Catch And Release?

[Amish Bill]

I've been reading some of these posts about catch and release and am a little confused. I went to the hatchery awhile ago and talked to one of the agents, according to him we may as well keep any big bows that are caught because they're going to die anyway and there is no or very little in the way of a natural spawn. I fish for everything from cats on Truman to trout on Taney and do release the big ones. He did say if you were going to release any it should be the browns. Just wondering what people on this site thought

[Trav]

This is my opinion on the subject of catch and release.

[Phil Lilley]

Every living thing is going to die. But he has a point. What's the chances of a big brown, say 12 pounds, being caught again before it dies? The odds go down the older the fish gets. A rainbow on the other hand, IMO, has a better chance to be caught over and over at, say 6 pounds, because it doesn't migrate downstream 11 months of the year and become harder to find and catch. It stays basically in the same area for most of it's like. I could be totally wrong on this so...

And Trav- this isn't a dead horse. If we closed all the topics of things we have discussed on this forum in the past, you'd have half the posts you have cause we talked about basically everything before you joined.

[Amish Bill]

Thank you Mr. Lilly. Glad to see things havn't changed Trav

[zsmith62]

I hate to see things go to waste, and enjoy keeping and eating a few fish every now and then, but my opinion on releasing a mortally wounded fish back was changed a few years back at bennett springs when I saw a dead fish sitting on the bottom being picked apart by crawfish, while several other trout sat nearby picking chunks as they drifted by. Even if a fish is put back into the water and dies, It is not being wasted, it is simply being recycled into the ecosystem.

[Trav]

Haha,

Phil, I totally agree. I love those farm fresh bows!

I kill fish, but only if I am going to eat them the day I catch them. I am totally against freezing fish. I grew up in a family that hunted and fished to kill and freeze everything just to eat ribeye steaks. It never made sense to me.

I don't eat bass for I dont find them all that tasty. I don't eat brownies because the majority that I catch are too big to taste good.

I have a bad habit of clipping fins off big brownies so I will know if I have caught them before. Over the past nine years I have a recording of catching the same ones at least 40 percent of the time. They fall for the same dumb tricks everytime. I love that ! Why kill them when they are so fun and predictable? That is a testiment to the benifits to catch and release!

So, I guess I have have to disagree on you with that little opinion also Phil. They do bite over and over again. Just like Bass.

Also, the subject of Catch and Release "is" a dead horse subject. If your a true catch and release guy, in my opinion, your more dedicated than me. I love to eat those farm raised retarded rainbows. Retarded meat is the best meat. Catchem and eatem! Haha! If the fishery was a native raised and natural spawning population, I would definately change my opinion. But as long as they keep giving me free food by stocking hundreds of thousands rainbows a year, I will eat for free!

I do give the little bugers a living chance by eating all the power bait myself. I like a challenge, I get them on bare hooks and split shots. The retarded bows can't stay away from a bare hook. Haha

[Chief Grey Bear]

But as long as they keep giving me free food by stocking hundreds of thousands rainbows a year, I will eat for free!

Well not quite there. I help pay for those trout. So do a lot of people. Including you.

Gotta question for ya. If you spend 2000 hrs a year on the water fishing that is about 40hrs a week. Then you spend that same amount if not more on just this forum. How do you do it?

[Ik314]

To "trav", you must feel pretty cool clipping off those big brownies fins, and then catching them again man you're just awesome! Congrats and keep up the good work maiming those poor fish and killing those "retarded rainbows."

[drew03cmc]

lk, I have to ask why you assume he is clipping their fins. Once fish are caught, do they quit feeding? Of course not, meaning they will and can be caught again using the same tactic as before. Fish have a brain the size of a peanut, and we all revel in how how smart these creatures are, yet they eat powerbait that looks as natural as finding a hot dog tree growing in your yard. C&R is a good thing in an area where the resources are limited, however at Taney, the only things that are limited are wading space and native species. The trout are all hatchery stocked, yet catch and release is encouraged....it kind of baffles me. I do not keep anything, but if I did, it would not be a trout. I think they taste awful. I cannot understand why all these "conservationists" view catch and release in a FULLY STOCK-MANAGED fishery as a necessity. Sorry, I know, I feel like Trav on this one...Dead Horse topic.

[Tightline]

Reckon there's any truth to that old saying, ( You ARE what YOU eat !! ) ???