What is with catch and release?

[Nameless Range]

Lots of good answers. I usually do both. I rarely fish without a goal in mind of a standard and species I'd like to keep and cook though. I personally have never gone fishing knowing I was solely going to engage in catch and release.

 

[JDH]

Same here...the biggest issue is those farm fed trout always seem to swallow the hook halfway to their tail. I end up keeping them even when I don't want to, because most will die anyway. I've heard that cutting the line and leaving the hook is ok and that they'll eventually pass the hook...I'd love to see some proof of that.

I've only seen one fish with a hook still in it. It was a largemouth and it looked like it went through the area where the throat closes off at the back of the mouth. It was in such bad shape that I was able to catch it in a net. When I opened it's mouth I could see the rusty hook. The hook was so rusty that it broke as soon as I grabbed it with the pliers. The fish was so weak that I don't think it could have mustered the energy to catch anything and eat it. I never see any fish with lures hanging out of their mouth so I imagine they shake lures pretty quickly but that hook seemed to be in just the wrong spot.

 

[A-con]

I catch and release, un-harmed, 95% of the fish I catch.
If a fish is clearly dying, I keep it.
Questionable fish go back, and the Ospreys and Eagles who hunt the lakes I fish make quick work of injured fish on the surface.

I don’t have a problem with those who catch and keep to eat, if they actually eat them.
My experience has been, just about everybody claims they love to eat trout, but a lot of them end up wasted.

 

[Art Vandeley]

I don't enjoy eating trout so they go back. Salmon, halibut, walleye, perch, tuna, dorado, snapper, etc. go in the cooler.

 

[buckbull]

I'm going on a walleye,pike, and small mouth trip to Ontario Canada over an extended labor day weekend. I'll be eating fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[huntid73]

My dad used to fish bass tournaments, so he likes to catch and release, he also doesn't care to fillet fish, unless its walleye, pike or steelhead. A lot of bass tournament guys here in Idaho would try to string you up if you keep a bass over 15" because they say it takes about 15 years for a bass to grow to quality size here. My thought is this: who has the right to to give you grief?? If you are having a good time in the outdoors and are fishing legally, no one should harp on you whether you keep fish or catch and release.

 

[vanish]

I fish for fun, so I C&R all the time, but I'll be fishing a rig that won't wind up in their guts. If something goes wrong and that fish isn't going to make it, he's going on the fire. I have absolutely no issue with people keeping fish where reasonable. Heck, if I'm targeting walleye or yellow perch, you can bet there's little C&R happening. If I'm fishing where there are stocker rainbows and I'm forced to keep a fish, its going to be my dog's dinner. If I am fishing a high alpine lake where there aren't many fish, or there's an exotic species, I'm not going to intentionally keep them, even though its legal. It would be ridiculous for CPW to try to set regulations for each of the 4000+ lakes in CO, and all the streams in between.

The issue can go the other way, too...

Catch & Release and PowerBait DON'T MIX.

 

[scotttgill]

I'll release at friend's ponds when I know their numbers can't take it but if I'm on a big lake, my family is going to eat.

 

[icebreaker12]

I make a point to make my stringer obvious when fishing the platte just to make the guides angry.

The fact is fisheries managers set regulations that will support a sustainable fishery. As long as you are abiding by the rules set, more power to ya.

I am sick and tired of Joe Q Public and every other guide thinking they know more than the managers just because they fish the river often.

 

[Fire_9]

I practice catch and release most of the time but I'm definitely not against making a meal out of my catch. I will never give anyone grief over keeping fish where it is legal but I do like to see catch and release practiced on smaller bodies of water or where fish aren't stocked. I used to fish a lake that had serious potential to produce the next MT state record largemouth. Few people knew how good the fishing was and you could easily go out in the spring and catch 10 3-5 pounders a night with the occasional 6 pounder and countless smaller fish. Fishing was great. Then once the word got out, I would have guys show me stringers full of 3-4 lb bass. Made me cringe every time because I loved being able to go out every night and catch lots of nice fish. It didn't take long for the fishing to go downhill. Everyone has the right to keep fish but as with everything, we need to practice moderation.

 

[wytex]

I practice catch and release just because I love to fish and don't love to eat trout. Take me walleye fishing on the right water and won't practice catch and release at all.
Sometimes a fish just deserves to be released, maybe too small to eat or too big to eat.
I personally don't know any of my fishing and hunting friends who looks down on anyone who keeps their fish, or releases their fish. It's just your own preference.
Wait til you catch a small brook trout that the hook is bigger than the head. There just ain't enough meat on em to eat.
The more you release the longer you can fish.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

This thread reminds me of a funny video I stumbled across a while back.
https://youtu.be/f6DYVBdo6TM?t=2m9s

 

[belly-deep]

I make a point to make my stringer obvious when fishing the platte just to make the guides angry.

The fact is fisheries managers set regulations that will support a sustainable fishery. As long as you are abiding by the rules set, more power to ya.

I am sick and tired of Joe Q Public and every other guide thinking they know more than the managers just because they fish the river often.

