Keeping big fish?

[Bigtoad]

I've seen a lot of people on this forum catch and keep some big fish and I always ask myself, "why would someone do that?" It just doesn't make sense to me and can be quite frustrating at times. And instead of watching yet another person's thread get hijacked and opening a can of worms, I thought I could just do it here.

So here is the question: Why do you keep big fish?

Besides more meat (which isn't a really great reason IMHO), I see no need to keep a big fish and a lot of reasons to release it. So to those that feel the need to keep the big ones, please try to explain to me the reasoning behind it? Cause I don't get it.

Cheers.

[Deano85]

Id rather no one keep anything. C&R

[fishermansfriend]

Originally Posted by Deano85

Id rather no one keep anything. C&R

You know they taste good right???

[michaelmicallef]

I think most people like the braging rights. You know, show the naighbours, the relatives, whom ever. I actually kept a 28 inch rainbow last weekend and believe me I hardly ever keep anything except the odd pan size trout when ice fishing. The rainbow I kept was a triploid and would never reproduce anyhow. This Province lacks good water that is why I release most fish. But keeping the odd genetically modified trophy fish is not a sin. Keeping spawners is wrong in my opinion. Just an opinion. Man your going to get blasted with this posting.

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by Bigtoad

I've seen a lot of people on this forum catch and keep some big fish and I always ask myself, "why would someone do that?" It just doesn't make sense to me and can be quite frustrating at times. And instead of watching yet another person's thread get hijacked and opening a can of worms, I thought I could just do it here.

So here is the question: Why do you keep big fish?

Besides more meat (which isn't a really great reason IMHO), I see no need to keep a big fish and a lot of reasons to release it. So to those that feel the need to keep the big ones, please try to explain to me the reasoning behind it? Cause I don't get it.

Cheers.

do you hunt?

[Ormachek]

If it's legal, keep it if you want, or let it go. You're choice. No need to criticize someone for choosing to do something that is completely within the law. No one is questioning you're moral standards because you choose to catch fish and let them go (and yes, there certainly are arguments, right or wrong against C&R, but I'm not going there).

Live and let live.

[DiabeticKripple]

i keep when i plan on eating. i dont see anything wrong with it.

big walleye sure taste good fried in beer batter

[Lambo]

Originally Posted by pickrel pat

do you hunt?

not sure where you're going with this question but fishing and hunting are a little different. Can't shoot and release...

Personally, the only big fish I keep is when I'm salmon fishing on the BC coast.

[billie]

Originally Posted by Lambo

Personally, the only big fish I keep is when I'm salmon fishing on the BC coast.

Langara supports C&R of 40lb+ Chinooks and will provide you with a free taxi of it. It has to be witnessed by a guide (or they would have 40's released every week).

I'm C&R and rarely even take a picture, unless it's a serious bleeder and legal to keep.

[pickrel pat]

just stating that its a redundant thread and his opinion is nice and so are the opinions of people who disagree and this thread will be going in circles from the get go.....as far as the hunting comment........ its easy to compare it to fishing, like....... "why shoot that monster buck and take his genes out of ciculation when theres alot more young bucks running around that taste better?......... you see?

[Scott N]

Originally Posted by Ormachek

If it's legal, keep it if you want, or let it go. You're choice. No need to criticize someone for choosing to do something that is completely within the law. No one is questioning you're moral standards because you choose to catch fish and let them go (and yes, there certainly are arguments, right or wrong against C&R, but I'm not going there).

Live and let live.

I agree... if it's legal, I'd rather that people keep their opinions to themselves.

[Drewski Canuck]

If the big ones are taken, in the case of walleye, they have replaced themselves many times over. In the case of Calling Lake, NOT taking the big ones, resulted in the forage base for the big fish being decimated. Net result was 28 inch walleye that weighed a whopping 4 pounds, all skin and bones. Fish would have been better off being utilized then to let starve to death. Very few big ones in there now, and it had nothing to do with commercial or FN or Sport Fishermen. Fish simply grow to a certain point and each and every year are suceptible to disease, food base collapse, regular mortality, etc. The genetics are passed on by the multiple times the fish reproduced, so if you can take a big fish, don't feel bad about it.

