When, if ever, do you keep some fish?

[jszymczyk]

I keep fish whenever I want to eat them and it is legal. I love to eat fish of nearly every type and I am not ashamed of it. I do NOT "HARVEST" fish and game animals. I KILL them and EAT them. It is a deeply emotional event to take the life of an animal and I do it with respect every single time. HARVEST is what a person does to plants. If someone can't come to grips with the fact that they are killing things, then no touchy-feely word such as harvest can change that. Get over it, I say.

I also release a hell of a lot of fish, and I occasionally pass up game animals while hunting. If we were not meant to eat fish, they would not taste as good as they do. I do not get to spend very much time on the water or in the woods, and when I cook and eat a meal of fish I caught, I give thanks and it takes me back to the time and place where I got them. It reinforces memories, I LIKE IT, and that's all the justification a person needs.

[Nighthawk]

I keep fish whenever I want to eat them and it is legal. I love to eat fish of nearly every type and I am not ashamed of it. I do NOT "HARVEST" fish and game animals. I KILL them and EAT them. It is a deeply emotional event to take the life of an animal and I do it with respect every single time. HARVEST is what a person does to plants. If someone can't come to grips with the fact that they are killing things, then no touchy-feely word such as harvest can change that. Get over it, I say.

I also release a hell of a lot of fish, and I occasionally pass up game animals while hunting. If we were not meant to eat fish, they would not taste as good as they do. I do not get to spend very much time on the water or in the woods, and when I cook and eat a meal of fish I caught, I give thanks and it takes me back to the time and place where I got them. It reinforces memories, I LIKE IT, and that's all the justification a person needs.

Pretty much my sentiments too. I say a prayer for every critter I kill at the time I take the animal in thanks to He who created us all. I don't care for the taste of trout, especially the stockers, normally releasing them unless I know they won't survive. Then I give them to the old timers or a needy family in the area. Now if they are fresh caught perch in the 12+ inch range, crappies about the same size, bull bluegills or walleye in the 15-22 inch range fresh from the water, well, on the table they go!

By the way, if you ask your local conservation officer or ranger they almost always know where there are needy folks in your area or an organization you can donate your wild killings to. One of the things I hate seeing the most is a roadkill deer going to waste because the driver that hit it doesn't like venison. If it is in good shape, as a lot of them are, you can donate them to a pantry, church or soup kitchen. Your Conservation Officer will know how to do this.

[TyroneFly]

I will only keep a couple each season where it is legal to do so AND I know they will be eaten.

[DG]

When someone who (a) can't catch their own (b) asks nicely. It takes both factors. And the water has to be legal for keeping fish.

[JeffHamm]

I tend to keep fish from the Rotorua lakes area, where there is a lot of stocking to keep up the breeding fish. These are usually fish over a kilo, so they turn out really nice when smoked. I occasionally keep a couple smaller ones from the Waihou as it is overflowing with smaller fish (20-30 cm range). There are a few places I fish where I don't keep any, partly because the river has a lot of farm run off but also because it's only a wild population (wild meaning they don't restock anymore as far as I know; there are no native trout in NZ).

Back home in NS, I would keep some if I wanted to eat trout, mostly 20-30 cm brookies, browns, or rainbows.

- Jeff

[wizard]

I tend to release all trout in streams that are all natural reproduction with no stocking. On marginal streams that are mostly stocked but have some natural reproduction I try to keep holdover fish that have been in the stream awhile, 6 weeks is minimal so I watch the stocking reports closely. Best times for me to keep some fish is early spring before stocking is underway, and fall after the waters have cooled but prior to spawning season, usually Sept. I maybe keep 4-6 meals a year at most.

[Dave E]

I'm a C&R guy where Salmonoids are concerned, I simply don't care for the flesh. However, a couple of years ago we decided to keep a couple of stockers. They had the taste and consistency of what I imagine, Warm - Moss flavored Tofu would be like. With that dining delight still alive and well in my conscious, I think I'll be able to stave off the desire to try another one, ever.


Now if I'm on the coast and any one of the numerous large flaked, white fleshed fish that I occasionally pursue happens to mistake a Clouser or Surfin' Charlie for real fish food, then dinner is at 7:00 p.m., bring an appetite.

Dave

[Greg H]

2. When I am fishing a place that is over run with smaller fish.

I would say there is another reason, let's call it 2B. "When I am fishing a place with lots of medium or larger fish."

I don't keep fish from rivers except every couple of years might keep one steelhead from Lake Huron tributary (healthy water), but I don't keep any resident trout from rivers.
On the lake where I have a camp/cabin/cottage there are plenty of bass. So I keep them if I catch enough for everyone to have a meal. If I only catch one or two so that everyone would only have a mouthful, they all go back. This lake also has walleye (not caught on the fly) but I never keep any of them (even though they taste best) because they are over-harvested during the ice-fishing season and need all the help they can get.
So for me it really has to do with how healthy the population is and how much of a dent I would make keeping a (healthy clean) fish.

[John Rhoades]

I do not keep the trout that I catch, and am very careful in handling and returning the ones that I hook and land. I would kill any lake trout that I caught in Yellowstone where required by law, but I haven't fished there for a couple years now. The fishing pressure is so intense on a number of the rivers that I fish frequently, like the Yellowstone, and swimming, living fish in these rivers are so valuable, that I almost feel compelled to return caught trout so that others can experience the same pleasures that I have in angling for them.

I do not begrudge others who abide by the applicable laws and kill a few fish to be eaten and enjoyed by themselves and others. However, I jokingly have a rule for those who fish with me in my boat that is "no blood in the boat".

[sharps]

I never keep trout, not anymore. Neither my wife nor I care for the flavor of any of the salmonids and we've tried preparing them in about every way we could find and have friends and neighbors prepare them who were aficianado's with trout. Just don't like to eat 'em! Give me a good ol' crappie, bluegill or walleye any day, those we eat!!