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When you fish - do you catch and release or catch and eat?
My son and I love to fish... but a mercury warning was issued for several species of fish in the big lake near us (reportedly one of the cleanest in the U.S.).
As catch and eat fishers it took a lot of the fun out of it for us.
Thus... the pontoon boat is for sale to fund the purchase of a land-toy.
Thoughts on catch and eat vs. release and polluted waterways?
its either catch and use for bait or catch and eat i didnt go through the trouble of getting the fish to the bank to turn it loose.
several of our largest and most popular waterways are also polluted. most with pcb's although i'm syre mercury is also on the list.
most fishing for meals is done on private ponds or smaller lakes where the quality of the fish and water are better monitored.
I won't eat anything that comes out of the big rivers in the South. Too many sewage treatment plants upstream. :eek:
I like brim but hate to clean them so it all depends on what mood I am in. Trout always ends up in a pan. I usually keep the best catfish and bass.
catch and grill, same day! I love going to the local streams, picking out a few trout and taking them home and grilling them. I have even grilled some stream side, but its a pain to haul in the grill and pans.
we have the same warnings in the ontario fishing guide about what type and how many to eat each month, i rarely fish but when i do its to eat..
We still fish for trout in the streams but have abandoned the lake.
First big fish my kid caught - he was really proud - not for catching the fish but because he put food on the table using his own skills.
Sounds like you're raising him just fine.
Thanks - he gets most the credit - he is just a good kid... makes me wonder if I'm actually the father :confused: :)Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdive123
lets ask maurry for the test results
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teotwawki
he is a marvelous kid and I claim him as his 'honorary' aunt (well, probably great-aunt) if I'm allowed.
Very smart, funny, and all around nice.
I guess it depends. I like to fish but some places I won't eat the fish so I fish and release. Other places I'll catch and eat. I fly fish mostly so around here it's usually Redear and Bluegill.
Depends, when I bow fish I obviously eat whatever fish I put an arrow through, I hate to waste anything on an animal, but when I fish with hand line ( I don't use poles) I catch and kill only ones that bite quickly when I cast out, and if im hungry in the woods and don't feel like walking back miles to my house to just eat something.
You're allowed.Quote:
Originally Posted by buttercup
1st, I don't fish a whole lot, unless it 's fly fishing, or Survival. Either way, unless it's too small or a carp,(:mad:) it hits the skillet! Some Wise-en-Hiemer even went so far as to invent a "barbless" hook for fly-tyers to tie their flies with to aid in "catch & Release"! Go figure! :mad: Where's Smok when I need him?:confused:
i'm used to living near areas which only allow catch and release, and/or only allow the use of barbless circle hooks.
i don't fish there. i wouldn't go fishing if i wheren't looking for a meal, and since i'm always hungry, it dosen't stifle my ability to engage in that sport and past-time i love so well. there are many waters i wouldn't fish in for the pollution, many more i just wouldn't fish in more than a few times a year, but then there are brands and types of canned fish i wouldn't eat for the same reason.
i never had much time for catch and release, i don't see a need to torture the poor critters needlessly.
Eat 'em or let 'em go?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5542199
Catch and release for me in the summer. All the Rainbow, Brookies and Browns you can catch two minute walk down my driveway. In the winter is different. I catch and pan fry at least 6 a week.
Depends big Cat fish (25lb and up), and Bass, I let go. Smaller Cat fish, Crappy, and sand Bass get eaten
If I catch it,I eat it.
Agreed. If I catch it, it's food.
Definitely catch and release. The two big lake systems above and below Charlotte are so polluted, I don't even like swimming in them, much less eat out of them!
the only really polluted waters here are lake winnipeg and the red deer river and i still catch healthy clean fish every time. but if it was really polluted i might just give up on fishing alltogether
I live where people from all over the US come to fish for Walleye. It is definately cath and eat. (Maumee River in Ohio)
However, it really depends on the type of fish
Catfish, Perch, Walleye, Bullhead = Eat
White Bass, White Perch, Sheephead = Crap
Trout, Bass, Carp = Depends (On my mood of the day)
In Montana it really depends on the fishery. Many of the rivers here are wild fisheries. That means they are not stocked by fish hatcheries, and so the rule is predomnatly catch and release for Trout. In the lakes, if they are stocked, then its "hook 'em and cook 'em"...again this is for Trout.
Other species are mainly keep and eat.
I usually fish out of the waterways surrounding the Gulf of mexico. Either way, if it's edible it ends up getting eaten. Although I rarely fish out of the Mississippi river because of the pollution levels, yet at times i do. I've seen 60 lb catfish pop out of those waters.
Normally I go for Garfish or Redfish depending on the area, but I almost never throw anything back. I dont even think there are catch and release streams anywhere around LA state.
I usually only get to fish a couple of times in the summer. So I keep every salmon I catch. It helps to offset the cost of meat during the winter. I try to freeze about 50 lbs of salmon for the winter.
I mostly fish for catfish around the house, but I do make a few trips a year for redfish and speckled trout. If I don't eat it, I don't wanna catch it. If it is legal size, I will try to fill my limit. I don't care to eat bass, so I do not fish for them. So for the most part, it's catch and release.......INTO THE GREASE!!!! LOL.
Now who would have thought tha you mostly fish for catfish:D:D:D:DQuote:
Originally Posted by catfish10101
catch and release here because Ohio's waterways are in bad shape, that and I hate fish.
Catch & release unless caught in three local lakes, then I clean & give away to older folks that can use the food.
Catch and eat, either ourselves or give them away.
We catch and eat. I find catch and release disrespectful to the fish; guess the equivalent for humans would be when bears or alligators start catching and handling humans because they find it fine sport and then release them. Don't think anyone would find that fun.
That's a perspective I hadn't considered, WW. I appreciate the post.
I don't bother dropping a hook in any water that I think might produce fish that I can't eat. Catch 'em and grill 'em as someone mentioned a couple of posts back.
You say patatoe I say potatoe, and I'm on the top of the food chain for a reason, God gave man dominance over the beast of the field, foul of the air, and fish of the water. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by wildWoman
i think her point was why torture it if one is not inclined eat it. i consider food need and fishing a fair means of aquiring it, and otherwise i'd never stick hook or point in the water.
on the otherhand, if a bear decided to eat my a@# i'd fight back like anybody, but i wouldn't hold a grudge.
I printed this thread and I'll just show the bear the post and tell him I agree. That should settle the score. :D
I was joking, I do very little fishing because I do not like fish, and man is not on the top of the food chain just the top of the list for killing everything in the food chain.
There are men who spend a weeks wages on a rod, catch a fish, throw it back, then go and spend more on a fish from a shop,
And there are others who make a rod from a sapling, catch a fish and eat.
Which one do you think is the better man?
Pretty much catch and eat for me. I typically don't fish in waters that have warnings about eating anything at all (like lake hartwell). The places I do fish don't have populations which are really going to suffer by me having dinner and I don't have enough time to fish to be in the situation of catching more than I know what to do with. While I've never had a problem with eating fish I always felt a little weird about specifically planning on just catch and release fishing so I rarely do that.
-Dan