Catch and Release the Pros vs. the Cons

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ben Holten on June 23, 2009 at 5:34pm

What about economic impact? Moses Lake has gained breat popularity the last 2 years due to the ability to catch 20 pound limits. This has led brought a lot of money into the city. If those fish are being fried up the city wouldn't have the economic gains.... which in my opinion is a big benefit to letting those 3 pound plus fish go.

And for those who like to eat them go to non-tournament waters and have at it. Or keep the little ones. You may not own a motel, but motels pay taxes, and motel owners eat at your restaurants...etc. It all trickles down.

Permalink Reply by Ben Hanes on June 23, 2009 at 6:06pm

Sometimes I get wrapped up about even keeping the 12 inchers, but I admit they can be pretty tasty, especially if caught in cooler water. I agree with many of the above comments, in that population control can become necessary when too many small fish reside in a particular body of water. For example, when I was a kid, there was a pond near my house that we planted. I was twelve so I cannot be held legally responsible. lol....Anyways, we planted it with two buckets full of largies. They were about 8-11 inches at the time....Within three years, that pond had the most fantastic fishing that I could ever remember, even now. With a huge foodsource and warm water, it's amazing how fast fish can grow! After about three years, however, the bigger fish began spawning and had offspring; these offspring became very competitive and eventually overtook the lake. It got to the point where you were lucky if you could catch a fish over 2lbs, even if it was in the evening or morning. I remember after a few years, I began seeing dead fish every once in a while, and most of them were decent sized. I believe they may have died from starvation, as one could go there and catch at least 60 little guys no problem.

There is something to be said about fish management. Sometimes you've got to do this. Other times, I just can't get myself to keep those smaller fish, like in the Hanford Reach.

Permalink Reply by Chris Blandi on June 23, 2009 at 6:42pm

Great topic Eric, last post and this one.
I'll agree with Tag first off, Marc M's post are very much appreciated.
Were all the Banks lake fish during the Qualifier required to be released? In our club we were considering a fish fry at either Banks or Roosevelt (only the little ones) I personally would never keep a fish over 12 inches, and I rarely gut hook them so almost all fish return to the water with me. If I ever got my butt over to enjoy Banks, I would probably keep 5 or so to help out the fishery and I encourage others to also. A co-worker is begging me to take my boat there, so we'll thin some of the small fish out (only SM of course).
For the record seeing 3-4 lbers dead out of Lake WA makes me vomit.

Eric, if you hear any more info from the WDFW about shocking those fed way lakes, let me know. I'll know which lakes to stay off of due to lack of fish.

Permalink Reply by Shawn O'Connell on June 23, 2009 at 6:44pm

Nice new topic. It is hard not to get emotionally charged over this subject. Following is a prime example why:

I live on the Columbia on Lake Pateros and have some very nice areas that I frequent. The population is small, unlike the Okanogan river, but the fish are super high quality. Over the last two years the migrant workers have been fishing from shore with popcans and worms and keeping every smallie they catch. Sometimes they will have ten or more handlines each. I understand perfectly and respect the fact that they are more than likely feeding their family with them, but I still get worked up when I see a guy with a five gallon can of 2 to 4 pound smallmouth.

Many of these areas have all but dried up and it is a real shame because these are quality fish. Last year I caught two over six within a few days of each other. One was with WCCT and we probably caught a five fish 20 pound limit in one drift(approximately 30 minutes).

Needless to say, I can see that there are pros and cons, but myself I will always practice c&r, having personally seen the ill effects of table fishing.

Permalink Reply by kzoo on June 23, 2009 at 7:35pm

Another factor is health hazards. The larger fish have been here for a while accumulating local contamination over the years. Heavy metals and PCB will store away in the fish fat cell. If you're going to keep fish to eat, eat the smaller ones, they've haven't been around that long.

Permalink Reply by chad huffman on June 23, 2009 at 9:05pm

eric and everyone else im sorry for losing it earlier. im not a rich man i love to fish and i keep fish out of certain lakes i fish a lake near my house where almost every cast you get a hit and there all about 8 inchs it has been like this for years and if you catcha fish over a pound you have a monster. fish like that i return the 8 inchers i like to take home. alot of times i fish with buddies who dont fish alot and they like to be able to eat what they catch. i take them to that lake and they have alot of fun and catch there first bass. i release all bass in lakes other than this and a few others around the state i have caught big fish before like at clear lake and terrell those fish always go back even the small ones. i dont like killing the bigger ones they produce alot more 8 inchers for me to catch and eat. and im hoping that if i keep catching fish like we have and keeping them out of that lake near my house we will see better quality. i understand how keeping fish can hurt a population but when the population becomes to big for there enviroment they can suffer also. i wanted to clear the air a bit more rationally. i just dont like to seeing people attacked on here. thank you for reposting and putting it in a better way.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on June 23, 2009 at 9:49pm

I removed the post Steve and regrettably the excellent information you provided was taken down.

There was a comment made at the end that I cannot repeat but was definitely racist. It was not within my control to remove one reply so I had to delete the entire discussion.

I also felt I had unfairly focused the discussion on one angler so I was thinking it would be best to remove it anyways.

I want to emphasize that I DID NOT delete the topic because a few people got on my case or disagreed with me.

If you could re-post the health risks you could possibly help the meat hunters avoid further brain damage :-) (That was a joke, so don't freak out on me)

Steve Hastings said:

I'd Like to know who removed the previous post, and why. I believe there was a lot of value on the topic in that post too. I for one would like to see it returned.

