I'm not against keeping fish although I mostly practice CP&R. What I keep depends upon my need, perhaps a meal for my family now and then, but I don't make a practice out of living off what I catch for various reasons, all of which are my preference but determined on other factors. Those factors depend on the species that I'm after, convenience to keep them or not, fragility of the body of water that I'm fishing, legality, local fishing pressure, possible or known pollution; and whether I think that the fish that I catch deserves to live to fight another day or go on my table.
Some species of fish, like bass, on heavily fished small bodies of water won't attain a large fun size to catch unless folks use some sort of restraint. I can also say that goes for most of the predatory species. Laws and limits are designed to protect the fishery, but manpower to enforce and study each body of water and situation in most states, if not all, simply doesn't exist. We as sportsmen have to make educated decisions or take responsibility when things go wrong (like overharvesting). Just because it's legal doesn't mean that it shouldn't be. For example, if you have a large body of water with a great walleye population (including trophies) and the legal limits are reasonable, then you should feel comfortable with keeping legally caught fish and limits. However, if you, your buddies and other locals notice that things aren't going well on your lake, then it's up to you to take action and:
1) stop keeping or reduce the numbers that you keep
2) report the problem to the local authorities so that they can conduct studies and/or change laws
3) spread the word that you are noticing a problem to your community
If you don't take these steps and wait for others to do it (especially the governments because we all know how fast they are to take action), then you may say goodbye to a once good fishing spot.
Some bodies of water can take the fishing pressure and keeping of fish more than others and unfortunately for most small bodies of water, like small streams and lakes, size limits are a state wide general regulation. Many DNR agencies study and set up special regulations to protect or encourage increased populations of big fish or a certain species, but until those types of things are in place they simply don't have the resources, budget, manpower or time to get out to every body of water.
Trophy fish: I can understand why people want to keep them for their wall, but it's a shame when a fish like that has to die and can't pass it's genes along any longer, but then again, you can take a pic, measure, weigh and have a fiberglass mount done, so all is not lost for our trophy fish. I personally feel this way but don't condemn others that want to keep one for their wall, it's their business and right as long as it's legal. This is just how I feel and react and don't push it on others.
Catch and release can really help a fishery in many cases. Unlike some of the posts that I've read on here, studies have shown that it does help. C&R fish live if handled properly. Unfortunately, even our best efforts may be to know avail and some fish are doomed to die because of what we do, and those that we deem can't live if legal we have to keep, if not legal, they feed the birds and racoons. Furthermore, not all lakes or bodies of water benefit if all fish are caught. On many lakes or rivers with slot limits, scientists and DNR officials want you to keep the smaller fish so that populations of larger fish improve (spawning sized fish), so that is why I say that it depends on the body of water. On lakes with lots of stunted fish, keeping a few can do some good for the fishery even if it means that you have to clean more fish for your meal.
Waste: I can't stand it. I had a freezer full of crappie, deer meat, rainbows and walleyes that I had been using when all of a sudden we had a massive power outage while I was away and lost it all. I know it wasn't my fault, but looking back I didn't need to keep all those fish, rather, it would have made more sense to keep a few meals and then go back out for more when I wanted more. Back then I wasn't in a position to have a backup power supply, now that I am I may stock more than a meal or two but never more than I can't eat in a reasonable amount of time.
I could go on and on, but in summary, obey the laws and I'm cool with any of my fellow anglers, we're on the same side. But at the same time, I hate to see people just go on their business oblivious to the situation that they have on lakes that are almost or are in trouble...we have to be stewards of the resource, to protect it for our kids and grandkids, and that means being aware of the places that we love so much and doing the right thing when we are needed to do so. If all is well, enjoy the resource and be respectful of it.
