Whats your %?

[Steven Noel]

Simple question. Of all the legal sized fish you pull out of the water, what percentage do you retain?

Personaly, as I enjoy catch and release, my number would be fairly low, probably >5%.

Please, I'm not trying to debate the morality of keeping/not keeping fish, so keep it clean.

[honda450]

I would say I would be in the 5% range too. I only fly fish.:wave:

[tonyflyfish]

I only keep what I think has been damaged and won't live. Less than 1%.
But one weekend last year I kept 5 as my weekend guests wanted trout for dinner.

[Dougie55]

% would depend on the season and what I am catching. I sometimes keep enough to feed on while at the spot I am fishing, and lots of times none at all. Occasionally, if requested by family or friends, I will keep enough for a good fish cook up, but never keep enough that they have to sit in the freezer. Fish lose their flavor too quickly to do that. Can't tell you the number of times I have seen people throw out fish they caught 6-8 months ago, or more... So, probably in the 1-2% range I would guess for me.

[honda450]

You edited your original post Steven.:lol: Thought you said 5%?

[AK47]

Well, we love eating fish but what I keep depends on the species and size. I keep 100% legal walleyes as there are very few lakes were you can keep them, so if you get lucky ant catch +50cm one no question it is going in the smoker or frying pan. 100% Whitefish, 100% goldeye and perch ( best fish for smoker). Pike I keep only if my wife asks to bring one, as she is the one who likes it, and only in the range of 63-75 cm as bigger ones are not that good eating.

[DarkAisling]

It depends on what I've got in the freezer already.

I've presently got one pike and fifteen perch in there. I won't be adding any more perch until the ones in there have been eaten. It would be nice to have another pike or two, as I can't eat the last one until I have one to replace it with :lol:

Retention over the last couple of months has been 100% (one pike). When my angling (or luck) is better my retention rate drops dramatically: 10-25%.

[Steven Noel]

I did.. last time I talked bout something like that I got called out.. called me Peta. Thought I'd try to buy some peace and air on the side of caution. Didn't expect such similar responses though. :wave:

[Dougie55]

Steven,
Not a bad post, but as you know, you are opening a can of worms here..Everyone has an opinion..and some are probably going to show it big time..Hope not though.

[The Anvil]

For the most part I am a C&R fisher, I would say that at the most I keep maybe 2% -5%.
If I were to say catch 10 keeper fish. Fish of all I would be thrilled..lol
Depending on the species, regs, and need over want. I might keep one or two for the dinner table. But most often I release most fish caught.

I rarely keep pike, usually a catch and release. Otherwise 1-max.
I Never keep walleye, no tags.
I seek out and try to catch perch and will take at least 5 for the table.
I rarely Keep trout, especially from a stream.
I will keep max 5 Lake whites, if I can catch that many:wave:
I will keep my limit on Rocky Mountain whites and I rarely will catch my limit.
I have yet to catch a burbot, my dad says I have but don't recall.


Keep in mind, I'm not out as much as others and for the most part I have ok results. I always follow the regs.

[Steven Noel]

Simple question. Of all the legal sized fish you pull out of the water, what percentage do you retain?

Personaly, as I enjoy catch and release, my number would be fairly low, probably >5%.

Please, I'm not trying to debate the morality of keeping/not keeping fish, so keep it clean.

I really should proofread these before I publish them. I changed two typos and can no longer edit, it's suposed to be <5% not >5%

[lifesaflyin]

between 3 guys, we have kept a grand total of 6 fish in 2 years out of the probly thousand keeper size we landed.

3 trout
1 pike
2 whitefish

[perchie15]

I like to catch and release most of the time.. but my buddy gets mad at me for doing it.. so he throws a big fit.. but w.e I sitll C&R best so our kids kids can enjoy the fishing!!!

[matathonman]

Usually 4-5 eyes per outing and a pike or two. No whitefish for now. Cook them up on the spot!

[DaveFish]

In Alberta, we keep stocked trout, perch, lake whitefish/goldeye, and would keep a ling if we ever get one. But no pike(well, one in the past 5 years), no stream trout, no eyes. We usually fish for big pike. So I'd say under 15%.

In Ontario we catch a bunch of smallmouth bass, perch, odd monster pike, sunfish, catfish, etc, and my whole life I've only kept 5 smallmouth. It's a 30min drive to our friends who have a fleet of commericial fishing boats on Lake Huron and we buy our trout/whites from them.

[Little Valy]

In nearly 30 years of fishing probably a fraction of 1%.
It might sound corny,but I like to get away from it all and what better way is there than to be on or at the water.
It's been at least 15 years since I'm 100% C&R.

Believe it or not.

[flyguyd]

Im predominatly a flyfisherman so streams less than 1 percent but i keep the odd feed through the ice on lakes.

[A187]

100% catch and release.

