A Question About Catch And Release...

[fisher19]

Its there choice they can do whatever they want to do with it as long as its legal. I release bass but its just because i dont like the taste of them. But if its crappie, walleye, or white bass and they are legal they're goin in the livewell. Its each persons choice and let them do as they please.

[powerdive]

PHhunter, I agree with you. For many people, selective harvest is a very sensible approach--respect the resource, keep only what you can truly enjoy, release all others. However, for the good of the reasource there's nothing wrong with people strongly advocating full-time catch and release. The problem is when they overstep their bounds and insist on cramming their views down other people's throats. Kind of a fine line, there.

Speaking of the walleye, I wish there were a rule that if you're fishing in an entry-fee tournament, you agree not to put any other species in your livewell other than the target species. That means no bass fishermen bring home walleyes, and no walleye fishermen bringing home crappies, etc. Just my opinion.

[nobutt56]

I dont know if anyone pays attention to my signature, but I have an interesting quote by Ray Scott concerning Catch and Release. He doesnt claim to be the founder of the Catch and Release and gives full credit to a group of fisherman.

JOHN MCCAIN? SURELY YOUR JOKING?

[Champ188]

I have one thing to add to the C&R issue ... the MDR has always been on the cutting edge of bass management practices. Missouri was one of the first states to implement a minimum length limit, if not THE first. Minimum length and slot limits are management tools that enable biologists to help balance a fish population within a lake's ability to support a given number of fish per acre. But such limits are completely ineffective when there is zero harvest. The idea is to take some fish, therefore improving living conditions for others. Catch and release is a great practice and needs to continue up to a point, but there also needs to be some controlled harvest in order for our regulations to work to our advantage.