Drewski

[coyotezh]

I would keep the fish I caught if it's legal and taste good. The fish in the super market is not the fish I like to eat. I like fresh fresh and fresh....and I love to eat fish... besides, I can cook them and they are delicious...

[Bush]

More meat on the big one means I only need one for a meal instead of taking 4 small ones

Cleaning one big one is the same amount of work as cleaning one little one

That 20 lb pike isn't going to eat 30lbs of perch every year anymore

When the limit was higher it didn't bother me if I kept smaller fish

there are many factors to consider when fishing.
keeping 1 large fish every day is not the same as keeping a limit of small ones every day. i go fishing to see how big a fish i can catch, not how many.
so for me i want to release the big fish and carefully harvest the small.
ive caught hundreds of fish in the last 2 years alone. ive kept 5 over 2 years.

im okay with that. i certainly could take more. apparently the entire province could take 5 whites every day at most lakes. so maybe 5 million a day. its legal so we should be able to right... whats legal and whats right dont hold water where i come from. you need to decide for yourself if you are overharvesting based on what the population can support. its obvious the regs are wrong they couldnt support our population.

this hunting comparision has a few holes in it just like the road signs on the way up there. last i heard you had to get a tag to hunt. almost all fishing is tag free. but we will go 100% tag required if we have to.

population growth is destroying alot of natural habitat. I forsee a future with 100% all stocked lakes. the money will be too great to just plow over that wetland to make a house. pollution affects, etc.

please everyone remember that fishing has no connection to work. its a fantastic gift to be able to fish on any day. ive never heard anyone complain the water was too clear or clean and the air smelled to good. lets all find a way to adopt an attitude of respect and care for the nature that we enjoy so much.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Personally I don't keep any fish.

If I could choose on fish for people to keep vs fish for people to release I would prefer the smaller ones were kept (taste batter anyway) and the larger mature fish were released.

Just my opinion....

LC

[yada]

I think there is nothing wrong with keeping big fish or any fish that is legal as long as you use it and not let it go to waste.

I think you shouldnt keep fish with eggs. Or really small fish that doesnt have any meat like a 5 inch trout...

Thats just my opinion

[tight line]

i fish ALOT of C&R streams, and release ALOT of fish, however certain species(lake & brook trout) i consider very good eating, and do keep some...and release some. i prefer 6-10 pound lakers to eat, had a few days where they were all large fish, and do keep 1...usually the limit is 3, and when that is the case i feel the lake can sustain loosing a few larger fish. alot of cases they get netted anyway.... Nothing feels better than catching a Monster, and watching him swim away though....

[tight line]

it is good to see the limit get dropped on a few lakes this year...Gull for 1 that lake gets so much pressure it is amazing that it keeps up. i usually keep my limit in whites, but feel the pike population needs all the help it can get, always release them... IMO Pike are the most mistreated fish in Alberta!

[Bigdad013]

My fishing is done at the Shuswap, min size for bows is 20" and 24" for lakers, but you can only keep 5 of each a year if you buy the tag for them. So my 20 dollars for 5 rainbows a year are usually in the 10 lb range. Good eaters and awesome evening with friends being served up some good fresh fish. There is nothing wrong with keeping them, if there was I believe the regs would say so. It's great you let yours go, but to slam people for keeping legal fish is pretty arrogant. You don't like eating fish?

[huntsfurfish]

You want to keep a big fish to eat, thats ok(they taste good too). You want to release a big fish, thats ok(catch another day). You want to keep one for a mount, thats ok(get it mounted). You want to release a big one, thats ok(get a replica). You want to keep a big fish with eggs, thats ok(it has spawned many times already). Once the fish is gone it is gone(eggs or no eggs), it will no longer spawn, thats ok(if it is right for you to keep that fish) thats ok.

Do not let them go to waste(that is not ok).

As a group you/we have to decide what is right for you/I and the resources. The bottom line is the resources. If they can handle it thats OK.

If not.....

then it becomes not ok.

[Deano85]

If everyone kept their limit there would be quite a negative effect.