[riderpride55]

almost 100% kept. last year I threw back a 13 lb pike, only to have my buddy cath it the next weekend and keep it :lol:. and I threw back a few just legal fish this year beacuse the fishing was hot, and I was trying to get some bigger ones

[Brock1]

i pretty much fish the north country with some liberal limits. I enjoy a feed of fresh fish every week and so do my kids. I keep what the regs will let me in lakes. i try to target lakes like slave or utik that i can bring 2 or 3 eyes home for the pan and hopefully some nice humpy perch.
but last weekend i probably caught 100 plus legal perch and kept 12 for a meal. i caught over 20 eyes on slave and kept 2 males at 19". ling i keep em all cause they are plentiful and excellent deep fried.( never caught more than3 at a lake)
stream fish release em all. pics of them all for the memory bank..lol..so 10% roughly..

[nicemustang]

Depends on situation, location and what I'm fishing for and what type of year.

I never keep pike, no matter the size they go back. Personally they taste awful to me unless they come out of a cold water northern lake and since I don't get up there often these days, pike is 100% C&R. We've caught many a big pike, they've all gone back.

I like to fish for perch as well, mostly in winter. We can catch 1000's in season no problem but I tend to only keep ones 10" and above. Last year I maybe only kept 15 - 20 in total, so that's 1-2%. This winter, only 3 kept so far.

Walleye. In this province it's a nearly 100% C&R just due the regs. But that's why I fish travers so much, because there is no better table fare than walleye. If we're fishing walleye in travers and we get a keeper size (between 50 - 60 cm), it's kept right away. Anything bigger goes back because they tend to taste bad and they will have high mercury content (natural). But we'll only keep 1 despite maybe catching many keepers because we only eat fresh fish. Never ever have I put fish in the freezer. 1 50 cm walleye is enough for my family to have a nice feed. If were fishing with friends, we might keep 2 or 3 if the group is big for a fish fry. But honestly we also catch 1000's of walleye per season. There's times at the spillway or on pigeon we've caught hundreds in 1 day, so the % that we keep is very small. Our group also get tags for newell. We have 12 tags in total for class B and only two of them are filled. But again, we've caught so many fish, usually (95%) they're too big for the slot size. Next year I think I'll apply for class A.

Rainbows. If I'm fishing a stocked pond, usually my intention is to fish it to keep the put and take fish. I'll keep enough for a meal only, usually 2-4 rainbows. Then I might keep all that we catch, unless the bite is HOT.

Lakers. IMO, spray lake lakers are the best tasting fresh water fish. Clear cold fresh mountain water make those little buggers tastey! Again, if my goal of fishing that day is to catch something to feed the family, I'll keep 1 or 2 depending on size. But we've had many a day of catching 1-2 dozen fish in a morning, so % is again low.

Being saskatchewan born and raised, we're used to being able to keep fish. We like to eat fish and it's healthy for you. I fish almost every weekend all year long and I'd say we'd average 2-4 fish per month of fishing that we eat. Again, nothing has ever been in my freezer. I don't support that. I don't fish rivers or streams, only lakes.

[pikester]

Not an easy question because there are so many variables like season, target species, if mamma's expecting fish for dinner, etc. Just as a guess I would say I probably keep @ 3% of my catch from June to ice-up with most of the keepers coming at the beginning of the season & end of the season ( the water is coldest then obviously) & probably none during summer.

In the winter it's different due to the fact that my time on the water is more precious since I only get out about 12 times between Dec. to April, & if I was being REALLY honest I probably only average 2- 3 keepers landed on those trips (unless I'm on a perch pond!). As a result I would say somewhere @ 30% keep rate in the hardwater season.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Id say maybe 1 % probably less . Only maybe 10 or 15 times out of the year Ill bring home fish . And thats out of 200 Plus days fishin.

[tacklerunner]

Pike 1% if someone I'm fishing with wants one
Salmon, Halibut, Cod, Walleye 100% within legal limit
Trout maybe 10 a year out of 1000+ so 1%
Don't fish Perch, Whites and Burbs. Too focused on big Pike.

Overall average about 3%

[FishBrain]

Well, here we go.
I like eating fish.
Burbs about 100% depends on where fishing and size. whites=100%, trout=75%, Perch=100% but have not kept one since helping out in sundance (still have a ton in the freezer) Pike=50%, I like to have one in the freezer.
I like to get out fishing lots, but I am not a very successful fisherman. Still learning how to catch different species. Once I get as good as others here, I will not keep as many. I just like to make sure there are a couple in the freezer for dinner
Flame away

[Winch101]

First let me say ....Steven it was a joke :D

I never keep pike , dont even bring them in the boat .

Never keep wild trout . Dont fish Burbs or whites .

