To keep or not to keep

[OkieBass133]

Keep on occasion

[rollcast]

Keep.. as long as its within the rules and it will be eaten fresh. But I'll admit that I prefer the taste of panfish and saltwater species to trout.

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"Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us."

[ggmiller]

I'll keep a couple trout a year for a nice meal, the rest are released.

I kept 2 fish total last season. One thats going on the wall and one that I ate. The eaten trout would have been released but I could not revive it. I have no problems whatsoever with people keeping fish within reason. The majority of fishing people in my area are "meat hunters" and I do have a problem with keeping limit after limit to stock the freezer.

I believe in leaving the outdoors as good or better that I found it... That means under the water too.

i am, primarily, a C&R fisherman. i have no problem with folks keeping fish within reason and legal limits. i will, on occasion, keep a few to supplement my dinner when camping, and i do believe that wild trout should be released unless it is detrimental to the fishery, as is the case with brookies in many areas near me. too many fish, not enough food.

but i am adamantly against stocking a freezer full of trout to feed the cat with when you dont want them anymore.

[Diane]

Keep some, release some. Haven't ever kept as high as the legal limit except once when the limit was one fish. Panfish is another story. I keep most of those.

[fishboy]

Keep, only what you can eat, eat all of what you take.

[backbeach]

RW, Catch and release most trout, all black bass, most stripers, catch and fillet most of the rest...and waste nothing.

[idabelangler]

If I'm fishing in a reservoir I'll release all the bass I catch. Anything else is fair game if legal. I like to fish and I like to eat fish, but I'm no "meat hog". Everything in moderation.

Mike B

[RonMT]

I catch and relese 99 percent of the trout that I catch. If one is bleeding then I will keep it or if I want a few to eat I will go and catch some small brookies and have a feed once a year or so.

What makes me mad are people that talk about catch and release all the time and how great they are at it and then I see them posting pictures of fish that you know may not live. They are on dry rocks or on the dry grass on a bank while the person gets the camera ready to take the picture. Then they take a picture or two and by the time the fish gets back into the water it may have been on dry land for 2 minutes or better.

Granted some may live but some may die to. Just because someone wanted a picture? Then they release the fish it dies and is wasted. But the person is a hero because they pratice catch and release? It is real easy to have your camera ready while you fish. Keep it on a cord around you neck and in a pocket in your upper vest. Ease the fish into the shallows, lay your rod next to it to show size take out your camera and snap a shot and release the fish. Real easy to do and the fish never leaves the water. Ron

[This message has been edited by RonMT (edited 05 February 2005).]