Help Me Understand Why........

[Micheal Kyle]

I Agree Let it go

It is a record and thats all it is.

I do practice C&R but as you all know I killed a fish for a record and I know a few others that have as well.

Laker I could have swore that the IGFA had one. Look in your 2009 record book, I can not find the box that mine is in.

I could be wrong though I know I have been wrong be for though. :

.

[ness]

You know, this is just a personal preference. He was operating within the rules (like you said) and he decided to keep it. I'm a C&R guy, almost exclusively, but I'd probably have kept that one. And not to eat -- to hang on the wall and brag about. Get me a new avatar too. You know, important stuff like that.

[eric1978]

Does he deserve a nice compliment for landing the fish- absolutely, but as for the respect card.. seems a little extreme to me....

And to me. Respect? C'mon. He was drifting Powerbait. Sure, he had a functional drag and was patient enough not to horse the fish and break off, so I'll give him credit for that. But it's not as if he took the thing on a personally tied fly and 6x tippet.

It's a great fish. It's a state record. There was nothing wrong with the way he caught it and there was nothing wrong with keeping it. But I'll save my respect for the guy who catches a 2 pounder the sportsman's way.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Ness, where's the big crappie pics? I know you do... Shawnee? Or do you fish for them?

KC

[drew03cmc]

GloryDaze, every time someone posts a picture of a big trout that was kept or killed, this topic comes up, so the regulars are tired of the debate of catch and keep vs catch and release. I, frankly, have no problem with keeping a trout in Missouri from a stocked stream. They are not native, cannot reproduce and are of little ecological value. In the few streams, in Missouri, where trout are entirely self-sustaining, they deserve to be released to spawn. Taneycomo isn't a stream where trout can subsist on their own, and as such, the trout are little more than lobsters waiting to be boiled in a restaurant. You even get to pick your dinner like in the fancy restaurants.

[eric1978]

GloryDaze, every time someone posts a picture of a big trout that was kept or killed, this topic comes up, so the regulars are tired of the debate of catch and keep vs catch and release. I, frankly, have no problem with keeping a trout in Missouri from a stocked stream. They are not native, cannot reproduce and are of little ecological value. In the few streams, in Missouri, where trout are entirely self-sustaining, they deserve to be released to spawn. Taneycomo isn't a stream where trout can subsist on their own, and as such, the trout are little more than lobsters waiting to be boiled in a restaurant. You even get to pick your dinner like in the fancy restaurants.

Well put and very true. Hard to argue with that.

[Al Agnew]

Any big fish is more valuable alive and swimming, available to be caught again, than dead. Think of the excitement that releasing a record fish would cause around the lake. However, I have no problem with the fish being kept...relatively few people would release a probable state record anything.

Catching a record fish gets your name in the record books until somebody catches a bigger one. Most record fish are caught by more or less "average" anglers. Catching one is usually an accident. You might be fishing for bigger fish, but catching the biggest one ever recorded in a state is pretty much a lottery. There are a few dedicated anglers who fish for nothing but records. Once in a while, one of them even succeeds in catching one. Those anglers have my respect. The average Joe who happens upon a record fish may or may not be skilled, but he is certainly lucky.

[Phil Lilley]

And to me. Respect? C'mon. He was drifting Powerbait. Sure, he had a functional drag and was patient enough not to horse the fish and break off, so I'll give him credit for that. But it's not as if he took the thing on a personally tied fly and 6x tippet.

It's a great fish. It's a state record. There was nothing wrong with the way he caught it and there was nothing wrong with keeping it. But I'll save my respect for the guy who catches a 2 pounder the sportsman's way.

That's a very cheap shot.

[fishinwrench]

IMO the angler is due sincere congrats. The net man...you GOTTA respect.

And if it was me I would have kept the fish, without question.

I'm sure there's a lot of pounder Rainbows that are REAL glad he got kept

[CS Huntley]

IMO the angler is due sincere congrats. The net man...you GOTTA respect.

And if it was me I would have kept the fish, without question.

I'm sure there's a lot of pounder Rainbows that are REAL glad he got kept

Yeah defenitely woulda kept the fish, and not ate it either. Guess it's just my ego, but I would love to have a state record and have the proof on my wall. I'm never going to feel guilty about keeping any legal fish though, thats just me.