A tip regarding the online, ego based, bickering... read your post out loud to yourself and if what you hear, you wouldn't say to someone's face its better to not send it. You are after all representing yourself and people are absolutely forming opinions about you based on your posts. Connotation does not translate in the written word very well... especially in forums and email, where little time is invested. ... hmmm ....Had that very conversation over some posts over the weekend at the Fed qualifiers.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on June 23, 2009 at 9:50pm

You should tell that to the guy in the red and yellow kayak towing around a huge stringer of 3lb smallies during the spawn.

Ben Holten said:

What about economic impact? Moses Lake has gained breat popularity the last 2 years due to the ability to catch 20 pound limits. This has led brought a lot of money into the city. If those fish are being fried up the city wouldn't have the economic gains.... which in my opinion is a big benefit to letting those 3 pound plus fish go.

And for those who like to eat them go to non-tournament waters and have at it. Or keep the little ones. You may not own a motel, but motels pay taxes, and motel owners eat at your restaurants...etc. It all trickles down.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on June 23, 2009 at 9:53pm

I am glad to see you sticking around Chad. Your input is valuable and I took your response into consideration when I fine tuned my opinions.

Now I think we need to all get together, hold hands, and sing Cumbaya My Lord to complete the healing process.

chad huffman said:

eric and everyone else im sorry for losing it earlier. im not a rich man i love to fish and i keep fish out of certain lakes i fish a lake near my house where almost every cast you get a hit and there all about 8 inchs it has been like this for years and if you catcha fish over a pound you have a monster. fish like that i return the 8 inchers i like to take home. alot of times i fish with buddies who dont fish alot and they like to be able to eat what they catch. i take them to that lake and they have alot of fun and catch there first bass. i release all bass in lakes other than this and a few others around the state i have caught big fish before like at clear lake and terrell those fish always go back even the small ones. i dont like killing the bigger ones they produce alot more 8 inchers for me to catch and eat. and im hoping that if i keep catching fish like we have and keeping them out of that lake near my house we will see better quality. i understand how keeping fish can hurt a population but when the population becomes to big for there enviroment they can suffer also. i wanted to clear the air a bit more rationally. i just dont like to seeing people attacked on here. thank you for reposting and putting it in a better way.

Permalink Reply by Rodney Heupel on June 23, 2009 at 11:00pm

This is a very good thread once again. Having fished the WBC tourney this weekend on Banks, as always so many little (less than 12 inch) small mouth bass. Way to many, also noticed some of the bigger small mouth bass weren't as healthy, where on the thin side. It is all about resourses managment and education of all the people.

Permalink Reply by BigBass Dez on June 24, 2009 at 10:54am

C&R Bass is a very important to me personaly as a "sport angler" ..I personaly dont keep any bass non keepers /keepers .. I have yet to bring any dead fish to the scale in any tourney iv fished and im proud to say that (rare)!! I dont like the thought of knowing people are keeping 3lb+ bass etc , However will have to point out the state of mind factor here guys .. There are many "general anglers" that really dont know the impact they make on a body of water when removing big bass . I do believe in most case it's due to the lack of knowledge behind bass fish as a species . If a perch fisherman is on the bank at seward park throwing live worms for perch all day when all of a sudden a 3lb+ bass gets on there line , man on man that fish is viewed as just a "BIG FISH" to that angler .. yep he is happy as hell watching that puppie flop around the ground and all the other shore anglers comes over and gives that guy high fives,congrads , etc ..

Now this guys state of mind is that "I just got a big fish today" and he is stoked about it .. He is not concerned with the age of that fish , how many exsist in that body of water , what kind of impact he is making by taking that fish home etc .. Now dont get me wrong here , im not saying that his or her defense is pure ignorance , But i view it as another angler not in the know !! If i had a chat with this guy and explained to him the age of that fish and all the health risk that he puts himself or his family in by eating that pig , it might make him change his mine as he drives home .. Unfortunately , this situation happens more often than we know and in some cases that angler will just get a photo of the fish and throw it away in the trash can based on the conversation that took place after the fish has died ... To non sport anglers , i get hit with the question "why dont you keep those fish " all the time!! ..SAD DEAL HERE !!

Threads like this does help a little to the anglers that are not in the know , but if we really look at the members on here we are doing good to get one random angler to look at things different because we are all mostly in the know ..Me personaly, I think that the WDFW should make more efforts in explaining these topics and the importance of C&R for keeper size bass in the regs books .. But there again we are still talking about Washington State were the pretty colorful fish will always get priority over the bronzebacks and greenfish any day of the week .. SAD DEAL HERE!!

To sum my thoughts up , i really dont know who to be pissed at more . The anglers dragging three 4lbrs on a rope back to his truck , or WDFW for not being more protective of the fish that "WE" care about .. All i can do is educate anglers any chance i get and continue to always practice C&R as a bass angler , that last time i ate a bass i was 12years old and it left a bad taste in my mouth ..lol " i had no ideal what life had planed for me " lol

That my 2 cents ..

DEZ "The Rookie"

Permalink Reply by Ben Holten on June 24, 2009 at 11:19am

I don't know if Joe Blow pearch fisherman is going to have much of an effect on the bass fishing. I just don't think they catch that many of them. The ones that scare me are the ones who target them, and than to add to it don't stay in the limit. I know guys here who go out on Moses and have kept 2 largemouth over 5 pounds and keep 10 or so a year. His comment to me was that if he is going to pay for his license than he is going to keep him. Needless to say he doesn't get invited on my boat, Chad's boat, or Nicks boat anymore...have fun buddy...

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