The only reason you can keep a fish is because all the guides and their clients don't. If they did, the fishery would be a wreck.

So mull on that a little bit before you start bashing.

 

[MKotur325]

As a fly fisherman at heart, this issue comes up in discussions quite a bit.... Do I kill fish? Yep, every once and again. Mostly bass or Crappie... Enough for Fish Tacos once and again. Do I go out at times specifically hoping to find a few fish to throw in the cooler? Yep, again, fish tacos.... Most, probably 90%+ of the fish I catch get released. More than anything, I fish for the enjoyment of the pursuit, the challenge and the time in nature. I spent a summer on a Charter Halibut boat and after that summer, I just don't really enjoy eating fish any more (other than fish tacos and a couple pieces of salmon a year).

When it comes to catch and release fishing, here is what really bothers me (especially with trout). Watching people (no matter how they fish, fly, spin, bait.....) who treat fish poorly that they are going to release. The guy who lets a fish flop around in the bottom of the boat for 30 seconds before he just throws it back in the river. The guys who squeeze a fish so hard in a picture that it's eyes are close to popping out then haphazardly tosses the fish back in the water with little care for what happens next. Just in general people who don't respect the fish that they are going to release. If you aren't going to respect a fish enough to handle it with a bit of care so that it can be released unharmed back into the water, you should keep that fish. Lastly, not every fish is built the same way. Know your fish and how to handle it, some fish need more care than others. Not every fish needs the same level of care. Bass can survive several minutes out of water, and if you toss a bass back, the impact with the water can help them to come back to their senses. Trout have great difficulty surviving if their gills aren't wet, and if you toss them back into the water the impact is far more likely to stun and disorientate them.

Does Catch and release work??? Yep. These two pics were taken 7 days apart. I took the first pic, because you don't see many trout with that sort of wound. It's about a 13" brown that I caught out of the Bitterroot. First pic was 4/25/15 Second was 5/2/15. Caught it in the same run, within about 15' each time. One of only two times that I can say with any certainty that I have caught the same fish twice. But in my current home river I catch fish just about every time I'm out with hook marks in their mouth, or on their side from being foul hooked. Catch and release works. Studies have been done on survival rates with Catch and Release on Steelhead, and from what I remember it's about 1-3% mortality rate on Steelhead. I'm not sure what the rates are like for other fish, but it's safe to say that there are fish that die after being released, but most survive.

Long story short, it bothers me more to see people mistreat fish they release than kill fish to take home and eat (or even keep a fish to have it mounted...).

 

[Deleted member 28227]

There is a meateater podcast about this where they are talking to fishing guides and maybe a biologist. I think the take away was that during a hot summer day people are likely killing as many fish if not more practicing catch than if they had been going for a limit and then stopping.

 

[Ben Long]

A time and a place for everything. It's when people get religious about catch-and-release it gets tiresome. Mountain streams are on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to productivity, compared to say a Louisiana bayou. A westslope cutthroat here in Montana grows only 1 half-inch a year. They are very vulnerable to fishing pressure. So much so that they would virtually disappear if folks didn't release most of their catch, as Gerald says. I like eating trout and kill them when I want to eat them, but just spent three days on a wilderness river and let go every native cutthroat I caught. tomorrow I'm hoping for enough beaverpond brookies for a fish fry.

 

[Jmnhunter]

To each their own. Depends on my mode, what I'm catching and where I'm fishing. The biggest fish usually go back as well as the smallest. Don't keep bass, would never cut the head of a small mouth or musky. Find my self keeping more fish when I'm with my kids then any other time. I do have a problem with game hogs that take more then they really need or can use.

but you're from IA, you guys keep everything I kid, I kid; I have the same mindset as you do.
in this day and age, this topic kind of surprises me that CP(picture)R is a question, granted fishing where I'm from is pretty popular, so releasing certain fish is just a common practice around here-for the trophy sized fish of each specie. Bass and muskies are the top fish that get released, even trophy sized fish are becoming replica's vs keeping for a skin mount. although not as popular, large panfish, pike and walleyes get released, yet our state DNR is trying get larger panfish and pike back into our lakes as they are very rare now days (although releasing the larger fish with those species is getting popular). as far as trout go, its probably an equal mix of keeping/releasing, i wouldnt say there are as many elitist as out west

 

[MJE2083]

I love fishing but I don't particularly like eating fish. I haven't kept a fish in probably 12 years or more. The last one I kept was a stocked trout that would have likely boiled to death in the low hot stream in which it was stocked. I'm a catch and release guy and I prefer to turn them loose for another day. I don't begrudge anyone who keeps a few fish, especially stockers. I don't look as kindly on people keeping wild fish

 

[JohnCushman]

I'm more apt to let wild trout go in a river setting unless it's likely to die. I do keep some small stream brookies if I can catch some on my 3wt fly rod when elk hunting. Stockers in a pond, on the other hand, I'm keeping them. It's what they are there for. I keep damned near every bluegill and panfish I catch. I keep all my pike, and anyone else's who would give them up.

 

[Art Vandeley]

What's the deal with Ovaltine ?