Catch and Release or Keep

[gotglock]

How mant of your catch and release all your fish, sometimes keep a few, or keep a lot of what you catch?

Personally, I C&R almost every fish on my river unless it's a nice fat walleye or I found myself a nice Crappie hole.

[Vicious_Fish]

I probably release 95% of the fish I catch. Now if I'm deep sea fishing for Rockfish, flounder, etc...if it's big enough to keep, I keep it most of the time.

[jpappy789]

I'd say 99% of the time I catch a fish, it's not worth keeping...

[Dangerdoll]

yeah, release 100% of the time too.... I don't know if it's more because I don't really like the taste or I don't really trust the Jersey waters.

[Vicious_Fish]

yeah, release 100% of the time too.... I don't know if it's more because I don't really like the taste or I don't really trust the Jersey waters.

Go with door number 2. ;)

[snoopy65]

When we go fishing, we go specifically for perch, walleye or salmon....and keep all that are large enough.

[SubRosa]

I keep Trout, Perch, Walleye, and Crappie in FW because they're tasty. I release any other fish native to my area. Non-natives I destroy, with the exception of Rainbow and Brown Trout which like I said I eat. In SW I keep Fluke and Tautog.

[Rallysman]

I never keep them. I just enjoy fishing.
Being out on the boat is awesome. Catching fish is just a bonus.

[flossyfloofloo]

i match fish in the uk so all i can do is c&r

[rdfriend]

I usually only wade in saltwater and I keep all fish that are edible and of legal size and bag limit. Anything else I release as careful as possible. Just this week I brought home 3 nice macs and a trout. YUM! Also a porcupine puffer caught in my cast net that is now in my 125g.

[Star_Rider]

I release probably 98% of the fish.

i do keep an occasional trout, steelhead or salmon but not many

[dirtydawg10]

I usually keep a few (3 to 4) nice trout every year because they taste yummy...but for the most part I catch & release.

[excuzzzeme]

I only keep baitfish and those fish I intend to eat right away. The baitfish are Menhaden (Bunker) and the only way to get them is by snagging or using a gill net. Either way is a fatal catch as there is no humane way to get them. So I don't over-do on the ones I get. I usually keep a dozen at the most. They are then turned into cut-bait for striper and bluefish.

Anything else it catch and release.

[Dangerdoll]

Go with door number 2. ;)
LOL I was trying not to focus on that, LOL but you know what I mean :laugh:

I never keep them. I just enjoy fishing.
Being out on the boat is awesome. Catching fish is just a bonus.
completely agree here..... and hi Rally :)

I release probably 98% of the fish.

i do keep an occasional trout, steelhead or salmon but not many
love the new avie, Star, how pretty!

[l3lhsl3]

detroit river has good fish lmao

[excuzzzeme]

Yeah the Connecticut River has been known to supply a floater or two every year as well.

[jpappy789]

I'd never eat anything straight out of the Mississippi...:yuck:

[Schneider]

I selective harvest which means I only harvest when it should improve a fishery rather than harming it. For example, if you eat a few panfish from densely populated waters the remaining panfish will grow larger as a result. Still is a bad idea to keep everything you catch.

[nugpuffer]

I do mostly salt water fishing nowadays and will selectively keep fish based on size/species (some fish make better meals than others).

I do a fair amount of camping/surf fishing and it is great to go out in the morning and catch a bunch of pompano, flounder, and whiting to throw on the campfire for breakfast. I only keep enough to make a good meal for everyone and then release the rest to catch again for dinner.

[swinneyw]

i fish for crappy or cat fish if i catch enough to clean i keep them if i catch less than 6 or 8 i release

[Bubbles2112]

When I was living out west in Idaho and Montana--I'd keep trout as long as I could cook it and eat it right then and there. Yummy! But now I release everything as I do not trust the water.

[Thalan]

I keep all the SW I can, but release all the FW. Mostly because of the places I fish FW....

[Pittbull]

I fish for any and everything but the only fish i will keep and clean is Sauger and Crappie but i have never kept or ate a largemouth bass i so want to try it.. River fishing is fun caught a few large Garrs in my time and a huge paddlefish i snagged on accident..

[Woodward]

...i dont like the way fish taste....plus....all of the fish i get are tiny :/

[D. Hedington]

I dont keep many fish out of the river, its heavily fished, and we have alot of redneck fisho's that basicly catch and keep everything, or just kill it for the hell of it, i dont mind keeping a fish if its gut hooked but i try to work on my own slot limits

[fballguy]

It depends what I catch. Bluegill and most other sunfish I rarely keep. Any bass big enough to get decent fillets off is a keeper. All legal walleyes are keepers. Big perch are excellent eating. Trout are always kept because they are plentiful in the fall and if they are not big enough for me to eat they make excellent crab bait the next summer. Also will keep any catfish over 12 inches. When it comes to salmon, if it isnt a baby it is a keeper.

[Star_Rider]

It depends what I catch. Bluegill and most other sunfish I rarely keep. Any bass big enough to get decent fillets off is a keeper. All legal walleyes are keepers. Big perch are excellent eating. Trout are always kept because they are plentiful in the fall and if they are not big enough for me to eat they make excellent crab bait the next summer. Also will keep any catfish over 12 inches. When it comes to salmon, if it isnt a baby it is a keeper.
LOL we are a bit on opposite ends.. I keep sunfish,bluegills, crappie etc(as long as they are not tiny. (good eats)

;)

[noodles62]

We only keep what we intend to eat. This is how we raised our boys on hunting too - "if you are not going to eat it, don't kill it".

[fsn77]

If a fish runs into me, it can pretty much count on going back in the water... My wife isn't a fan of eating fish and I don't find myself wanting to clean fish just for myself. The only exception would be if I'm out camping, but happens so rarely now.

