet towel to grab tail. Use barbless hooks (if you plan on mostly C&R). And use strong enough rod to bring fish in fairly fast. Give yourself a fight, but don't tax the fish to death to bring it in (like using a 6wt here for our big native steelhead, can be done but you'll have fish near death by time it's to the bank). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uncletube 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I average about 75 days a year on the water hopefully more this year. By no means would I even consider keeping every thing I caught. I have said it before "We as fishermen are all shepards of the waters we fish". a good shepard doesn't dissimate the herd , rather takes only what he/ she needs and is going to use. Of all of the fish I ever caught I only kept one for a mount . A big old bucket mouth Black Bass. Unfortunatly the fish stayed in the freezer and was wasted . this happend 20 years ago and I still feel bad about it.Now I have a digital cam so , this aint gonna happen no more. I fish for Bluegills,Red ear ,Black bass, Small mouth,Warmouth, Crappie, White Bass, Trout and Salmon My favorite to eat hands down. Gills and Crappie The way I release my fish is First I will try not to play him too long , I will only use a net if I intend to keep the fish. I cool my hand in the stream and gently cradle the fish under his belly , don't squeese him . I fish barbless so the hook 99.9% of the time is fairly easy to remove. Try not to keep him out of water too long. the less handling the better. For fish that have been played hard I will face him up stream and by gently holding his tail resusatate him by moving him back and fourth in the current to help the fish force water through his gills. When he is ready to go he will let know and swim off under his own power. I haven't killed a fish that haven't wanted to or had to for many years. Hope this helped Tube For one that is hung deep I will cut the line and leave the fly, the hook will rust out fairly fast with little or no harm to the fish . When I go to release him using the tail hold method if the fish acts sluggish and he wants to belly up instead of swim off I will then kill it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I rarely take a fish, it's not that I have a moral aversion to it, I just don't. Here in FL we seem to have two types of fishermen, C&R's like myself and meat fishermen that take everything they legally can (and sometimes illegally). So, to answer your questions: How many days a year do you fish? 50 to 100 Do you keep every fish you catch? No What do you fish for? Snook, Redfish, Spec. Trout, Pompano, Permit, Bonefish, Tarpon, Black Drum, Jacks. And Trout when I'm on vacation in MT or NC. Whats your favorite fish to eat? Dorado What is the best way to release any fish? Ketchum Release, a really neat tool to un-hook a fish. If I'm taking a pic I use a Boga Grip to hold the fish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I try to fish every weekend, unless the weather is just too inclimate. That would reduce the count to maybe 45 weekends. It would be safe to say that I fish about 100 days a year. Do I keep fish? Sure. The taste of lox, or fried fish excites me. Add the need for spawn and about 25 fish a year find themselves under my knife. This may seem like a lot, but considering some are 30+ fish days it's only a fraction. On some waters we imposed our own size restriction. Fish in my boat on these waters and all fish (trout) over 14" must be released. My dad didn't care for that when he was forced to release an 18" brown....LOL As far as releasing fish, I try to do this as quick as possible. Keep them in the water, snap a quick photo and off they go after burping the fish in moving water. Most of my fishing is for trout and steelhead. I do love to eat perch and on occasion I find myself staring into a hole in the ice for them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 How many days a year do you fsih? I dunno. From Spring to Fall I average one day a week, but some years see me up to 4 days a week. During Winter I may go once or twice a month at best. Do you keep every fish you catch? Nope. What do you fish for? Everything that swims. I'm not joking around, I really do fish for everything at some point in time. Heck, I've spent hours catching Creek Chubs on a dry fly before. Whats your favorite fish to eat? Cod. What is the best way to release any fish? Without touching it or removing it from the water. Love those barbless hooks! While I am largely C&R, I don't have anything against anyone keeping fish under legal allowance. I keep more Panfish than anything, but have nothing against keeping bass once in a while. Walleye and Sauger rock, Flathead is like sugar on the tongue, but I don't like Trout unless it's smoked. I'll never keep a fish soley to have it mounted because from my understanding of the process, the meat is all lost, and that is truly a waste. Would I keep a fish to be mounted if the flesh could be saved? Yup. I'm in favor of well-informed, studied regulations on conservation, but hate it when guys freak out on me because I've kept one fish for the table. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 10, 2004 How many days a year do you fish? - I try to get out about 50 times a year, last year was really bad had alot of medical problems. Planning on more days this year. Do you keep every fish you catch? - Early on in the season I keep alot of them only because my stock in the freezer is gone. During the spawn I try to release any females or unless one gets hooked really bad and will die if I don't. What do you fish for? - Anything and everything, I've never believed in the purist crap, I believe anyone hooked really bad on the purist thing needs to put their rods up for a while or remember what it was like catching their first fish. Whats your favorite fish to eat? - I love perch and crappie, trout second, but I eat it all at one time or another. What is the best way to release any fish? - Any to be released try to keep in the water, if he's all played out keep the fish and your hands in the water get the hook out and work the fish back and forth until the fish is capable of swimming off on its own power. I personally don't like the phrase "Catch and Release", I like the In-fisherman quote "Catch your limit but limit your catch". I've been in a few discussion where people have actually called me a savage for keeping a fish, and I just answer back that: Based on Wallop-Broux/Robertson-Pittman act you pay a tax on sporting goods and licenses that goes into the fund which ulitimetly sp? comes back to the states. I feel with all the money I spend I wish to keep some for the table I'll do it and if that upsets someone else OH WELL!! Fatman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lance Kekel 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 How many days a year do you fish? somewhere on average between 30-50 "depending". Lose a lot of time to my bird dogs in the fall. Do you keep every fish you catch? I keep on average 5 trout/salmon a year. 2-3 steelhead and a couple stream trout, usually out of larger non-regulated heavily stocked put/take areas. What do you fish for? Browns, brookies, rainbows and steelhead. warm water White bass, gills, smallmouth and largemouth bass. Whats your favorite fish to eat? 'panfish fillets pan-fried in flour Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fish 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 How many days a year do you fsih? not many unfortunately, say 25 Do you keep every fish you catch? no. I do not keep any unless they are injured to a point where I think it will die anyway. That rarely happens though. What do you fish for? brook trout and Atlantic salmon, but rainbows and cutthroats and browns if I make it out to BC Whats your favorite fish to eat? haddock What is the best way to release any fish? leave it in the water if you can. Wash the deet off your hands before you touch the fish Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I fish average around 75 or so days a year. Trout,steelie's.salmon,smallmouth,perch,walleye ...for the most part release all trout,all steelhead,90% of the salmon,release smallmouth over 17"'s keep perch over 8" and keep walleye most the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmallieKiller 0 Report post Posted March 11, 2004 How many days a year do you fish? Usually around 150 or so I'd say. I have the luxury of going at lunch in the summer though and a wife who grows tired of me quickly. Do you keep every fish you catch? Not really. My mother likes to eat trout and steelies, so I keep a good bit of those. Other than that, it all goes back. What do you fish for? Anything that swims. Whats your favorite fish to eat? Kinda partial to smoked salmon, but probably swordfish and yellowfin steaks What is the best way to release any fish? Keep 'em in the water and pop that fly out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
