What do you do? C&R or Catch & Keep?

[Somers]

I too keep most of my catch, depending on where it comes from.  Some weeks I eat fish 5-6 times.  The only fish I really don't keep are some species from the Hudson river, namely eels, catfish, and white perch.  Stripers always go home, as do blue fish and crabs.

I FW I keep most panfish worth cleaning esp. through the ice.  LMB and SMB also get filleted and eaten.  Trout (all species), salmon, smelt, walleye, pickeral, pike, bullheads, you name it I've tried it.  The only fish I release from FW are carp by hook and line.  Too scaley and bony, and they make better fertilizer as mentioned a few times.

Salt water fish get eaten as well.  I love fluke, striper, blues, flounder, blackfish, tuna, shark, tilefish, cod, pollack, porgy, weaks, etc, plus all shell fish.  I pickle herring and smoke eels too.

I C+R when they're undersized, oversized (per my own taste), or if I have a limit.  Sometimes I go solely C+R for stream trout or bass in small ponds during the summer.  A stocked freezer makes me happy and I love to cook.

[Polar]

Only when I want a few fish to eat for dinner on that day  I'll keep a few.All others go back to fight for another day.

[firstice_rules]

for me it depends on the species of fish i catch. i usually only keep enough fish (usually perch) for the nights dinner or for future uses.

[bigdave1018]

hey the people who have to supplement their familys food bill because of necessity or lack of money should feel free to keep all the fish they need to sustain them. its the commercial slobs that sell their fish and dont even need the money are the ones giving fishing a bad name. i remember hearing 1 guy state that he needed to sell fish because he just couldnt make it on ONLY 50 grand. i looked at him and wanted to knock him out. the fish limits now are mainly because of these so called commercial slobs. i remember once hearing about 2 guys on onieda lk getting busted for having 500 perch on their boat. 3 guys at nimo power plant caught with 100 baby brown trout. it makes you sick. and yes ive caught over my limit of panfish a few times but never ever did they go to waste. its like seeing these true sportsmen throwing their small fish on the ice and leaving them there for the gulls and crows.

[Otter]

I C&R most fish, but this year I've kept a number of perch ice fishing, some crappie, some trout and some walleye.  I love to eat fish, but I don't really care for cleaning them. 

[Liar]

   I keep all pan fish and walleye within the limit and maybe a northern.  My wife and I could live on fish.  She has a whole mess of differt ways to prepare them...none go to waste.  When our grandson stays over he asks for fish breakfest
 lunch and dinner.
  Hey Mr. Otter like your picture and comment...............  

[Mackdaddy21]

Mostly Catch And Release. I do however love eating fish. For trout, I generally only keep brookies and lakers, though in some fisheries I will keep rainbows if they are orange - red meated. I don't like pale meat trout.
I due usually keep a lot of perch or crappies because they are tasty and so numerous that harvesting some of them helps keep the fishery healthy. Same thing, I keep a couple of smaller (under 16") walleyes when I catch them.
Smaller fish cook up better and therefore usually taste better. I used to keep small pike and catfish, but the fishery managers in my state hate pike, so they all get thrown back from me. Same with catfish, the only really good fishery around my house is the Colorado River, which is awesome, but they have no bag limit on cats cause they want them gone because they think they harm the endangered suckers and chubs. So all cats go back. In fact, any non native fish I catch in our rivers I throw back because the feds and the state want to rid the rivers of them, no matter that the people want the non natives in the rivers.

Tyler

[Penguin]

I keep most of the bluegills and perch I get that are decent size, but will put back some big bull 'gills to keep the genes in the pool. Legal sized walleye generally go in the cooler, too. Rarely keep any bass, except in the late fall when the water is cooler, they seem to taste better then. I have a lot of friends who like fish and I give them some fillets. One family I know actually started fishing on their own because they liked the fresh fish so much better than the store-bought fare. There are a lot of times I just don't feel like cleaning fish, though, and will put back everything. My biggest C&R (besides catfish, pike, and carp) was a 9 lb walleye, in season, in a lake that has some good ones but not a lot. I have to look at the water I'm fishing and the numbers and quality that are there.

[fishermanjake]

depends if i feel like fish Unless its salmon or halibut i try not to keep anything i won't eat fresh.  but i eat alot of fish, so i have to keep a few.

[Invicta]

i havent kept a fish in years.

[MikeMo]

I release 100% of what i catch.

[red_eyes]

both, I keep only trout + perch, also bait.,and salmon

[devil-man]

I keep some bass from the pond for population control, and a few trout early in the season, because they taste so good. I don't target panfish, but keep any gills I catch, again for population control. I believe in conservation, not preservation.
All the bass and pike from lakes go back.