I only fish where you can keep a walleye or 3. Usually keep one

for the wife and I , last year released all the bigger 27" to 29"

walleyes , not as tasty as the 19 7/8" ones. I may have eaten

20 or so walleyes last year what can I say I am a FISHOVORE

its a lifestyle choice..:rolleyes:

[Newspeak]

My percentage is probably fairly high, maybe 25-50%
The amount of actual fish I keep, quite low. Perhaps 10-15 a season (All species combined).

its a lifestyle choice..

A delicious choice!

[bunnyhunter]

interesting thread...


depends on the lake, too...small lake with a LOT of small perch...i will keep one legal pike a year MAX. so of legal sizedfish...prob 20- 30 percent?

perch.....if they are pan sized I will keep a few. Burbot, definitely keep since I usually catch one a year by accident. not a walleye fisherman until this year...so far only one legal fish anyways to tagged and eaten and OMG what a wonderful meal for the family.

everyone loves fresh fish in my family....so I do it both for fun and a few meals a year.

trout...stocked trout, eat em while camping from lakes. wild trout, I would fly fish and release as I find stream trout dont taste good anyways.
IF I manage to catch ANY whites, lake or rockies...that would be 100 % as thay are amazing eating and the populations are pretty stable.

ok now I want a fish fry up lol
J

[BowhuntAB]

I mainly fly fish with the exception of some drift fishing in BC for Steelhead/Salmon the odd time.

That i diliberatly kill ZERO, ZIP, ZILCH!!! I only C&R in Alberta.

I have however killed a Salmon or two over the years.

[burningfreak]

throw back most of the pike, keep the occasional one. Keep all the perch that are reasonable sized. Keep maybe 25% of the legal walleye I catch, depending on the lake. Keep probably 75% of the trout I catch from stocked waters but throw back almost all the wild ones. Kept one for dinner on my honeymoon (yes, my wife let me fish on our honeymoon) and regretted it as the meat was full of worms. Throw back all the wild trout now.

[DarkAisling]

Once I get as good as others here, I will not keep as many.

I think that sums it up pretty well. For those of us who maybe aren't as skilled (or as lucky) our percentages are bound to be different.

If I catch five fish in a weekend, and keep one fish, I'm at 20%. If someone else catches 50 fish in a weekend, and also keeps one, he's at 2%. We've both still only kept one, but my general lack of success makes my percentage much higher.

Those of us who don't catch as many fish may also be more inclined to keep them, as we don't know if we'll ever catch another one. :lol:

[Don Andersen]

Info from DFO 2005 angling survey.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/stats/rec/can/2005/section4-eng.htm


In 2005, anglers caught 215 million fish of all species and retained nearly 72 million (Annex A.7). Resident anglers in all provinces and territories caught 157 million of this total harvest. Foreign anglers caught 54 million (25%) while Canadian non-resident anglers caught a relatively small proportion of the total fish harvest (4 million) during the year (Figure 4.5 and Annex A.8).

Resident anglers kept 39% of the fish they caught compared with 22% and 18% share of fish kept by Canadian non-resident and foreign anglers. On average, each resident angler kept 24 fish in 2005. Every Canadian non-resident angler kept an average of 7 fish, while foreign anglers retained an average of 16 fish of various species.

Residents caught 157,000,000
Kept 39% = 61.230,000
C&R - 95,770,000
C&R mortailty = 3% * 95,770,000 = 2,873,100
Total killed by residents = 61,230,000 + 2,873,100 = 64,103,100
Total Residents = 2,456,876
Residents killed 26.09 fish


The average number of days fished per angler remained relatively unchanged since 1995 (13 days). This suggests that although the number of people actively involved in a recreational fishing activity has been significantly lower, the people who remain active in recreational fishing appear to be applying the same amount of effort.


In summary, typical anglers fished 13 days and killed 2 fish/day.

Don

[Kim473]

Keep maybe 20 percent Keep all 8" plus perch and put back all pike and eyes.
Which might only be about 50 per year kept.

[troller]

100% goldeye...like that is going to bother anyone :D..hey the Asian MIL can cook them like nobody's business!!

Where we fish we will keep the walleye that is of legal length

Depends on the trout but most are consumed, where legal

Don't go for slough sharks anymore

[BlueNorther]

Other than a couple of perch feeds while ice fishing, it's all c&r for me.

[jimbo79]

The last alberta trout I ate tasted like mud, Last year I released everthing. I will keep a salmon when I go fishing in B.C.

[gunner72]

I keep probably 90% of the legal fish i catch out of cold water. I can tell you though about 7 out of every 10 fish I catch has to go back because there not legal. I also won't keep a waleye over 5 pounds so that leaves a small window of opportunity for those guys in this province. In the summer I dont keep any unless for a shore lunch fly fishin in the mountains. I love eatin'm, smokin'm, and canning them so keep up the C&R.....LOL.