Oh man…one of the best meals I’ve EVER had was a panful of fresh brookies fried in butter over a campfire in the Snowy Mountains of Wyoming.
Although I do practice catch and release most of the time, you won’t hear me apologizing for keeping a few trout every now and then. It’s a sad day indeed when we as fishermen have become so emasculated by political correctness that we are supposed to feel guilty for keeping a few fish.
My father once said that truth hides behind political correctness…no truer words were ever spoken.
My fishing is mostly catch and release. But not for any moral issue. I’m just too lazy to clean em, and I ain’t gonna throw 'em away. By the time I get through fishing, I’m just too tired to stand there and clean fish for 30 minutes or so. As a matter of fact, I don’t hunt anymore for that reason. Squirells are a little hard to throw back after you’ve bagged them.
I quite happily keep fish for the table. Not every trip, and usually only one (not counting salt water fishing). New Zealand trout are a mix of yearly stockers and some naturally breeding “wild” fish (all trout were introduced to NZ, so by some definitions they are all “stocked”). The ones I keep are usually over 2.5 lbs, most in the 3-4 lbs range. Hot smoked with manuka sawdust with a salt and brown sugar coating … mmmm. Or, baked, wrapped in foil, stuffed with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and lots of butter.
Brookies, rolled in flour and cooked in butter in a hot pan was how we always had them when I was a kid. I’m looking forward to that again, though I’m not expecting many in the 3-4 lbs range! More, the 8-10 inches probably.
In my view, any river that can’t handle people keeping a few fish from time to time should not be fished at all. No one needs to take a limit bag every time they’re out, but noone need feel guilty for taking some either. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to make themselves feel holier than thou. Good for them, glad I could help, could they please pass the salt and pepper now?
Living here in the Midwest we don’t have many fishing opportunities for trout except for stocked fish. For trout fishing it is mainly the Missouri trout parks or the stocked streams in NE Iowa, so I have no qualms about keeping fish to eat, which we do. I am not a super fly fisherman but when I am down at Bennett Springs I usually keep 3 nice fish some time during my morning session and do the CR thing until late in the afternoon because if I keep a 4th fish I have to quit. I have never seen one of those 100 fish days but I do have lots of 25 or 35 fish days so it would hurt my soul if I had to quit after just 4 fish. Since my wife and I will cleanup 3 or 4 of these trout each I will usually keep most of a 4 fish limit each day and we will cook fish a couple of times during our stay. As for any other fishing here at home, much of it is done over lunch hours in ponds for bluegills and bass and such. Since it is over lunch I don’t keep any of them because it is too difficult to keep them iced down and clean them after I get home at night. I do like to keep a 3wt and some flies in the truck with me all the time.
I enjoyed the article very much and do remember those days when it was rare to release a fish. I remember going down to the creek and catching a stringer of chubs and then they just got thrown away and wasted. After a while I started throw’n 'm back just because keeping them was such a waste.
Fast forward to modern times. Back then there were far fewer people and a lot more fish so there really was a surplus that could be harvested without harming the resource. Now there are a lot more people with far more effective methods so if catch and release wasn’t a popular practice some fisheries would cease to exist and many more would be seriously damaged.
I have seen the effects of overharvest on Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River. Way back in the early 70’s the walleye limit was 8 with 16 in possession. There were plenty of big walleyes so everybody kept them. This was fine for a few years but then the fishing just went down and down until the South Dakota DNR finally put some restrictions in place and kept on tightening them until, I think, they got the fishery stabilized. But the fishery has never come back to what it was, though not necessarily because too many fish are being kept. Other factors including low river levels are at work now.
So my opinion is ok, go ahead and keep a few if you want to. Fill your freezer if there are enough to go around but do your best to make sure those few or freezer fulls will keep on coming on into the future.
Here in NJ we arent so lucky. There are a few streams with large numbers of wild brookies but few have fish big enough to be worth eating. A 10’’ fish is a big one and 12’’ and over is a monster. There is one place where i might feel comfortable keeping one for lunch, but we will see.
I C&R almost all the time, but if i see a fish that might not make it ill keep it for dinner.
There is a difference between preservationalist and conservationalist. I believe in the wise use of the resource, I am very much against the politically correct “you Must release all fish caught”. It stinks too much like PETA to me or at least a close sister.
I release most of what I catch, but being an American, I like to do things my way and not because someone says that I have to do it this way or that way. I kept 8 trout last year out of 60 days on the water. This year I will probably keep a few MORE just because I can and I like to eat them.
It stinks too much like PETA to me or at least a close sister
I thought I read somewhere that P eople E ating Tasty A nimals where trying to get C&R banned in Europe (Switzerland). That way once you have caught your “limit” your done for the day. I see hookless not just barbless flies in the future. :rolleyes: I assume that would be the first step to trying to ban fishing altogether.
All this being said, if I am able to make it over to the Michigan Fish in on the AuSable how popular would I be if I was able to bring my limit back for dinner?
Not trying to start anything- just asking.