[Fat Boy]

Hopefully, this won't show up in the GOM board!  LOL.  But, I'm going to put in my 2 cents again based on what I've read here.  I'm not going to bash anyone or put them down and I hope that everyone will read what I have to say with an open mind and please don't take anything personally.  My intent isn't to judge anyone, just to explain the way that I feel.  Here it goes:

Catch and release as a management tool is very effective in restoring fish populations and other fisheries management goals.  Game Commissions and DNR's across the nation often place restrictions on bodies of water that they know are in trouble.  The problem is that they just don't have the time, manpower, and financial resources to recognize all of the troubled or potentially troubled waters.  Bag and size limits and other restrictions are imposed for reasons.  Those reasons are a result of various sources of information including electroshock and water quality studies but also from input of the angling public.  One classic successful example of the use of imposed catch and release was the moratorium put in place by the state of Maryland on striped bass in its tidal waters.  The striped bass population was in serious jeopardy several years ago and the Maryland DNR put a moratorium on both commercial and recreational striped bass fishing.  All stripers were to be released immediately if caught and not targeted.  After many years of this special closed season, the striped bass population in Maryland tidal waters rebounded and is now nearly as good as ever.  A few years ago, the moratorium was lifted and replaced by a combination of size and bag limits, and catch and release spawning areas and seasons and today remains an effective management concept.  Across the nation, for many species, closed seasons are imposed to keep or improve a particular fishery.  Also, in Maryland, freshwater bass fishing has a closed season, and tidal water size and bag limits are restricted, again, to protect the fishery.  So, since the state can't possibly investigate all of the Maryland waters, many bass anglers take catch and release seriously based on scientifically proven information and the examples stated above, and many of these waters are improving each year despite an ever increasing number of bass angling pressure. 

In my opinion, a few recreational anglers keeping a few small or medium sized largemouth bass, or even a trophy, each year won't damage a large fishery, such as an 8,000 acre lake or a large river system.  However, a large number of anglers keeping full legal limits and a lot of trophy sized fish could cause a problem.  Many of the size and bag limits are old regulations from many years ago when the bass numbers were very high and the number of "educated" bass anglers were few.  The state hasn't had time to study each body of water and impose special regulations.  The catch and release philosophy promoted by In-fisherman and B.A.S.S. has really made the job of the DNRs easy where they really don't have to change the regulations in many cases.   Conversely, a few recreational anglers could put a hurtin' on a small fragile body of water by keeping a limit of breeder sized largemouth.  Imagine what several of those anglers could do to that fishery by each of them keeping a limit of breeder sized fish.  Then imagine how much damage could be done by simply having those people that currently practice C&R of bass if they kept a limit of big bass.  The fishery could be decimated or ruined for some time to come.  Who suffers?  We do, when we show up to fish or bring our kids to fish and don't catch anything and blame it on any excuse but ourselves.  We have to take responsibility too along with the DNR to not only promote fishing but also ethical practices.  It's up to us (along with the DNR regulations) to determine which lakes are best suited for us to catch and keep.  We have to determine when it is OK, based on our fishing success and observations, to keep a limit of fish.  In a case where a fishery is strong, or it is known that keeping fish will help the lake, then we could or should do just that.  If we know that a lake can't sustain a lot of catch and keep activity, then we should use restraint and not wait for the DNR to discover that a body of water is ruined.  Who pays for the stockings?  We do with our license fees.  If the need to stock fish increases, so does our license fee increase.

Educated anglers have a responsibility.  What do I mean by educated?  I'm not talking about a college degree here, rather, I'm talking about those anglers that simply know how to catch a lot of fish and also a lot of big fish.  Those anglers don't need to stock their freezer with every single fish that they catch unless they know for sure that the fishery can sustain that kind of pressure (and some can).  In many states, many bodies of water can't sustain that kind of pressure, and in our state, very few can.  And the number of educated anglers is growing at a faster rate than the number of license sales.  How?  By the increased amount of information on how to catch fish found in magazines, on TV, on the internet, at fishing expos, and by fishing clubs.  Throw in the advances in fishing technology across all of the products used today in fishing and the average angler today is a thousand times more dangerous than an angler 30 years ago.  Technology has significantly improved our ability to locate and catch fish.  There is no argument here.  Ice fishing is a prime example.  Electronics 30 years ago were available for all anglers to use on the ice to locate fish, but it wasn't popular, advertized, or as readily available to all of the ice anglers like it is today.  Even 5 years ago it was rare for me to see another angler on the ice using a Zercom or Vexilar to locate and catch fish.  Today, nearly half of the ice anglers that I encounter are using some sort of electronics.  Now, we even have underwater camera packages easily available to those that want to invest.  Another example is the evolution of the bass and walleye boats of today.  They are faster, leaner, meaner, and more equipped than ever to assist even the raw newbie to find and catch fish.  Fishing reels, lures, super lines, rod sensitivity…you name it.  Everything is better today.  So, we have a responsibility as we become more educated and better equipped to protect our resource and ensure that our children, and our children's children, have at least the same or better opportunities to go fishing.  We also owe it to the resource.  I'm not saying at all that we can't keep some fish.  I keep a few meals now and then for some species.  But for species, at least in the areas that I fish, where I can potentially damage a fishery, I use restraint and in some cases, like largemouth and smallmouth bass, pike, and muskie release everything.  Digital camera technology will allow the egos to keep swelling.  When I see a bunch of fish on a stringer (in my area) or a ton of fish on the ice, most of the time (and I emphasize most but not all), those anglers are looking for an ego boost.  They are laying it out there for all of us to see.

