Disturbing Facebook Picture

[mrgungho]

Dont think I bad mouthed him? Just said I didnt like it legal or not. Just an unreal number of fish to catch to eat in one day. Just a very upsetting picture for me. I will concede that if there were 4 or 5 of them fishing, that yeh there were legal. What if those were 42 deer layed out there? Same thing in my book.

Sir, this is why there are different limits for different types of game. If the STATE LAW says there aren't any lenght limits and the count is 10 fish per day then that is the way that State's DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION set it up..they spend millions and millions of dollars per year to study fish populations and habitat as well as all other types of game-- so I'm gonna go ahead and leave this one up to them. You know, alot of people still EAT fish and mammal flesh..because lets face it, that is it's most original purpose. To say that this is the same as 42 Deer laid out is just ridiculous..it's like comparing Apples to Spaceships.

[Chief Grey Bear]

If it weremt for catch and release those fish would never have been there. I dont care if they came out of a pond, river or lake. Someone had released them after being caught so those guys could eat them.

That would be true assuming that they have been caught before. But there is no way of proving that one way or the other.

[denjac]

. To say that this is the same as 42 Deer laid out is just ridiculous..it's like comparing Apples to Spaceships.

Sir, if you would read my post instead of trying to be demeaning, I said it was the same thing in my book! Thats how I feel about it.

[denjac]

That would be true assuming that they have been caught before. But there is no way of proving that one way or the other.

Chief, you know better than that. There is no stream or pond or lake that doesnt get fished. We all like to think we have our secret holes that nobody fishes, but many have been there before and after us. I would be willing to bet that 3/4 of all those fish in the picture have been caught before.

As far as the conservation of our fisheries, I would make another bet that either you or I could legally take our limit of bass from say, center creek from Ulmers bridge to 71 hwy. What is that a 4 or 5 mile stretch? One of us fishing it hard and keeping a legal limit everytime we went throughout the summer. Bet by fall it would be almost imposiable to catch a legal fish on that stretch. Just one guy! Is it ok to eat bass? Sure but dont slaughter em. Leave some for the next guy. Most of this post didnt relate to your post, but just got on a rant .

[Chief Grey Bear]

Oh sure I can for the most part agree that just about every bit of water has at some point in time been fished. I am just not going to say that every fish has been caught and released.

Now on your rant in the second part of your post, I am 100% agreement. But it is obvious that, even though those that like to keep a limit of bass here and there have had that very picture painted about them here on this forum. But we all know it is not true due to the fact we can go to any stream in this state and still catch a limit of legal bass.

Carry on brother!

[jdmidwest]

I have actually fished other peoples ponds that requested that I come and take out stunted bass. And with their permission or on private waters that you own, you can take as many as you want. Some ponds I fish with permission, I only catch and release for the fun of it and never even take a fish. My own ponds are fished for the most part as catch and release unless we are going to have a fish fry or a relative requests a mess of fish. But if I start to notice an abundance of similar sized bass, I tend to keep several of that class to keep the food chain balanced.

The same reasons that MDC puts slot limits on most of their lakes and ponds, should apply to private waters. You can end up with a whole lake of 10-11 inch bass that are slim with no bellies that are several years old. You can age the bass by rings on their scales much like a tree. They all compete for the same food class or have no food. Thin them out a little and let some grow and the pond gets healthier sized bass. In streams and larger lakes, there is more diversity in the forage and you don't have to manage them in the same way to get results, thus the standard 12" limit.

[rangerman]

How about this,,,,you bass guys quit keeping walleyes when you catch them and I will quit keeping bass.......Fair trade....He, he......By the way this post was just jokin around, even though I have seen alot of bass guys throw an incidental walleye into the livewell on TR after they catch it and are happy about it....I too, am glad for them.

However, when I throw a 15 inch kentucky in the livewell they think a mortal sin was committed. There are a hell of alot less walleye in TR than Kentuckies, so why don't everyone, release the walleye to give them a fighting chance. Comments are definitely welcome because I have wondered about this and would like to hear a bass fishermans opinion.

[Fly_Guy]

How about this,,,,you bass guys quit keeping walleyes when you catch them and I will quit keeping bass.......Fair trade....He, he......By the way this post was just jokin around, even though I have seen alot of bass guys throw an incidental walleye into the livewell on TR after they catch it and are happy about it....I too, am glad for them.

However, when I throw a 15 inch kentucky in the livewell they think a mortal sin was committed. There are a hell of alot less walleye in TR than Kentuckies, so why don't everyone, release the walleye to give them a fighting chance. Comments are definitely welcome because I have wondered about this and would like to hear a bass fishermans opinion.

Amen. Bass is a celebrity. Long live the Drum Anglers Sportsman Society!

[Sam]

Sam, there was a Trader Bill's Team Tournament derby held just two weeks ago on Lake Greeson and the winning string was a five-bass limit totaling 15.74 pounds. Big bass of the derby was over 6 pounds. Of the 76 teams participating, only three failed to weigh in a keeper fish. That's some pretty darn good fishing for a "fished out" clear-water lake in the middle of June.

Greeson also is full of stripers, which in the opinion of many don't do anything productive for the largemouth bass population of any fishery.

Obviously, whoever told you that catching a single 13-inch bass over multiple days of fishing was some kind of feat didn't know what the heck they were talking about.

OK - shows what I know. We didn't do any bass fishing, and the locals were real surprised that I threw that 13-incher back. I'm glad to hear that's a lot better fishing lake than I thought it was. We did catch plenty of crappie, but they were generally smaller than around here with just a few big ones mixed in.

[Champ188]

Sam, Not saying Greeson is a world-class bass fishery by any means. And like anywhere, the crappie tend to by cyclic ... good years and bad. Wish you'd had a better crappie trip. Growing up in Hot Springs and even into the late 1980s, I can remember a lot of great winter/early spring bass trips down there where we would be disappointed to catch less than 50 fish in a day. But I imagine the catch-and-keep mentality combined with the stripers keeping the shad gobbled up have taken their toll. If you decide to take another crappie down there in the future, PM me ahead of time and I'll check with some old contacts and try to find out some info for you.