Taking fish

[ftroop7]

I generally practice catch and release but I was wondering what everyone else does as far as pre-spawn is concerned?

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"If it was easy anybody could do it"
Timothy S. Furey Sr.

[poke flyfisher]

100 % catch and release unless they're hooked so badly that they don't respond to revival attempts.

[Rick Z]

Depends on the pond I am fishing. MOst of the ponds need to have fish taken out so I keep them.

Rick

[ohiotuber]

I am near 100% C&R, but if I'm fishing a new pond full of stunted gills, I will keep a mess of 5-6" fish during prespawn or spawn. In 1 small pond, we saw a 2" change(from 5" average to 7") in 2 seasons. We did have to talk the owner into having folks release all bass & any gills 7" or larger.
Mike

[FullMonte]

I personally don't let spawning factor into whether or not I choose to take fish.

It doesn't make logical sense to me. I can take a fish that I catch in December, but I shouldn't take that same fish in March, because it's about to spawn....If I take it in December, it's not going to lay eggs either.

That being said, I never take any more fish than I (and my wife) can eat in a reasonable time (like the next few days). Normally, I limit myself to 2-4 average sized fish. I never take large fish, however.

Bass yes, panfish no.

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[url=http://www.native-waters.com:e5f51]http://www.native-waters.com[/url:e5f51]

[lee s]

We sure do think along the same lines as FullMonte.
We do take ocean salmon and albacore for our "meat fish" though....the ones we target without C&R foremost in mind. We can them to preserve them. Freezers are detrimental to quality fillets. Often we have to freeze a bit of halibut, as they too, are bigger than a meal. Never is much more than a meal of a desired course ever retained otherwise. And it will be the medium specimens of the species.
.....lee s.

[Robert McMahan]

I keep a few now and then. Never any "giants" of any species. I put the big ones back to stay in the gene pool. Whether I keep fish depends on how energetic I am. If you haven't figured it out yet, if you keep them you have to clean the stinking things. It also depends on whether I think the fishery can stand a few fish removed. In my younger days I kept everything. That was the way of the world back then until some genius figured out that if you put them back you can catch them again.

[millerwb]

I tend to keep all Panfish since the pond I fish is samll (about 1 acre) and is overloaded with BG. I keep all I catch, as long as it is enough for a meal for my family of 5. If I only catch a few, they get lucky and go back for another day. I release all LMB, but that is do to none that I have caught so far have been legal size.

[lee s]

BEST way to keep fish fresh, till your next meal, IS to release them. Also makes for a handy excuse.