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.
I’m off my soap box.
so you think if those people who are catching 20-30 reds and releasing them caught the same amount of fish but kept 3 and released the rest that more fish would survive? Not following you on that one
17" War Eagle 25 Mercury
17" Boston Whaler Montauk 90 yamaha
What if you catch 30 under the slot and 30 over the slot??? You have to let them all go back into the water and now you are saying we can’t even tell anyone??? That sucks…
What about the people that take pictures of animals and fish…Some pay big bucks to go on Photo Safaris, guess those folks would be out of business.
And if a guy goes deer hunting and doesn’t see a deer is it then okay to shoot a dairy cow on the way back to the truck.
The biggest waste I know of is Titty Bars…Don’t take me wrong here, I have nothing against them and have been in my share over the years, but some guys dump thousands of dollars a year…Take the wife on a nice vacation, the view may not be as nice but the results will be way better.
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
You don’t keep spot tails because they’re pretty, but you’ll keep trout and flounder because they’re ugly??
I chime in on this one. Basically, me and my family fish for the sport and fun together as a family. We have always kept what we want to eat and/or reuse as bait. My opinion on the whole conservation topic is this: recreational fishing families are not the problem with “overfishing”, historically. The blame is so often placed on epople who are just catching a few fish a year. Commercial fishing is the real culprit in nearly every case of overfishing. I beleive in using what I catch if I keep it and if the next guy thinks I’m not saving the planet, then too bad. If it’s legal size and species and I want it for dinner or just for a goof, I’m not going to fell guilty at all. Living 4 hours from the ocean pretty much ensures that my lifetime catch amount will never even equal a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.
My friends and I caught 55+ last October and didn’t keep a single one. I’m a bleeding heart, love all animals (and fish) and enjoy letting them go. Yes two or three of those were hooked deep but I would rather release and give them a chance…if they die the food chain will benefit.
I have no problem with people keeping fish, i just prefer to release mine. Of course I keep dolphin or wahoo when people are paying a lot of money to go offshore, but I still feed bad about sticking them.
Call me what you will.
Just giving you my perspective since you were wondering.
and no, I’m not a democrat. thought I would throw that out there before being called a hippie liberal.
“I’d hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
Hunter S. Thompson
so you think if those people who are catching 20-30 reds and releasing them caught the same amount of fish but kept 3 and released the rest that more fish would survive? Not following you on that one
more in the 30-60 range that gets me… I would imagine that 95% that post on here are not able do this but it is done repeatedly by select few.
Get your three in legal slot limit catch a dozen more Cull your catch if you get a larger slot then call it a day on reds.
I kind of see “catching” as the end result of “effort”. I spent 2 years rather blindly trying to catch fish, based on people telling me where they caught before and slinging a chunk of mullet on a carolina rig and hoping for a result. I enjoyed the trips, but they were not that productive. When they were, it was definitely more luck than skill.
Then I dedicated myself to learning and trying to undertand fishing. THAT’S when it got exciting for me! Learning tides, temps, conditions, baits, techniques, etc. Keeping a tide log. Trying to “think like a fish” as I like saying. Once I did that, the catch was the reward for the thought and effort I put into my preperation for my outing. It became a sport, along with a pleasure, and made it that much more rewarding for me.
It also made it more rewarding for family and friends I take along now. My kids are 9 and 11. Tough age to teach fishing if you aren’t catching! I hope to not only make them proficient for a lifetime of personal fishing enjoyment, but also I hope to teach them the value of conservation and to enjoy the beauty that surrounds them when they are on the water.
As far as catching “30-60” and “repeatedly posting”, I’m guilty as charged.
I don’t think I fall in the minority when it comes to an inability to leave fish when they are on the bite. And to me, releasing them are as big a pleasure as catching them, and it is for my children, also. I’m glad you can’t (or shouldn’t) just chunk a redfish back in the water without reviving it. Something about that time spent with your thumb in his mouth, gently swaying him back to strength, that bonds me more to fishing than even catching does. I love it best when I know they are fine but they just linger anyway, willing to sway as long as you’re willing to hold. I know they are fine, so I gently let them levitate, and they flash their tail and are gone! I even like when they chomp my thumb as they go! Nothing like it!
Posting? Its a forum, right? Even has a “reports” sectio
do you beat people over the head with your religion too?
xHCFCx
Fish are too valuable to be caught only once.
Not at all. I’m Southern Baptist and married a Catholic. One of my best friends is an Atheist(or so he says). But I can understand how you can relate this fishing thread to religion. Fishing can sure be a soul rendering experience. You can expect open discussion on an open forum.
I kind of see “catching” as the end result of “effort”. I spent 2 years rather blindly trying to catch fish, based on people telling me where they caught before and slinging a chunk of mullet on a carolina rig and hoping for a result. I enjoyed the trips, but they were not that productive. When they were, it was definitely more luck than skill.
Then I dedicated myself to learning and trying to undertand fishing. THAT’S when it got exciting for me! Learning tides, temps, conditions, baits, techniques, etc. Keeping a tide log. Trying to “think like a fish” as I like saying. Once I did that, the catch was the reward for the thought and effort I put into my preperation for my outing. It became a sport, along with a pleasure, and made it that much more rewarding for me.
It also made it more rewarding for family and friends I take along now. My kids are 9 and 11. Tough age to teach fishing if you aren’t catching! I hope to not only make them proficient for a lifetime of personal fishing enjoyment, but also I hope to teach them the value of conservation and to enjoy the beauty that surrounds them when they are on the water.
As far as catching “30-60” and “repeatedly posting”, I’m guilty as charged.
I don’t think I fall in the minority when it comes to an inability to leave fish when they are on the bite. And to me, releasing them are as big a pleasure as catching them, and it is for my children, also. I’m glad you can’t (or shouldn’t) just chunk a redfish back in the water without reviving it. Something about that time spent with your thumb in his mouth, gently swaying him back to strength, that bonds me more to fishing than even catching does. I love it best when I know they are fine but they just linger anyway, willing to sway as long as you’re willing to hold. I know they are fine, so I gently let them levitate, and they
