Question for the more experienced

[shadesofsisyphus]

So lately I have been catching some pretty darn nice rainbows and browns out here in MT. About three weeks ago I decided that I was finally going to start keeping some fish and having wonderful trout fillet's for dinner. I have kept several of my fish over the course of the past three weeks and the more I think about it the more I feel like it is... in bad taste I suppose.

I was wondering what you all felt about the catch-and-release versus the catch-and-eat mentalities. On the one hand, I do love fish (sushi, fried, baked, stuffed, gumbo, etc. etc. etc.) , but on the other hand I am concerned about two things: one is that I may ruin the reputation fly-fisherman have for being relatively more environmentally conscious than the vast hordes of people, and the second is that there are only so many fish in the rivers and if everyone that fished them kept one a day that river would be barren quickly.

I dont think that my few fish will really affect the trout population but I wanted to ask some more experienced folks.


Geoff

[JohnScott]

Geoff -

Fish and Game people generally set the limits based on what they consider best for a particular fishery. I would be very confident that the Montana F & G folks know what they are doing, and that they consider it GOOD for the fishery if people take their limit on a regular basis.

Enjoy the fishing, and enjoy the fish, if that is what you want to do.

John

[Fly Goddess]

I see nothing wrong with HARVESTING. As long as it was caught and the right size within the law. I think a lot of FF don't cause they hate dragging that stringer around with them or that ice chest
The Provo River here encourages it, because there are so many fish, they are not getting enough food.
I love fresh caught trout, gutted and a strip of Hickory Smoked Bacon, some Garlic and some lemon, wrapped in foil over a camp fire or BBQ.

[Eric-WD]

Im not more experienced than you but, In a local lake that I fish many people have the attitude to fish in the morning, catch a limit of trout, return in the afternoon take another. some dont even bother to leave just take em up and put em in a cooler. (they way over stock this little lake to keep the locals happy)

This is one end of the situation on the other hand is people who never keep a fish turning all back.

My attitude is that planted fish are there to keep the tax payers happy and to be eaten. I wont keep a wild fish but a couple of trout dinners a year (or a month) wont hurt.

[flybinder]

"Fish, Eat and Be Merry"! (Or, be Susanne, if you like that name better!?).
Either way, as long as you're fishing, within the rules and regs of MT. don't worry about it and enjoy your fillets! (Sushi? What an awful thing to do to a nice Trouty!??).

You may get some flack from the "Read the water, match the hatch, catch & release purists", but ignore them, as best you can and enjoy your own way of fishing. I'm NOT saying, that "read the water, match the hatch and catch and release" are not very important parts of our obsession, THEY ALL ARE!!
But, what I'm saying, is "It's not the Holy Grail, of being a GOOD steward and fly fisher, to our cold water fisheries. JohnScott, said it best............... "MT has limits and rules and regs for a reason, to balance out the ecology of the streams in your beautiful state and it's done for a reason.

"C & R" became almost a "relgion", in fly fishing years ago and it got so fanatical, that if you were caught buying Ling Cod, at the fish market you had to turn in your Orvis patch to the local purists patrolling the local water ways.
I don't keep fish, unless it's panfish, simply because I don't care for eating your basic hatchery Trout. But, Salmon, metalheads warm water species, are always a delight on our table.

Enjoy your fishing, enjoy your fillets, play by the rules of your state and let the purists brush their tweed.

[sagefisher]

I agree with Eric-WD,

Planted fish, be they in a river, stream or lake are there for the taking as more will get planted several times each year. Personally, I don?t even keep these but there is no reason not to.

Wild fish are another story. It takes years for a wild trout in a river to grow to spawning age and that is right about the time people like to start keeping them because they are big. If it is legal to keep and depending on slot sizes, if I were going to keep a wild fish I would keep the smaller ones and leave the big ones for spawning. However, I simply release all fish.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Fly Goddess]

Im not more experienced than you but, In a local lake that I fish many people have the attitude to fish in the morning, catch a limit of trout, return in the afternoon take another. some dont even bother to leave just take em up and put em in a cooler. (they way over stock this little lake to keep the locals happy)

Funny you mentioned that. Here the law is "Limit in possession" which means even at home in freezer.
F&G watched a couple frequent a pond and they were doing as you just said. Catch there limit, go home and do it again. They were finally busted with hundreds of these stocked fish in there freezer and fined heavily.
I feel the PONDS are a great place to practice and even wet a fly, but feel they are for the benefit of the younguns, and it only takes one greedy creep to ruin it for all.


Sorry for the BUMP, but it was right there.LOL

[Grubb]

I'v fished since I was a little fellow and I'v lived in a few different places and states which has exposed me to watching this catch and keep or not keep thing in alot of rivers streams etc. My personnel exp. has been, as said b-4, follow the rules and regulations first, they do some what take into account the ones who aren't gonna follow them, secound (and heres the one I'v seen hurt the fishing most) First of all, your average fisher person doesn't catch that many fish, notice I said average. The fishing regs take"s this also into account. Ok here goes, you will see (and if you fish much you are one too),some that figures out the water they are fishing and they catch alot of fish on a regular basis, now when these folks keep the regulations and also the fish everytime they fish, they hurt the fishing in those waters, so IMHO moderation is the word I would use. I would follow the regs, and if I had found the key so to speak to a water way, every now and then I would keep and eat,... just my 02

....
Tim

[PastorEd]

My simple addition to this thread is this. Make sure you really eat the fish. I know a lot of people who take fish home intending to eat them and for one reason or another never do. In the spring they clean out their freazer to make room for the next batch of fish that will never get eaten.

A. Filets lightly coated with Masa flour, fried crispy and served with black bean salsa.

B. small fillets rolled up with a bit of ranch dressing, wrapped with bacon, and baked either on the gril or in the oven.

C. whole trout stuffed with shrimp and crab meat dressing. Baked

D. Filets grilled with butter and lemon. Served with an orange hollendase (sp) sauce.

ah, the possibliities!

Ed

[Fly Goddess]

Making my mouth water for sure! I prefer them fresh, not frozen.
But if not possible, soak in milk over night, then fry them in 1" of water in a pan. Skin will peel off and then the meat flakes off. Mix it with Mayonnaise, celery, pickles and Tabasco......great on crackers!