How can a small body of water be damaged?  I have another example.  We used to fish a small body of water (now we know it's a small fragile body of water too) for crappie.  We had discovered an unknown hot spot.  For several years we fished this water hard catching not only a lot of crappie, but big ones too, up to 17" long.  We had a great pattern that, at that time, nobody used.  The area, unfortunately for us, was also a public area used for many types of recreation.  One day we were there catching crappie hand over fish and a guy riding by on a bike noticed and watched us.  He rode up to us and watched, not saying a word, as we kept catching them.  The next day we showed up and guess what?  He, and two of his buddies, were there catching them hand over fish.  They each had a stringer with at least 30 to 50 crappie on them.  The next several months we desperately tried to get there before them, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to preserve that spot.  They sometimes would simply get up earlier than us or stay all night and each time they kept lots of fish.  Eventually, their stringers were 10 to 15 fish and then later less until one day, that body of water wasn't even worth fishing.  Even today, the fishery has not rebounded and you are lucky to catch even 5 crappie per person and they are all small.  It was our naïve fault too, for even inadvertantly showing them that fishery.  Had those 3 guys only kept a few fish each time (like we did), the fishery may have been preserved to this day.  In many bodies of water including small lakes, crappie populations can rebound faster than any other species if enough bait is available and conditions dictate.  Often, population explosions can happen and the average size can change dramatically.  In those cases, keeping some extra fish can often help a population.

Anyway, I've made my points.  The most important thing about fishing is not to stock your freezer, but to have fun.  So, go out and have fun, but think about the impact that you can have on a certain fishery.  If you've noticed one of your favorite spots declining in productivity over the years, think about the impact you can have simply by adjusting your fishing style for a while until it rebounds.  You can lead by example and others will follow.  Peer pressure can be a good thing too.  Good luck and tight lines.

[Fat Boy]

OK, now I have 1 1/2 more cents to add...

...If you are going to catch and release, do it right.  I've seen people that think that smallmouth bass are trash fish just because they are after trout and also out of season, lift them onto a pier, step on them, yank the hook out along with some flesh, and then kick then into the water.  I don't care what species it is, if you fatally injure it simply by being negligent (so bad that it is sure to die later) and then throw it back you are in my mind not a sportsman at all.  A fish that is fatally injured accidentally even though great care was exercised in it's capture and attempted release, but not a legal keeper, is still OK...it happens now and then.

If a fish swallows the hook and you intend to release your fish, then cut the line and leave the hook in so it will rust away if you can't perform life saving surgery on it.  If the fish is of legal and the fish is sure to die, you might as well keep it.

In summary, I'm only saying that for any fish that you don't intend to keep, make sure that you take care of it so that it has a good chance to survive. 

What other precautions increase it's chances?

1)  Barbless hooks.
2)  Don't fight the fish until it's completely exhausted unless you don't have a choice.  If you do this, take the time to revive the fish before returning it to the water by allowing water to flow through it's gills (preferably in the mouth and out the gill, current helps) while keeping the fish in an upright position.
3)  Don't handle the fishes body with dry hands.  Wet hands help.
4)  Be careful if you have to use a gaff to use it in a non-fatal spot.
5)  Avoid contact of the gill filaments with your hands.
6)  If you lip a largemouth or any other fish, keep the fish hanging vertically.  Don't hold the fish in a horizontal or near horizontal position by the lower lip, it will strain it's jaw too much and may die.
7)  If you have to hold a pike or muskie for a picture, hold it horizontally rather than by the gill.
8 )  Use a net, or better yet, a cradle to land large muskie and pike.
9)  For trout, the catch and release style rubberized nets are best.

Any other things that you can think of?

OK, so I said more than 2 cents worth again... if it helps someone, isn't it worth it?