While I think this has some good merits I still can not understand how a person can sit in a spot catch and release 30-60 reds not keep one and brag about it. If I’m going to bury a hook in something I want to take it home. Why catch and release so many? Of that 30-60 I’ll take the argument that 3 or more die from the stress.
I’ve done it once, released more that 80 between two of us… never again.
I can not understand how some fisherman will not clean a fish, “I am not messing with that, too much work” but brag about how many they caught. That’s not a fisherman but they will call themselves fisherman.
Why not catch your 3 take them home and eat them? To me it seems like a vegetarian on a hunting trip, stalks a deer, throws a net over it subdues it into submission, looks at it, admires it, takes some photos of it, and then untangles it from the net and lets it go. Why not just kill it quickly and eat it.
Much like Too Busy, I like catching them, although that is rare in my case!
A quick question back at you…do you catch/keep your 3 and get off the water, or keep on fishing? If you find that you keep on fishing, you may already have the answer to your original question.
John
1996 Sunbird Spirit 170 - 112 Johnson
15’ Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro
I typically don’t keep my fish… I like catching them, and letting them go on to be caught by someone else. I guess i’m not a “real” fisherman according to some.
i look at it the other way though… i see the guy that insists on keeping the limit because he can, or because he only gets to fish like once a year, as being kind of a “goon” and not a “real” fisherman.
the mentality that “i must kill what i catch” is what has put pressure on our fisheries to begin with.
That said, if i do keep some, it is because they will be eaten that night. also trout are way tastier than spot tails.
I love to catch fish(when I do) and will release them, but I will keep enough to eat for a dinner. I don’t see the harm in that. I do see the harm when people go out and get their limit bring them home just to stuff their freezer. What ever kind of fisherman that makes me I am fine with it.
Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.
-Coach John Wooden
As I have said before, I am a total goat and eat most fish that I manage to hook and land. And have had plenty of people give me fish.
I am the same in that if I ever caught 40+ fish and released them, then I can make a comment on it. I have a good friend who doesn’t eat fish, but will catch them and give them away or release them.
I doubt if I would post about catch and releasing that many because I would have died in the boat from excitement.
I like to eat fish! Spot Tails taste better than trout. However a 15 inch spot tail does not have enough meat to keep. Wish we could have a 19-26 inch slot.
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Yes. And why do those guys keep running up and down the court. Just shoot the ball and the first guy to make a basket… wins! Enough with basket after basket after basket after…
And what is up with people buying “wife beaters” and then not beating their wives? What’s up with that?
What’s up with tanning?
Why is there more than one cola?
If it’s ‘til death do us part’ how is half the populous getting divorced?
Why is there “half and half”. Isn’t that the whole thing?
What’s up with spelling. Do we write the words that are defined or define the words that are written?
i fish because it is fun. It just so happens that the fish around here are very tasty. I release most fish i catch but if i catch one that i feel like eating, i keep it. Ill keep enough to have 5 or 6 fillets in the freezer and then the majority of the fish i release. i vacuum pack them so they stay fresh and dont take up space. So, if i keep a few in the freezer and i fish every chance i get then i should always have the option of “cooking fish tonight”. It works pretty good. Alot of the time, i will catch one and clean and cook him that night b/c i think fresh fish is much better. I guess, if i had a family or more people than just me “a few fillets in the freezer” may not last so long. But fred, if i catch 30 in one day i will be eating fish that night! with all the money i spend on fishing, i feel that it only makes sense to get a meal out of it.
I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.
I agree jimmyadams when I said stuff their freezer I did not mean a meal or two. What I meant was people who fish just to go out to stuff their freezer, just to have it full. Unfortunately I have family that live by that code,if I catch them I can keep them and you sure can,that is the law. I just think people should think of the bigger picture,that is I like to catch fish and the more I keep the less can breed. Which means in time it will be the less I can catch. I don’t think that is too hard to understand. Again just my opinion not that it means much.
Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.
-Coach John Wooden
Fred, hears one way to look at it. Some of our fish stock got to the low levels they are because people keep everything they catch because its their right. If everyone kept the limit every time they fished the limits would be reduced by the Fed’s and we would all bit**. So Don’t call me a fisherman because I’m looking out for your kids future when I catch 20 or 30 fish that day and they all live to fight another day. We all have the chance to do something to keep the sport we love great we should do that. Let be smart and take care of our fishery and not say why don’t people take fish home.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
we fish a lot year round…its fun and a good way to spend time together…donnie doesnt like fish as much as I do…I keep one or two every now and then…but most every trip they all get released…I’d like a chance to catch them again one day …even gigging…most nights we could take a lot more than we do as there are some we “pass by” that are legal but still what I consider small…so we leave them to grow up… Gigging has gotten very popular…its a lot of fun…but it gets abused too…I dont have a problem at all with folks keeping what they are going to eat…its the one’s who keep them just to spread out on a deck for a picture and then give them away because they dont feel like messing with them that bothers me, the other thing is…esp. inshore where its easier to go…fresh fish is always better than frozen
Opps and Pen I agree with y’all and I love to eat fish is not that but I like catching them more and I like to see my nephews catch them. People have ever right to keep they limit. Again it’s just one man’s opinion right or wrong. And yes fresh fish does taste better.
Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.
-Coach John Wooden
I like to fish to just get away from everyone. I hop in my kayak paddle somewhere where its just the water, grass, birds, bugs, and sometimes fish. I keep maybe 1 fish to every 50 or so I catch. Fishing is a way to get away from work and be out on the water to gather myself and have a great time doing it. Whatever that makes me so be it. Ill still be out there trying to get the Saltwater slam like I did saturday I didnt catch 30 or 40 fish but did get 1 flounder, 1 trout, and 2 Redfish saturday all on the same artificial jig, and I didnt keep a single one.
I enjoy catching fish and being on the water. Redfish are beautiful to hold and see. From the blue tails to their fighting power they are just awesome fish, which i no longer care to keep, but rather just enjoy seeing up close. If I catch a flounder or a trout however, it would be a different story.
17" War Eagle 25 Mercury
17" Boston Whaler Montauk 90 yamaha
Fred, hears one way to look at it. Some of our fish stock got to the low levels they are because people keep everything they catch because its their right. If everyone kept the limit every time they fished the limits would be reduced by the Fed’s and we would all bit**. So Don’t call me a fisherman because I’m looking out for your kids future when I catch 20 or 30 fish that day and they all live to fight another day. We all have the chance to do something to keep the sport we love great we should do that. Let be smart and take care of our fishery and not say why don’t people take fish home.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
Just so everyone knows I do catch and release fish, most everything from Red Breast to sharks. I really enjoy catching fish and lately I enjoy watching others catch em more than myself.
It just gets a little under my skin when my you have someone bragging on 30+ reds caught and released. That in my book is a little much. I just do not believe all those fish will make it.
Fred, hears one way to look at it. Some of our fish stock got to the low levels they are because people keep everything they catch because its their right. If everyone kept the limit every time they fished the limits would be reduced by the Fed’s and we would all bit**. So Don’t call me a fisherman because I’m looking out for your kids future when I catch 20 or 30 fish that day and they all live to fight another day. We all have the chance to do something to keep the sport we love great we should do that. Let be smart and take care of our fishery and not say why don’t people take fish home.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
stock reduction due to overfishing is why SAFMC sets limits. I don’t fish offshore but I understand the reasoning. Same concept for redfish limits (and should be for gigging flounder). Limits were put on redfish years ago and now see what we have. Excellent redfish experiences for our children due to a healthy fish population!
This is going to make a few offshore fishermen here upset but …If you want your children to enjoy snapper, grouper, other offshore fishing as you have, we have to make sure they are not overfished.
