Can Anyone Explain ???

[Guest]

I have a question, why is it that there are still people who have to catch their limit of fish. This winter has been the worst, far too many people keeping there limit of perch that fit into a five quart pail with room to spare. Or proud of there limit of walleyes biggest one being 12". Limits of crappies smaller than my shiners I use for walleyes. C&R gives the same fun of catching them just put them back for a couple of years,and then you will get a good fillet off of them. Dont get me wrong I like to eat some fish,but I dont go out and catch my limit to run into town and brag. I have rules when guiding no smaller than 14" no bigger than 18" have had no complaints from customers. The bigger walleyes are out there you just have to fish for them away from the crowds.
Let me know what you guys keep. Remember no bashing I am just interested.
Am I being unreasonable for thinking this ?????

[Bobb-o]

I always kept the smaller ones and pput the big ones back they taste better anyways

[Steve Foss]

wcmn:

You have asked a question with as many different answers as there are anglers.

[juddfish]

wcmn

The only thing i have to say is we need a size limit! I know several people will disagree with me but from my experience people keep way to small of fish! Let the poor little things grow up!

juddfish

[Mankato-Ice-Man]

I keep 5 to 10 crappies about 3 times in a year. I would never keep a walleye, bass, or northern unless it were very injured or a wall mounter, and even then I would try to take pictures and measurements and have a replica made.
I really like catch and release and I really hate cleaning fish.
If I am with someone that wants to keep crappies, I am ok with that once in a while, if they want to keep the larger game fish (walleye, N., bass) I ask them to throw it back, but do not get on a soap box if they want to keep it.
I think the DNR could use the money in a ton of better ways then to constantly be restocking fish that we could be taking care of ourselves.

[Wables]

Tonight I set my boss's shanty up about 100 feet from mine where I have been catching 11-13" perch and 18-24" eyes. I stopped in at his shanty after dark and he had a 29 1/2" walleye in his bucket. I was very disappointed, but didn't say anything. It turns out that he is going to mount it, so that eases some of the tension. I definitely don't keep anything over 23 inches, unless I ripped a gill out or something like that. The lake I fish has a 5 walleye over 15", including up to 1 over 23" limit. I have watched people keep 29" eyes for the table and it makes me sick!!!

------------------
Wables

[Guest]

Well, here goes. There's no doubt about it, I like to eat fish. I am particularly fond of walleye, perch and crappie. Walleyes in the 16-19" range find their way home with me. I don't think I ever take a limit except when fishing on LOW where we release 10 times more than we keep. Anything over 20" goes back in usually. I have one big one on my wall. Crappies are also a favorite but I only usually keep about two limits a year. Most in this area are pretty small so they all mostly go back in. Going north like to LOW Sabaskong/Hay Island area or Upper Red, that's a limit for sure if I can get them 'cuz don't do that more than once a year. Price per pound is steep on those trips. Perch-I take them when I can get them. In the summer, I eat alot of bluegill since my lake place is a bluegill heaven-but never to excess. There are limits and those will be lowered soon. You can't legally keep more than a limit in your freezer either. Heck, most trips I take never result in a limit, sometimes it's a skunking too. Like one guy said here, every person will have a different answer. ......T

[Guest]

I like what I am hearing guys good sound management. Keep the reports coming. I know we have along way to go but hopefully some people will see this and change there ways that a limit of 24" walleyes(THE SPAWNING FEMALES) or 12"(NOT MUCH OF FILLET) is not a very good bragging tool for a limit of walleyes. Just because it bites doent mean it has to go in the frying pan. Good management will mean better and more fish in the future.

[Guest]

There is a west metro lake that I have been catching 15-25 crappies a night. I usually only keep 4-5 crappies every other time I go out. I'm the only one fishing the spot and I believe that because I am not rapping this resource of crappies each night by not taking limits home this bite is lasting longer. I've been going out 5 nights over the last 8 days and everyday I keep nailing them. I bet that if I had kept limits every night I would be going home tomorrow with not so much as a bite.

[Guest]

Fishermen and woman can be broken down into two groups those who fish for fun and those who fish for food. I catch it, its legal, I eat it. If you dont like it you can kiss it.

