I am a strong believer in Catch and Release rules, especially in rivers. Many lakes have a stocking program. If people want to Catch & Kill stocked fish that is fine with me. I still do C&R in those lakes, thus leaving the fish to be caught by someone else, who may or may not do C&R. But in the rivers, that is a different story. The vast majority of rivers I fish contain only wild trout. There are no stocking programs for trout. I think wild trout and other wild species should be given the chance to reproduce, thus I believe in total Catch & Release in rivers. Many of the rivers I fish have regulations for Catch & Release for either all trout or certain species.

An example is a beautiful female Smallmouth Bass I caught this year on the Flathead River. She was full of eggs as spawning season was just a few weeks away. She was close to a state record in size and weight. She allowed me to catch her and I returned the favor by releasing her so she could spawn and allow many more generations of large smallmouth bass to live in the river.

There is another reason I don't do Catch & Kill. Many of the fish are not healthy enough to be eaten, or at least you have to limit the amount of fish you eat from those waters. Here are the listings in the Montana rule book on waters of concern. I fish a number of those waters.

The following water bodies contain fish species with consumption advisories. More detailed information is available on the FWP website: http://fwp.mt.gov/fwpDoc.html?id=28187

Alder Gulch ; Bair Reservoir ; Big Spring Creek ; Bighorn Lake and Afterbay Reservoir ; Blacktail Creek ; Boulder River ; Browns Gulch ;
Bynum Reservoir ; Cabinet Gorge Reservoir ; Canyon Ferry Reservoir ; Castlerock Lake ; Cataract Creek ; Chrome Lake ; Clark Canyon Reservoir ;
Clark Fork River ; Clear Lake ; Cooney Reservoir ; Crystal Lake East ; Firehole River Fork Reservoir ; Flathead Lake ; Flint Creek ; Fort Peck Reservoir ;
Fred Burr Creek ; Fresno Reservoir ; Georgetown Lake ; Gibbon River ; Hauser Reservoir ; Hebgen Reservoir ; Holter Reservoir ; Island Lake ;
Lake Elwell aka Tiber Reservoir ; Lake Frances ; Lake Koocanusa ; Lake Marlin ; Lake Mary Ronan ; Lake McDonald ; Lee Metcalf Pond NWR ;
Leigh Lake ; Lower Stillwater Lake ; Madison River ; Martinsdale Reservoir ; Medicine Lake NWR ; Missouri River ; Mountain View Lake ;
Mystic Lake ; Nelson Reservoir ; Ninepipes Pond ; Noxon Rapids Reservoir ; Petrolia Reservoir ; Prickly Pear Creek ; Seeley Lake ; Silver Creek ;
South Sandstone Reservoir ; St. Mary Lake ; Swan Lake ; Thompson Falls Reservoir ; Tongue River Reservoir ; Upper Two Medicine ; Waterton Lakes ;
Whitefish Lake ; Yellowstone River near ; Powder River

With a list like that, I simply do C&R rather than C&K. If I want some fish I go to an eating establishment and order it off the menu.

Larry ---sagefisher---