[Speckle55]

Big Toad why do you harrass big fish and then do it again and again are you a sadist.. or into dealing pain!! would it not be better to put them out of their misery .. as most big fish are like me are out of the reproductive cycle..

i don,t understand why you people would make a poor Big Fish suffer again and again..

and by the way don,t walk on the grass as you are killing hundreds with every step

and while we are at it don,t breath as you are killing thousand of organisms

Ghhheee i love debates like this


Food for Thought
David

You can tell whose ancestors were buffalo hunters.

Ever been to china or India or the eastern seaboard. We live in one of the last few best places in the world. We got it good here.


Man u can't fix stupid.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Bigtoad

So here is the question: Why do you keep big fish?

Well, there's no secret that you are a fish hugger Bigtoad. If you had your way no one would be keeping any fish, big or small, because the small ones have the potential to get big and the big ones are, well, already big.

I feel sorry for guys that go out and only feel satisfied about their fishing if they only catch big fish.

Personally, I prefer keeping smaller eating sized fish because they taste better and, that's the way that I was brought up to do it. I won't fault a fella that keeps a big fish to eat though, although keeping a big spawning walleye might turn me off a bit. Some people, like me for example, enjoy fishing not only because it's a great outdoor pastime, but also because you can enjoy the fruits of you labour in the form of a fine meal afterwards.

Offhand, the reasons that I'd keep a large fish over a smaller eating sized one are as follows:

1. It's the first fish that I catch and I'd rather not get skunked;

2. I have company coming and I promised fish for supper:

3. I traveled 3 hours to get to the lake and I'm gonna try to catch my limit; and,

4. Because I want to pizz off a bunch of elitist wannabe outdoorsmen at a fish farm like Muir Lake.

It's nice to see that mentioning anything about keeping fish to eat on this forum isn't taboo anymore.

[Alberta Bigbore]

why do I keep big fishn

Because they are tasty, and I get to use more bacon to wrap them with. Mmmmm bacon.


I rarely fish In Alberta, but i do keep some big feesh in Manitoba and Ontario. I may start fishing heavy again in Alberta one day, and if it's legal to do so... I may keep a big fish or too from time to time.

[mszomola]

Keeping fish is fine . Keeping large fish is amateur . Why ? cause we all know what an 8lb Walleye will do for the lake spawn. It creates more successful large growing fish simply because it itself managed to be successful to hit 8lbs . Now me and a lot of "good" fishers will want lots of 8lbers to catch.

No one cares about your pride , your not special showing one off to the neighbors. The meat is not as good as an average sized Walleye. Keeping average sized is fine in larger numbers if you will and the meat is way better.

Fish don't age to perfection, contrary to all beliefs on this board lol.


Lastly , sure your entitled to do as you please , so do poachers oh we'll get the mnr after them right ? Cause your totally not thinking the same thing only you dropped $60 on a license phew that's a lot of mullah. Perhaps you should take up a cheaper sport like soccer.

[Pilsner Man]

Keeping big fish is stupid . You swell guys want more and more stocking , you complain about poachers . Yet you could care less to see a big spawning female bring in a successful spawn to the lake.


It's no wonder most of you haven't a clue . Getting bashed for this thread ? No I dare some fool to challenge me on this subject . You'll get embarrassed, try me....

Well how about you start with the fact that fish and wildlife in alberta say that it is legal to keep big fish. i dont know who you are but when i checked last your ideas werent the ones that i had to adhere to. i think you are stupid for saying keeping big fish are stupid.

Look at some other lakes that dont get as much pressure as the easy to get to lakes like pigeon and gull. i know alot of guys that keep alot of big fish out of the lakes a bit further north and i have never noticed a shortage of any age class in these lakes. Like drewski said earlier. Look at calling lake and see how great their new management scheme has worked out.

[Who Da Fisherman]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Keeping big fish is stupid . You awesome guys want more and more stocking , you complain about poachers . Yet you could care less to see a big spawning female bring in a successful spawn to the lake.


It's no wonder most of you haven't a clue . Getting bashed for this thread ? No I dare some fool to challenge me on this subject . You'll get embarrassed, try me....

You do as you want. He will do as he wants. I will do as I want!
This question will be debated over and over but will not change what each of us will do, fairly redundant in my opinion.

[mszomola]

Not quoting my second post was that passive fine line. Not to hurt your feelings but address the real post , no beat around the bush answers