[Crappie Kid]

I wish you catch and release guys would leave the fish alone and quit harassing them. If your out catching and releasing 2to3 times your limit day in day out the mortality rate of the fish you harass is most likely more than the amount a meat guy like me will take. I keep enough for my family for one meal. Then I don't go fishing until I'm ready to eat more fish. P.S. Just checking to see if I can get a rise out of some of you....

[walleye29us]

keep whatever size u want as long as you eat them......if someone else dont like it,,,to darn bad!!!!!!!!!

[Fish On]

horn i hear what your saying to an exetent but to my it sounds like your getting about 10%of the sport the fun is being out there if i get on slabs 3 is enough to cover me r u from the south??? no disrespect intended

[curt quesnell]

Getting some feedback from both sides of
the fence and that is good.

I dont agree with keepin tiny fish.

I believe in stopping once you have the
fish you want to eat.

I dont believe in continuing to pound on
fish if you dont plan on keeping any.

If someone is reading this thread to try
and decide what they will do in the future
please consider what I have posted.

To the rest, I can only hope you keep it
legal and what you think is right.

Have fun fishing

Curt Quesnell

[BLACKJACK]

I like to eat fish, but I'm not the greatest fisherman, lots of times I struggle to catch fish on a consistant basis, so when I do have luck I will have several meals of fish, using different recipes, but I like to eat them fresh, very seldom will I freeze fish. I struggle with catch and release on some species, as in what size should you keep for eaters and what size should you throw back? Walleyes are easy, keep the 15-19 inchers for eaters, throw the rest back. Northerns are tough, they're tasty once you get the Y-bones out, but anything less than 24 inches, it almost seems like a waste to kill and clean them once you compare your fillets to your gut pile. I've heard that the 5-10 pounder northerns are the good eaters, but here in central Minnesota, those are big fish, shouldn't they go back? Crappies, anything under 10" goes back, I was disgusted last week to see people taking home 7 inchers out of a local lake, can't they wait til next year? I also wonder on crappies, around here a 12 incher is big, you don't get many, maybe they should go back? Same with sunnies, everybody wants the big ones, but if people keep taking them home for eating...

[This message has been edited by BLACKJACK (edited 01-10-2003).]

[Cyberfish]

><}}}("< ---I think one can both fish for fun, and for food, especially when going for eelpout!
If fishing is not fun for someone, they can save a whole lot of money by not going fishing, and just heading straight to cub to get your fish.

[Michael8129]

Well here is my take on it. Everybody is praising the new Mille Lacs regs. Why? if not an increased ability to take home and eat fish? It is funny they lower the limit to 4 give us an extra inch in the slot and drop the minumum size. HUH? Sounds like a lot of guys keeping smaller walleyes. I will make book on this. Anyone could cook up a bunch of walleyes all cut up into nice uniform pieces and I would defy anyone to pick they ones that came from the big/ small fish as far as taste goes. In case any of you didn't realize fish die in a whole lot of ways other than us bringing them home and putting them in our frying pan. Awhile pack some people were actually prasing the fact that Lake Minnetonka had all this milfoil in it for fish to hide.. it will get harder to fish and panfish get bigger.... that isn't what has happened. When I was a kid a 1/2 pound or better sunny on that lake was common. If you guys want to catch and release go right ahead ...but quit when your catch rate reaches the release mortality rate that equals a take home limit... OR less. Those who like to eat fish eat them!

Michael

[Seabass77]

I adopted a philosophy this year that I will not freeze any fish. (Except the ones I throw on the ice, I suppose there already frozen!) I think this will not only prevent me from taking any more fish than needed, but also makes having a fresh fish dinner more of a treat. As far as size limits for fish, here is my opinion.

Crappie
9 – 12

Walleye
13-22

Pike
Hammer handles to about 4 or 5 pounds

I don’t really keep bluegills or bass often. However, I do recall reading something on the DNR site saying that if you would like to take home a meal of fish, they prefer you take a mix of species and take home fish on the smaller side. I.E. a couple of small pike, a small bass or two, and a mix of pan fish, depending on how big of group you are feeding.

