pros and cons of catch and release

Saltwater Inshore Discussion
21
quote:
Does everything you post have to be smartazz and slapstick?

Humor is good for the soul:wink: Guides have much more to lose if the fishing quality declines. Most I know take great care with their catch and release.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

22

I often read that there are more fisherman and more fishing pressure “than there used to be.” I am not saying this is a false statement, but I do wonder if it is true. Fishing licenses sold cannot be used as a way to measure this because it doesn’t equate to total hours on the water. I know there are more redfisherman, but it has become trendy, but at the same time, fishing for other species and other methods (commercial) have become less used or trendy. I absolutley agree that there are more boats on the water, but that doesn’t necessarily equal more hooks in the water. Life has become more fast paced, there are a million new ways to find entertainment (other than fishing), the younger generations, in general, seem to be less interested in fishing. I work a one month on one month off ratating schedule so I prefer to fish on the weekdays. More often than not the landings are empty and I am the only boat around; I only notice more hooks in the water on Saturday and Sunday. Size/slot limits are a type of mandated catch and release that can definitely have a negative effect on size with a large increase in population when not set appropriately on smaller bodies of water such as lakes and ponds.

2013 Ranger Z21 Intracoastal 250 hp Yamaha VMAX SHO

23

If DNR really wants to increase the fish population why is the size limit just under the size needed for reproduction. Red fish for example. Size limit is 15-23 but reproduction doesn’t start until 28 or so. We are keeping fish just before they get ready to reproduce. So you are cutting off the supply of up coming adults, stopping them before they ever get a chance. It would make more sense to keep them some time after they are large enough to. You would basically be culling out all the old fish that probably doesn’t have much time left. I know that would probably make it even harder to catch keepers but who knows after time it may increase the amount of them.
I love to fish & I love to eat fish so it is hard to really say what is better & what is really having a good or bad impact.

24

This thread is bizarre.

25
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Some of the cons I see in new fishermen is a strange thing for me as a new dad takes his son/daughter fishing but never brings one home to clean and at least let his children decide if they like it or not. No way could I have ever gotten away with not cleaning and cooking fish for my kids growing up. Hope to do the same for my grands.

To further derail this strange thread…

Here is the other side to the coin. When you take a young kid fishing and catch a keeper, they naturally will beg and plead to keep it. If you explain to them the importance of catch and release and that a released fish will breed more in the future, they will learn an important lesson that will stay with them forever. And, in fact they will beg and plead that you release fish that you caught. It works. I almost always bring a couple home to eat fresh, and so I’m not saying I release all my fish, but I don’t keep what I don’t use.

2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com

26

areeldrag, to offer a few points in reference to your proposition:

red drum management uses a spawning potential ratio (SPR) to decide whether enough fish are escaping to adulthood. science is not yet able to determine a spawning stock biomass (SSB) of adult red drum, so a ratio of “subadult” fish to “adult” fish gives an idea of how many are able to grow up, not get dead (natural mortality, release mortality, harvest), and then reach the size at which they can be reliably called adults. this is expressed as “escapement” in stock assessment. fish outside the slot are still subject to natural mortality and release mortality, but one known/estimated factor (fishing mortality from harvest) can be taken out of the equation.

to that point: the number of fish counted in surveys (fishing-dependent and independent) factors into the understanding of how many juvenile/legal fish exist in an area, estuary for example, compared to the number that are removed from that population by fishermen. tag and recapture data helps greatly in determining growth and migration patterns too. we are “stopping them before they ever get a chance” to a degree whenever we keep a fish for the table, but the ones that make it to adulthood are (mostly) safe to do as they will as wild animals after that.

also, old fish that are near the end of their lives are still usually the ones that contribute the most- and the highest quality- gametes per capita. of course, fewer of these old fish exist compared to the younger adults (age class data) so they may not be contributing as many eggs/offspring TOTAL. not a great reason to allow their harvest unless very confident in adult population (by age/year class) and strictly controlled, which I believe is the case in some of the Gulf states.

27

by contrast, and I think this is more along the lines of what you were saying, “short-lived” species such as flounder and trout can spawn within their first year or two of life and rarely live past 6-8yrs. having a slot limit to allow the oldest fish to just keep getting older doesn’t really help in this case, so instead the limit is set in a way that should allow each fish at least one season to spawn before it is legal for harvest. of course the water gets muddier, so to speak, when you consider that male flounder almost never exceed 14" total length, so basically only adult females are legal.

28

Each species is different in each location.

Most folks think too much about stocks themselves and too little about habitat and forage sources.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" - The Messiah

29
quote:
Originally posted by Optiker
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Some of the cons I see in new fishermen is a strange thing for me as a new dad takes his son/daughter fishing but never brings one home to clean and at least let his children decide if they like it or not. No way could I have ever gotten away with not cleaning and cooking fish for my kids growing up. Hope to do the same for my grands.

To further derail this strange thread…

Here is the other side to the coin. When you take a young kid fishing and catch a keeper, they naturally will beg and plead to keep it. If you explain to them the importance of catch and release and that a released fish will breed more in the future, they will learn an important lesson that will stay with them forever. And, in fact they will beg and plead that you release fish that you caught. It works. I almost always bring a couple home to eat fresh, and so I’m not saying I release all my fish, but I don’t keep what I don’t use.

2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com

Optiker, I hope I didn’t give you the impression that I don’t instill good stewardship to my kids… You are 100% correct all kids need to know the laws of fishing and what can and can not be kept. I just have the old school mentality of providing food for my family and letting them learn the same skills. Never know!

I guess I’m getting a little more like Cracker, I can enjoy releasing a fish now instead of putting it in the cooler. I just haven’t got into the

30

There are less fish, and less sizeable ones in the inshore than 20 yrs. ago. There is your problem. C & R isn’t a total solution but it is vitally iimportant and in no way negative.

No matter how many variables I have control over, I never expect a bite. I only hope.

31

Here is my take on C&R, if you can only keep the “keepers”, what’s left?..the ones you can’t keep, whether out of the slot, or short. I’m a catch and realese guy, not for fear of depleting the resouses…if want to eat fish, Drum will not be my first choice…or second…maybe even third?

Just sayin’.

32

Yes, there are a lot of guides. SC DNR issued 460 state wide last year. about 140 of them operate in the Charleston county area… 30 % are part-time and another 20% utilize chartering to pay for their boat and tackle. The remaining 70 are full time…10% of these guides are torture charter captain and don’t have any effect on catch and release and for the most part most of the other guides except for a small handful would rather let everything go and catch that fish multiple times each year. Just my .02.

Tight lines.

Robert Olsen

33

34

I blame it on the dolphins.

35

Sure, blame them. They’ve pretty much sucked since Marino retired anyway.

“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?