WRHguy Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Recently I got a buddy hooked on the swimbait game and we have since been out a few times. First time out, I met him at the lake to the sight of a nice 8-9 lb spawned out female on his stringer. Being that i was the one who got him into this type of fishing, I felt it was my responsibly to let him know why that was a bad idea. After giving him my reasons he was stuck on the fact that he was proud of his catch, and was set on having something to bring home for the BBQ. Considering it wasn't illegal to keep it, and the fact that I didn't want to overstep my boundaries and tell a grown man what he shoud or shouldn't be doing... I let it go. However, my conscience got the best of me and I had to bring it up again. He saw how much it affected me and made me a deal... I put a striper on his stringer and I could release the largie to fight another day. This ignited a fire in me and I don't think I have ever gotten so many casts out and covered so much ground in such a short period of time. Low and behold about10 minutes later I hooked him a nice little fish taco maker and I handed off the rod to him before I even had the fish unhooked and ran over to his stringer. The largie was a little tired at this point but after some rehab in the water she swam off just fine, and everyone was happy now my question. I have been fishing forever and I have my own set of beliefs about catch and release. I know (roughly) that it takes about 5-6 years for a bass To hit 12" in most places. I have looked for articles about why it's a good idea to catch and release nice size largemouth but have had no luck. Does anyone have any articles pertaining to this? I can't always be around to save the largemouth my buddy is catching and it would be nice if he had some literature to sway the mindset and realize that largemouth are to be treasured... Not bbq'ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huddslinger Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Great job save a bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilcatfish Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Just tell your buddy they are having a sale on tilapia at the grocery store if he really wants those fish tacos. The only game fish I will ever keep is crappie. Sometimes walleye (if I'm up north on a trip that is), trout (if I'm in a STOCKED trout area), or channel cats (less than 8#) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiswimbait Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 I keep plenty of fish but I'm always careful to be smart about it. For example no bigger pike or walleyes both of which are great eating. We don't have stripers so I don't know if they are good to eat but if largemouth were good I'd eat them you just have to limit yourself if the law doesn't enough. I'll eat an occasional smallmouth if I'm wilderness camping and fish is part of the planned meal and they are what I'm catching although they aren't as good as pike,walleyes,or panfish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassindon69 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Give the greaser 10 bucks for a meal and take the fish and let it go Fish Chris from "Trophy Bass only" had a nice artical about the big fish. I can't seem to find it though?? Rule # 86 Never teach a Greaser how to catch big bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CST Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Rule # 86 Never teach a Greaser how to catch big bass. I try to avoid fishing with friends and family for that reason but sometimes you just have to take them and hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHud4 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 every state is different but here in cali i feel lits best to let the big girls go and then get to jack in the box and score 6 tacos for 3 bucks..we have enough fish being taken from our waters already but that is just my .02 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltaman Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 I keep bass under two pounds every once in a while. Especially if the overall population in a given area is undernourished. Removing some of the unhealthier fish provides the other fish in that general area with more forage thus making that ecosystem better by removing a couple fish. Granted, I don't keep fish from highly pressured fisheries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltaman Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Also, I've never heard of it taking 5-6 years for a fish to get to twelve inches... it seems like in a healthy fishery it takes maybe a year and half. I'll do some more research on that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltaman Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Did some research... It takes an average of 2 years for a bass to reach 12" long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassindon69 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Here is a funny, I believe it was Steve Sapp that said it to another guy. A lot of people feel that the Delta is nasty, bottom of the barrel water. Anyway A guy at a tourney was talking about keeping a striper to take it home and eat it. Steve said, from here? the other guy said yea why? Steve said this water is NASTY! The other guy said but stripers don't stay, they are just in there for a while and leave. Now the guy was eating a hotdog at the time. So then Steve said to him, Let me take your hotdog and swirl it around in the toilet real quick. It was only in there for a few seconds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathando23 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 thats a great thing u did. it breaks my heart to see bass like that die. i have a hard time im asian and my dad is full asain, so he has never had heard the concept of catch and release. its a real head ache to convince him to release some bass. what i say to him is that the water is polluted, or some bs, over time i was telling him about japan. how their they almost wiped out the bass population their. so as a deal we go up to fish for some spotted bass. they are loaded in a lake kind of near me, so that i dont kill any largemouth in my local water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragger Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 From a fisheries point of view, keeping largemouth is a good thing; regardless of size. Too many fish with too little food crashes any successful population of fish quicker than almost any other variable. Largemouth grow extremely quick, eat a tremendous amount of forage for their size, and spawn very successfully. They can reach 12" in less than 2 years and some 10 pound bass in CA have been aged to about 6 years old. Bass fishermen need to release this notion that catch and release is king and we are conservationist anglers and scientists. You are not, there are plenty of people in your local fisheries agencies who are and they will agree with what I have said. When I do consulting work on a private pond or lake and the owner wants larger bass, we tell them we need to kill all bass under 15". This is very unpopular, but insanely successful. Those fish eat the resources trophy bass need. Within 3 years of aggressively removing runts, you would be surprised how many more trophy class fish will emerge. Back to lurking, I feel I have said too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanM Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 From a fisheries point of view, keeping largemouth is a good thing; regardless of size. Too many fish with too little food crashes any successful population of fish quicker than almost any other variable. Largemouth grow extremely quick, eat a tremendous amount of forage for their size, and spawn very successfully. They can reach 12" in less than 2 years and some 10 pound bass in CA have been aged to about 6 years old. Bass fishermen need to release this notion that catch and release is king and we are conservationist anglers and scientists. You are not, there are plenty of people in your local fisheries agencies who are and they will agree with what I have said. When I do consulting work on a private pond or lake and the owner wants larger bass, we tell them we need to kill all bass under 15". This is very unpopular, but insanely successful. Those fish eat the resources trophy bass need. Within 3 years of aggressively removing runts, you would be surprised how many more trophy class fish will emerge. Back to lurking, I feel I have said too much. These are good points. It makes sense considering how many more small fish there are than trophy fish in most waters. For this reason I've always felt that big fish (8lbs + here) should be released. There are significantly fewer of them, and they've already gotten through the difficult years of survival. No reason in ending their chances of getting to true trophy size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunkerPunkTW Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 one of my friends cambell was at dvl and a man had caught a 13lb large, he had it on a stringer and was going to take it home. so cambell asked the guy if he would let it go because a bass that big shouldn't be kept. so cambell gave the guy 20 bucks and he let it go and it swam away fine..... kinda makes you think what some people will do to save the life of a big fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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