[Fishfiles1]

im a die hard fisherman and hunter and i keep alot of fish, tough i need to cause money is short, if its to small or to big i put it back, i dont think 22 in bass tast good but 15in are great,

[Anniegump]

I love to go fishing. I never keep what I catch though. Neither does my husband. I don't care to eat fish, don't like it. Even if I don't catch anything it gives me a great opportunity to get some wildlife pictures :)

The only fish I have ever kept were the mosquito fish my sis keeps in her 10 gal tank.

[wakingupnow]

I voted release some and keep some, but if your going to "keep" a fish then it shouldn't just be killed and thrown away. It needs to be put to good use like food.

[Tay690]

I honestly release about 99% of what I catch tbh

If it's a bass I'll throw it back :clap: at hopes of releasing the piggies to make baby piggies lol

If it's a walleye less than 5lbs, trout or salmon I will keep it

any walleye bigger than 5lbs gets released...and oh boy is that a task in itself...especially if the bladder expands too much from being taken out of such deep water...usually takes about 2 hours to get the fish healthy again and sometimes they never fix their bladder :1zhelp:

and off subject quickly...fizzing swim bladders IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!

it severely lowers the fish's chance of survival ... fizzing a fish's swim bladder gives it about 30-40% chance of survival...fish released with no fizzing have about 60% chance of survival

thought I should get that out there...it seems to be the new catch and release "Trick" for big walleye with swim bladder issues

[froglover007]

I catch and realease most of what I catch. I do keep the occasional fish if i am out with my grandpa or something.

[Star_Rider]

I honestly release about 99% of what I catch tbh

If it's a bass I'll throw it back :clap: at hopes of releasing the piggies to make baby piggies lol

If it's a walleye less than 5lbs, trout or salmon I will keep it

any walleye bigger than 5lbs gets released...and oh boy is that a task in itself...especially if the bladder expands too much from being taken out of such deep water...usually takes about 2 hours to get the fish healthy again and sometimes they never fix their bladder :1zhelp:

and off subject quickly...fizzing swim bladders IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!

it severely lowers the fish's chance of survival ... fizzing a fish's swim bladder gives it about 30-40% chance of survival...fish released with no fizzing have about 60% chance of survival

thought I should get that out there...it seems to be the new catch and release "Trick" for big walleye with swim bladder issues


if you can get the fish back to depth the problem should go away. the bladder would go back to normal size

the trick would be how.

;)

[Tay690]

lol easier said than done I'm afraid
Scuba gear might need to be packed in a tackle box lol

[Kivstev]

Always let the big Stripers go to procreate - they're the breeders. Once in awhile take a small keeper for the table.

[Siphon1]

I always release any cow sized striper but I will keep a nice sized one for the table. I only keep bluefish and porgy to give away to friends and family that want them otherwise they go back too.

[wesleydnunder]

I keep what I'm going to eat:

In FW, large blue gill, crappie and catfish in to 18" to 30" range. I don't care for the taste of largemouth bass so don't keep any.

Inshore salt water, flounder, speckled trout, sand trout, whiting and large sheephead. Sometimes I'll keep the odd redfish but mostly release them as they can taste pretty strong.

Offshore, ling (cobia), dolphin ( mahi mahi, dorado), snapper, kingfish, wahoo, grouper, tuna and amberjack are kept to eat. Any more it's so expensive to go offshore (40 miles or more out in the gulf) that it's an occasion for a party and feast afterwards.

Mark

[Tay690]

Release about 99% of the fish I catch
I don't like to eat fish personally...but the wife loves them
That is the other 1%

[daclozer]

I release pretty much all of the freshwater fish I catch and about 95% of the saltwate fish. I usually only take a few snappers or a grouper or a dolphin to eat. I like them fresh so I only take what I am going to eat right away. I don't freeze anything.

[Mikey5924]

I only keep what I intend to eat. But just usually don't even use bait.... goin' fishing is just an excuse to relax and drink.

[excuzzzeme]

Large stripers are unable to breed (somewhere around 32" they no longer breed) and are worth keeping. The meat makes a very good meal.

[captmicha]

I like catching and releasing because you get the fun of fishing but the satisfaction of knowing that what you caught will go on living. I use circle hooks because they have something like a 99% chance of going through the lip instead of being swallowed and causing internal damage. This goes for freshwater and saltwater (when I'm lucky enough to go).

I made the decision one summer day when I was fishing off a boat in the gulf stream. We caught over 200lbs of wahoo and mahi mahi. Guess where it all ended up? Uneaten for the most part in our freezer. What a senseless waste of life.

[BioHazard]

I release them all, just because I don't like the taste of fish.

Although, once we get the flesh eating beetles up and running again, I will mke no promises.

[Scuppers]

Well, quite frankly, having just moved from Kodiak Island, Alaska I tend to catch my salmon 300lb at a time and find it real difficult to release them! Same with halibut, ling-cod etc.

[Bassasin]

I catch to many to keep ;) I keep 1 or 2 if I'm hungry. release if they are too small or giant ( to be caught again) . And for anyone that said LM arent good eating you couldnt be more wrong!

[Zaffy]

I release everything*.

*except for what I very rarely keep.

[Bassasin]

I release everything*.

*except for what I very rarely keep.

why? not to single you out, but your the last post that said it :) do you not like fish?

[user_name]

I keep, often times people complain when I catch them. I find it much easier to just catch and eat as quickly as possible, that way I don't spoil the meat.

[fshfanatic]

I am a avid fly fisherman and used to be a fish cutter by trade. The last thing I want to do now is clean/prep a fish. They all go back.