The importance of releasing bass

[fishuhalik]

Alright guys, I know this has been beat to death, but I just need to vent. I was out on my favorite bass lake this weekend, a 40 acre lake about 1 1/2 hours west of the metro. I just found it last year and we were getting 40-50 bass a day between 1 1/2 - 5 lbs. Most were in the 2-4 lb range, hands down the best lake i've ever been to. Well, on Saturday me and a buddy went out there and there were doing ok. There was also one other boat on the lake. After a full day we had caught about 20 fish, not a bad day. We were talking to the other boat while we landed, and they had a stringer full of bass. 2 2lbers, 2 4lbers, 2 6's, and a 7. All of 'em were full of eggs, caught on their beds. I asked 'em what the heck are you gonna do w/ those fish? They were gonna eat 'em. 3 bass over 6 lbs and they were just gonna fry 'em up. Now, I can understand if you're gonna mount it, but my gosh, gimme a break!!!! They said they've never had fishing this good and were off the rest of the week and planned on coming back every day. I tried telling 'em the importance of cpr on a lake like this, but they just told me that's what fish are there for. I almost slit their tires. It's just making me sick

[lookincalifornia]

in most cases, i would disagree with the importance of releasing bass. they are good reproducers and very adaptible. moreso than a muskie or walleye. however on a lake this size, you are right on. this sounds like a fishery that could definately be fished out. your best bet may be to try and catch them over their limit and TIP them.

so, i think we will all need the name of this lake as well as gps points

[fishuhalik]

Very funny! This lake is one of the few gems in the area that I know of and I've seen too many like this ruined. Not really around here but mostly up by Grand Rapids. Please guys, keep the smaller ones! Maybe I'm being selfish but I want a crack at that fish too!

[KMR85]

You are right on only keeping the small ones. I have had friends that I take out fishing wondering why I release all my bass, not just the big ones. First off, other fish like walleyes and panfish taste better. Secondly, the smaller fish taste better. Third, bass are more for of a sport fish. I can understand if you havent grown up fishing and do not understand things like this, but honestly 6-7 lb bass for eating? Please stop doing this. It is not at all bad to let someone know they are keeping way too big of fish for eating either. I was at a resort in Canada once and a guy brought a 7lb walleye into the cleaning room for filleting. The resort owner walked by and chewed this f****** a**, he didnt care if the guy ever came back to the resort because he cared about the quality of fish available. Plus you can catch way more eaters in Canada than you need. DNR should consider slot limits on the size of bass that can be kept since they do it for the precious walleyes and northerns. Also, you should have slashed the guys tires if he had the remark "thats what they are there for." They are there so you can catch them more than once when they are that big.

[ikeslayer]

Quote:

---

Also, you should have slashed the guys tires

---

Easy tiger no fish is worth slashing tires. i understand you concern and even enjoy your passion for the sport but keep things in check man. ike

[Bobby Bass]

Now if these gentlemen were serious about returning everyday the rest of the week and catching fish. And you did explain that a small body of water like you are fishing on does depend on those larger fish I would check to see if they had returned to fish, then I would place a call to TIP. Reason being they are not going to be able to eat all of those fish each day and should be over their possession limit. Perhaps not MN nice but sure might have them think twice about the damage they are doing to a resource.

[Fever]

Makes me sick thinking about the ignorance of a few that actually beleive that 6 & 7 lb fish should be kept to eat and thats what they are there for. Seriously... There are some severly uneducated people out there. Hey, maybe we should be required to pass a test to get a licence; kinda like a drivers licence. Oh, wait that doesn't work either

[Mikefrommason]

Let's go easy here guys. If you want to release fish do so, if others want to keep them and they are within the law,nothing you can do. Slash their tires-then you would be outside the law. I would even watch what you say to them, there are laws against hunter/fisher harassment. If you think restrictions should be tighter then talk to the DNR about who you need to contact or what you can do. Also a lot of you righteous CPR fisherman have pictures of mighty big bucks you harvested. what gives you the right to kill those magnificent trophies, they would breed into more big bucks. I would have just photographed them and let them pass. They are not as good eating as the younger does anyway. Ok, I get your point but let's not be too quick to judge, and using a nicer more educating approach could do a lot more than starting fights or slashing tires.

[turn_in_poachers]

Quote:

---

Let's go easy here guys. If you want to release fish do so, if others want to keep them and they are within the law,nothing you can do. Slash their tires-then you would be outside the law. I would even watch what you say to them, there are laws against hunter/fisher harassment. If you think restrictions should be tighter then talk to the DNR about who you need to contact or what you can do. Also a lot of you righteous CPR fisherman have pictures of mighty big bucks you harvested. what gives you the right to kill those magnificent trophies, they would breed into more big bucks. I would have just photographed them and let them pass. They are not as good eating as the younger does anyway. Ok, I get your point but let's not be too quick to judge, and using a nicer more educating approach could do a lot more than starting fights or slashing tires.

