Not really intending to start a big argument with this. If you are a total catch-and-release fisher I respect that point of view completely. However, I really would like your opinions. Under what circumstances might you keep some trout for the pan?
For me, there are 3 situations where I might keep a fish or two.
When I am fishing a place with lots of fish but with no natural reproduction and I know the fish are all stockers.
When I am fishing a place that is over run with smaller fish.
When I am certain the fish will not survive if released.
Let me conclude by saying my wife LOVES to eat trout. Particularly after about 4-6 hours in the smoker. Bringing home a fish or 2 from time to time makes her much more agreeable to my next fishing trip.
I think your 3 scenarios are very reasonable. For my part, I rarely keep freshwater fish except for an occasional crappie or yellow catfish if I can eat it within 24 hours or so. Saltwater species, in moderation, are fair game in my book. Except for the occasional redfish or speckled trout, most of the fish I keep are not caught on a fly rod.
Wild salmon are managed in Alaska for an aggressive harvest, adequate reproduction numbers, and all will die within months anyway. So we eat quite a lot of them. Of course king salmon in much of AK are not doing well over the past decade or so and I layoff them unless they are stocked in one of the “terminal harvest” areas.
I do not remember the last time I killed a rainbow.
We usually kill a lake trout or two on accident out of a big bunch and we eat those. They are eating salmon smolts in huge quantity and the biologist says it is okay to kill a lot more… But I am not buying that!
We kill and smoke a few dollies every year and their unique life style lends itself well to killing some without concentrating the pressure on any one spawning population.
A new law this year in SouthCentral AK says no pike may be returned alive to the water. Cut them up and toss the pieces back… In the Alexander Lake system they netted and killed tremendous trophy pike last year… But they are not worth attempting to eat.
art
When fishing lakes here in Wyoming (that aren’t designated trophy waters). Most of Wyoming’s lakes are stocked.
If the fish will not survive its release.
When camping or backpacking. (Nothing like a freshly caught fish over the fire!)
I normally do not keep fish caught in rivers, since Wyoming is making a push to make most trout waters fully wild.
I thought I hadn’t personally kept any fish this year, but checked my Fishing Log and was reminded I kept 2 trout to eat in January (while ice-fishing) that met criterium #1. This Fall, I did give 4 trout I had caught to other (elderly) anglers…also meeting criterium #1.
For comparison, I’ve released 3,106 fish this year.
When the wife starts her rant about how I’m always fishin’ but never bring home any for supper, I go out and catch a mess of bluegill
They’re better eatin’ and it’s good for the fishery.
When do I keep Fish? Most every time I go fishing. I really like to eat fish plus I live in an area of mostly retired people who really appreciate some fresh fish. That being said I release Rainbow Trout from a stream because I think they are poor tasting and the limit is just two. I also let any big bass or Perch go in hope they will create more biggies.
By doing this I get a lot of cookies from the neighbors.
In my area, the DNR stocks “catchable” sized rainbows in certain stream areas. I will keep on or two of them on occasion.
We also have some streams with a 12"-16" slot regulation. Those streams frequently have very good fish populations and keeping a few fish less than 12" is probably good for the overall population.
I agree with your point 3 about fish that will not survive as well. However, in my experience, this should only happen on very rare occasions if you land fish reasonably quickly, handle them gently, and get them back in the water quickly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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!!