[tdk]

A lot of people in this forum fish a lot. So everybody took a limit evertime they went out, we'd be in trouble. Some people don't have the time from their everday commitments (family, jobs, etc) to go a lot. They should not be looked down at for taking home a limit of fish to put in the freezer for a meal at a later date. Has anybody looked at the fish you can buy in the grocery store, doesn't look good. A lot of people really like eating fish. But some common sense needs to be used in doing it. Taking a limit of 23 inch walleye should be considered lake rape. When you see the dnr stripping walleyes in the spring the majority of females are in that 20 to 25 inch range. It's a pure shame to see people filet a 26 inch walleye, acting like a hero. Believe me I saw it at Winnie (when you could still keep walleyes longer than 17"). I think the dnr is on the right track with the recent reduction in limits on sunnies, crappies and perch a couple of years ago. I've seen people ice fishing on Winnie keeping any size perch that they caught, alot of those people had cheese plates on their trucks. With the recent reduction in limits they don't seem to show up as much, and the average size seems to be going up now. I fish because I really enjoy it, but I also like to eat fish, and I hate to buy it. I like to keep a limit in my frezzer during the winter when I can't get up north to go fishing ( I like fishing up there more than where I live). But when I do keep fish it's legal, in both the size and limits. To each their own.

[Kidd]

Such is the paradox with limits. Some people view limits as a target to achieve and others as a way to manage an adequate population. I'm sorry to say that I do fish regularly with some guy's who consider an outing unsuccessful if they don't come home with a limit.

[Piker]

I think there's something psychological about a limit. It's almost a judge of success in a persons mind. I almost wonder what it would be like if there was no established limits, I suppose that wouldn't work either. I like Catch and Release and when you're fishing the second you hook a fish you should be able to tell how big it is and if your going to keep it or not. If it's small reel it in slowly, if it falls off it's no big deal. I love keeping fish too, just try to keep the right size. One thing I worry about is putting too much emphasis on C and R. What I mean is, if fishing gets to the point where you can't keep anything due to limits and slots pretty soon people will look at fishing as just torturing fish. To me that's a real threat, and that's why I think that people should keep fish and why we should have slots and limits that allow keeping fish.

[City_Slicker]

What do you think hurts the lake more keeping a couple of little Walleyes say 12inches or keeping a nice hog about 4-5pounds the baby producers.
I my self love Crappie so if i hit a hole and am lucky to catch my limit. I will. But I am not keeping anything small. I say nothing under 9inches for Crappies. There should be some size limit of some sort. I rember when I lived in the city some people I would notice keep anything they caught.

City Slicker

[Guest]

i agree with a size limit.on some small lakes ,ponds,and res. it can sometime help to take out a lot of small panfish,those with experience fishing smaller bodies water knows this is true,so it really depends on the body of water and how hard it is fished,we should all do what is best for that perticular body of water whether it is best to c&r or to keep a limit once and a while.i LOVE TO FISH I ASLO LOVE TO EAT FISH,EATING FISH FROM UNDER THE ICE IS THE BEST,THE VERY BEST,IT BEATS EATING FISH FROM THE MARKETS AND IT BEATS EATING MEATS ALL THE TIME!

[SpikeRoberts]

tdk has hit on an important aspect. It's not just how many/what size fish you keep on any particular trip but the cumulative total over a season needs to be taken into account as well when trying to determine the overall impact on a body of water. Is the guy that fishes twice a winter and on one of those trips he keeps a limit of 12" eyes worse than me who fishes 40-50 times a winter and has to keep a gut/gill hooked 12" every so often and releases numerous others that might die from the experience? Do I deserve more fish because I fish more? Now I want to be clear, I do practice selective harvest and keep only a few fish to eat and do my best to reduce hooking mortality. I don't necessarily have a problem with the guy that fishes twice a year and keeps a limit when he goes out. I DO have problems with folks that fish as often as I do and keep ALL the fish they catch. That behavior is detrimental to the fish populations and needs to be curbed.

[Guest]

SpikeRoberts thanks to this wonderful forum hopfully we can start the curbing now. I think there has been produtive talk here hopefully everyone can pass the word to a fellow fisherman to take a look and see that it is okay not to take every fish caught. And to some of you, not aiming at the couple times of year trips. I have seen people do it three to four times a week on small lakes, has to have an impact.Proud of you all releasing those hog eyes that is #1 as far as taste test nothing beats a 15-18" and replicas are the way to go picture saves thousand fish.

GOODLUCK THE FISH ARE BITING