---

I agree with both sides here. With that small of a lake, it will get fished out soon, which is a shame. There are better fish to eat out there than bass. And, with 6lb'ers and 1 7lb'er, Im hoping they mount it rather than eat it. But, on the other hand, they arent breaking any laws (unless its a C&R bass lake). If they want to keep bass, its their choice. I wouldve released those big ones though.

[katoguy]

Big difference here, Mike. Do you know someone who is shooting several trophy bucks each day, day after day?

I contend that anyone who likes eating bass should try sunfish or perch. Yum! Doesn't get any better.

[freebledsoe]

Possession limit, largemouth and smallmouth bass (either or combined)= 6.

No size limit. Don't like it? Talk to the DNR.

Slash someones tires because you don't agree with them exercising their lawful fishing rights? Go to jail. Have fun Bubba.

[fishuhalik]

I'd just like to clear some things up a little here. I did in no way threaten these guys. Me saying I wanted to slash their tires was a little out of line and something I would never do, regardless of what they did. I was just really frusturated that I knew in a couple of weeks if these guys don't cut it out my honey hole is going to be dead. Like I said, it's a little selfish of me, but it's incredibly selfish on their part. Being that it's a public lake I know i'm not the only other guy fishing it. As a matter of fact, I have taken a few buddies of mine that have tight lips out there and they've shared in the great fishing.

And don't even talk to me about shooting big bucks. To shoot that deer in my avatar I scouted most of the summer and fall, spent many long hard hours clearing shooting lanes, sighting in my gun, etc. for that one shot. I even passed up on several beautiful big does because I knew that was the kind of doe THAT REPRODUCES BEST. I've also passed up many smaller bucks to let them grow. And like I said, if these guys wanted to keep a trophy to put on the wall, or even one of these a year out of the lake, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Matter of fact, I get very tired of hearing guys rant and rave over a guy posting a pic of 10 lb walleye or 6 lb bass they kept to mount, and i've stood up for several of those people. I know they were within the law and there's nothing I can do about it. There's just some people that have no common sense and they need to realize the importance of the future of our fisheries. There's several lakes in northern MN that are still my honeyholes. I know that when my 9-month old son grows old they will still be there as long as they don't get fished out. And I know that had I been selfish when I first found those lakes when I was in high school, I wouldn't be able to share it with him in the future, and I take pride in that. I know there are fish that he will catch some day that are the great, great grandbabies of fish I caught. OK, I need to end this rant. sorry guys

[Slyster]

Don't worry Fishuhalik! We know!

We all feel these feelings at times.

[fishuhalik]

Do any of you guys know how hard it is to get a lake cpr only? I talked to a buddy of mine and he was saying it shouldn't be too difficult and we were thinking about trying to get this lake on the list. Any idea where to start?

[KMR85]

Bass fishing and Deer hunting dont go hand in hand. Plus, deer are overpopulated anyway, thats why most zones have intensive harvest. Also, some of you people dont need to take things said here to heart, obviously no one would slash their tires, its called venting.

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

---

I asked 'em what the heck are you gonna do w/ those fish? They were gonna eat 'em. 3 bass over 6 lbs and they were just gonna fry 'em up. ... They said they've never had fishing this good and were off the rest of the week and planned on coming back every day.

---

Maybe they said this to irk you since you were being so intrusive?

Did you actually say heck?

[fishuhalik]

I was as nice as could be walking up to their boat. I just asked 'em how fishing was, & they held up the stringer. As I recall the conversation, I said man, those are some monsters! I bet they'll look good on the wall! And they said they were gonna eat 'em.

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

---

I was as nice as could be walking up to their boat. I just asked 'em how fishing was, & they held up the stringer. As I recall the conversation, I said man, those are some monsters! I bet they'll look good on the wall! And they said they were gonna eat 'em.

---

OK. Yeah, if they held up thier stringer, I'd say they weren't to shy about thier catch.

[vikingmeatwad]

Good post, keeping 6 bass seems like a lot and I can't see why the dnr would set it at that. Maybe because about no one keeps bass?

It sucks when guys like this find the smaller lakes where there is good action.

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

---

Good post, keeping 6 bass seems like a lot and I can't see why the dnr would set it at that. Maybe because about no one keeps bass?

---

That would be my guess.

[EBass]

Cripes that's horrible (my opinion b4 anyone jumps on me) eithics is only a word to some people