I don't. I can't cook.
I don't. I can't cook.
There are some streams that I would not think of taking a fishing home yet other streams taking a few home for a meal I know would not even put a dent in the population. Regardless of the circimstances I made a new rule that I have lived by for 10 years now. I will not take a fish home unless I am going to clean and eat it that same day. This means that I will never get stuck with a freezer with "bags" of fish and the fish always taste better fresh. As a result I only have fresh caught fish maybe 10 times a year. My personal rule applies to all "legal" edible species.
caribe
I agree. I keep them for the same reasons. And, there are times when I just want to fish, or don't plan to go straight home from fishing. In these situations, I release them all carefully.
I probably keep carp, panfish and snakeheads more than any other fish because I think they are very under-used resources, and no on will gripe much if I keep them. They are delicious. And of course, any catfish I catch automatically becomes food, even if I have to make a special trip home to the freezer with it.
Fillet and Release.jpg
Originally Posted by maodiver
Last edited by Gigmaster; 12-23-2012 at 12:36 AM.
maodiver sums it up for me.
1. When it's legal
2. When I am hungry for them
I think I'm a pretty lucky fisherman, because my home body of water is a highly eutrophic reservoir with a MASSIVE amount of shad, and subsequently massive populations on everything else, including bass, crappie, BIG catfish, bluegill, and carp. Also I live in an area with almost no other fly fisherman, and instead just a bunch of bass guys in their place. The bass tourneys on the reservoir can get annoying but it also means that the bass are the ONLY fish that anyone else targets here
So to answer your question, I keep fish ALL THE TIME!!! My criteria are pretty much
a. If its big enough that I want to bother filleting it
b. If its a catfish thats below 8 pounds
c. If it's a bass, I'll only keep them on occasion. they do get hit hard by the bass jocks so I go very easy on them.
But other than that, I stock up my freezer with fish during the summer, deer and small game during the winter, and then get to eat like a king when I'm away at college and all my friends are stuck eating ramen noodles
If you catch and keep that many fish though, it does take some self-imposed management, because even while staying within legal limits, you could still damage a fishery by keeping limits of fish day after day. So I tend to be conscientious of what I do and mix it up frequently by where I fish, such as between one boat launch, or a different one 3 miles upriver, and also mixing up which species I target. Bluegill, crappie, perch, catfish, carp, and the occasional bass all frequently wind up on my plate though. Even turned out some live threadfins I had left over from catfishing turned out really well butterfly-ed, fried, and dipped in tarter sauce....
I couldn't have said it better, myself. I live mostly on what I catch, kill, and forage. I follow all laws, and use common-sense (which is why I eat a lot of carp. I don't think they are going to be endangered any time soon....).
I think I'm a pretty lucky fisherman, because my home body of water is a highly eutrophic reservoir with a MASSIVE amount of shad, and subsequently massive populations on everything else, including bass, crappie, BIG catfish, bluegill, and carp. Also I live in an area with almost no other fly fisherman, and instead just a bunch of bass guys in their place. The bass tourneys on the reservoir can get annoying but it also means that the bass are the ONLY fish that anyone else targets here
So to answer your question, I keep fish ALL THE TIME!!! My criteria are pretty much
a. If its big enough that I want to bother filleting it
b. If its a catfish thats below 8 pounds
c. If it's a bass, I'll only keep them on occasion. they do get hit hard by the bass jocks so I go very easy on them.
But other than that, I stock up my freezer with fish during the summer, deer and small game during the winter, and then get to eat like a king when I'm away at college and all my friends are stuck eating ramen noodles
If you catch and keep that many fish though, it does take some self-imposed management, because even while staying within legal limits, you could still damage a fishery by keeping limits of fish day after day. So I tend to be conscientious of what I do and mix it up frequently by where I fish, such as between one boat launch, or a different one 3 miles upriver, and also mixing up which species I target. Bluegill, crappie, perch, catfish, carp, and the occasional bass all frequently wind up on my plate though. Even turned out some live threadfins I had left over from catfishing turned out really well butterfly-ed, fried, and dipped in tarter sauce....
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